Enjoy a Quick Escape With These Short Beach Books and Audiobooks
Updated on October 7, 2024
Toss one or more of these short beach books into your bag for the perfect vacation reading.
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Beach reads are the perfect companions for spending a relaxing day by the shore, or when you’re wishing you were! Beach books are typically light, engaging, and easy to dive into, making them ideal for a laid-back reading experience.
Whether it’s a breezy romance, a gripping thriller, or a heartwarming story about friendship, beach reads captivate without demanding too much mental effort, allowing you to fully unwind. Their portability and often shorter length make them convenient to pack in your beach bag, ensuring you have a delightful escape as you relax on the sand. Short beach books are also a great way to escape during other times of the year when you’re at home, dreaming of your next beach vacation! And shorter books are especially easy to dive into.
Reading short books and listening to short audiobooks can be appealing for numerous reasons. One of the most significant advantages is the ability to complete them quickly, making it easier to fit reading into your busy schedule. With less time required to finish a short book, you can enjoy the satisfaction of completing a story in one or two sittings, which can feel particularly rewarding. Another reason to want to read short books is when you’re trying to reach your reading goal. No matter your motivation, there are many fun and charming short beach books to add to your list.
Explore this list of short beach books and dive into your next captivating read.
What’s the appeal of reading short books?
There are several scenarios where reading a short book can be more beneficial than reading a long one:
- When you have a busy schedule: For someone with a hectic lifestyle, short books fit easily into limited free time, allowing you to enjoy reading without a long-term commitment. Short books and short audiobooks often deliver concise and impactful messages. Without the space for unnecessary filler, they get straight to the point, delivering engaging stories in an easy-to-digest format.
- When you’re traveling: Short books are ideal for travel, providing a complete reading experience within the span of a flight or train ride. Short beach books are also beneficial for someone who wants to read while on vacation but is worried they won’t have time to finish a longer book.
- When you want to hit your reading goal: For those trying to hit a specific reading goal, like on Goodreads, short books can help boost your book count and provide a sense of accomplishment. If you use Goodreads and need to hit your reading goal by the end of the year, turning to short books can be the difference between accomplishing your reading goal or not. Sometimes I start out the year strong but then fall behind as life gets busy, and reading a few short books helps me to get back on track. Beach books are especially enjoyable to read in a shorter amount of time because their lighter themes are easier to digest, keeping the experience breezy and fun.
- When you need reading motivation: The quicker pace and shorter length mean you can add more titles to your “read” list, boosting your confidence and motivation. This can be especially encouraging for new readers or those who have fallen out of the habit and want to get back into it. Short books can maintain engagement and interest for readers who may struggle with longer books or have a short attention span. They allow you to explore a variety of genres and authors without feeling overwhelmed by a lengthy commitment.
Overall, short books in the beach reads genre provide an accessible and practical way to enjoy reading and achieve your reading goals.
14 Short Beach Books and Audiobooks
For this list I’m considering a short book to be a book under 335 pages (although most in this list are under 300 pages!) and an audiobook under, or only slightly over, 7 hours long.
1. Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan
Print book length: 320 pages
Audiobook length: 6 hours and 57 minutes
Genres: beach reads, romance, adult fiction
Summary:
Beach Rules: Do take long walks on the sand. Do put an umbrella in every cocktail. Do NOT run into your first love.
Sam’s life is on track. She has the perfect doctor fiancé, Jack (his strict routines are a good thing, really), a great job in Manhattan (unless they fire her), and is about to tour a wedding venue near her family’s Long Island beach house. Everything should go to plan, yet the minute she arrives, Sam senses something is off. Wyatt is here. Her Wyatt. But there’s no reason for a thirty-year-old engaged woman to feel panicked around the guy who broke her heart when she was seventeen. Right?
Yet being back at this beach, hearing notes from Wyatt’s guitar float across the night air from next door as if no time has passed—Sam’s memories come flooding back: the feel of Wyatt’s skin on hers, their nights in the treehouse, and the truth behind their split. Sam remembers who she used to be, and as Wyatt reenters her life their connection is as undeniable as it always was. She will have to make a choice.
— From the publisher
2. Sandwich by Catherine Newman
Print book length: 240 pages
Audiobook length: 5 hours and 43 minutes
Genres: beach reads, family, adult fiction
Summary:
For the past two decades, Rocky has looked forward to her family’s yearly escape to Cape Cod. Their humble beach-town rental has been the site of sweet memories, sunny days, great meals, and messes of all kinds: emotional, marital, and—thanks to the cottage’s ancient plumbing—septic too.
