Everyone has a different interpretation of what a beach read is. I like to think of beach reads as “anything you’re reading at the beach.” But there’s also something to be said for the anti-beach reach—audiobooks that lie outside the popular definition of the beach read as anything fun, light, and/or engaging. Who says you can’t listen to a dense work of nonfiction on the beach? Or an introspective, character-driven novel? Spending the long summer afternoons at the beach with a hefty biography can be just as fun as passing those hours with the latest hot romance. This month, I’m highlighting three recent releases that make brilliant, if unconventional, beach listens, perfect for adventurous listeners.
Listeners looking for an under-the-radar new release with wonderful prose, nuanced characterization, plenty of introspection, and a fast-moving plot should take note of Jiaming Tang’s debut novel CINEMA LOVE. Samantha Tan’s narration is agile and adept; she juggles voicing characters of various genders, ages, and backgrounds with ease. The story moves from Fuzhou, China, in the 1970s and 1980s to Manhattan’s Chinatown in the 1980s through the present day. In Fuzhou, a group of gay men congregate at the Worker’s Cinema, where they cruise, fall in love, and experience a rare sense of belonging. Their lives are tangled up with several women through marriage, secrets, and family ties. As immigrants in Manhattan, the same characters face a whole new set of challenges. Tan narrates this poignant story with nuance and grace, expertly guiding listeners through the intersecting timelines and multiple POVs.
If you’re looking for something a bit different to sink into on the beach this summer, why not try an audio play? THE QUEEN OF FOURTEENTH STREET by Barrie Kreinik is short enough that you can finish it in an afternoon, and it’s guaranteed to keep you riveted from beginning to end. Playwright Barrie Kreinik is joined by Orlagh Cassidy, Imani Jade Powers, Elisabeth Rodgers, and James Fouhey. Together, these five narrators create audio magic, portraying a dozen or so characters in performances that feel, fittingly, like live theater. The play is about the life of Eva Le Gallienne, a queer actor and director who founded a repertory theater in New York in the 1920s. It traces the many ups and downs of her personal and professional life, including her tumultuous love affairs and her struggle to keep the theater afloat during the Depression. Kreinik, as both author and narrator, brings this forgotten figure from queer history to vivid, colorful life.
Finally, here’s something for all the nonfiction fans: a fascinating new biography of legendary American writer Carson McCullers. Mary V. Dearborn’s CARSON MCULLERS: A LIFE is a wonderfully nuanced portrait of a complex artist. Barrie Kreinik is, once again, the perfect narrator for the job: She brings a pizzazz that matches the often dramatic nature of the subject matter, but she tones it down when Dearborn addresses the more serious issues that McCullers faced throughout her life, including her alcoholism and her turbulent relationship with her husband. If you’re looking for a dry accounting of facts and dates, you won’t find it here. What you will find is riveting 20th-century gay drama (Truman Capote, W.H. Auden, Tennessee Williams, and Annemarie Schwarzenbach are just a few of the artists who figured prominently in MuCullers’s life), a heartbreaking story of ambition and addiction, and a thoughtful exploration of the realities of being a woman artist in the public eye. Kreinik’s excellent pacing and occasional, impeccable character voices add to the pleasure of this 15-hour-long audiobook.
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