The 28 Best Summer Reads 2024

1. Funny Story by Emily Henry

I’m a huge Emily Henry fan. Her adult enemies-to-lovers trope is just my kind of beach read in 2024. Emily Henry Books are always an automatic purchase for me.

The past summers, she gave us the amazing Book Lovers (which if you haven’t read – go purchase immediately!), and her latest book, Funny Story is just as wonderful and one of the best books to read on vacation in 2024.

Funny Story by Emily Henry follows Daphne as she meets her dream man, Peter, falls in love with him and moves back to his small hometown, only for her fiance to realize that he’s actually in love with his childhood best friend – Petra.

With limited funds, Daphne has no other options but to move in with Miles (Petra’s Ex) and the two hatch a dastardly plan to make their exes jealous. Will their plan work out? (DUH!)

I read Funny Story on a beach in Spain and fell head over heels in love with Daphne & Miles. I think it’s also Emily Henry’s spiciest book to date. 100/10 stars.

Happy Place tells the tale of Harriet & Wyn who have been together forever. But 5 months ago they broke up and haven’t told their closest friends that they’ve done so. Queue a week away in a cabin with their friend group who know them inside and out, memories and revelations, and tense looks! My favorite kind of read.

More titles by Emily Henry:

• People we Meet on Vacation (My fave Emily Henry so far)
• Book Lovers
• Beach Read

5. First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

A thrilling and unputdownable thriller of stolen identities, romance, and espionage in a small town in Louisana.

Evie Porter has it all. A beautiful house, perfect partner, and potentially a new close group of friends. Except Evie Porter is a stolen identity. And now a woman with ‘Evie Porter’s’ real name has just turned up in this small town. Queue a lot of mystery and intrigue. I couldn’t put the First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston down – and it’s smart, real smart which I appreciate in a good thriller.

If you’re looking for a page-turning beach read in 2024 that you’ll gobble up in a single setting, then First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston is going to be right up your street!

6. The Paradise Problem by Lauren Christina

If you’re a fan of the trope of pretending to be married to a millionaire and set against the backdrop of a Southeast Asian paradise island, then you’re in luck! The Paradise Problem by Lauren Christina is superb.

Anna Green is a struggling artist, who 5 years prior married Liam Weston to avail of student housing. Unbeknownst to Anna, Liam is heir to a massive fortune, with the caveat that he needs to be married for 5 years. With Liam’s sisters wedding imminent, Anna and Liam will have to pretend that they’ve been a happily married couple (and not complete strangers) for a week.

The Paradise Problem is fantastic with hilarious dialogue and a LOT of spice. I couldn’t put it down!

7. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Not a light read, nor a quick read by any means, but Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver had me absolutely engrossed.

Set against the backdrop of rural Appalachia, we follow Demon and his journey from poverty to drug addiction. Like I said, not a light read, but somehow, you’re completely and utterly living, breathing every single word Demon utters. It’s heartbreaking, hilarious and such an important fictional tale of a truly deadly disease that ravages small-forgotten towns of America.

Unputdownable.

9. Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes

I’m an absolute sucker for anything Jojo Moyes writes. Her previous work The Giver of Stars & Me Before You is some of my guilty pleasures that I devoured on previous vacations.

Her latest, Someone Else’s Shoes follows Nisha Cantor, a wealthy woman used to a life of luxury, is left scrambling after her husband divorces her and cuts her off, while struggling Sam Kemp accidentally takes Nisha’s gym bag, trying on her Louboutin shoes and gaining the confidence to change her life.

10. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

One of the best summer reads 2024 will tear out your heart, stomp on it, then gradually put it back together. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tommorow by Gabrielle Zevin was that book and it was glorious. I’d let it happen to me all over again.

Sadie & Sam are friends who have faced every trial and tribulation thrown their way. And as they’ve navigated childhood, to running one of the biggest gaming companies in the world, they came back to each other time and time again. It’s a story of friendship at its most beautiful and vulnerable.

11. The Wedding People by Alison Espach

One of my most eagerly awaited summer reads of 2024 was The Wedding People by Alison Espach. Phoebe is depressed. Her marriage has failed and ended in divorce. Her cat has died. And her career is going nowhere. So she has decided to check herself into the Cornwall Inn and kill herself.

What she doesn’t anticipate is the wedding of Lila & Gary, a million dollar event at which the bride will do anything to ensure its success even if it means convincing Phoebe not to commit suicide.

