10 New(ish) Unconventional Beach Reads This Summer
For people who like to get wiser (and occasionally turned on) as they relax
My favorite kind of unconventional beach read is not so different from my favorite kind of anytime-read: humbly smart, frequently sexy, and always page-turning. I want books to whisk me away at the same time they urge me to examine my inner world. That said, I understand that our attention spans might be a little less focused in the summer — or perhaps in even more need of a vicarious vacation.
So when Greenlight Bookstore asked me to pick my top unconventional summer beach reads to recommend on their Instagram — with an emphasis on mostly queer and newer books — I had a hard time choosing just nine to complement my own memoir, Open. Since bisexuality, kink, non-monogamy, psychology, dark romance, body issues, making art, mindfulness, and existential angst are all themes I gravitate to, the picks below reflect that.
Support any of the authors on this list by buying their books from Greenlight Bookstore, and a percentage of the profits will be donated to benefit The Brigid Alliance, which helps get abortion care to those who need it. Escape a reality stranger than fiction…while simultaneously addressing it. A literary feminist win-win!
Little Rabbit
I loved this new and sexy novel, which delves into the experience of discovering your own submissiveness as a queer woman with a dominant man. It refuses to play into tropes that to be submissive is to be inherently exploited. As a bisexual woman myself, I really appreciated this depiction of another queer woman grappling with what it means to be submissive to a dominant cis man. This novel also has one of the bravest endings I’ve read in a long time. I won’t ruin it, but I found it almost defiantly hopeful and earnest in a genre that often views that as “less literary.” It’s hard to put down, sexy, and not in any way junk food.
Quote: “I want you to have what you want,” he said, looking at me. And I wanted him then, a wave that spread across my limbs, unsettling the structures deep inside me. My wrist still tingled, and I liked it. I wanted to crawl to him, sit at his feet and surrender. Let him do what he wanted to me. Fright quickly followed. I’d never felt the wish to give myself up in such a way. You don’t want that, I told myself, staying on the bed.”
Acts of Service
When I saw an article that opened “when 27-year-old Lillian Fishman set out to write her debut novel, Acts of Service, she thought she would be telling a queer story — by the end, it became a book about heterosexuality” — I got pissed. That line is such an example of the rampant bisexual erasure in media. This is not a book about heterosexuality! It is about a woman who has previously only been in lesbian relationships who becomes infatuated with a dominant cis man (and to some degree, his female partner as well).
It is a complex story of non-monogamy, triangulation, queerness, manipulation, BDSM, and the nature of desire. It will make you angry in moments — this novel is not PC, and challenges us progressive feminists. If you’re anything like me, you won’t be able to stop reading anyway. This book is sexy and entertaining, all while revealing your own biases and judgments.
Quote: “Why was I elated at that pain in his brow, my breasts inches below his lowered mouth, untouched, washed out under the white lights? Simply the knowledge of that look fed me; I would have stood there in Nathan’s silence all afternoon, staring past my nipples to his glistening black shoes.”
Sirens & Muses
As the title perhaps suggests, this novel is perfect for fans of the deliciously sexy and smart Writers & Lovers. It is also a story about the makings of artists and triangulation. Where it differs is in centering on painters, and being written from the perspective of multiple genders and ages. It is also a novel about bisexuality. Sirens & Muses is for lovers of campus novels, though not all of this immersive story takes place there. I learned a ton about visual art from reading this book, which I could not put down and devoured in under two days. It was fun and inspiring, but it was also educational, like your favorite arts elective in college.
If you feel guilty for going to the beach instead of doing something “culturally enriching” — read this. (As well as my next pick, which will address why you feel guilty in the first place.)
Quote: “Karina had been told she was a prodigy often enough that most of the time she believed it. Still, her work rarely satisfied her. Every time she applied herself to the canvas, she was trying to make a new world, to show herself something she hadn’t seen before, but the result was always somehow naggingly familiar.”
Four Thousand Weeks
This book is an outlier on this list in that it is by a straight man and not novelistic. But I deeply recommend it because it is one of the most affecting books I’ve read in years. It is also not difficult to read, surprisingly. It’s hard for me to summarize why this book is so important, but I suppose it would go something like this: for those of us who tend to live in the future, who fear missing out and always seem to be keeping ourselves busy in order to justify our existence, this is a reframe that might just get through.
