{"id":131840,"date":"2025-08-09T13:45:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T13:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/131840\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T13:45:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T13:45:14","slug":"a-beach-read-can-be-anything-you-want-it-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/131840\/","title":{"rendered":"A Beach Read Can Be Anything You Want It to Be"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here<\/a> to get it every Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

Conventional wisdom says that a beach read ought to be light and fun\u2014a book with a pastel cover. But the beach read can be anything you want it to be. Vacation might feel like the perfect moment to escape into frivolity, or to dive into something dense that you finally have the mental space for. (If you\u2019re me, that latter category may have once included the historian Timothy Snyder\u2019s Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, which I acknowledge is a very odd choice due both to its physical and metaphorical weight.)<\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re taking a big trip or just finding a few moments of quiet this August, the list of recommendations below will give you a place to start.<\/p>\n

On Beach Reads<\/strong><\/p>\n

Five Books That Will Redirect Your Attention<\/p>\n

By Rhian Sasseen<\/p>\n

When malaise strikes, a book can break the spell\u2014if you choose the right one.<\/p>\n

Read the article.<\/a><\/p>\n

24 Books to Get Lost in This Summer<\/p>\n

By The Atlantic Culture Desk<\/p>\n

Here are 24 books to read before fall comes around.<\/p>\n

Read the article.<\/a><\/p>\n

Seven Books for People Figuring Out Their Next Move<\/p>\n

By Xochitl Gonzalez<\/p>\n

These titles are great tools for anyone trying to navigate new opportunities, new places, or new phases of life.<\/p>\n

Read the article.<\/a><\/p>\n

Still Curious?<\/b><\/p>\n

Other Diversions<\/b><\/p>\n

P.S.<\/b><\/p>\n

\"ACourtesy of Belinda J. Kein<\/p>\n

I recently asked readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. Belinda J. Kein shared the image above.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll continue to feature your responses in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Isabel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":131841,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[1022,171,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-131840","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114999114067502154","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}