Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Beat the Heat With These Bingeworthy Beach Reads (and Pool Podcasts!)

18/07/2024

Summer is officially in full swing, and that means it's time to chill out. Whether you're heading out on vacation or hoping to make the most of Summer Fridays, a good audiobook or podcast is the perfect companion. If you're craving an offbeat rom-com, murder mystery, or intimate conversation with a Hollywood legend, Spotify's editors are here to help you find your next summer beach read (or lakeside listen).

Audiobooks:

Going Bicoastal Written by Dahlia Adler

Narrated by Mara Wilson

In this queer YA rom-com, main character Natalya must choose between spending the summer in NYC with her dad (and the girl she's always had a crush on) or in LA with her estranged mom (and, it turns out, a guy she never saw coming). How's a girl supposed to choose? Thankfully she doesn't have to, because in Going Bicoastal, both summers play out in alternating timelines.

Just for the Summer Written by Abby Jimenez

Narrated by Christine Lakin, Zachary Webber, Abby Jimenez

Just for the Summer introduces readers to Justin and Emma, who share a common curse: Every person they each date goes on to find their soulmate the second they break up. So, the pair comes up with a plan: They'll fake-date each other and then break up. Their curses will cancel out, and they'll both go on to find the one. What could go wrong?

In Just for the Summer, set in a cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka, discover what happens when a relationship that was supposed to be temporary turns out to be more.

Beach Read Written by Emily Henry

Narrated by Julia Whelan

In Emily Henry's bestseller Beach Read, Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction, and January Andrews writes romance. The only thing they have in common is that for three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block. The two struggling authors decide to strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.

The Midnight Feast Written by Lucy Foley

Narrated by Joe Eyre, Sarah Slimani, Roly Botha, Laurence Dobiesz, Tuppence Middleton

The Midnight Feast takes listeners into a world where darkness stirs under the burning midsummer sun. It's opening night at the Manor, the newest and hottest luxury resort, and no expense small or large has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles, cocktails are being poured with a heavy hand, and everyone is wearing linen. But old friends and enemies circulate among the guests. Just outside the Manor's immaculately kept grounds, an ancient forest bristles with secrets. And it's not too long before the local police are called. Turns out the past has crashed the party, with deadly results.

Swan Song Written by Elin Hilderbrand

Narrated by Erin Bennett

In Swan Song, a $22 million mansion is snapped up by the mysterious Richardson family and everyone in the community is swept into the ensuing high drama. The Richardsons throw lavish parties, flirt with multiple locals, and flaunt their wealth with not one but two yachts. And when their house goes up in flames and their most essential employee goes missing, the entire island is up in arms.

Elin Hilderbrand is the queen of beach reads, and this last book in the Nantucket novels series-with its glittering gatherings, sun-soaked drama, and cast of beloved characters that includes the island itself-shows why.

For more summer reading inspo, head to our Beach Reads hub.

Podcasts:

CounterClock In order to tell the story of a crime, sometimes you have to turn back time. On her podcast CounterClock, investigative journalist Delia D'Ambra digs deep into a mind-bending mystery with the hopes of reigniting interest in a decades-old homicide case.

The Big Picture Whether you're looking for must-see movie reviews, Top 5 rankings, Oscars analysis, or anything else under the Hollywood sun, The Big Picture has you covered. In each episode, hosts Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins are joined by a rotating cast of Ringer colleagues including Chris Ryan, Van Lathan, and Bill Simmons.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus Each week on Wiser Than Me, Julia Louis-Dreyfus engages in a funny, touching, personal conversation with an iconic older woman brimming with the kind of unapologetic attitude and wisdom that only come with age. Julia and her 90-year-old mom, Judy, sit at the feet of some extraordinary teachers, including Patti Smith, Carol Burnett, and Gloria Steinem. Tune in to laugh, cry, and get wise.

Couples Therapy On Couples Therapy, comedians and real-life couple Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman gab with their favorite actors and comics about their romantic lives and answer your burning relationship questions with all the wisdom two unlicensed entertainers can possibly muster.

Murder in the Hollywood Hills Kristi Johnson was shopping at a mall in Los Angeles when a man invited her to a photo shoot for the next Bond film. That afternoon, the 21-year-old got into her white sports car and drove to meet him in the Hollywood Hills. She was never seen alive again. In Dateline's latest podcast, Murder in the Hollywood Hills, Keith Morrison takes listeners to the city of dreams for the story of a smooth-talking predator who lured young women into a nightmare with promises of fame and fortune. It's the story of how he evaded justice for years. But most of all, it's the story of a group of women who banded together to lock him up for good.

