Top 20 Beach Reads of All Time

Mikael Blomkvist is an investigative journalist forced to take a leave of absence after losing a controversial libel case. He is then hired by a retired industrialist to investigate the disappearance of his 16 year old grand-niece nearly forty years earlier.

This heart-wrenching tale is told by several main characters who are all involved in a controversial lawsuit. 13-year-old Anna is suing her parents for medical emancipation when she refuses to donate a kidney to her sister Kate, who is dying from leukemia.

If you like vampire books, this is the beach read for you. This is the book that started the popular HBO show True Blood. It follows the story of Sookie Stackhouse, mind-reading waitress, whose romantic life takes a dangerous turn when she falls in love with a local vampire.

The first novel from super popular chick lit author, Jennifer Weiner. This is probably the funniest as well as the most poignant of all her books. When Candace Shapiro learns that her ex-boyfriend writes an advice column called "Good in Bed" she is mortified to find out that his first article chronicles his relationship with her, advising men on how to "love a larger woman."

This book is part science fiction, part love story, and it makes for an unusual and inventive first novel by Niffenegger. Clare De Tamble's husband Henry is a librarian with an strange "health problem" ... he uncontrollably travels through time, both past and future. Henry meets her in the past when she is just a child, and is able to see her as an widow. Even though his constant disappearances make their marriage almost impossible, their love never wavers.