6 Summer Reads for Your Beach Bag

What makes a good beach book? It should be a page-turner, easy to get into, but not simply a plot-driven movie-like story. Here are six summer reads for your beach bag.

Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood by Jennifer Traig
This is not fiction, but it's a wonderful, hilarious read. The author writes about her growing up years as she learned to deal with her obsessive compulsive tendenices.

My Antonia by Willa Cather
Looking for a heartfelt American story? This story of a Bohemian immigrant girl is satisfying on so many levels.

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

Paris on the eve of Nazi occupation. A French writer of Ukrainian Jewish origin, Irene Nemirovsky had planned to write five novels in this high-stakes setting, but she only finished two of them before she was arrested and taken to Auschwitz. Suite Francaise was made into a movie earlier this year (2014).

The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington
Here's another book that has been made into a movie, this time by Orson Welles. The Magnificent Ambersons follows two generations of a wealthy Indianapolis family. The characterization is fantastic.

Precious Bane by Mary Gladys Meredith Webb
Lo and behold, this one has a movie, too, albeit a made-for-TV movie. Prue Sarn has a beautiful character, but her life is blighted by a harelip. It's a wonderful story about power, money, murder, and true love.

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
Two young couples become close friends as they're just starting out during the Depression. This story follows their lives, aspirations, and friendship, and it's just about as wonderful a novel as you'll ever read.