This year’s vacation, with Rocky sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, promises to be just as delightful as summers past—except, perhaps, for Rocky’s hormonal bouts of rage and melancholy. (Hello, menopause!) Her body is changing—her life is, too. And then a chain of events sends Rocky into the past, reliving both the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers.
It's one precious week: everything is in balance; everything is in flux. And when Rocky comes face to face with her family’s history and future, she is forced to accept that she can no longer hide her secrets from the people she loves.
— From the publisher
3. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
This is a series of three books: (Book 1) The Summer I Turned Pretty, (Book 2) It’s Not Summer Without You, (Book 3) We’ll Always Have Summer. All three books qualify as short books, however, for simplicity’s sake, I’m only featuring the first book here.
Print book length: 288 pages
Audiobook length: 6 hours
Genres: beach reads, romance, young adult fiction
Summary:
Some summers are just destined to be pretty.
Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer—they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.
— From the publisher
4. House on the Harbor by Elizabeth Bromke
This is book 1 of the Birch Harbor series, which consists of five books. All of the books in this series qualify as short books, however, for simplicity’s sake, I’m only featuring the first book here.
Print book length: 218 pages
Audiobook length: 6 hours and 9 minutes
Genres: beach reads, family, romance, adult fiction
Summary:
Four sisters. One family secret. And a chance to fix the past...
Kate Hannigan is in charge of her late mother's estate, and she has a plan: divide everything evenly, including the old family house on the harbor. What she doesn't realize is that her mother changed the will. Now, a family secret hangs in the balance.
Meanwhile, her sister, Amelia, a struggling off-Broadway actress, enlists her hapless construction boyfriend to help with a local project, but he's more interested in summer tourists.
Second-youngest, Megan, is preoccupied with her divorce... but not too preoccupied to make a dating profile, much to her sisters' mortification.
Baby of the family, Clara, is single and refuses to date. She puts her teaching job above all else. Until a crushing revelation calls into question everything she knew to be true... including her own past.
Head to Birch Harbor, Michigan and visit the Hannigan sisters, who live and love on the quaint shores of Lake Huron. Birch Harbor is a romantic women's fiction series and a family saga by the author of The Farmhouse.
— From the publisher
5. The Family Holiday by Shalini Boland
Print book length: 256 pages
Audiobook length: 7 hours and 36 minutes
Genres: beach reads, thriller, mystery, adult fiction
Summary:
Two families. One house swap. A vacation to die for.
I can’t believe my luck as I arrive at the beautiful, white-washed Italian villa. Complete with an infinity pool and stunning views, it’s the perfect place to create special memories with my family. But as soon as we step inside everything starts to go wrong…
When my neighbour from back home calls, concerned about the woman in my house – and the way she’s snooping about – I start to wonder why successful Amber Mason has swapped her gorgeous villa in the sun for a crumbling English cottage.
In the midday heat a shiver runs down my spine. I have no idea who the stranger I’ve let into my life really is.
Then I discover an old photograph of my handsome husband hidden in a wardrobe in the master bedroom. My head spins as I try to understand why it’s there. When I confront Niall on the balcony he has an answer for everything. As I search his familiar green eyes, with the sun setting in the background, I can no longer tell if he’s lying. I storm out.
But when I return to the villa, in the dark of night, I scream. My husband is lying dead on the veranda.
Memories of our marriage flash before our eyes. Was it all a lie? And are my children now in danger?
The vacation is over and the nightmare has just begun…
— From the publisher
6. Seven Year Switch by Claire Cook
Print book length: 284 pages
Audiobook length: 6 hours and 16 minutes
Genres: beach reads, adult fiction, romance
Summary:
Just when Jill Murray has finally figured out how to make it on her own, her husband Seth is back, proving he can’t even run away reliably. Now Jill has to face the fact that there’s simply no way she can be a good mom without letting her ex back into her daughter Anastasia’s life. They say that every seven years you become a completely new person, and it takes a Costa Rican getaway to help Jill make her choice - between the woman she is and the woman she wants to be.
— From the publisher
7. The Nantucket Inn by Pamela Kelley
This is book 1 of the Nantucket Beach Plum Cove series, which consists of eight books. All of the books in this series qualify as short books, however, for simplicity’s sake, I’m only featuring the first book here.
Print book length: 252 pages
Audiobook length: 6 hours and 19 minutes
Genres: beach reads, romance, adult fiction
Summary:
Lisa Hodges needs to make a decision fast. Thanks to her dead husband's gambling addiction, their savings is almost gone. In her early fifties with a large, waterfront home on Nantucket to support, Lisa hasn't worked in over thirty years, has no in-demand skills and is virtually unemployable.
