Dive on in! The water is fine! Celebrate Adult Summer Reading with a list based on this year's theme- Oceans of Possibilities. This list includes fiction books set on or near the water and non-fiction titles exploring everything from the ocean itself to the wide variety of creatures who call it home. Check out a book from this list and hit the beach.
Compiled by:
Elizabeth G.
Adult Fiction
Doller
Series: Beck Sisters 1
Float Plan is an engaging contemporary romance about a woman grieving her fiance who sets sail alone on the Caribbean, but quickly discovers she needs assistance.
Williams
An intricately plotted historical fiction novel about three women who become connected by the tragedy of the RMS Lusitania, a passenger liner sunk by a German U-Boat in 1915.
Bannele
Series: George Dupin 5
A police procedural set on an island off the west coast of Brittany, this title combines a strong sense of place with a puzzling small town mystery.
Hawkins
This thriller takes place on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean. Hawkins twists revenge, madness, and an increasingly menacing setting into a cleverly plotted nightmare in paradise.
Duffy
Told from multiple perspectives The Salt House follows a family during a summer spent at a cottage by the ocean dealing with tragedy in a story both heartbreaking and hopeful.
SF Mandel
Atmospheric and richly detailed, this novel spans 300 years from an island off of Vancouver in 1912 to a moon colony in the future as seen by a time traveling detective.
Steadma
A couple on their honeymoon in Bora Bora find a floating bag filled with cash and diamonds, which brings them nothing but trouble in this page turning thriller.
Adult Non-Fiction
551.4609 Wid
Mixing memoir with science, this book explores the dark depths of the ocean. Through engaging writing Widder informs and electrifies in equal measure.
578.77 Bag
A marine biologist and diver strives to make the ocean accessible to everyone in this amusing title about marine life.
591.77 Hoy
Science and nature writer Hoyt combines dramatic photographs with extraordinary tales of undersea life in a fascinating book filled with facts and humor.
593.53 Wil
Myth and history meet to look at these surprisingly complex, misunderstood beauties of the ocean.
333.9553 Ber
Ocean scientist Berwald blends memoir and science writing in this colorful look at the state of coral reefs. Thought provoking and hopeful the author shares how wonderfully diverse, deeply interconnected, and critically imperiled the coral reefs are.
919.8904 San
A harrowing true survival story of an early polar expedition that went terribly awry, this book draws on entries from the ship’s log books, as well as the crew’s diaries and journals to create a suspenseful drama descending into madness.
577.7809 Fos
An immersive journey into the underwater world that inspired My Octopus Teacher, this title observes the environment of the awe-inspiring kelp forests off South Africa.