Operational definition of beach reads: anything that’s read at the beach! Many of you know that I poll family members about their reading during our annual gathering at the beach. This year we were fourteen people, ages 15-93.

Actually, there was less reading than usual going on this year. One woman was submitting her thesis for a master’s degree in public health and another was job hunting. One man had two work-related zoom sessions. Two people had major cold symptoms, and one of those spiked a temperature a bit over 102—with weakness, sweats, and chills—and ended up in the ER from 11:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m., with two others in attendance.

Nevertheless, without attribution, in no particular order, here is the list:

• The Face of Another, Kobo Abe
• Mr. Mercedes, Stephen King
• David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
• The Husband’s Secret, Lian Moriarty
• American Nations, Colin Woodard
• Honeysuckle Season, Mary Ellen Taylor
• Portrait of a Lady, Henry James
• Spare, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex

• A Most Remarkable Creature, Jonathan Meiburg
• Hidden Mountains: Survival and Reckoning after a Climb Gone Wrong, Michael Wejchert
• Mrs. Digger’s Roots, Eleanor Friedlander and Wendy J. Collins
• Here Comes the Postman, Dorothea Park
• The Demon of Unrest, Erik Larson
• Brewed Awakening, Cleo Coyle
• Sense of Deception, Victoria Laurie
• Powder Days: Ski Bums, Ski Towns, and the Future of Choosing Snow, Heather Hansman

Bottom Line: I can’t speak for or against any of these, merely put them forth as books chosen by people I love.