By Marjorie Magazine

We’re in much need of a getaway after a trying last year, and with Summer just arriving, there couldn’t be a more picturesque destination than the beach. But even if you’re landlocked this season or not quite ready to venture out of safety concerns, you won’t need to speed down to the coast for that true golden summer vibe by the waves. All you’ll need are these 3 books that make for the best beach reading, not only captivating in their breezy yet endearing storylines, but their destinations of days long gone by, too. Travel far and back in time with just a few hundred pages of romance, classic convertibles, lobster rolls, and Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” on the record player singing out from the front porch among the summer roses and hydrangeas– these are just a few of the nostalgic moments that await you!

Not sponsored, but we encourage our readers to find the books mentioned below via bookshop.org, an incredible shop that sources straight from independent bookstores across the country to support local small businesses!

Summer of ’69, by Elin Hilderbrand

The times they are truly a changing for the Levin family, whose summer on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard in 1969 portray how milestones of the decade trickle down into the everyday lives of Americans. In the vein of a coming of age story aptly set in nostalgia, thirteen-year-old Jessie Levin finds adventure in spite of the uncertainty of having to spend summer with her grandmother by herself on Nantucket, with her sisters gone and caught up in their own lives and her brother serving in Vietnam. It’s our current read, and so far we’re captivated by this optimistic read that switches between the stories of each sibling as they embody resilience, embrace the changing times, and hold on to the beauty of family bonds that despite the change that comes, remains constant.

Hardcover, $25.76 at bookshop.org

Summer Darlings, by Brooke Lea Foster

All that glitters is certainly not gold, especially in the golden days of Kennedy fever that takes over the elite of Martha’s Vineyard in the early ’60s. Heddy Winsome, after finding herself out of her Wellesley scholarship and thrust into an uncertain future, throws herself completely into her summer job watching the children of the island’s most alluring power couple, Jean-Rose and Ted Williams. While befriending a Hollywood starlet, navigating between two charming young affluent men with differing outlooks, and learning more about the gilded life of glamour yet disturbance within the Williams household, Brooke Lea Foster’s debut novel really is gripping with light mystery and just the right touch of romance that keeps you hooked!

Hardcover, $24 at bookshop.org

A Hundred Summers, by Beatriz Williams

Lily Dane’s 1938 summer back on the shores of her family getaway in Seaview, Rhode Island is shaken up by the arrival of the Greenwald’s, who happen to be her former best friend and her ex-fiance. Taking place right before the devastating Great New England Hurricane that claimed nearly 700 lives, the encounters both Lily, Nick Greenwald, and his wife Budgie make for a dance between timelines that glimpses into the inevitable strain between them and leads up to the intense climax that finds itself literally in the eye of the hurricane.

Paperback, $15.64 at bookshop.org

Have a retro beach read that you can’t put down yourself? Share with your fellow readers in the comments!