Despite the gloomy premise, The Wedding People is actually rather lighthearted and a fun read. I raced through it propelled by Phoebe and rooting for all the characters along the way.

12. Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

I have very high expectations when it comes to thrillers and mysteries. From the first page I’m looking out for red herrings that are scattered throughout the book to fool the reader. So when I find a book that keeps me guessing until the very end, it goes on my book recommendation list.

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister kept me on my very toes until the very end. Jen looks out her window one October night and witnesses her teenage son murder someone in cold blood which sets off a chain of events.

Traveling back in time, Jen has to unravel the crime before it happens. And what a journey she undertakes. You won’t be able to put down one of the best mystery summer reads 2024.

13. Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

I read this while visiting the beautiful Sicilian town of Ortigia last summer and I just couldn’t put it down. I absolutely loved it, but it is a slow burner, so do give it a good try before you decide its not for you. Oh and bring a packet of tissues. It will destroy you!

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano is an homage to Little Woman (which makes it an automatic addition to my neverending book pile beside my bed).

William Waters finds love and a new family in Julia Padavano and her three sisters, but his past threatens their future and puts their unbreakable bond to the test in a family saga that pays homage to Little Women.

14. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby van Pelt

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby van Pelt is one of those summer beach reads that you won’t be able to forget any time soon.

Telling the beautiful story of Tova, a widower whose teenage son Erik vanished 30 years ago. A chance encounter with a giant Pacific octopus named Marcellus becomes an unlikely friend for a grieving mother and wife.

Remarkably Bright Creatures is one of those stories that will warm the cockles of your heart and make you fall in love with an octopus. One of my best vacation reads from last year.

15. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Recently made into an Apple show, Pachinko by Min Jin Lee follows a multigenerational Korean story from the 1900s through to the 2010s.

Perhaps the most fascinating part of this incredible novel is Min Jin Lee’s ability to capture a period of history that rarely makes it to mainstream publishing, that of the Japanese invasion of Korea and the subsequent treatment of the Korean people in Japan.

Pachinko is a hard novel to forget and its sweeping story is an incredible page-turner.

16. Good Material by Dolly Alderton

Dolly Alderton could rewrite the phone book and I would purchase it from my local bookstore.

Good Material follows Andy as he endures one of the worst break-ups of his adult life. Ruminating on the loss of his relationship, Andy can’t help but wonder where did it all go wrong? Follow Andy and his very ‘tragic’ breakup as he tries to get over his ex-girlfriend and move on with his life.

Everything I Know About Love is Dolly’s first book after being a serial columnist for The Sunday Times and is a stunningly beautiful book on friendship and love.

Her memoir on relationships failed and successful as well as navigating the transition from young adult to adult is the book that all Millennials need to read. Dolly’s life is achingly familiar and each piece of writing that she produces, either for her column or for her books is a small stroke of genius.

17. The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

I hesitated to pick up The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary dismissing it as fluff. The Flatshare is a very sweet book that follows the lives of Tiffy, a woman who has just had a truly awful break-up and needs a place to share asap.

Leon works evenings and has decided to rent out his bed in his apartment for extra cash. Their paths never cross as they live their two separate lives, yet somehow over the weeks and months that pass, Tiffy & Leon start to fall in love with one another with sweet notes and text messages.

Beth O’Leary took a truly preposterous idea and made it completely work. The build-up of the characters passing each other like ships in the night leaves the reader awaiting their first physical meet-up. Adorable and very fluffy, it’s brilliantly written and incredibly satisfying.

Now a TV show on Hulu, they do a faithful adaption of the book, however the book is so much better. Read before you watch!

18. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett is the remarkable tale of Vignes’s twin sisters who journey on two very different paths after running away from their small black community town.

Light enough to pass, one of the sisters makes the decision to alter her life by passing as a white woman, whereas the other sister returns home and lives her life as a proud black woman. We follow the lives of the sisters and their decisions over a 40-year period until a fateful chance encounter.

Powerful and page-turning, this glimpse into the Vignes sisters is a story you won’t forget anytime soon.

19. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett was the first audiobook that managed to hold my attention. It also helps that Tom Hanks was the narrator of this incredible story about a house and the family who occupy it.

It’s a truly special story about siblings Danny & Maeve and their relationship with their father and the house he proudly owned – The Dutch House.

I can’t recommend a better book to start listening to than the Dutch House performed by Tom Hanks, it’s a masterpiece from start to finish.

See Tom Lake above ^^ for more Ann Patchett excellency.

