What Is A "Beach Read"?

Tori and I were invited for a quick trip over to the island to relieve fellow DIK lady D.L. who is neck deep in exams and studying for said torture. Good Luck D.L.!

On the trip over in the uber cool DIK jet I got to musing about something that has been niggling me for a while, namely beach reads and what the reference means. With summer quickly approaching, I've noticed the prevalence of bloggers and reviewers talking about beach reads. i.e. "This would be a good beach read." or "I would recommend this as a beach read." I also noticed that discussing a book in this context doesn't necessarily mean that it is the most awesome story ever. I get the feeling the stories that fall under this connotation rate a "ho hum", an "it was alright", an "eh", or maybe a "quick and dirty-satisfactory" read. Am I right?

I don't think labeling a book as a beach read is something new, in fact, every summer as folks are looking forward to vacations avid readers start thinking about books they will take along to devour while enjoying that precious leisure time. In pondering this further I decided that a beach read doesn't necessarily mean you are packing your book bag or cramming your e-reader full of stories that will travel to the shore of a lake or sea. Personally, for me a beach means sand in my ass and the requirement for 90+ SPF sunblock which attracts and sticks to said sand, greases up book pages and causes streaks on the screen of my iPad. So I prefer holidays at a hotel with a pool, a handsome hero serving a fruity drink with lots of ice and a little umbrella poking out the top of a piece of pineapple, and plenty of shade to park the lounge chair under (I am so not a sun worshiper).

However, I digress. The thing is there are two types of books that I take along with me on vacation. The ones that have been touted as the best thing since, well the very best thing. The new books I'm looking forward too. And, the ones that are in my TBR and I've been salivating over for months but just haven't had time to get to for one reason or another. When I'm on holiday, I want to take the awesome reads to enjoy, not the mediocre. And, I've come to equate a beach read with so not awesome. However, there was the time that I read the same book that another reviewer termed a beach read. She thought it was an okay read and I thought it was excellent..which lends credence to the whole "what floats one person's boat, beaches another" analogy.

Anyway. What sort of book do you equate with a beach read? Awesome? Good? Bad? No thoughts on the matter whatsoever? LOL

Okay, so Tori and I are going to enjoy the rest of our day here on the island. I have the lounge chair parked on a grassy area under a very shady tree, and one of my guys has brought me that fancy drink as described above. And, I have my non-beach read - so far it's damn good too.. :)

Oh, and BTW - my guy is applying the 90+ SPF sunscreen to the exposed areas - no worries about sand and greasy fingers. ;) Have a great day everyone!