8 Buzzy New Books to Read During Spring Break

By Claire Stern
Updated Mar 22, 2016 @ 4:00 pm
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Spring break may be synonymous with partying, but if you're the kind of person who prefers to sprawl out on a lounge chair and soak up the rays, there's no better way to do so than with a good book. If you need a recommendation, we've rounded up eight page-turners that'll keep you engaged wherever you're sunbathing.

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The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

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Fans of Salinger's fictional Glass family will take to the Plumbs: Four wealthy Manhattan-born-and-bred siblings whose inheritance (aka "The Nest") is threatened when one of them gets in a drunk driving accident and subsequently checks into rehab. 

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The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth Mckenzie

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A newly-engaged couple coming head-to-head with a squirrel may not be the first thing that comes to mind when considering an enticing beach read, but somehow, McKenzie makes it work. The plot centers around Veblen, a translator, and Paul, a neurologist, and the pitfalls of their imminent nuptials.

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The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin

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For the uninitiated, the "Swans" of 1950s New York were a group of glamorous socialites who spent their free time shopping at the toniest boutiques and downing mid-day martinis at The Carlyle. Benjamin's novel focuses on one in particular—Babe Paley—and her on-again, off-again fling with literary tycoon Truman Capote.

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Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

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By now, you've likely been told to pick up Groff's brilliant novel, a National Book Award finalist and Amazon's 2015 pick for Book of the Year. But in case you haven't, it's not too late. Told in two parts, it catalogues the 24-year union of Lotto, a successful playwright, and Mathilde, an aspiring actress, and the drama and betrayal that transpires throughout.

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Unspeakable Things by Kathleen Spivack

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Set in early 1940s New York, this eccentric story follows a group of quixotic European refugee intellectuals who have escaped Hitler's Reign of Terror in search of a cultural reawakening—and found it.

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My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

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Strout's latest novel illuminates the tender, often tenuous, relationship between a mother and daughter, who become reacquainted after years of estrangement when the former comes to visit the title character, Lucy, in the hospital, where she's being treated for an undisclosed infection. 

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Two if by Sea by Jacquelyn Mitchard

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Frank Mercy is an American expat and former police officer whose life is forever changed when he loses his wife and family in a deadly tsunami in Australia. One silver lining is that he miraculously rescues a young boy, and discovers that he possesses hidden talents.

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City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg

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Hallberg's thrilling debut throws you headfirst into the chaos of 1970s N.Y.C., where an intriguing cast of characters—heiresses, punk-obsessed suburban teens, journalists, and cops—are all implicated in a shooting that went down on Central Park on New Year's Eve.

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By Claire Stern