There's still time for "beach reading" this summer!

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Too late for summertime reading, you say? The calendar says that mid-August is weeks away from being the end of summer, and in Southern California, it can be "beach season" all year long. Besides, be honest – you’re probably not going to have much time for leisurely beach reading until the kids are back in school anyway.


These beach-reading recommendations have plenty of local color; all of the authors mentioned have made their homes in the Los Angeles area at one time or another. Some of their novels take place right here; others will take you far away.

Please check out my late-summer beach-reading suggestions at CBS Los Angeles! (For the record, I've read more than half of the books I mentioned there, and the rest are currently residing in TBR Purgatory.)

BONUS: Had I been aware of it when I was preparing the post, I would have included Model Home by Eric Puchner (Scribner; trade PB, 2010) in my suggestions; the author lives in LA, and the novel is set on the Palos Verdes Peninsula and in the Antelope Valley. Ti at Book Chatter recommends it highly, and says it's her favorite read of 2011.