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Fiction prominently featuring a seaside (or island) setting -- though not necessarily what's known as "beach reads."

(Nor books dealing with pirates or seafaring folk or set far out on the ocean, e.g., during a cruise or sea voyage, nor below the surface of the ocean, please. There are several other lists for all those types of books already.)

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752 books · 568 voters · list created November 10th, 2010 by Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) (votes) .
87 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) 545 books
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Bettie 15686 books
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Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3388 books
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Thom 6022 books
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♥Xeni♥ 4301 books
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Rose 4553 books
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Agnieszka 4573 books
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ღ Carol jinx~☆~☔ʚϊɞ 4255 books
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More voters…


Comments Showing 1-16 of 16 (16 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Josie (new)

Josie Crimp Hey, what a great theme for a list! Thanks for setting this up :-)


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) You're welcome, and thank you in turn! :)


message 3: by Jim (new)

Jim No books from Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series?? No Horatio Hornblower??


message 4: by Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) (last edited Jul 11, 2012 07:29AM) (new)

Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Jim wrote: "No books from Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series?? No Horatio Hornblower??"

No, because they're -- for the most part -- not set on the beach/shore but out at sea (cf. list description).

As a matter of fact, I've noticed that a few books not covered by the list description have started to creep in already; I'll probably be going through the list to delete them shortly.

That said, if you can think of a Hornblower or Aubrey/Maturin book that has a predominant "seaside-but-not-out-on-the-ocean" setting, by all means do add it.


message 5: by Jim (new)

Jim Themis-Athena wrote:
No, because they're -- for the most part -- not set on the beach/shore but out at sea (cf. list descrip..."


Good point.


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) OK -- I think I caught the more obvious examples of those books that don't match the list description. If someone sees one I seem to have missed, though, I'd be grateful for a hint (including a brief indication why it shouldn't be here). Thanks in advance!


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Voyage of the Dawn Treader? A lot of it is at sea; and a lot of it is on islands. Stay or go?


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Susanna wrote: "Voyage of the Dawn Treader? A lot of it is at sea; and a lot of it is on islands. Stay or go?"

I thought a long time about that one but eventually decided to leave it, as the island settings are within the intended list parameters. It's definitely a borderline candidate, though ...


message 9: by Grover (new)

Grover This is the siren of list. I have read many books in this genre and have discovered new authors I am eager to become satiety.


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Grover wrote: "This is the siren of list. I have read many books in this genre and have discovered new authors I am eager to become satiety."

Thank you! :)

New additions are always welcome.


message 11: by Adrienne (last edited Jul 14, 2012 11:44PM) (new)

Adrienne And the Sea Will Tell/ Vincent Bugliosi


message 12: by Adrienne (new)

Adrienne Life of Pi/Yann Martel


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Adrienne: Everybody can add books to this list; just click on the tab up top next to "all votes."

And the Sea Will Tell is, as far as I know, nonfiction (this is a list for fiction only), and Life of Pi is among the books I recently deleted, because too much of it is set out on the ocean, not on land.

But I do appreciate your making suggestions!


message 14: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Apr 27, 2013 12:13PM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) I don't remember Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier (no. 27) to be a beach setting or to be on an island. I seem to remember it was set on the Bodmin Moor... But it's a long time ago since I read the book.


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) True. Removed.


message 16: by Wayne (new)

Wayne Check out: DaysTune’s Summer Reading List For The Beach In 2016 (With Goodreads Reviews) https://t.co/aMjZRKLxwW


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