Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Beach Reads

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

Okay, when looking for a beach read I generally want something unchallenging that I can lose myself into. Humour is not completely required but definitely a plus, stuff I'm very familiar with - either through rereading or as part of a series - is great.

These are in no particular order.

1. Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar - I absolutely love the first few GG books, despite thinking the series went downhill fairly quickly and hating the TV adaptation. The early ones, though, are perfect beach reads - lightweight, deliciously trashy, and featuring some memorable characters.

2. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich - Another series which goes downhill as you go on, Evanovich seems to be pushing the Stephanie Plum cash cow a little too far by now. Her early stuff, though, is fantastic - brilliant humour, hilarious plots, and charming characters - notably the central romantically involved trio of bounty hunter Stephanie, cop Joe Morelli, and the mysterious Batman-like figure Ranger.

3. Eddie Would Go by Stuart Holmes Coleman - Okay, I'll ditch my "easy read" philosophy when it comes to one of my favourite ever biographies, about the heroic Hawaiian surfer Eddie Aikau. Neither the book, nor the story of Eddie's heroic sacrifice, is anywhere near well-known enough.

4. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson - A new favourite of mine and another that, behind the gorgeous facade, isn't a particularly easy read, dealing with Amy's grief about her father's death as the title pairing take a road trip across America.

5. Excess Baggage by Judy Astley - I could go with just about any of Astley's as a perfect beach read, but the Caribbean setting makes this the most appropriate. Beautifully drawn characters, a fantastic plot, and a great setting make this a surefire winner.

6. Dreaming of Amelia by Jaclyn Moriarty - Oh, okay, I just need to get a book this wonderful into every top ten I can. A great beach read, though, because of the joy of life that shines through pretty much every e-mail, diary entry, poem and essay that this superb novel is composed of.

7. For the Record by Ellie Irving - I love quirky characters and this tale of a Jersey village desperately trying to break the world record for most world records broken in a week has a bunch of them. Ultra-charming and easy to read.

8. Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles - I keep meaning to read the first in the Perfect Chemistry trilogy but this second one works very well without prior knowledge anyway. Sizzling chemistry between leads Carlos and Kiara, and some excellent adult characters, make this a book to lose yourself in - and it's such a hot romance that the beach is the perfect place to read it.

9. Star Crossed: Aries Rising by Bonnie Hearn Hill - I love books which flick about between different styles and this is an awesome one. BHH puts new life into the genre by adding in extracts from main character Logan's Fearless Astrology book, her own writings, and the main narrative.

10. About This Village by Peter Douglas - Slim enough to fit into a suitcase easily, this is a short novel which manages to capture the spirit of an English village in the 20th century perfectly.