Best Beach Reads For Your Summer Vacation

Here's a mix of potential beach reads to help pass the time while you work on your tan. (Don't forget the SPF!)  

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Imagine if the hero in a book started talking to you. (Sounds weird, but Mr. Darcy fans would love that.) A teenage girl must help the hero of the book she's reading, Prince Oliver, get out of it. This is Picoult's first venture into the world of young adult literature. She usually tackles heavier topics like assisted suicide and school shootings, so let's see if this lighter work, which she co-wrote with her daughter, makes for good reading.

But if YA novels aren't exactly your thing, maybe you'll like...

Mission to Paris: A Novel by Alan Furst

Spy novelist Alan Furst is at it again with this thriller, which takes place in the summer of 1938. The cast of European characters and a whole lot of intrigue in the beginning stages of World War II should help make for a fun beach day.

But if you're depressed and want to read something funny, then you can try...

I Hate Everyone ... Starting With Me by Joan Rivers

Rivers makes fun of EVERYONE, so don't pick this one up if you're one of those sensitive people who can't take a [dirty, rude, insensitive] joke. If Rivers can poke fun at herself -- which she does frequently here - then you'll be just fine.

But if you really do want a more mysterious read, then try out...

Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn

Flynn's mystery novel is about a seemingly perfect married couple and what happens when the wife goes missing. The husband must confront the people around him, including his in-laws, but did he have anything to do with her disappearance?

Still too heavy? There's always the latest book by a popular chick lit author...

The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner

The In Her Shoes author's book is about a Hollywood hopeful who wants to become a screenwriter. Her sitcom eventually gets picked up, but living the dream might not be so dreamy after all.