By Joyce Corrigan //
“Catch a wave and you’re sitting on top of the world.” Few things sum-up summer escapism — ocean breezes, coconut oil, and nada-on-the-agenda — like a Beach Boys song. A close second, though, is a thrilling, chilling, thoroughly-addictive beach read. Hang on to your sun hat because the groundswell of this summer’s page-turner, probable bestseller-cum-inevitable Hollywood adaptation is off to a tsunamic start.
On Memorial Day, John Grisham dropped “Camino Ghosts,” the third in his series of crime mysteries set on Camino Island. The next week welcomed “Eruption,” a thriller started by the late, great (and Bedford resident) Michael Crichton (“Jurassic Park”) and completed by best-selling author James Patterson. The gist: A volcano on Hawaii’s Mauna Loa erupts, endangering a hidden cache of potentially world-destroying chemical weapons. Together, Crichton and Patterson have sold an estimated 675 million copies. “Godzilla’s head grafted onto King Kong’s body” is how The Washington Post described the collaboration. Oscar-winning directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi have already signed on to direct “Eruption.”
While Grisham has authored 47 consecutive No. 1 bestsellers, selling over 300 million copies and enjoyed more than a few star-studded movie versions of his crime dramas — “The Firm” with Tom Cruise and “Pelican Brief” with Denzel Washington — with his Camino series he freely admitted he set out to write a “beach read.”
Then there’s the serial beach read bestseller Elin Hilderbrand, whose newest title, “Swan Song,” is the conclusion of her romance series set in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Hilderbrand recently revealed she slips into a bikini whenever she sits down to write. And streaming this summer on Netflix is a sexy series based on her bestselling “Perfect Couple,” also set in Nantucket, starring Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber.
Pound Ridge resident, David Gernert, a literary agent and former editor in chief of Doubleday, represents Grisham and is currently negotiating a deal with a Hollywood studio to make the Camino novels into an ongoing television series, thinks the Hollywood connection has been a godsend for publishing. “Particularly with the streaming services like Netflix, Apple, Hulu, always needing new content, it’s a really good time for new books,” he said. “Hollywood tends to prefer branded IP, so big names and bestsellers will have an advantage.”
How can “Camino Ghosts” miss? A Grisham beach thriller set on a gorgeous island with a cursed past! “It works both ways,” Gernert said. “If a title is a big hit as a TV series, it will sell more at the bookstore.”
In Gernert’s seasoned view, in recent years the biggest driver of fiction sales (and summer beach reads are no exception) are Oprah’s Book Club, Reese’s Book Club, Jenna Bush Hager’s Book Club and the Good Morning America Book Club. And then there’s TikTok. Using viral videos and reviews by influencers, the platform has radically changed book marketing and sales into something 100% reader-driven. Bestselling author Emily Henry (“Beach Read” and “People We Meet on Vacation”) almost always publishes her books in May to capture the summer bibliophile; her followers have repaid the favor by posting more than 21 million video reviews about her books.
Meanwhile, back at the local bookstore, Gretchen Menzies, owner of The Reading Room in Katonah, commented that while some of her clients will by asking for the Grisham and Crichton/Patterson titles, splashy blockbusters are, by design, not her niche. “We tend to sell more interesting off-list books rather than bestsellers that people can buy online,” she said. Her avid customers definitely read lighter fare in summer months, she observed, “but they will ask for a beach read and then make clear they don’t want brainless,” she said. “Just something to give their brain a break, take them away somewhere.”
Menzies says Reading Room’s top-selling vacation book so far is Ruth Reichl’s “The Paris Novel,” set at the crossroads of the food, art and fashion scene of 1980s Paris. (Excerpt: “Stella reached for an oyster, tipped her head, and tossed it back. It was cool and slippery, the flavor so briny it was like diving into the ocean.”) Remarked Menzies, “It really makes you want to sit in a café with a cold glass of wine and a croissant.”
Susan Williamson, owner of Booksy Galore in Pound Ridge, reports that she already has “plenty of requests” for the new Grisham, Crichton/Patterson and Reichl titles. Certainly, big names and fast-moving books always get attention “but when it comes to beach reads, well, let it be light,” she believes. “Summer often means traveling and time spent back and forth from pool and beach time, so for one, a book has to fit in your bag. But most important is that a beach read be something a person can pick up and put down without losing the flow of the story.”
Libraries are also bracing for the impact of summer book demands. Silvia Ohler at the Bedford Free Library is happy to report that there are already 150 holds for “Camino Ghosts.” “It’s an excellent summer read,” she acknowledged, “with distinctive characters and a propulsive plot that keeps one turning the page.” But Ohler is quick to contrast this with Irish author Colm Toibin’s new novel, “Long Island.” The latest book is a sequel to his 2009 bestseller “Brooklyn,” which was nominated for the prestigious Booker Award. Perhaps with the precedent of an Oscar-nominated movie having been made out of Toibin’s earlier novel, “Long Island” already has rocketed in popularity among library readers with 420 holds. “The Toibin is gorgeous and moving, and will only become more popular,” predicted Ohler.
By Labor Day, we will all know which proved to be the biggest books of the summer of 2024. Soon, though, you’ll start seeing them at the town pools in Bedford and elsewhere, the beach in Bridgehampton or a seaside bar in St. Tropez. And you’ll hear people comparing notes — so, if you resist them, you might feel like a fish out of water.
We asked local independent booksellers and library staff to share a few titles that they think should be at the top of everyone’s summer reading list:
Bedford Free Library
“Lies and Weddings,” Kevin Kwan.“Swan Song,” Elin Hilderbrand.
“You Are Here,” David Nicholls.
“Funny Story,” Emily Henry.“Wives Like Us,” Plum Sykes.“The Paradise Problem,” Christina Lauren.
“Storm Child,” Michael Robotham.“Hunted,” Abir Mukherjee.
The Reading Room
“The Paris Novel,” Ruth Reichl.
'After Annie,” Anna Quindlen.
“Fourth Wing,” Rebecca Yarros.
“The Armor of Light,” Ken Follett.
“None of This is True,” Lisa Jewell.
Booksy Galore
“The Vacation Rental,” Katie Sise.
“The Paris Novel,” Ruth Reichl.
“The Women,” Kristen Hannah.
“Table for Two,” Amor Towles.
“Before the Coffee Gets Cold,” Toshikazu Kawaguchi.