I took four books on our beach vacation last week, but it was only after I got back and made a trip to my local library branch that I realized I had taken all the wrong books.
You see, my local library had this cute little table set up with a big poster that said "Beach Reads!" and stacks of display books that all seemed to have the word "Beach" in the title, and all also seemed to revolve around light and fluffy chick-lit romances.
Now, don't get me wrong, I love myself a good fun chick-lit romance every now and then. And I love having some lighter books to break the pace in between heavy reads.
But why are these the only types of book deemed beach appropriate?
In my humble opinion, any book I happen to be reading while at the beach qualifies as a "beach read," and apparently I find it pretty okay to read some heavier and more literary stuff at the beach. But I'm not picky, I'll read some good children's lit there too. You know, I think I could just about read any book at the beach.
Honestly, there was no better time or place than our beach vacation for me to dive into some of these books, because I had lots of open hours to devote to reading that I don't normally have in real life. Also, there was family around to help watch and entertain my kids, which meant I got to do some uninterrupted reading. I even got one glorious hour alone on the beach while my husband took the boys back to the beach house for naptime. Seriously, that single hour made my entire summer. It was so luxurious.
Ideal reading spot.
I think it's time we do away with arbitrary definitions of what makes a book a "good" beach read. If it's a good book, it's a good beach read.
Agree? Disagree? What do you read at the beach (or the pool, or on vacation, or wherever)?
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