This is an anti-productivity “time management” book — one that makes you face the fact that the average human lifespan is just 4,000 weeks. Given you’ve likely burned through half of that already, how do you want to spend the rest? Burkeman’s suggestion is that you don’t fall into bucket-list-maximizer tendencies, but instead…well, you really just have to read it to find out. This is a deeply, deeply helpful book synthesizing years of reporting, living, and reading that Burkeman has done. Bring it to the beach if you’re someone who tends to feel a little bad for being unproductive (or someone who is already thinking about what you’ll eat for dinner when you get home).
Quote: “A life spent focused on achieving security with respect to time, when in fact such security is unattainable, can only ever end up feeling provisional — as if the point of your having been born still lies in the future, just over the horizon, and your life in all its fullness can begin as soon as you’ve gotten it, in Arnold Bennett’s phrase, “into proper working order.”
Once you’ve cleared the decks, you tell yourself; or once you’ve implemented a better system of personal organization, or got your degree, or invested a sufficient number of years in honing your craft; or once you’ve found your soulmate or had kids, or once the kids have left home, or once the revolution comes and social justice is established — that’s when you’ll feel in control at last, you’ll be able to relax a bit, and true meaningfulness will be found. Until then, life necessarily feels like a struggle: sometimes an exciting one, sometimes exhausting, but always in the service of some moment of truth that’s still in the future.”
Either/Or
I loved the prequel to this novel, The Idiot, but its sequel (which can also stand alone) was even better. This is mostly a campus novel of ideas, kind of like reading the development of a mind that might one day grow up to narrate a book like Outline by Rachel Cusk...or, um, write the very book you’re reading. It is a joy to be inside the protagonist Selin’s head. It brought me back to my early twenties in college, trying to figure out sexuality and gender dynamics as someone who also craves attention and love. Its queerness is implicit, about a young woman who does not yet really have a concept of bisexuality as an option.
Shortly before writing this novel, Batuman met the woman she hopes to spend the rest of her life with. She’s said in interviews that it made her examine why she had only dated men up to that point. This novel is a reverse-engineering of the way society, literature, and philosophy lull us into a culture of “compulsory heterosexuality,” as Adrienne Rich put it. Times are changing, but especially for those of us born before Gen Z, this exploration will be particularly fruitful. It’s like having a fantastic conversation with your smartest friend from college.
Quote: “That was something I thought about, too: the physical response I felt to Ivan, the dull electric jolt, some heavy, slow machinery starting to turn in my chest and between my legs. I had never felt those things with relation to a girl. On the other hand, I usually hadn’t felt them in Ivan’s presence, either; it was more when he wasn’t there.”
Joan Is Okay
As the title perhaps subliminally suggests, this novel is for if you loved Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. Like that novel, it also centers on a compelling, funny, anti-social, on-the-spectrum-seeming voice. Also like that novel, ample time and attention are given to a mostly platonic male-female friendship, mothers and daughters, unprocessed grief, and the workplace. But this novel is also entirely its own, centering on Joan’s unique quirks, her Chinese-American and first-generation experiences, and a very different workplace. Joan is an ICU doctor, and in following her day-to-day, we deconstruct the backstory and interior life of someone who on the outside would likely be stereotyped and ignored as invisible. Besides being quite smart and empathy-building, this book is easy to read and is also just really funny.
Quote: “I sensed that my mother needed to vent and that I could be that for her, a blank wall against which she could throw things, as I’d seen in some movies when, to talk about something stressful, two people will play that game of aggressively hitting a tiny, hard ball indoors, side by side, with fuzzy sweatbands around their heads. I could be that game for my mother. I could be squash.”
Whimsy
This little novella is a highly portable and engrossing beach read. It centers on a very sympathetic character named Whimsy who was facially scarred in an accident — though as the story goes on, the reader is increasingly unsure whether she’s really as disfigured as she believes herself to be. Like the novella’s author Shannon McLeod, Whimsy is a teacher, and this book gives an amusing and genuine look into that profession. It also holds a mirror up to those of us who struggle with body dysmorphia. (So, unfortunately, to some degree, most of us.)
Quote: “He asked me about what it was like to be a teacher. I told him I didn’t have much to compare it to, but that it seemed I had less free time and less money than people with other careers. I was happy when he didn’t reply with any platitudes about it being ‘rewarding.’”
We Were Made For These Times
Besides having one of the best covers I’ve seen all year, this succinct book by meditation teacher Kaira Jewel Lingo is a practical and comforting manual for navigating a world falling apart. A close student of the late Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, she carries forth his teachings in a unique and fresh way, applying a contemporary social justice lens and her own experience as a Black woman. This is a highly practical little book for navigating times of transition (which is to say, every moment). I was particularly moved by the image of her description of walking meditation that I’ve quoted below. Like other practices in the book, I find myself returning to it. If you need a little hope right now — or simply some better coping mechanisms — this is a nourishing and easy summer read.
Quote: “Then I turned my attention more towards the Earth and knew I was also walking on cool streams of water flowing under me, and hot, fiery liquid deep below, in the center of the Earth. I imagined walking on the feet of those directly opposite us on the other side of the planet. The soles of my feet touched the soles of a little baby taking tentative steps, and a pregnant woman, and an old grandpa. My feet touched the feet of a lonely isolated person, and someone carried away by hatred and anger. I was also walking on the feet of someone who was right then doing walking meditation and enjoying the present moment. I was one with those walking the Earth whose hearts were filled with love and peace.”
Buy We Were Made For These Times here.
Cheat Day
This book is a perfect unconventional beach read: sexy, funny as hell, compelling, and a much-needed reminder of the absurdity of beach-body- mentality. It’s about a woman who obsessively diets and is super hungry but is hooked by the allure of “clean eating” nonetheless. When she meets an intriguing man she has an affair with, some sexy scenes ensue. Not unlike another great new paperback, Milk Fed, the connection between desire and food is explored to comic and relatable effect. This novel is for people who want rom-com-sexy-funny-fun-vibes…but despise tropes, basic prose, and predictable happy endings. (Not to say all rom-coms are basic and entirely predictable, but it can be a hazard going in. Plus, if it’s a true rom-com, there “has” to be a happy ending, which for me kills some of the tension.)
Quote: “But for some reason, in the company of Matt Larsson, I felt my unhappiness — and my constant hunger — subside, and so I followed those moments, chased time alone with him, pressed his words and then his body closer and closer to the center of who I was until, eventually, I had a real problem.”
Open
Why yes, I am also recommending my own motherfucking book. It’s what Greenlight Bookstore told me to do: nine recs, plus mine, okay? They know it’s rough out there for a debut author. You have to be your own pimp if you want to sell enough copies to get another book deal and keep this whole profession/pyramid scheme going.
But also, I do think my book is a solid unconventional beach read. It’s funny, plot-driven, romantic, and erotic (multiple escapist visits to nudist swinger resorts feature). But you also learn a lot from all the interviews and other reporting I did along the way. While quite fun in many moments, Open is also a dark psychological romantic thriller, as much or more about gaslighting and emotional abuse as it is about non-monogamy, bisexuality, and kink. I’ve been told it is hard to put down (or not get turned on by) by enough people that I feel confident suggesting you add it to your summer reading list. Please. Seriously. Buy my book, please.
Quote: “First, I admired her grooming: narrow bush on top, impossibly smooth lips. I felt a certain relief at her clear canvas and (because Jewish and feminist) a swift guilt at that relief. I myself rocked a mostly full bush, but here I was, no better than the men who I’d suspected preferred my vagina somehow sterilized. What are we so afraid of? Disappearing into the organic wilderness from whence we came, probably.
Beholding someone’s pussy, I now realized, was like staring down the barrel of a gun in reverse: I gave you life, and I won’t take it away. Had I ever understood our power so acutely?”
There are so many more books that deserve to be on this list, so stay tuned/follow my account for more reading lists on Medium to come! And remember, if you support any of the authors here by buying their books from Greenlight Bookstore, a percentage of the profits will be donated to benefit The Brigid Alliance, which helps get abortion care to those in need. Multiple good deeds at once. And all in service of your entertainment.
Look, I get it: books don’t always come cheap. But how much did you spend on streaming services this month? Consider spending at least a fraction of that supporting a world where independent bookstores and authors without trust funds/200k+ followers can exist.
