With temperatures soaring, there’s never been a better time to head to the beach, park, or pool to escape the heat with a book in hand. And this summer, queer book lovers have a plethora of titles to choose from, from gripping romances to provocative anthologies and steamy thrillers.
“A beach read is a state of mind,” Nina Haines, founder of the Sapph-Lit book club, told NBC News in a call from her parents’ beach house, where she was escaping one of New York’s recent heat waves. “Beach reads are books that make you giddy and excited — and a little horny.”
When the heat index rises, Haines says, she tends to turn to her favorite authors, including Casey McQuiston, author of “Red, White & Royal Blue” and “One Last Stop,” and “go all in” on series with interconnected characters and immersive worlds. Her go-to sapphic series authors include Ashley Herring Blake and Alexandria Bellefleur, whose books are published in paperback with wholesome covers, exactly what the book club founder wants when she’s lying in the sand.
“They’re paperbacks that you can throw in your beach bag. You can get them wet, you can curl the pages, and then you can pass them to your friend as soon as you’re done,” she said of her favorite summer books, joking that they often have “cute illustrated covers” to hide “the dirtiest messes you’ve ever encountered.”
“They are compulsive love stories, easy to read, that you devour in one go. It’s a short relationship, but one that has a lot of meaning,” she added, as if referring to a whirlwind affair.
But summer isn’t all about sapphic novels and bestselling romances. For Jesse Aylen, a veteran New York-based publisher, a good summer read might be a memoir or a collection of captivating short stories, as long as they marry brevity with escapism—whether that’s through a tantalizing romance or, for fantasy lovers, a trip to another planet.
“People get hot and want to put their brains somewhere else. Why not Mars?” Aylen said with a laugh, adding that while some people want to read Tolstoy in the summer, he prefers concise, transporting texts that he can devour in one sitting.
“I like long books, but if it’s 80, 90, 100 degrees outside, I want something that fits the breezier vibe of the season,” he said.
Aylen, who belongs to a book club focused on current nonfiction, also enjoys summer reading that sparks conversation and offers humor — from Armistead Maupin’s well-mannered comedy series “Tales of the City” to the tongue-in-cheek “Fran Lebowitz Reader.”
“I love book clubs and I love talking to my friends about books, sharing the beauty and abundance of what’s out there,” Aylen said, adding that when the weather is warm, he especially likes to recommend books that “expand people’s palates.” “The worst thing a book can be is siloed.”
No matter what reading you have to do, summer is a great time to dive into books, thanks to slower work schedules and a greater emphasis on outdoor activities and friendships. So it’s a great season not only for solo reading sessions in the sand and discovering new favorites at book club, but also for curated sections of bookstores designed with reading in mind.
At Provincetown Bookshop, located in the popular gay beach destination of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, the warm weather is bringing a wave of shoppers browsing the store’s seasonal beach reads section.
“It’s pretty much our entire year,” Provincetown Bookstore manager Derek McCormack told NBC News, explaining that the store, which also once employed filmmaker John Waters, makes half of its annual sales in July and August.
To cater to the varied tastes of the summer crowd—who McCormack says range from idle vacationers looking for a less challenging book to professors who want something a little more substantial—the store’s beach read section features a mix of romances and thrillers, some with a local twist. (This year’s lineup includes new releases like Craig Willse’s “Providence” alongside Julia Armfield’s 2022 hit “Our Wives Under the Sea.”) But shoppers also tend to nominate their own favorites as worthy of beach reading.
“A good beach read is dynamic, easy to get lost in and, ideally, very portable,” McCormack said, adding that the elegant reissue of Edmund White’s “Nocturnes for the King of Naples,” a novel told through love letters, has become one of this year’s unofficial picks. “You could classify a lot of things as beach reads, but they all are, at least.”
Overall, what seems to constitute a good summer read for most people—whether it’s classic literature or adult romance, high-brow or popular—is a captivating paperback that’s ripe for devouring, sharing, and ultimately destroying in the sun, sand, and booze of summer. And if there’s a little (or a lot) of sex, well, that certainly doesn’t hurt.
“Love what you love and don’t feel guilty about it,” Haines said, joking that she’d rather be friends with someone who exclusively reads porn than someone who’s read the 100 best books of the 21st century. “Reading is supposed to be fun.”
In addition to the aforementioned recommendations from Haines, Aylen, and McCormack, here are some other queer beach recommendations from NBC News book connoisseurs and bibliophiles:
“A good happy girl”
Iris Tobin, a bookseller at A Room of One’s Own in Madison, Wisconsin — where it’s officially “kids’ summer” — recommended Marissa Higgins’ “masochistically wonderful” book. novel about a self-destructive young lawyer who hangs out with married lesbians.
“Everyone I’ve kissed since you became famous”
Leah Koch, co-owner of bicoastal romance bookstore The Ripped Bodice, named Mae Marvel’s novel about high school best friends who reconnect after their lives take different paths as her current summer favorite.
“Giovanni’s Room”
Pioneering writer James Baldwin’s gripping, concise novel about a tragic love affair between an American expatriate and an Italian bartender in 1950s Paris is a must-read this summer, which marks 100 years since Baldwin’s birth.
‘Hot summer’
Elle Everhart’s addictive new novel tells the story of a woman who competes on a “Love Island”-style talent show to win a promotion and unexpectedly falls in love with a fiery-haired contestant.
“In languages”
Thomas Grattan’s new novel, about a gay twentysomething’s quest for self-discovery that upends the lives of a powerful New York art couple, is another of McCormack’s must-reads this summer.
In K. Patrick’s gripping, erotic debut novel about identity, seduction and obsession, a young employee at an English girls’ school falls for the headmaster’s wife, leading to a taboo affair. “Mrs. S.” was on NBC News’ list of the best LGBTQ books last year and is NBC Out editorial director Brooke Sopelsa’s top beach read pick this summer.
“Bitches”
Bookseller Raquel Espasande of New York’s Bluestockings Cooperative promised that this anthology, featuring works from the erotic to the experimental from “a who’s who of sleaze” and edited by Michelle Tea, “doesn’t disappoint.”
“The future was color”
In Patrick Nathan’s slow-burning new novel, a mysterious narrator recounts the professional and sexual exploits of a gay Hungarian screenwriter in decadent postwar Los Angeles and New York.
“What’s yours”
Before “Small Rain” comes out this fall, revisit Garth Greenwell’s debut novel, a beautifully written meditation on desire centering on an American professor who falls in love with a Bulgarian con man.
“Women” by Chloe Caldwell
Haines described Chloe Caldwell’s newly reissued sapphic erotic novella, which features a passionate romance and devastating heartbreak, is “the perfect beach read right now.” “Women” is also one of NBC News senior producer Jillian Eugenios’ favorite summer books.
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