What makes a book one of the best beach reads of all time? Much like its maligned sister category “chick-lit,” the label implies an un-seriousness or a kind of levity without underlying heft. But honestly, what could be better than a book that has you glued to its pages while the sand or ocean beckons; a book that entertains but also leaves you fulfilled, and feeling as though you had just about the perfect day? That, to us, is the real inherent quality of a beach read: it satisfies. To help us craft our list, we tapped the expertise of Zibby Owens, a novelist herself and the owner of Zibby’s Bookshop in Santa Monica.

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