A pop-up library on Bondi Beach, Australia, 2010
VB Book Club
Best Summer Beach Reads
A good book is always a good idea—and a great way to hit pause on 2020 and drift off to some far-flung escape, no flight necessary. Plus, the destination is yours to choose, whether a mental massage or a magical getaway or... a pulse-pounding thriller for those adrenaline junkies out there. Here, our favorites right now.
All Adults Here by Emma Straub
Another hit from the author behind Modern Lovers and The Vacationers—or, as Entertainment Weekly puts it, "the queen of the summer novel"…
Another hit from the author behind Modern Lovers and The Vacationers—or, as Entertainment Weekly puts it, "the queen of the summer novel"…
Friends and Strangers by J. Courtney Sullivan
A story about female friendship, a longtime New Yorker in suburban malaise and the new babysitter she hires…
A story about female friendship, a longtime New Yorker in suburban malaise and the new babysitter she hires…
Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan
From the author of Crazy Rich Asians—more blue bloods, more name-dropping, more skewering of the uber-rich…
From the author of Crazy Rich Asians—more blue bloods, more name-dropping, more skewering of the uber-rich…
Gatecrasher: How I Helped the Rich Become Famous and Ruin the World by Ben Widdicombe
If Page Six and TMZ is your drug of choice, then this memoir from the VIP gossip columnist is for you…
If Page Six and TMZ is your drug of choice, then this memoir from the VIP gossip columnist is for you…
Dolls! Dolls! Dolls! Deep Inside Valley of the Dolls by Stephen Rebello
Go behind the scenes of the Jacqueline Susann 1966 classic novel, Valley of the Dolls, and the film that followed…
Go behind the scenes of the Jacqueline Susann 1966 classic novel, Valley of the Dolls, and the film that followed…
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
The lives of identical twins diverge at age 16, one lives with her Black daughter in the same town, the other hides her identity and passes for white in another…
The lives of identical twins diverge at age 16, one lives with her Black daughter in the same town, the other hides her identity and passes for white in another…
A Star Is Bored by Byron Lane
Picture The Devil Wears Prada but set in Hollywood, written by a former assistant to Carrie Fisher…
Picture The Devil Wears Prada but set in Hollywood, written by a former assistant to Carrie Fisher…
All My Mother's Lovers by Ilana Masad
A daughter returns home after the death of her mother and discovers five sealed letters from her, each addressed to a different man…
A daughter returns home after the death of her mother and discovers five sealed letters from her, each addressed to a different man…
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Sex, drugs and rock and roll—trace the rise of an iconic (but fictional!) Seventies band…
Sex, drugs and rock and roll—trace the rise of an iconic (but fictional!) Seventies band…
Wow, No Thank You.: Essays by Samantha Irby
"What Keats did for the ode, Samantha Irby has done for the complaint," the New York Times writes about this new collection of sidesplitting essays from the comedian and blogger..
"What Keats did for the ode, Samantha Irby has done for the complaint," the New York Times writes about this new collection of sidesplitting essays from the comedian and blogger..
If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha
Step into the world of contemporary Seoul—K-Pop, "room salons," plastic surgery obsessions and all—through the lives of four young women living in the same apartment building...
Step into the world of contemporary Seoul—K-Pop, "room salons," plastic surgery obsessions and all—through the lives of four young women living in the same apartment building...
The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward
Charlotte Perkins wins a Mediterranean cruise trip and she drags her adult (and estranged) children along with her…
Charlotte Perkins wins a Mediterranean cruise trip and she drags her adult (and estranged) children along with her…
Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier
Another story of female friendship, this time between a pregnant pizza delivery girl and the stay-at-home mom who orders pickle pizzas…
Another story of female friendship, this time between a pregnant pizza delivery girl and the stay-at-home mom who orders pickle pizzas…
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
A murder mystery à la Agatha Christie, a destination wedding, an actor groom and a bride who's a magazine publisher…
A murder mystery à la Agatha Christie, a destination wedding, an actor groom and a bride who's a magazine publisher…
Stray: A Memoir by Stephanie Danler
The author behind the best-selling Sweetbitter recounts her traumatic past as the child of addicts…
The author behind the best-selling Sweetbitter recounts her traumatic past as the child of addicts…
Normal People by Sally Rooney
The book that gave us the blockbuster Hulu series about intense and mismatched love…
The book that gave us the blockbuster Hulu series about intense and mismatched love…
Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh
It begins with an ominous note found in the woods about a dead body—but there is no body. The mystery, with a fragile, sheltered widow as our detective, unfurls from there…
It begins with an ominous note found in the woods about a dead body—but there is no body. The mystery, with a fragile, sheltered widow as our detective, unfurls from there…
The Golden Cage by Camilla Läckberg
A billionaire divorces his trophy wife and marries his mistress—and now she gets her revenge…
A billionaire divorces his trophy wife and marries his mistress—and now she gets her revenge…
Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman
One more for the beautiful and knotty bond of female friendship, from the hosts of the popular podcast for "long-distance besties everywhere," Call Your Girlfriend…
One more for the beautiful and knotty bond of female friendship, from the hosts of the popular podcast for "long-distance besties everywhere," Call Your Girlfriend…
Bonus: Most Summer Coffee-Table Worthy
We get it—sometimes we just want some gorgeous eye candy. Here are more of our favorites books, this time straight from our new store in Nantucket, to transform that coffee-table decor for the summer season.
