Well, fellow bibliophiles… it’s that time of year again! The time of year when kids are out for summer holidays, the days are longer and the heat gives us ever more reasons to stay in the shade of the umbrella with a book! (Of course, we can really always find reasons to stick with a book… cold winter? Curl up with a book! Happy spring? Take a book on your picnic! You get the gist…) In honor of the recent start to summer 2019 we would like to share some of our favorites that you may or may not have read before!
Start your summer off right… here are some of our preferred “beach reads”… with an antiquarian twist, of course!
1. The Great Gatsby (1925): The ultimate party read – who wouldn’t want to find out what all is going on behind the greatest host in history’s eyes? Perhaps it is finally time to pick this classic up and find out for yourself!
2. Great Expectations (1861): Of course we can’t recommend some antiquarian faves without putting in one of our main man’s most beloved novels. Great Expectations is popular for many reasons – and many of those reasons make it great company for a day at the beach! Murder, unconditional love, convicts… in a way Great Expectations is a very early kind of crime fiction! What could possibly make this less of a wonderful beach read? Try it, we know you’ll love it as much as we do. (And no, we do not recommend you bring our 1861 3rd edition to the beach with you… but isn’t it pretty??)
3. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955): Another intense one (we are noticing a trend here) is this psychological thriller by the same complex and wonderful author, Patricia Highsmith, who wrote Strangers on a Train – her first novel which was later adapted for the silver screen by none other than Alfred Hitchcock. The Talented Mr. Ripley has just as much intrigue to entertain you… and the best part? There are five novels featuring this complicated villain – so don’t despair once you’ve finished the first installment!
4. War of the Worlds (1897): For you science fiction buffs out there, we’ve included this novel as it is one of the most commented on and famous in the entire genre… not to mention that it is one of the first of its kind! War of the Worlds describes the conflict between mankind and an alien race – which is pretty darn notable for a work first serialized in 1897. Make sure to leave hours for this one, though – it isn’t a book easy to put down!
5. Jaws (1974): Beaches. Sharks. Death. Enough said? For those of you that love to wallow in paranoia and/or scare your friends and family – this one is for you! (Hint: Don’t become inspired by this read to yell “shark!” at a beach to freak out your loved ones. They usually don’t find it funny. Neither do the authorities.)
And one for good luck!
6. Treasure Island (1883): We kind of feel like this one is also self-explanatory as a beach read, as what kind of story containing the open water, pirates and buried treasure wouldn’t find its home by the sea? But if you’ve only ever seen the movie version, we highly recommend this wonderful classic – fun for all ages!
Just please do us all a favor and keep your books safe from sand and water… you can take an antiquarian bookseller to the beach but you can’t keep us from worrying!
Enjoy your summers!
