The Best Beach Reads For Your Summer 2025 Reading List From Read With Jenna's Book Club

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Whether you're preparing for a sunny staycation or packing for a weekend beach trip, Read With Jenna has a great selection of books ready to add to your summer reading list. The book club has curated a diverse list of titles since media personality and former first daughter Jenna Bush Hager launched the celebrity-led reading group back in 2019. While the greatest Read with Jenna picks of all time range from poignant classics to insightful memoirs, there are plenty of romances and mysteries that make for great beachside reading material. 

While vacation reading preferences will vary by individual, the phrase "beach read" rose to popularity in the 1990s as a marketing term for escapist and compulsively readable summer titles. In this way, the label is used to suggest the vacation-appropriateness of a title rather than its genre, with beach reads ranging from twisty thrillers like Gillian Flynn's "Gone Girl" to lighthearted romcoms from Emily Henry's iconic backlist. In short, these Read With Jenna books will make great additions to the day-to-night beach outfits you'll be wearing all summer long.

While Taylor Jenkins Reid's "Daisy Jones & The Six" landed on the list of best historical fiction picks from Reese's Book Club, the author's "Malibu Rising" makes for a great addition to any summer reading list. The 2019 Goodreads Choice Award winner follows the famous Riva siblings, known for being the children of singer Mick Riva, during their epic end-of-summer party in 1983. The night of reckless celebration, filled with romance and secrets and paralleled with flashbacks from the 1950s, eventually turns to chaos that leaves the famous family undoubtedly changed forever. 

Though it's noted as being a departure from Reid's other titles, "Malibu Raising" is praised for its snapshot of celebrity culture and its exploration of family dysfunction. When announcing the book as the June 2021 book club selection, Jenna Bush Hager singled it out as a great summer read. "I felt like 'Malibu Rising' was a compulsively fun read that anybody would want to throw in their beach bag," she said via Today. "Everybody is looking forward to summer, and this book felt like the perfect kick-off." Basically, this Read With Jenna pick definitely brings all the necessary summer vibes. 

For readers who prefer to pick up mysteries during their beachside vacations, Jean Kwok's "Searching for Sylvie Lee" is a moving family drama worth adding to your summer TBR. This 2019 release centers around three women from the Lee family: the brilliant, protective, and suddenly missing eldest daughter Sylvie; the timid, sheltered, but determined younger sibling Amy; and their distraught mother, Ma. While Sylvie's disappearance is pieced together through these three perspectives, Amy is confronted with family secrets and hidden histories on her path to uncover the truth. 

Not all "Searching for Sylvie Lee" readers were satisfied with the book's ending, but reviewers highlight its cultural exploration, beautiful writing, and complicated family dynamics as standout elements. Jenna Bush Hager, who's noted mysteries as a guilty pleasure, described a page-turner quality that always makes for great poolside reading. "It is a fast-paced book for sure," she said via Today. "I couldn't help but continue to read to figure out where she was and what happened to her." Overall, this Read with Jenna book club pick is great for summer readers looking for something mysterious, but moving. 

Book enthusiasts may recognize Judy Blume as the author of well-loved middle grade titles like "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" and "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing," with her young adult novel "Summer Sisters" being the perfect Read with Jenna pick for the summer months. The 1998 novel focuses on the friendship between practical wallflower Victoria Leonard and dazzling adventurer Caitlin Somers as they bond over summers spent vacationing with Caitlin's family at Martha's Vineyard. The decade-spanning novel explores friendship, romance, sexuality, and class differences, while also channeling superb summer vibes. 

Chosen as the August 2023 selection for the Read with Jenna book club, Jenna Bush Hager gave the coming of age novel high praise. "It is the perfect, perfect beach read but that doesn't mean that it's an easy read," she said via Today. "It's a beautiful read and it will make you think about growing up and that friend of yours who you adored, but maybe didn't know if they were good for you." For summer readers who love coming of age stories and messy friendships, this is the title to add to your vacation TBR. 

Steven Rowley's "The Celebrants" is the next beach read on our list, with the title selected as a June 2023 pick for the Read with Jenna book club. The Goodreads Choice Awards nominee is pitched as a retelling of the '80s movie "The Big Chill," centering around Jordan Vargas and his college friends, Jordy, Naomi, Craig, and Marielle, 28 years post-graduation. The group reunites in Big Sur as part of a time-honored pact, but this year, Jordan has a secret that promises to change everything.

While "The Celebrants" is praised for its charming characters, exploration of friendship, and moving story, Jenna Bush Hager also marks it as a solid seasonal choice. "This novel is perfect for summer — it's full of humor (if you've read Steven's other novel, 'The Guncle,' you know what I mean) and centered around a powerful love story," the "Today" host wrote on Instagram. "It's an ode to the incredible nature of friendship that will make you truly grateful for those long-standing friends in your own life!" If you want a summer read that balances humor with sentimentality, then this Read with Jenna pick is worth checking out.

Next, "These Impossible Things" by Salma El-Wardany ranks as another vacation-worthy read from the Read With Jenna book club. This 2022 release centers around the lifelong friendship of Malak, Kees, and Jenna, three Muslim women whose relationships are challenged as they transition from college life into adulthood. Outside of their evolving connection to one another, the trio is also tasked with balancing their traditional background with their individual wants and desires, with each woman embarking on a unique journey of her own.

Readers of "These Impossible Things" note its depiction of the complicated relationship between traditional religion, modern culture, and individual desires as a standout element. While these topics can be heavy, Jenna Bush Hager marks the title as a great escapist read. "My June pick, 'These Impossible Things' by Salma El-Wardany, is the perfect story to lose yourself in while you soak up the sun," the media personality said via Today back in 2022. She added on Instagram, "Salma's novel shows the power of treasuring those close to us and demonstrates love in all forms." Readers interested in picking up this beach read should consult trigger warnings, but it otherwise makes for a very special vacation read.

To identify the best summer reads from the Read With Jenna book club, we examined titles from the reading group that have been marketed and reviewed as beach reads on platforms like Goodreads and Bookshop or selections that fit the general criteria of the label. We used Jenna Bush Hager's comments about each monthly selection to help inform our decisions, with the "Today" host describing specific titles as summer-worthy or particularly readable. Additionally, we strove to curate a well-rounded list by including books diverse in plots, genre, and perspectives.