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BY JOEL FRANCIS

Are you looking for some great books to read on the beach? Then look no further, here are 3 fantastic books that you can read in just a few beach sessions. I hope you enjoy them!

AN ABSOLUTELY REMARKABLE THING

Hank Green

Genre: Biography

For Fans Of: Ready Player One

What’s in the pages? Coming home from work at 3 am, April May stumbles across a giant 10-foot sculpture that's a mix of a Transformer and Samurai. April and her friend Andy decide to make a video with it and upload it to YouTube; little do they know that it will change their lives and the perspective the world has about humanity. Because when they wake up the next day, The Carls (as the sculptures come to be known) are in dozens of cities across the world and no one knows how they got there.

Why should you read it? This is a tough book to summarise into a paragraph because it's about lots of different things. Essentially, it's a story about the effects that fame can have on the human condition and how we put celebrities onto pedestals to then tear them down again.

But, it's also a super entertaining story about extra-terrestrial robots that turn up in every country on earth at the same time, a secret code that humanity must come together to solve and a story about how teamwork can make the dream work.

This is a hilarious, captivating and poignant novel that hides a critical message in its adventure story and I highly recommend it.

THIS IS HOW IT ALWAYS IS

Laurie Frankel

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

For Fans Of: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

What’s in the pages? Claude is the youngest member of the Walsh-Adams family. He is five years old, loves peanut butter sandwiches, is the youngest of five brothers and when he grows up, he wants to be a girl.

Claude's parents are happy to let Claude be whomever he wants to be. When they move across the country for Rosie's new job, they decide to let Poppy be who she wants to be, not telling anyone about her past. All seems to go well until one day, their new existence and universe slowly implodes, and they are forced to face the reality of their decisions.

Why should you read it?

I had no idea what to expect going into this novel. I had bought it on a whim when I saw it on Audible because I thought it sounded intriguing and oh my god what a book.

This is something that everyone should read, whether they are interested in the topic or not - because it's just that amazing! While it's a book about Trans representation and everything that goes along with it (it has some of the best I've seen in fiction by the way), at its core, it's a novel about family and the often hilarious, dysfunctional and heartbreaking moments that come as a household evolves and children get older.

This story had me completely absorbed. The characters are fantastic and relatable. The story is engaging and entertaining.

I think this is going to become a book I read and reread over and over again!

THE ADULTERANTS

Joe Dunthrone

Genre: Fiction/ Satire

For Fans Of: High Fidelity

What’s in the pages?

Ray Morris is unremarkable in every way. He has an unremarkable job as a freelance tech journalist, an unremarkable marriage to Garthene, who is pregnant, and an unremarkable group of small friends. He has never been punched in the neck, never committed adultery with his actual body, never been caught in a riot, arrested or tagged by the police or become an international hate figure... until one day he is. Then, his whole world is turned on its head.

Why should you read it?

The Adulterants is a short, hilarious and cynical book about cancel culture, losing everything, and growing up. I managed to read this book in one sitting, and although I wasn't sold on it right away, the twist was hilarious, and the protagonist is a loveable idiot, and we all know one of those. (If you don't, then it's probably you.)

If you're looking for an easy read that won't challenge you too much or take you forever to read, then I'd suggest this book. It'll make you laugh and make you glad that you aren't the protagonist!