Seven Poolside Reads For Summer

A pool day book has one job: keep you hooked even when real life interrupts. I'm sharing seven poolside reads that are easy to drop and pick back up without losing the thread, with the kind of pacing that makes you say, “Just one more chapter,” before you jump in the water. If you’re building a summer reading list and want titles that feel fun, propulsive, and clear, this one is for you.

I start by defining what actually makes a great poolside read: fewer characters to track, a plot that stays readable in small bursts, and chapters that move. Then we roll through our picks across genres. I’ve got popcorn thrillers like Behind Closed Doors, suburban suspense with Never Have I Ever, and the high-stakes family nightmare of Do Not Become Alarmed. On the lighter side, we talk vacation romance with Happy Place, dark humor with My Sister the Serial Killer, and the warm, community-centered heart of The Lido as a public pool faces closure.

I also get honest about reader preferences, including how it feels when politics show up in a way that doesn’t serve the plot, and why Sandwich can be especially resonant if you’re in the midlife “sandwich” stage. Hit play, grab your sunscreen, and steal our list for your next weekend or vacation. Subscribe for more book recommendations, share this with your favorite reading friend, and leave a review if it helps, then tell us what are you reading by the pool this summer?

Transcript

Welcome And Summer Reading Plan

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Welcome to

What Counts As A Poolside Read

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Novel and Notch where books, food, travel, and the art of living fully come together. Today I want to share with you seven poolside reads that you can enjoy this summer. So when we think of poolside reads, we are thinking about those books that don't demand your full attention. You want to think if you need to watch children in the pool or if you want to go take a dip in the pool yourself, you can come back to the storyline and you're not having to try to refigure things out. You don't want a full cast of characters or too much plot that makes it difficult to come in and out of the storyline. It's also a book that has really good pacing. You can move quickly through the story, and it's not so much about lingering over the sentences. So you're not looking at real literary fiction novels. These are going to be more of a fast-paced read.

Behind Closed Doors Popcorn Thriller

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The first one I am sharing with you is Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris. And this is a popcorn thriller. This is definitely one that is going to have you wanting to consume it as quickly as possible. It has short little chapters so that you can move quickly and you keep thinking, like, I'll just read one more chapter before I take a dip in a pool. That type of read. It is where Jack and Grace are inseparable. They are newlyweds, they are living the perfect life, but you never see Grace without Jack. So people in the community in the neighborhood are starting to wonder what exactly is occurring behind closed doors. This was a great one. I don't want to say that it's surprising in any way, but it was just a fun one to get consumed in in the summer. The second one I want to share with you is Sandwich by

Sandwich And The Midlife Lens

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Catherine Newman. This was all over a couple of years ago, and I do want to preface this that if you are not in midlife, you may not enjoy this book. This is definitely a book that you need to read at a specific point in your life because you aren't going to understand the hormonal roller coaster that occurs during this menopausal perimenopause phase. So don't even bother picking it up because it's just not going to resonate with you. This was such a fun one. It is a very short, quick, fast-paced read about Rocky. She is going to be staying in a home in Cape Cod where she is spending time with her children, her grown children, and her elderly parents. And just kind of what life is like when you are in this sandwich stage. It I loved it. I laughed because I could see myself on the page so much within this book. Even if you can't see yourself on the page, you will also be one because there's times where I'm like, I could see myself acting like this. Not that I would act like this, but I feel like I want to act like this right now. So it is a lot of fun. I enjoyed it. I do, I am going to let you know that I'm not a big person. Like I'm pretty like run middle of the line with politics. I do not like when someone pushes their politics on me in a book. It just, I just don't understand it. I think as long as it's within the plot, it's okay. This one kind of had conversations that I just didn't think were part of the book, and I thought they were really unnecessary. And I just do not like it when authors do that. I don't care what your politics are. That's not why I'm personally reading your book or not reading your book. So I it's just a personal thing for me, and it doesn't matter who people are supporting. I don't care, and I don't honestly want to know. So that was one little thing that just kind of rubbed me because it didn't feel like it was a part of the book, but she wanted to make it very clear which side of the um political agenda she stood on. Still loved it, still gave it four stars, still think it is a great one to read, um, and would highly recommend

The Lido And Saving A Pool

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it. The next book is The Lido by Libby Page, and I adored this book. There are not a lot of books out there with an older female main character, and this one was beautiful. This is about Rosemary. Rosemary lives in this small London town and everything is changing around her. Her husband has passed away, the library that she's worked at has closed, the restaurant that she used to go to is now some trendy bar. And the Lido, which is a small community pool, is getting ready to close because a developer has come into town and wants to purchase the land and turn it into something new and extravagant. And a young journalist comes to town and she's going to get the story of the Lido, and she finds Rosemary, and you get to hear about how Rosemary met her husband at the Lido and their relationship over the years, and it is so heartwarming. I absolutely loved it. I think it is just the best book to read by the pool because this community pool is on the risk of closing, and all of the stories that are hidden within this pool and this town are possibly at risk as well. I absolutely loved it and just find it to be one of those feel-good books about friendships and about unlikely relationships.

