Books to stash in your beach bags this summer

Then there are the “Beach Read” displays that pop up in our neighborhood bookstores.

It’s that time again: Summer vacation is now underway, and volunteers with the Tucson Festival of Books took a break from their own vacation planning to suggest some books that might go well in your beach bags, too:

• “The Things We Never Say” is the latest look at the human condition by Elizabeth Strout. Released May 5, it features a popular high school history teacher whose life appears normal in every way — but who is privately pondering suicide. Darker than most of her books but as thoughtful as any, Strout invites that teacher, Artie Dam, to explore the futility of life in a world seemingly oblivious to any one of us. — Maria Parham

• “The May House” by Tucsonan Jillian Cantor is the story of three sisters who inherit their grandmother’s large house on the beach in Coronado. The bequest comes with a condition: that the sisters spend a week together there every year … like they did when they were kids. Twenty years later, one of them doesn’t show up. Released May 12, “The May House” is Cantor’s 14th book, all published since she moved here in 2000. — Jody Hardy

• “Small Town Girls” by Jayne Anne Phillips is a memoir recounting her childhood in West Virginia, her relationship with her mother, and the exploits of her dog, Sasha. It is a love letter to the place and the people who shaped the person she is today. — Pam Clarridge

• “Fever Beach” is another off-the-wall mystery from Florida favorite Carl Hiaasen. This time, we follow Dale Figgo, who was kicked out of the Proud Boys for being too dumb. — Hilary Hamlin

• “Sandwich” by Catherine Newman takes us to Cape Cod, where Rocky and Nick have brought their family every summer for the last 20 years. This time, Rocky find herself in a generational sandwich between her kids — now in college — and her aging parents. What is Rocky’s role now? Where should she go from here? — Tiffanie Roberts

• “Better Than the Movies” by Lynn Painter is a young-adult story of a grieving teen whose devotion to rom-coms might ruin her chances at actual romance. The daughter of a screenwriter who died when she was young, Liz Buxbaum hopes her senior year might turn into a real-life hit. She knows how it should end on film, but real life is seldom so scripted. — Kathy Short

• “The Five-Star Weekend” by Elin Hilderbrand features the newly widowed Hollis Shaw, who organizes a “five-star weekend” with the best friend from each of the five phases of her life. The weekend in Nantucket does not go as planned. Look for the Five-Star Weekend mini-series this summer on Peacock. — Pamela Treadwell-Rubin

• “Beach Read” by Emily Henry features a romance writer who no longer believes in love and a grumpy novelist now jaded on life, in general, and his life in particular. January and Augustus find themselves living in side-by-side beach houses one summer in Michigan. — Tricia Clapp

• “The House of Hidden Letters” by Izzy Broom introduces us to Skye MacKinnon, who is so desperate to start over that she buys a lottery ticket … and wins a run-down cottage on a Greek island. There, she finds a new life … and a packet of mysterious letters written during World War II. — Lynn Wiese Sneyd

• “Cross the Line” by Simone Soltani is a romance novel set in the fast-paced world of Formula One racing. Driver Dev Anderson has hit the wall with a social media experience that has alienated his team and his sponsors. Desperate to save himself, both professionally and personally, he looks to Willow, his best friend’s sister. — Jessica Pryde

• "A Marriage at Sea" by Sophie Elmhirst is a love story-adventure story-survival story that happens to be true. Scheduled for release July 8, it recounts the saga of a British couple who decide it’s time to get away … by sailing from England to New Zealand in 1972. Eight months into their voyage, their boat is capsized by a whale in the Pacific Ocean. — Lindy Mullinax

• “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” is one of Judy Blume’s best-loved novels for young girls. Often-times banned for its discussion of religion, the story centers around Margaret Simon, age 12, who has just moved from New York City to New Jersey. — Lori Roman

For all the latest book festival news, visit tucsonfestivalofbooks.org.