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I loved it.)
The notion of dedicated vacation reading is at least a little older than that.
Something for everyone, then.
Judith Clain arrived atLittle, Brown and Companyalmost 20 years ago and is now its editor-in-chief.
We need to convince them its one ofthesummer reads.
Theres a ton of competition out there.
So is the beach read just an empty marketing term?
You have to want an escape a vacation for body and brain.
But is that really so?
If historical nonfiction has a place in your beach bag, then its a beach read.
Still, there are some general parameters.
Some of the best beach reads go down like Hallmark holiday movies and I mean that in thebestpossible way.
you could take a break for a swim, a cocktail, or a nap without losing a beat.
(This year: Wendy WalkersThe Night Beforeand Robyn HardingsThe Arrangement.)
(AndrewssSunset Beachis in stores now.)
Anything that smacks of required reading is disqualified.
(Vulturehas the best one, of course.)
Occasionally they even inspire other beach reads.
There was a real buzz, unlike anything Id ever seen before.
It really gave me pause.
Weiner cites Donna Tartts bookThe Goldfinchas an example.
The book won the Pulitzer, andVanity Fairstill published a lengthy, Yes, but is it art?
(Have I exacerbated this problem by writing nearly exclusively here about womens books and explicitly referencing Hallmark?
Let it be known that I love both womens fiction and Hallmark movies unabashedly.)
They recognize beach reads as a lovely escape that have no reflection on their own intelligence, she says.
Other authors question the whole idea of reading on the beach.
I think the beach is a terrible place to read, says Weiner.
A beach house is a fine place to read.
Bed, in my opinion, is the absolute best place to read.
And beds are for all seasons.
