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What makes a good beach read?
For Jenna Bush Hager, the answer is simple: They're books "you're not going to want to close," she tells TODAY.com.
While she's partial to a mystery in the summer, Jenna says a beach read can be "any book you want to read on the beach — or wherever the summer takes you."
For Jenna, books are a way to be present in the moment. That's why she's challenging us to find books gripping enough to "put your phone away" this summer.
"Leave it in the hotel room. Keep it in the house when you go to lay in the backyard," she says.
Read With Jenna authors also gave TODAY.com their own beach read definitions and recommendations.
"These Impossible Things" scribe Salma El-Wardany's advice is to "bring the books you’re actually dying to read," not the ones you feel you should read.
Rumaan Alam, author of "Entitlement" and the Read With Jenna pick-turned Netflix hit "Leave the World Behind," says he spends the summer catching up on classics he hasn't read yet. Alam recommends using the season to "get around to a book you always meant to."
"Some books feel more like homework than fun, sure, but you might be surprised," he says.
Jessamine Chan, author of "The School for Good Mothers," hopes for "immersive" and "decadent" reads. Her pick? "The Talented Mr. Ripley" by Patricia Highsmith.
Read on for Jenna's favorite beach reads for summer 2024 and why she picked them.
"A Love Song for Ricki Wilde" by Tia Williams
Jenna loves "a little romance" in the summer and recommended "A Love Song for Ricki Wilde."
Tia Williams, the author of this Harlem-set romance with a twist, told TODAY.com in a previous interview she wants to build "the case for love" in her novels.
"I want the reader to understand that they’re supposed to be together. I never want it to be one of those books where you’re just told that they’re meant for each other, instead of showing that they’re meant for each other. It’s so important that it’s clear that these people really like each other — they’d be friends if they weren’t in love," she said.
Jenna also gives a shoutout to the "queen," Emily Henry, who recently spoke to TODAY.com about her book "Funny Story."
"The Secret Place" by Tana French
Jenna thinks a mystery in the summer "can be so much fun," and she has plenty of recommendations on that front.
In addition to Tana French's "The Secret Place," she shouts out the first-ever Read With Jenna mystery, "The Turnout" by Megan Abbott, as well as the most recent, "The Cloisters" by Katy Hays.
For any readers looking to sink their teeth into a thrilling series, she says she "loves" all of French's books. French is known for her Dublin Murder Squad novels, each narrated by a different law enforcement official in Dublin. Or, for a cozier, countryside-set read, "The Hunter," the second book in her Cal Hooper series, came out last year.
"Queenie" by Candice Carty-Williams
Jenna also goes for books with compelling first-person narrators, like "Queenie" by Candice Carty-Williams or "Bridget Jones's Diary" by Helen Fielding, in the summer.
These are the "types of books that you will open and not be able to put down," Jenna says.
"The Measure" by Nikki Erlick
When "The Measure" came out in July 2022, Jenna said the book would make you reach for a Kleenex — when you weren't actually reaching for the book, that is.
In "The Measure," the entire world population wakes up to find mysterious strings outside their doorsteps, the length of which is seemingly linked to the time they have left on Earth.
“I know it sounds like a book about death but really it’s a book about how we choose to live,” Jenna said.
"Summer Sisters" by Judy Blume
Last but not least, Jenna picks a book about friendship: Judy Blume's classic "Summer Sisters."
Jenna selected the novel, first published in 1998, as a Read With Jenna pick last year, and she's also producing the upcoming adaptation.
Blume, in an interview with TODAY.com, answered lingering questions about Vix and Caitlin's complicated friendship and gave follow-up books to read next.