Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Beach Reads

I've decided to jump on board with Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week the topic is: Beach Reads!

A lot of people tend to define beach reads a bit differently than I do. For me, a beach read is really any great book I can take with me on vacation or read poolside. Sometimes it's a thriller or a horror that makes my hair stand on end (something that's enhanced when reading in warm, sunny weather). Other times it's simply an author whose books always seem to land in my TBR during the summer months. Here are some of the books I've personally enjoyed during those hot and humid summer months - it's a pretty dark list:

1. It by Stephen King - see the hair raising note above! I actually did read this book poolside as a teen over my summer break. 

2. Summer of Night by Dan Simmons - it's a book about summer vacation! Seriously, though, this one and King's It are perfect coming of age horror reads as well as big chunksters that zoom along at a breakneck pace. 

3. The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen - each new release in this series has hit my TBR just in time for summer. This first in the series is excellent, one of my favorites!

4. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin - some might argue that this is NOT in fact a good beach read precisely because it's so involved. My argument, bring sun screen! I did bring this to the beach for two reasons: first, it's long enough that I felt pretty secure in not overloading my bag with lots of books for once. Second, because I'd been watching the show I thought I'd actually have an easier time reading it. Both were great reasons and I finished with just one day left on my trip.

5. Nocturnes by John Connolly - short stories! And, they're short, creepy stories! 

6. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton - so I bought this book on vacation and then brought it to summer camp. I'm a bit biased because it is one of my favorite books of all time but I'll probably always consider it a summer time read thanks to the circumstances under which first read the book. 

7. The Beach by Alex Garland - I mean really, who could resist bringing this book on vacation?! 

8. Feed by Mira Grant - zombies are always fun to bring along on a trip in my humble opinion. I try to find room for zombies on just about any vacation these days.

9. Social Crimes and One Dangerous Lady by Jane Stanton Hitchcock - these were a lot of fun and coincidentally have both just been rereleased this month. And they're a bit lighter than my other choices on this list so far :)

10. The Ruins by Scott Smith - psychological horror about a bunch of kids on a trip that takes a turn for the worst. Really one of the ultimate summer reads for the same reason as Garland's The Beach.

And a last minute addition: yesterday's The Wonder Bread Summer by Jessica Anya Blau - hilarious in a kind of dark way but a one sitting read that's definitely perfect for summer!