Recommended Beach Reads

Our family is going to the beach soon and my mom mentioned wanting to find a good book to read while she was at the beach. Then I got the idea for this blog post. Here are 10 books I recommend reading while at the beach.

1. The Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling. If you didn't see that one coming, you obviously have not read enough of my blog posts mentioning Harry Potter. I enjoy reading Harry Potter anytime, anywhere. I never get tired of reading them.

2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This book will keep you busy for maybe a day. It's fast paced, exciting, and you can't put it down no matter how hard you try or how much you need to get done. I also recommend watching the movie (AFTER reading the book, of course) if you are the kind of person who is not highly sensitive to action movies and fighting. There's not a lot of blood and guts; the director did a good job with that. I also recommend Catching Fire and Mockingjay.

3. Any book by Tamora Pierce. She's awesome. She writes really good fantasy, medieval, renaissance type of stuff with magic, knights, and strong female characters. I highly recommend the Song of the Lioness series and the Protector of the Small series. It takes me about a day to read any of her books. Sometimes I'll read it in a night, depending on how late I go to bed and how long I stay up.

4. The Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan. This series is very cool and got me interested in Greek Mythology. Our whole family spent about a week reading different Greek Myths. There is lots of action, magical creatures, and humor to keep you interested. It didn't take me long to read all five books . . . twice.

5. The Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull. If you like Percy Jackson, you'll probably like Fablehaven. If you like Fablehaven, you'll probably like Percy Jackson. This series also has five books and is all about magical creatures and saving the world from destruction. Again, lots of action, humor, and magic to keep you interested.

6. The Matched Trilogy by Ally Condie. So far, the first book in the series is my favorite. I've read the first and second, but not the third. I'm not sure if the third book is even out yet. This series is sort of like the Hunger Games in the sense that it's a post apocalyptic dystopian book. It's more romance based, though. I read this book while I was at the beach last year and I loved it. I couldn't put it down.

7. The Maximum Ride Series. This is one of my new favorite series. It's by James Patterson and It's about these six mutant kids who were made by scientists. They're part human, part bird, and they have to save the world. TONS of action, lots of sarcasm, and all awesome. There are eight books. I have not read the last one yet, since it recently came out and there are three people ahead of me to read it at the library. There is a little bit of what I think is unnecessary romance, but that is my only issue with this series.

8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett. My mom read this book at the beach and then I asked her if I could read it. I read it and loved it. So good. I also loved the movie. It's set in the 1960s and you read the story from two black maids' points of view and a white woman who wants to be a journalist. It's a sweet story and a good read.

9. Ella Enchanted, Fairest, and Ever. These three books are all written by Gail Carson Levine. They're all great, magical stories that you can't put down. Ever was my least favorite out of the three, but it was still good. I think I liked Ella Enchanted best. Ella Enchanted has also been made into a very good movie.

10. Entwined by Heather Dixon. This book is a spin on the tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses. A magical story with twelve sweet girls. Each girl has their own personality and an important role in the story. I read this book within twenty four hours.