Not Your Average Beach Reads...

A fluff-free summer reading list.

What comes to mind when you hear “beach read”? I think: frothy, fluffy, silly, fun. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with books like that. When the world feels heavy and it’s hot as hell outside, an escapist read or a romantasy is an understandable distraction.

But to my husband Rob’s dismay, I’m drawn to heady, heavy, and, some may say “depressing” memoir and narrative nonfiction. Even when I’m hiding from the sun under a beach umbrella, I want to be engrossed in a book that reads like a deep, dark secret.

If your taste leans more twisted, I think you’ll enjoy these picks. You can shop the full list on my Bookshop.org Shop, and I’ll earn a teeny commission. Happy reading!

Out of Sheer Rage by Geoff Dyer

This one about a man who can’t write the book he wants to write will make you feel better about the book or project you’re not doing this summer. Hilarious, maddening, human.

The Guilt Pill by Saumya Dave

A pill to rid you of your guilt? Yes, please. Where do you sign up? Right here with this psychological thriller of motherhood and ambition.

The End Is The Beginning: A Personal History of My Mother by Jill Bialosky

This memoir had me at the title. Plus, I adored Bialosky’s History of a Suicide as much as you can adore a memoir about (the author’s sister’s) suicide.

Trying: A Memoir by Chloe Caldwell

I’d follow Chloe anywhere and I literally have–I attended one of her retreats upstate half a dozen years ago and have read all her books. This one, about trying to conceive a child in a marriage that ultimately blows up, is right up my alley. And maybe yours too?

Nothing Serious by Emily J. Smith

This novel about dating and friendship and what happens when the man you love may have killed the woman you’re obsessed with is a funny page-turner that kept me reading until the end (which says something these days).

All The Mothers by Domenica Ruta

It’s true I fucking love Domenica Ruta as a human and a friend, but that has nothing to do with the fact that I adore this hilarious novel about three women who decide to raise their children (from the same man) together.

People Collide by Isle McElroy

A novel about what happens when a married couple one day wakes up and they’ve switched bodies except one of them is missing. Now Eli must find Elizabeth and when he does will their marriage survive?

Goddess Complex by Sanjena Sathian

At least a handful of people told me to read this novel and they weren’t wrong. A woman leaves her marriage after disagreeing with her husband over whether to have kids…I feel like I’ve heard this story before!

Draw Your Adventures: Making Art to Celebrate Everyday Experiences and Travels Near And Far by Samantha Baker

What better time to learn how to play in the sandbox of your creativity than during the slower days of summer. All you need is a sketchbook and pens and my neighbor and friend Sam will take you through prompts and challenges to capture the world around you.

Relative Strangers by A.H. Kim

Take two half-Korean sisters and fold in messy love affairs and an explosive secret and you have this unputdownable novel.

Do you have unconventional beach reads to share with our Spark community? Drop them in the comments below!

xo,

Ruthie