Her only options are to sell the house and move off-island, or, she could use her cooking and entertaining skills and turn her home into a bed and breakfast. She desperately needs it to succeed because she has four grown children with problems of their own and wants to stay close to them.
Her oldest daughter, Kate, has a fabulous career in Boston--working as a writer for a popular fashion magazine and engaged to a dangerously handsome photographer, who none of them have met.
Kate's twin, local artist, Kristen, has been reasonably content with her on-again off-again relationship with an older, separated businessman.
Her son, Chase, runs his own construction business and is carefree, happily dating here and there but nothing serious.
Youngest daughter, Abby, is happily married to her high school sweetheart, and they've been trying to have a baby. But it hasn't happened yet, and Abby wonders if it's a sign that maybe their marriage isn't as perfect as everyone thinks.
Come visit Nantucket and see how Lisa's new bed and breakfast has an impact on almost everyone in her family. It's the first book in a new series that will follow the Hodges family, friends, and visitors to Nantucket's Beach Plum Cove Inn.
— From the publisher
8. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Print book length: 256 pages
Audiobook length: 6 hours and 27 minutes
Genres: beach reads, mystery, thriller, young adult fiction
Summary:
A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.
Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.
— From the publisher
9. The Beach House by Rachel Hanna
This is book 1 of the South Carolina Sunsets series, which consists of eleven books. All of the books in this series qualify as short books, however, for simplicity’s sake, I’m only featuring the first book here.
Print book length: 240 pages
Audiobook length: 4 hours and 47 minutes
Genres: beach reads, family, romance, adult fiction
Summary:
Julie's husband of twenty-one years was living a secret life, which ended her marriage and forced her to start over alone at forty-three years old.
Faced with a new reality, she decides to rebuild her life on an island off the coast of South Carolina and learn to make it on her own.
The only thing she isn't expecting is to be thrown together with her estranged sister, the flower child wanna-be, yoga teaching bane of her existence. She also doesn't expect to meet a handsome stranger who will help her transform the money pit she accidentally bought into the home of her dreams.
As she starts to create a life she loves, her husband causes a wrench in her plans once again. Will she be forced to help the man who broke her heart? Or will she finally break away and live life on her terms?
You're going to love The Beach House and its quirky cast of characters, including Dixie, the epitome of Southern charm and wit, who runs the local bookstore called Down Yonder!
— From the publisher
10. The Summer After You and Me by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
Print book length: 304 pages
Audiobook length: 7 hours and 9 minutes
Genres: beach reads, romance, young adult fiction
Summary:
For Lucy, the Jersey Shore isn't just the perfect summer escape, it's home. As a local girl, she knows not to get attached to the tourists. They breeze in during Memorial Day weekend, crowding her costal town and stealing moonlit kisses, only to pack up their beach umbrellas and empty promises on Labor Day. Still, she can't help but crush on charming Connor Malloy. His family spends every summer next door, and she longs for their friendship to turn into something deeper.
Then Superstorm Sandy sweeps up the coast, bringing Lucy and Connor together for a few intense hours. Except nothing is the same in the wake of the storm, and Lucy is left to pick up the pieces of her broken heart and her broken home. Time may heal all wounds, but with Memorial Day approaching and Connor returning, Lucy's summer is sure to be filled with fireworks.
— From the publisher
11. Newport Harbor House by Cindy Nichols
This is book 1 of the Newport Beach series, which consists of six books. All of the books in this series qualify as short books, however, for simplicity’s sake, I’m only featuring the first book here.
Print book length: 230 pages
Audiobook length: 4 hours and 34 minutes
Genres: beach reads, family, friendship, adult fiction
Summary:
Jen Watson can't believe this trip might be her last at the family beach house in Newport. She finally has a summer all to herself with her kids grown and gone and she's been waiting for this for decades--she's earned it after raising two boys on her own. Now that she's an empty-nester, the summer is a long stretch of a little bit of work and a lot of fun with her two best friends. They've all raised their kids on the beach, taught them how to swim in the harbor and made sandcastles until well after the sun set. And now it's their turn.
A summer project of fixing up the old house sounds fun until things go south. Peeling paint is one thing, but the house is old and needs a little more than just a patch here and there. The rest of the family doesn't want to sink money into any repairs, and Jen and her friends put their heads together to come up with a plan.
