Top New Beach Reads for Summer 2023

Summer will be here before we know it. Popular fiction titles publishers are expecting to become bestsellers in summer and begin releasing in April or May.

For more information on new books publishing soon, refer to Publisher’s Weekly “on-sale calendar” articles. Because “beach read” is more season than genre, I’ve gathered titles from across genres that are expected to begin their popularity in the coming months.

Read on for a preview of 6–7 books releasing in the months of April, May, or June that you can expect to be perfect books to read poolside this summer.

April

Happy Place by Emily Henry

Emily Henry jumped onto the shelves of bookworms everywhere in 2020 with Beach Read. Henry has since followed her first hit title with a new, popular “beach read” worthy novel. Happy Place is already jumping off the shelves at bookstores and libraries everywhere. Don’t forget to grab an eBook of this one.

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

Sittenfeld has been publishing popular stories since 2013, with Sisterland. Recently, you may have heard of her titles Eligible, or Rodham. In Romantic Comedy, a comedian swears off love until a pop star refuses to meet her expectations.

Homecoming by Kate Morton

You might remember Morton’s 2012 novel The Secret Keeper, or the 2015 title The Lake House. In Homecoming, a murder is discovered on Christmas Eve, 1959. Six years later, our protagonist, Jess, a journalist, returns home to discover the police investigation and decides to take it up as her next story. Find secrets and twists and coincidences abound.

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

Gabe and Pippa live in their dream house on an edge of a cliff. For some reason, this cliff has become a place for people to jump to their deaths. Each night, Gabe runs to save them. But then, one night, he doesn’t. Pippa learns that Gabe knew this person. He wouldn’t lie to her, would he?

In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune

Kline developed a following starting in 2020 with The House in the Cerulean Sea. He followed it up in 2021 with another hit, Under the Whispering Door. Each title is placed in a science fiction/fantasy world that includes LGBTQ characters.

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

Originally released in January to readers participating in a kickstarter campaign, Tress of the Emerald Sea is the first title Sanderson wrote for his wife during the pandemic. It is released in April to the greater population. Three more novels Sanderson also wrote for his wife will be releasing in 2023 first to the kickstarter participants and then to readers everywhere.

May

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

From the author of The Poppy War and Babel, comes a satire about who is allowed to tell what stories. One night, literary darling and Asian American author Athena Liu dies. White woman June Hayward is not a literary darling but would like to be. Seeing an opportunity, June steals Athena’s next work and publishes it as her own under a pseudonym. But then, her identity as a white person is discovered.

Swamp Story by Dave Barry

Jesse and Ken are both looking for a way out of their life in the Everglades. Jesse finds some treasure some “bad men” are tracking. Ken hatches a get-rich-quick scheme involving his viral monster videos. A presidential candidate then arrives in the Everglades, and all does not go as planned. Funny man Dave Barry writes a riot of a tale in, of all places, Florida.

Queen Charlotte by Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes

Calling all Bridgerton fans, pick up this novelization of the upcoming Netflix Bridgerton spin-off of the love story between the Queen and the ever-MIA King. This title comes with the official sign-off of Bridgerton book series author, Julia Quinn.

The Guest by Emma Cline

Author of 2016’s The Girls, Cline returns for summer on Long Island couch-surfing with Alex. This character-driven novel has a similar dark tone to her previous novels and strikes the same balance of writing an unlikable character the reader simply can’t look away from. It may not sound like much, but in Cline’s hands, this novel will be thrilling.

Beware the Woman by Meagan Abbott

Abbott’s previous thrillers include 2021’s The Turnout and 2016’s You Will Know Me. Newlyweds Jack and Jed feel like they have everything when they arrive for a vacation in upper-peninsula Michigan. When Jack has a health scare, all activities stop. Then, secrets about Jed’s family appear and Jacy feels a strange sensation of surveillance. What dangers could possibly be in these woods?

