Beach Reads

By and large we seem to equate beach reads with mindless reads. I don't really discriminate - I've read some super heavy things while sitting with my ass in the sand. But it is nice sometimes to drift away with a book that doesn't require a ton of thought...even though personally, I like for them to require some as you'll see reflected below. As we roll into Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial kickoff to the summer season, here are some books that might fit the bill.

1. The Archy McNally Series by Lawrence Sanders - McNally is a funny, quirky, playboy character living and private detecting in Palm Beach. A little mystery, a little weirdness, and a little beach background. I think there are more than 10 books, the later ones are co-written.

2. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles - Lose yourself in 1930s Manhattan - the gin and the jazz and the streets are almost so descriptive that you can feel them. The story is good too.

3. A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams -  It starts on Memorial Day 1938 in a little seaside community in Rhode Island and whirls around you from there until you're entrenched in it.

4. Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky - The setting calls to me so I put up with some of the crap I wouldn't stand for in a story normally.

5. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells - I hope you haven't seen the movie, but even if you have, you should read this book. I loved it fiercely. It's full of some hard stuff but there's a lot of perseverance and love and southern charm.

6. Beach Music by Pat Conroy - This is also heavy. Very. But the story is so intricate and there's so much going on, plus you get The Drifters and the book itself being a basic love letter to the Low Country. This is Conroy at his best.

7. Outer Banks by Anne Rivers Siddons - I love the writing in this book, it seems urgent and melancholy all at once. There's a lot of quotable passages in this book and I love the southern in Siddons.

8. Summer Sisters by Judy Blume - Judy for adults. A weird and complicated friendship set against the backdrop of Martha's Vineyard.

9. Lake Wobegon Summer, 1956 by Garrison Keillor - Ah, the good old days. A book about a geeky boy coming of age in the heartland with a passage about a fart that made me laugh so hard I cried numerous times. Not a bad way to meander through an afternoon.

10. Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt - I read this book over and over as a young adult. It's one of my favorite books. I've also read it as an adult and still enjoyed it. Yes, it's YA, but it's also a Newberry Award winning novel.

What do you recommend for people looking for beach reads?

Happy long weekend! As we enjoy our flags and our burgers, don't forget why we are able to do so freely. Memorial Day is not Veterans' Day. Memorial Day is in observance of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice - their lives for our freedom and interests. I mean no disrespect to anyone serving now or who has served, but every day is a day to thank a veteran, yes? Monday belongs to those who didn't come home.

Sunscreen. You need it.

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial kickoff to summer, so it's the perfect time for me to nag you about using sunscreen daily.

May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. Most people my age and older had some pretty severe burns in childhood because skin cancer just wasn't a thing back then. Sometimes we went out and intentionally fried ourselves in the name of a tan. Sun protection is essential to skin cancer prevention – about 90 percent of non-melanoma skin cancers and 65 percent of melanomas are associated with exposure to UV radiation from the sun. 

These days I don't leave the house without sunscreen on my face all year round and sunscreen on my body any time my skin will be exposed to the sun, even just commuting or walking around at lunch.

Anyway, I typically use Neutrogena Clear Skin SPF 50 on my face. I vary my body sunscreen and currently have COPPERTONE Sport and Hawaiian Tropic with the shimmers on deck. I always use SPF 15 or higher. I recently received free samples of COPPERTONE^®CLEARLYSheer^™ sunscreens for free from BzzAgent and tried it out last week when I was running my errands and planting my flowers. It's safe for your face so I tried applied it everywhere. I used the lotion on my face and the spray on my body.

My basic requirements for body sunscreen are: I do not want any sticky crap that leaves a residue and I like for it to smell good. 

COPPERTONE CLEARLYSheer is lightweight and sinks in quickly. It was pretty moisturizing too, and it didn't appear to clog my pores or make me break out. Instead of smelling like the beach, it has a light almost citrus-y scent, which makes it perfect for weekdays...it's easier to sit in your office and not long for the beach when you're not smelling like it all day. 

I have five $2 off coupons for COPPERTONE CLEARLYSheer to share, so the first five people who email me at  lifeaccordingtosteph@gmail.com will get one in the mail. They expire August 15.

Sunscreen. Don't leave home without it like I did when I went to the shore in April and got a damaging and embarrassing sunburn and had to wear the cone of shame for the rest of the week. You will wear the cone of shame!

My Beach Essentials

I'm so thankful to live so close to the beach. I am grateful to have my feet in the sand, to smell the salt in the air, to swim in the sea, to walk the boardwalk, to see how the sun hits the water and turns everything on shore gold around 7 pm, to sigh over amazing sunsets. I've been going to the Jersey shore every summer of my entire life. There's nowhere I'd rather go, and if I could choose to live somewhere, it would be there. I'm fresh off my second long beach trip of the summer, so it's a good time for me to share my beach essentials with you.

1. Beach bag - My ideal beach bag is bright and has long handles so I can sling it over my shoulder. It must be roomy to hold a lot of stuff. My beach bag contains:

• Sunscreen (SPFs 30 and 50, a special one for the face, a hair tie, and lip balm with SPF)
• Wet wipes - I need to get the sunscreen off my palms when I reapply
• Bug spray - for any bastard beach bugs
• A pen
• A towel
• Small pouch to carry camera, cell phone, and money
• Two books 
• Long sleeve denim button down shirt that I've worn for 10 years. At the Jersey shore, the air always turns between 3 and 5. I don't want to have to leave the beach because I'm cold. 
• Hat
• Baby powder - it removes sand

2. A good sturdy chair and an umbrella. Everyone needs to retreat out of the sun once in a while. I love my new Cadillac Escalade of chairs.

3. Cooler with cold drinks (water, iced tea, Gatorade, and beer) and sandwiches in baggies for lunch.

4. Beach snacks: my top two are Twizzlers and Goldfish.

5. Comfortable clothes - ain't nobody got time for high class club clothes at the beach. Or heels. Why do people bring heels to the beach? All bars are beach town bars. Wear your flip flops ladies.

What are your beach essentials?

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