It's the perfect day to take a book and go the beach--whether that beach is on the ocean, or a spot of sand in your backyard. Enjoy the sun and surf, or shade and breeze. But, don't forget your book!
1. The Awakening
by Kate Chopin. The main character in this novel spends time at the beach, but she also comes to important realizations about herself, and what she wants out of life. "The Awakening" is Kate Chopin's most popular, and most controversial novel.
2. Leaves of Grass
by Walt Whitman. "Leaves of Grass" collects Walt Whitman's poetry, which he revised and republished over the course of many years. He also wrote extensively about the ocean and the beach. One of his most famous works is "Song of Myself."
3. To the Lighthouse
by Virginia Woolf. In "To the Lighthouse," Virginia Woolf uses different perspectives as she drifts trhough time and space to explore the lives of the Ramsay family: creativity, love, and ultimately loss.4. On the Beach
by Nevil Shute. "On the Beach" is about a group of survivors from a nuclear war, but the radioactive cloud will reach them in less than one year. What will the future hold?5. One Thousand and One Arabian Nights
by Geraldine McCaughrean. To save her life, Shahrazad tells a nightly stories every night--of Sinbad the Sailor, Ali Baba, and many other heroes and villains. King Shahryar is so engrossed that he spares her night, so that he can hear the next story. This edition features Geraldine McCaughrean's retelling of the tales, with illustrations.6. South Sea Tales
by Jack London. This collection of stories includes: "The House Of Mapuhi," "The Whale Tooth," "Mauki," "Yah! Yah! Yah!," "The Heathen," "The Terrible Solomons," "The Inevitable White Man," and "The Seed Of Mccoy."7. The Age of Innocence
by Edith Wharton. In the struggle of the individual against society, Newland Archer and Countess Ellen Olenska sacrifice their own desires. But, what happens in the end?8. Tender is the Night
by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in Tarmes, a French coastal town, F. Scott creates a cast of American expatriates, including Dick Divers and his wife. "Tender is the Night" is one of Fitzgerald's last novels.9. The Waves
by Virginia Woolf. Nothing lasts. Everything changes. The novel progresses with the characters crashing into one another--as waves. Of this experimental novel, Woolf once wrote, "I am writing to a rhythm and not a plot."10. The Stranger
by Albert Camus. In "The Stranger," Albert Camus explores "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd." What happens to Meursault on the beach, and what is his eventual outcome? Discover what happens to this ordinary man.