Beach Reads: What... And Why?

The term “beach read” gets thrown around a lot every year, but how many of us actually know what it means? Is it a book about the beach? A book to read at the beach? A beach to book for a read? A read to beach (okay, I’ll stop the silliness there). The concept of a “beach read” is actually fairly new—according to one article, it was a term originally coined in 1990, based on a concept of a “vacation reading list” published in The New York Times in 1976. It’s not an established genre of fiction, but instead a loose catch-all into which many different books from many different genres fall.
But there are a few definitions that help to make it (mostly) clear what qualifies as a beach read.
A beach read will:
Be a lighter read. When you think of a beach read, you immediately think of something you can dive into without too much thought. No works of Dostoyevsky or Joyce, but books that can be easily read even if you’re a bit woozy from too much sun or umbrella’d cocktails.
You’re in a vacation frame of mind, when you want to kick back, relax, and enjoy whatever you’re doing. A beach read will complement that frame of mind, giving you easy-to-digest fiction or non-fiction in a format that is easy to follow, even if you’re only opening the book on your travels or between dips in the ocean.
The book will be accessible, entertaining, and typically light on the moralizing, philosophizing, and political commentary. Think of beach reads like a Hallmark movie—you can pretty much enjoy them while only half paying attention, but they’ll still be fun enough to keep coming back to.
Have a bright and exciting cover. The beach is all about sunshine, bright skies, and the blue ocean, and that’s exactly the frame of mind your beach read will try to evoke. The bright, exciting covers are intended to catch your eye as you wander through the airport bookstore, with bold and startling fonts that leap out at you.
The blurb on the back will be spicy and hint at mystery, romance, or a thrill, or even just an exploration into the main character’s vacation or whirlwind adventure. But it’s the colorful, bright cover that really gets you to stop and pay attention.

Read the entire article in the July/August 2020 issue of InD'Tale magazine.

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