20. Infinite Country by Patricia Engel

Infinite Country by Patricia Engel is one of those novels that you wish was 300 pages longer. It’s the shortest book on the list at 250 pages, but it packs a punch.

Talia is the daughter of illegal Colombian migrants who moved to the US before she was born. A citizen of the US, Talia was sent back to Colombia with her father at a young age and has never known the life of her mother and siblings who are American-raised.

Days before she is due to rejoin the family she has never known in the US, Talia has to make a daring escape from a correctional facility where she was being held for a violent crime (a totally justified crime btw) and make it back to Bogata in time for her flight.

I loved this short novel and gobbled it up in one sitting. The best summer read in 2024 for people short on time and in need of an excellent quick read.

21. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Antony Doerr

Once again Antony Doerr has created a masterpiece in Cloud Cuckoo Land that connects three interweaving storylines set over hundreds of years masterfully together.

The story of Aethon connects Anna who lives during Constantinople’s siege in the 13th century, to Zeno in present-day Idaho who is putting on a play of Aethon’s works in a public library to an interstellar spaceship where Konstance listens to her father’s retelling of the story of Aethon.

Doerr has created an incredible narrative that is so beautifully told you’ll find it hard to put down.

22. What Alice Forgot by Lianne Moriarty

I’m a big fan of Lianne Moriarty and her books. All set in Australia with memorable characters, Moriarty has a solid back catalog of lesser-known titles after she exploded in popularity with The Husbands Secret, Big Little Lies and Apples Never Fall.

My favorite of her titles found in her back catalog is extraordinarily sweet, What Alice Forgot. Alice is 29 years old, madly in love, and expecting her first child. Until she hits her head when at the gym and wakes up in a hospital bed a decade older. And instead of finding herself blissfully happy, she’s in fact pretty miserable.

You won’t help but be caught up in Alice’s tale and like Liane Moriarty’s books you’ll end up roaring with laughter. One of the best summer reads for a day at the beach.

23. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

Fredrik Backman has the extraordinary ability to capture everyday people and create the most fascinating stories about ordinary people incredibly exciting.

A failed bank robber holds hostage a collection of people from all walks of life. As we spend the day with these characters in Anxious People, we learn of their fears and the things that make these people extraordinary.

A superb story from start to finish. If you’re reading Fredrik Backman for the first time, you are in for an absolute treat and one of the best summer reads 2024.

24. Me by Elton John

Elton John has one of the richest and most fascinating lives and lived to tell it. His music is synonymous with catchy lyrics and wild outfits and the epitome of a showman.

Elton John’s superb autobiography is an incredible piece of work that charts his very humble beginnings and follows his stars trajectory as he reached worldwide fame. Not shying away from his love of drugs and failed relationships, this is an unflinching and honest account of his journey from addict to recovering addict and family man.

25. Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

Patrick Radden Keefe has written one of the most comprehensive books on the Sacklers, the creators and family behind the opioid epidemic that created one of the most potent drugs in the United States – Oxycontin.

Radden Keefe charts the dynasty from its humble beginnings in the 1930s when Arthur Sackler and his two brothers rose from the streets of Brooklyn to create an empire that would destroy millions of lives. Empire of Pain is a fascinating look at the Sackler family and holds no punches. An absolute must for one of the best summer reads 2024.

26. So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson

The brilliant journalist Jon Ronson examines the lives of people who have effectively been ‘canceled’. In today’s culture where anyone can easily be canceled, Ronson looks at and interviews people who have experienced being shamed in public for matters such as plagiarism or tweeting an offensive joke. Although the book was written in 2015 it feels even more relevant and timely considering what is happening in 2024.

27. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

One of my all-time favorite books, the Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls is an unforgettable memoir.

This is the book that I go and purchase for friends and family who haven’t had the chance to come across one of the most remarkable storytellers in the US.

Chronicling her chaotic childhood raised by two delusional parents who moved their children from state to state in search of foolish ambition. Jeannette Walls’ memoir is incredible from start to finish.

If you enjoyed Educated by Tara Westover, you’ll love this.

28. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

If you’ve been in search of an excellent audiobook for your summer beach reads than you’ve got to add I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy to your list.

Former Disney star, Jennette McCurdy was a child star who narrates her childhood abuse at the hands of her mother with decorum and grace.

Jennette McCurdy is a writer to look out for, her talent oozes out of the pages and she somehow makes the reader laugh despite the subject matter.