Happy Place Vacation Romance Setup

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Happy Place by Emily Henry is another one that is a poolside read. I mean, who doesn't want to be by the pool with this and some cute cocktail? It's like the perfect summary look. And it's a fun one to enjoy. Harriet and Wynne have always been a couple. They've always gone together like salt and pepper, and they are going on their yearly vacation with their friends. The thing that people don't know is that Harriet and Wynne broke up. They have yet to tell their friends because they know that their friends would be devastated to hear this. So when they go to this main cottage, they don't tell their friends that they've broken up. So they have to pretend that they're still together, staying in the same room, and you know what's going to happen from here because it is a romance. It is a lot of fun. Um, and I just think this is pure perfection to read by the pool. The

My Sister The Serial Killer Dark Fun

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next one is My Sister the Serial Killer. This was popular a few years ago, and it is a lot of fun as well. This is a book that you cannot take too seriously. It is nice and short, and it is a lot of fun. It's kind of like a black comedy, and it is just a good time. Ayula and Kared are sisters, and Ayula is like the perfect daughter. She's beautiful, she's the favorite child, but for some reason, her boyfriends end up dying. Karid always has to come in and help fix the situation, and it's about their sisterly love. It is um where Karid has her eye on someone, but that someone asks for Ayula's number and what is going to happen, and how she's going to protect him from Ayula and what she's willing to do for her sister. It is a lot of fun. Like I said, don't take this too seriously. It's um just supposed to be a fun read and perfect for that day by the pool.

Never Have I Ever Suburb Secrets

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The next book is Never Have I Ever by Josh Jocelyn Jackson. And this is a story, it's one of those fast-paced thrillers. It's a story about Amy. She lives in this cookie-cutter neighborhood, has you know all her friends, runs a book club, is a diving instructor, and has the perfect family life. Um, everything's going great until one day this woman, Rue, shows up and she is just a little sultry, a little on edge, just a little bit different. And Amy's trying to figure it out exactly who she is and what she knows. And this woman knows something about Amy's past that she does not want these people in this community knowing. So it is this little relationship, this cat and mouse situation where one's trying to pull the information out of her in a fun way just to try to get her while Amy's trying to keep everything closed up. It's a lot of fun. Um, I honestly I can't even remember what the twist is in this, but I remember I loved it. I think I had given this four stars. Um, but it is a fun one. I'm probably gonna have to pick it back up again because I don't remember. But I think it's just one of those popcorn thrillers again that you have to read and find out what happens. And um, again, another one that's perfect for the pool.

Do Not Become Alarmed Family Nightmare

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And the last book that I'm recommending, I no longer have because I lent it to a friend, is Do Not Become Alarmed by Melee Malloy. And this is a family going on holiday, they are going off on a cruise, they end up meeting another couple there. These um both families have children ranging from about six to eleven years old, and they end up going to Central America on this cruise ship. They end up getting off the cruise, different things start to occur where it ends up separating the kids from the parents. So this is like everybody's worst nightmare. And I would definitely say that I don't like reading books like this normally, because this is a fear that you know I always have, even though now my kids are all adult, almost adults. Um, but this one I was able to read because it goes back and forth between the parents, so two sets of parents, and then the kids. So you're always in the eyes of the kids as well. You can always see what's happening, even if it's something that is terrifying and dangerous and bad, um, but you still are there with them, so you still can kind of see what's going on because obviously, like that, I could not listen to just the parent side because I would be terrified. The unknowns are like the scariest part of these types of situations. So the fact that we're hearing still from these kids with what they're going through and how they're handling certain situations, it helps. This is definitely like this fast-paced thriller. You want to know, oh my goodness, what are these kids going to do? What is going to happen with the parents? Are the parents and the children ever going to come back together? Like, this is that constant feeling of like, I have to get to the end because I gotta know what's happened to these families. Great, fun. I wouldn't say fun, propulsive. There. That's the word I'm gonna use. It's not a fun read, it is a propulsive read that will keep you turning the pages because you need to know what is going to happen. I loved it. I thought it was a great book, and I again think that you would enjoy it as well.

Wrap Up And Beach Reads Tease

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Those are the seven books that I am recommending for you to read by the pool. Let me know what are some books that you enjoy reading by the pool or what are you picking up this summer. And I am also going to be doing some beach reads as well, which are a little bit maybe more literal fiction. You might want to get lost in them a little bit more than the books that you would probably read by the pool.