Chain-gang All-stars by Adjei Brenyah & Nana Kramer

In this novel, convicted criminals in jail a given an opportunity to fight for their freedom through a program called CAPE or “Criminal Action Penal Entertainment”. Inmates chosen are frequently picked for their lifetime prison sentences and their violent crimes. Loretta and Hamara have a temporary alliance for now, but only one member of the chain gang is rewarded with freedom. This thriller comes with a systematic critique of today’s for-profit prison system, mass incarceration, and systematic racism. Meanwhile, the novel dissects the concept of American freedom.

The Making of Another Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks & R. Sikoryak

Actor and Author of Uncommon Type, Hanks returns to publishing for an insider look through the process of making a film. Hank’s fictional character creates a graphic novel of his uncle’s 1940s wartime experiences. The book didn’t go very far, but nearly 30 years later, a film director decides to make it into a movie.

June

The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand

Hilderbrand is non-controversially now the queen of beach reads, both winter and summer. The vast majority of her book’s covers are of women sitting on beaches, mostly in Nantucket. In The Five-Star Weekend, our cover is actually a woman, presumably our main character, Hollis, on a boat. Hollis is a food-blog writer struggling with a devastating death when she goes on a “five-star weekend” trip that’s more reckoning than a vacation. A novel of self-discovery, friendship, and love.

Zero Days by Ruth Ware

Ruth Ware has written horror suspense novels such as 2015’s In a Dark, Dark Wood, 2016’s The Woman in Cabin 10, and 2020’s One by One. Jack arrives home after a cybersecurity assignment goes wrong to find her husband, Gabe, dead. As the primary suspect, Jack goes on the run to discover who the killer is, while also figuring out who she can trust.

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See

Meet Tan Yunxian, a real physician of the 15th-century Ming Dynasty. In this fictionalized account, Yunxian and Mailing develop a friendship with both midwives-in-training. Then, Yunxian’s mother arranges her marriage and forbids the friendship. This novel is billed as a story of women helping women to break boundaries and carve a path for future women to follow.

The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende & Francis Riddle

After the death of his father, Samual is transported on the Kindertransport from Austria to England. Decades later, Anita with her mother takes a train from El Salvador to America and are separated at the U.S. border. Anita escapes through the imagination of a magical world called Azabahar. This novel tells two stories of family separations during times of duress and the strength of dreams.

The Happiness Plan by Susan Mallory

Author Susan Mallory is another regular to the beach read category through her numerous women’s fiction titles. Heather’s world falls about, so she reaches out to her estranged father. Daphne is having an emotional affair with an unnamed man. Can she and her husband work it out? Tori's feelings for Daphne’s brother-in-law are suppressed until she moves in with him after a flood. All three need friendship to pull them through this.

The Only One Left by Riley Sager

Sager writes for a similar audience as Ruth Ware. In her new horror suspense novel, the police can never convict Lenora for the murders on one night in 1929. In 1983, Kit arrives in Hope’s End to care for Lenora in her old age. Communicating through something like Morse code, Lenora decides she is finally ready to talk.

The First Bright Thing by J.R. Dawson

The “Circus of the Fantasticals” touring the midwest after WWI. Rin has a magical ability that allows her to jump through time, which is useful on the trapeze. Then, Ron’s past starts to catch up with her and a rival circus has something they have. For readers of fantasy novels or The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

Runners up

Most of the titles I moved to this section are perennially popular authors who have at least one book per year released from a big-five publisher.

• A Little Ray of Sunshine by Kristan Higgins (June)
• The Beach at Summerly by Beatriz Williams (June)
• The Wedding Planner by Danielle Steel (May)
• All the Days of Summer by Nancy Thayer (May)
• Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling (April)
• Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane (April)

Not listed here include upcoming ghost-written books by James Patterson — who has been ghostwritten for a long time by authors that publish under Patterson before publishing on their own, Stuart Woods — who passed away in 2022, and Clive Cussler — who passed away in 2020. Each of these three authors is a brand name with a considerable following and publishing schedule.

Bonus! July 2023 sneak peek

Amazing cover alert! Keep an eye on these stand-out titles coming mid-summer.

• Crook Manifesto by Coleson Whitehead
• Prom Mom by Laura Lippman
• Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena