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
Float Plan

Trish Doller
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. 

 


The Glass Ocean

Beatriz Williams
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.

 


The Killing Tide

Jean-Luc Bannalec
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. 

 


Reckless Girls

Rachel Hawkins
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.


The Salt House

Lisa Duffy
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.


Sea of Tranquility

Emily St. John Mandel
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.


Something in the Water

Catherine Steadman
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
Below the Edge of Darkness: a Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea

Edith Widder
- Ph.D.
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. 

 


The Blue Wonder: Why the Sea Glows, Fish Sing, and other Astonishing Insights from the Ocean

Frauke Bagusche
578.77 Bag

A marine biologist and diver strives to make the ocean accessible to everyone in this amusing title about marine life. 

 


Creatures of the Deep: In Search of the Sea's Monsters and the World They Live in

Erich Hoyt
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.


Jellyfish

Peter Williams
593.53 Wil

Myth and history meet to look at these surprisingly complex, misunderstood beauties of the ocean.


Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs

Juli Berwald
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.


Madhouse at the End of the Earth: the Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night

Julian Sancton
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.



Craig Foster, Ross Frylinck
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.