[#86] 🪤 Is calling a book a "beach read" an insult?
Some thoughts on genre
Is the term “beach read” an insult?
I’ve written before about how a man asked me on the NYC subway if I was enjoying Sally Rooney’s CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS (yes, he interrupted me reading to ask), and I responded that it was a pretty good beach read. He promptly got offended.
The audacity of male strangers aside, I saw a video on social media the other day in which a woman said publishing her novel and having people refer to it as a “beach read” or compliment her book by saying, “I turned off my brain and enjoyed something mindless,” would be offensive. Humor aside, it made me wonder: Do authors not know what genre they’re writing in?
There are so many asides I could keep putting aside: publishers often direct marketing campaigns without author input, what genre one reader thinks a book is another reader might disagree, etc. (For instance, THE LITTLE FRIEND by Donna Tartt is marketed and blurbed like a mystery but it isn’t a mystery at all, and I think this disconnect influences reader’s enjoyment.)
But, for the sake of this conversation, let’s continue to put those things aside. Would an author really be surprised by a general categorization of their novel? Would thriller, mystery, or romance writers be offended to hear their readers enjoyed “turning off their brains” while reading their book?
I’ve always thought of genre novels as a form of escapism. It’s because of this escapism that genre novels are often disrespected in the book world. (By genre, I’m talking your romance, horror, thriller, etc.) Literary fiction and classics are a genre of sorts too, but they’re the “genres” that publishers and institutions respect most.
I guess CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS is more of a literary fiction novel. But it could also be considered women’s fiction or contemporary fiction. These genre debates were frequent at the bookstore where I worked. Publishers assign a genre to every book when it’s released, and generally bookstores and libraries shelve a book based on this assignment.
That’s where the labels are sort of superfluous. They shouldn’t matter, but often they do when it comes to marketing and sales. How a book is marketed heavily impacts which readers it reaches.
Yesterday, I went to the library looking for ANGELA’S ASHES. I didn’t find it in memoir, but I wasn’t sure if it was shelved alphabetically by subject or author (my bookstore shelved biography and memoir alphabetically by subject). The librarian told me the Dewey Decimal system codes memoir by the author’s region, but when that didn’t help us find the book, it turned out ANGELA was coded in sociology. Who knew?!
But again, I think I’m digressing. Do authors like Stephen King, Riley Sager, Elin Hilderbrand or Talia Hibbert really want their readers’ brains turned up to 11?
Every author wants their work to be respected, but I also think they want their work to entertain and touch their readers. Reading is meant to entertain us most of the time. Certainly it helps us think and expands our knowledge, yet it’s a form of entertainment at its core, right? So is a book that allows us to disconnect from our current reality and/or stressors somehow an insult to the author? Me thinks not.
I assume authors know exactly what genre they’re writing in for the most part and who their readers are. Even books like Rooney’s that defy easy categorization: you can not convince me that Sally Rooney cares more about what “genre” her novels are than that guy on the train.
It would be impossible to say that every author and every book meets this qualification. In the interest of transparency, a critique partner in my graduate creative writing program suggested my thesis novel was maybe a YA story and I was offended. I remember thinking I was writing about adult issues and feelings, and having put that same novel through more than half a dozen rewrites since then (and almost a decade of life experience later), I understand where that critique was coming from.
But I think that critique offended my identity as a writer more than the material itself. Maybe authors who are offended by reader feedback feel similarly, which I think is pretty human. After all, YA novels are good too.
There are layers to this question, I suppose. Another reason it’s been on my mind? Because this week I’m recommending my annual cool thrillers. I’ve been open about not reading many thrillers, but I’ve been reading more in the last year, and my favorite season to read them is summertime.
What’s better than a good thriller in your beach bag, a bright, sunny day, and uninterrupted pool or beach time ahead of you? Here are some recs to get you there.
Cool Off with a Hot Thriller 4.0 // July 24, 2025
With the exception of this one, which pubbed on June 10, I’ve read each of Cosby’s crime thrillers. I love how he uses the American South, poverty and class, and race to illustrate violent, pulse-pounding stories. His work reminds me a bit of Atticka Locke’s and even Walter Mosley’s, for how rooted in place it is.
KING OF ASHES introduces Roman Carruthers, who left his Virginian hometown and his family behind for successful business ventures. But when he’s summoned home after his father’s car accident, he discovers his brother Dante owes money to dangerous local criminals and his sister Naveah is barely holding together the family business, the Carruthers Crematorium.
Though the Carruthers are used to death in their line of work, Roman learns that his business expertise is nothing in the face of hometown violence, and maybe his father’s accident wasn’t an accident after all. Roman must work with his siblings to uncover the truth and find out what happened to their mother, who disappeared years ago.
Sounds like a solid addition to Cosby’s work. I’m pumped to get my hands on it.
Where the Dead Wait by Ally Wilkes
William Day’s career as an explorer ended in disgrace when the last Arctic expedition he led devolved into violent disaster. When Naval leaders need a sailor to lead a new mission to find his lost crewmate, Day is chosen as a sort of reward AND punishment.
Day knows it’s his only chance for redemption and answers, so he cobbles together a crew and heads back into the Arctic wilderness. Almost immediately, ghostly apparitions begin to haunt the ship, forcing Day and his new crew to confront their actions in the previous expedition but also the murky whereabouts of their missing friend, and what he knew about Day’s hidden self.
Fans of THE POWER OF THE DOG, HAWK MOUNTAIN and THE TERROR will love this one.
Even at 87 years old, JCO continues to churn out novels about humanity’s darkest impulses, and her newest novel, FOX is no exception.
Francis Fox is a beloved English teacher at the private Langhorne Academy. When he turns up dead and dismembered just before Halloween, the school and the community are forced to confront who the real Francis Fox was and why anyone would want him dead.
Told in alternating perspectives from Fox’s students, fellow teachers, family members, and friends, the story is propulsive and moves fast despite the book’s length. JCO is just as interested in giving a voice to Fox’s victims as she is in examining the systems around him that perpetuated his abuse. The characterization is so layered and with pieces of the story dropped at just the right moment, I felt like an active reader the entire time.
Read my full review on Instagram here.
…is that a python in your swamp or are you just happy to see me?
Not everything in the water is particularly relaxing this summer.
Did you know Burmese pythons are considered an invasive species in Florida’s Everglades? The invasion is thought to have originated from a single pet python released by its owner into the wild. Now tens of thousands(!) of pythons live in the Everglades and hunt other endangered species.
Florida has made it legal to hunt and kill these pythons, but the Nature Conservancy and some fashion designers are trying to institute humane ways to control this problematic overproduction of pythons without letting loonies loose in the ‘glades.
Read some interesting python facts, learn how the Conservancy is encouraging folks to report sightings, and hear directly from local conservationists about how to help control the python population.
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I read somewhere once a “beach read” is anything you take to read at the beach. I’ve had a pool day where I finished ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK. I’ve also taken a stack of romcoms to my resort vacation. (Along with a variety of things downloaded on my Kindle, just in case). I tend to call some books “brain candy”, it’s quick, easy, and entertaining. And honest any type of book call fall under that: fantasy, thriller, murder mystery, romance, any number of “cozy”… the list can be endless. A number of years ago I once had a coworker tell me I read “smart” books, at the time I was on a continuation of Pride & Prejudice kick and he was reading a book about some expedition. But I get what he was saying. I do enjoy a chunky book, I read nonfiction, memoirs, histories, and high fantasy had always been a favorite genre for me. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer.