“I Read It All In 2 Days”: Avid Readers Are Sharing The Best Books To Read On Vacation Or Over A Long Weekend - BuzzFeed

As a Senior Editor at BuzzFeed, I cover books and politics, and I also created the daily vocabulary-boosting word game SAT Scramble.

There's nothing like dipping into a good book on a summer vacation (or while hiding from the sun during a long weekend at home). Whether you're an avid reader or trying to break out of a reading slump, this is a great season for getting hooked on a story that grabs you right from the very first page.

To help you pick your next great read for whatever you've got planned this summer, I asked members of the BuzzFeed Community and staff to share their favorite summer vacation books, and added a few more great picks from this Reddit thread. Here's what people had to say:

"I can't put down any book by Andrea Bartz, but I'd throw out We Were Never Here as a great vacation thriller (literally, it's about a vacation)."

From the publisher: Emily is having the time of her life—she’s in the mountains of Chile with her best friend, Kristen, on their annual reunion trip, and the women are feeling closer than ever. But on the last night of the trip, Emily enters their hotel suite to find blood and broken glass on the floor. Kristen says the cute backpacker she brought back to their room attacked her, and she had no choice but to kill him in self-defense. Even more shocking: The scene is horrifyingly similar to last year’s trip, when another backpacker wound up dead. Emily can’t believe it’s happened again—can lightning really strike twice?

Back home in Wisconsin, Emily struggles to bury her trauma, diving headfirst into a new relationship and throwing herself into work. But when Kristen shows up for a surprise visit, Emily is forced to confront their violent past. The more Kristen tries to keep Emily close, the more Emily questions her motives. As Emily feels the walls closing in on their cover-ups, she must reckon with the truth about her closest friend. Can Emily outrun the secrets she shares with Kristen, or will they destroy her relationship, her freedom—even her life?

Available on Amazon and Bookshop.

"I just read Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall. Definitely a summer read. I was done in two days."

From the publisher: Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.

"Literally any of Elin Hilderbrand's books. They're such easy reads, but they pack a punch. They all take place in beach towns like Martha's Vineyard or Cape Cod, so it already makes me feel so summery when I read them. But then, there's just chaos. There's sex, love, betrayal, deceit...and it's so palatable. One of my recent favorites of hers is The Academy."

"She wrote it with her daughter, and they already have a sequel coming out. It takes place at a New England prep school where, the year before, a beloved student died, and now it's the start of a new year. It goes through various perspectives of students, teachers, and administration, and all their messy lives and entanglements. 10/10."

From the publisher: It’s move-in day at Tiffin Academy and amidst the happy chaos of friends reuniting, selfies uploading, and cars unloading, shocking news arrives: America Today just ranked Tiffin the number two boarding school in the country. It’s a seventeen-spot jump—was there a typo? The dorms need to be renovated, their sports teams always come in last place, and let’s just say Tiffin students are known for being more social than academic. On the other hand, the campus is exquisite, class sizes are small, and the dining hall is run by an acclaimed New York chef. And they do have fun—lots of parties and school dances, and a piano man plays in the student lounge every Monday night.