Faith is teaching summer school and Carrie has her own clinic, but they're ready with hammers, nails and paintbrushes to do what's needed to keep the house in the family--and create even more memories, no matter what it takes.
Newport Harbor House is book one on the Newport Beach series, a heart-warming series set in Newport Beach where the bonds of family and friends run deep.
— From the publisher
12. Death on the Cliff Walk by Mary Kruger
Print book length: 256 pages
Audiobook length: unknown
Genres: cozy mystery, historical fiction, beach reads
Summary:
The summer of 1895 promises to be a success in tony Newport. The wealthy have returned to their palatial "cottages" by the sea, glittering balls and entertainments have been planned, and marriages are being arranged. There is just one problem. Maids are being murdered on the famous Cliff Walk. Good help is so hard to find.
For Newport detective Matthew Devlin, the case is both dismaying and baffling. A life-long Newport resident, he views the wealthy cottagers with distrust and disdain, especially when they refuse to cooperate with his investigation. Things change, though, when it is discovered that one of the murdered girls is not a maid. She is, in fact, Rosalind Sinclair, a debutante, and her death shakes Newport as nothing else could.
Matt finds an unexpected ally in Brooke Cassidy. Once he and Brooke, herself the daughter of a cop, had been the closest of friends. Now she lives with her relatives in one of the most palatial cottages. She has never forgotten her background, however, and she is as shocked by the deaths of the maids, as by Rosalind's. When her uncle is arrested for a fifth murder, she joins forces with Matt to solve the crimes, and to unmask a cold, cunning killer who just might come from Newport's elite...who might pose a danger to Brooke herself.
— From the publisher
13. The Island by Maggie Miller
This is book 1 of the Compass Key series, which consists of seven books. All of the books in this series are relatively short books, however, for simplicity’s sake, I’m only featuring the first book here.
Print book length: 332 pages
Audiobook length: 7 hours and 20 minutes
Genres: beach reads, friendship, romance, adult fiction
Summary:
Second chances do exist.
Five women, all in their 50's, undertake the adventure of a lifetime when a mysterious invite reunites them at an exclusive resort set on a private island.
Each one comes with her own story of love and loss, her own hopes and heartaches, her own trials to work through.
Can these former sorority sisters overcome their pasts in order to take advantage of the amazing future being offered?
Take the journey to Compass Key with them and find out.
— From the publisher
14. The Magnolia Inn by Anne-Marie Meyer
This is book 1 of the Red Stiletto Book Club series, which consists of nine books. All of the books in this series qualify as short books, however, for simplicity’s sake, I’m only featuring the first book here.
Print book length: 284 pages
Audiobook length: 6 hours and 20 minutes
Genres: beach reads, friendship, romance, adult fiction
Summary:
A story about new friendships, a forgotten book club, and finding what you didn't know you needed. Welcome to Magnolia.
Maggie is 36, recently divorced and embarrassingly unemployed. With a bank account nearing zero, she does the only thing she can think of: make a business proposition to her gorgeous and successful estranged mother.
To Maggie’s utter surprise, her mother agrees. Any funds she can create off the sale of the dilapidated family inn on the island of Magnolia would be hers to invest. So, Maggie packs her few belongings and heads off to Rhode Island to make her dreams come true.
Clementine has been stuck in Magnolia her whole life. The moment her father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, she knew she could never leave. And it was unrealistic for her to rely on her older brother Archer, who can't seem to outrun the ghosts of his past.
So, when Maggie blows into town, both Clementine and Archer find themselves intrigued by the new move-in. When they stumble upon an old photograph of Maggie’s grandmother buried in the attic, Maggie can’t help but be drawn to a woman she’s never met.
In an attempt to feel closer to a family she never knew, a book club is revitalized. The Red Stilettos Book Club. What starts out as an act of desperation, soon becomes exactly what the women of Magnolia island were looking for: a sisterhood.
— From the publisher
Save This List of Short Beach Books for Later
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Pin this list of short beach books for future reference.
Short beach books are perfect when you want to dive into a fun story without a big time commitment. Whether you’re hunting for a beach vacation read or something to brighten up your commute, this list of short books and audiobooks offers something for everyone. With many series included, you can easily keep the story going if one of them captures your imagination.
By selecting a few short beach books, you can make significant strides toward your reading goal without feeling rushed or overwhelmed. Diving into short beach books is an enjoyable way to meet your year-end target while still enjoying a diverse and satisfying reading experience.
Have you read any of these short beach books or audiobooks? Which of these short books are you adding to your list? Let us know in the comments.
