You’ve unboxed your swim clothes, stocked up on sunscreen and mapped out the fastest route to the shore. You toss the latest Elin Hilderbrand into your tote because God forbid you spoil this perfect blue sky day with… nonfiction?

Nonsense! Defining the perfect “beach read” is a long summer tradition, and I’m making the case for nonfiction. I like to know I’m expanding my horizons as I periodically look up at the sublime ocean horizon. Here are my recommendations for the memoirs, essay collections, biographies and more that will keep you glued to your lounge chair until the sun goes down. 

Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby 

Samantha Irby’s latest memoir-in-essays, Quietly Hostile, came out just in time for summer. In this collection, Irby revels in what others may spurn as tragically unhip (Dave Matthews Band) and embraces aspects of life we’d rather avoid discussing (Crohn’s disease-induced diarrhea) all while maintaining her usual humor and wit. If nothing else, this collection will inspire readers to live life on their terms and without apology. 

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo

Lisa Taddeo spent years crisscrossing the country (six times!) to craft a true story about the sex lives of three American women. The result is an unflinching yet juicy narrative about desire, sexuality and marriage. It’s best to go into this book accepting it for what it is: a narrowly-focused, if at times, gossipy portrait of three specific women, as opposed to a general representation of the sex lives of all women. With that perspective, you won’t be able to put it down. 

Sometimes I Trip on How Happy We Could Be by Nichole Perkins

Blending pop culture references with personal narratives, Nichole Perkins has managed to create a collection of essays that is at once heart-wrenching and playful. In “Prince’s Girl,” Perkins unpacks how a Prince song triggered her sexual awakening. In another essay, she paints a tender portrait of a young, bookish Black girl growing up in an abusive Southern home that shames her for her desires. This is a quick read—but the intimate stories she tells linger in your heart a long time.

Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer

If you’ve ever loved the art but hated the artist, then this memoir is for you. With nuance and clarity, Dederer interrogates the complicated feelings we have when art we love comes from artists who have irreparably harmed people. Even the most iconic artists are not spared from Dederer's razor critique — not Ernest Hemingway, not Woody Allen, not Roman Polanski, not even Sylvia Plath — as she questions whether separating the artist from art is a noble pursuit or nothing but a desperate fantasy. 

Getting Lost by Annie Ernaux 

There's always room for a Nobel winner in our beach bag, especially this slim memoir-diary from French writer Annie Ernaux about her year-long love affair with a married man. Ernaux, who took home the 2022 Prize for the “courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory," is a master of rendering personal history into an insightful, touching and intense narrative.

The Teachers: A Year Inside America’s Most Vulnerable, Important Profession by Alexandra Robbins  

For those with school-aged children, summer offers a glimpse of what teachers put up with ALL DAY LONG during the year. But Alexandra Robbins’ latest book takes readers inside the profession's often toxic and dismal conditions. Over the course of a school year, Robbins follows three teachers from different parts of the country as they juggle classroom censorship, overly-demanding parents and educator burnout. It’s a sobering and engaging account of a profession that doesn't get nearly enough credit, and way too much grief.

The Male Gazed: On Hunks, Heartthrobs, and What Pop Culture Taught Me about (Desiring) Men by Manuel Betancourt (releases May 30)

What does it mean to be a masculine man? For Manuel Betancourt, growing up as a queer boy in Colombia, it meant immense pressure to appear and dress like a straight man. In this essay collection-cum-personal narrative, Betancourt analyzes popular images of men in pop culture like the Saved By the Bell TV show and examines the fraught yet interconnected tension between these images of masculinity and homosexuality. Buy it for the touching queer coming-of-age tale, and rip through it for the sharp critique of the representations of masculinity we are all fed. 

Ice: From Mixed Drinks to Skating Rinks—A Cool History of a Hot Commodity by Amy Brady (releases June 6) 

Need something to cool you down on a hot, summer afternoon? Environmental historian Amy Brady’s latest book explores the history of one commodity you can’t get enough of during the summer: ice. In this century-spanning book, Brady touches on everything from what makes ice slippery to how currency advancement in ice technology contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. You’ll never be able to look at ice cream in the same way again. 

Pageboy by Elliot Page (releases June 6)

Summer is the best time to read a celebrity memoir. And no memoir is hotter right now than the soon-to-be-released Pageboy by Elliot Page, best-known for his roles in movies such as Juno and Whip It. This much-anticipated book is an intimate look into his childhood, his experiences in Hollywood, and his journey of self-discovery as a queer, trans person.

She Rides: Chasing Dreams Across California and Mexico by Alenka Vrecek (releases June 13)

If your summer goal is to go outdoors more often, let Alenka Vrecek’s memoir be your motivation. On the back of a failed marriage, her second husband's health issues, and more, Alenka realizes healing means attempting the dreams she had set for herself, whether she was scared or not. Her riveting account of her solo bike journey from Lake Tahoe to California will inspire you to follow through on your own outdoor adventures.