For more podcast inspo, head to our Essential Travel Listening hub.
LINK: https://newsroom.spotify.com/2024-07-18/beat-the-heat-with-these-binge...
See more stories from spotify

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

09/10/2026

Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026

September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026 New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

22/09/2026

Young Journalist Award 2026: Meet the Final 12

From Malaysia to Mexico and from DR Congo to Ukraine, this year's 12 finalists for the 2026 Thomson Foundation Young Journalist of the Year award tell extra...

22/09/2026

ESPN, Precision Lasers Light Up NHL Player Media Tour in Las Vegas

The annual preseason content-gathering event brought 36 NHL players to Las Vegas, where ESPN used 2.5 kilowatts of laser power and a motion-control camera syste...

22/09/2026

Neumann Introduces KK 104 A and KK 105 A Wireless Capsule Heads

Neumann has introduced the KK 104 A (cardioid) and KK 105 A (supercardioid) wireless capsule heads, succeeding the KK 204 and KK 205. The new capsules are compa...

22/09/2026

NFL and TMRW Sports Announce Pro Flag Showcase During Super Bowl LXI Week

The NFL and TMRW Sports have announced a new annual Pro Flag Showcase to be held during Super Bowl LXI week in Los Angeles. The event will feature top flag foot...

22/09/2026

Washington State University Unveils New Daktronics Video Board and Audio System at Gesa Field

Washington State University has unveiled a new end zone video display and audio ...

22/09/2026

SVG Sit-Down: Disney's Dave Johnson on ESPN's New 4K HDR Distribution Pipeline and What It Means for Super Bowl LXI and Beyond

Disney's SVP of Live Operations and Engineering details the technology behin...

22/09/2026

Cosm Promotes Mazen Alawar to SVP of Marketing, Alexis Scalice to VP of Cosm Studios

Cosm has announced two senior promotions. Mazen Alawar has been promoted to SVP,...

22/09/2026

Mississippi State University Extends Camera Relationship with KOKUSAI DENKI

Mississippi State University's University Television Center has purchased four KOKUSAI DENKI SK-UHD7000-S2 cameras since 2024, with plans to add two more, a...

22/09/2026

Net Insight Appoints Christine Kjellvard as Interim CFO

Net Insight has announced that Christine Kjellvard will assume the role of interim Chief Financial Officer on November 1, 2026. Kjellvard has previously held in...

22/09/2026

Net Insight Launches Zyntai TimeNode Access PTP Grandmaster for Edge Sites

Net Insight has announced Zyntai TimeNode Access, a compact PTP Grandmaster designed for distributed edge sites. The product carries secure, precise time across...

22/09/2026

The Weight Explores the High Cost of Freedom in the Depression Era

Sam Hazeldine, Austin Amelio, Padraic McKinley, Julia Jones, and Ethan Hawke attend the premiere of The Weight at The Ray Theatre on January 26, 2026, in Park...

22/09/2026

Avalanche Tones introduce Noise Suite

Second high-gain tone plug-in released Following on from their debut release, Chainsaw Suite, Avalanche Tones have announced the launch of their second plug...

22/09/2026

LW6 wireless headphones from Lewitt Audio

Uncompressed audio with below 6ms of latency Lewitt's have just introduced their first pair of headphones which, despite being aimed primarily at studio...

22/09/2026

Neumann launch the KK 104 A & KK 105 A

Two new capsule heads for Sennheiser wireless systems Neumann have announced the upcoming launch of the KK 104 A and KK 105 A, a pair of new premium condens...

22/09/2026

Apogee Plugins Are Moving to Plugin Alliance

Apogee Plugins Are Moving to Plugin Alliance We're excited to share an important update about the future of Apogee plugins. Apogee plugins are moving to Pl...

22/09/2026

SipRadius honored with a Technology And Engineering Emmy...

Parkland, Florida, US, September 22, 2026: SipRadius, widely recognized for making content processing and connectivity secure and seamless, has been honored wit...

22/09/2026

VanityFilter 3.1.5 adds project files and adjustable protection around lips, brows and ears

VanityFilter 3.1.5 adds project files and adjustable protection around lips, bro...

22/09/2026

Chile's TV+ Modernizes Broadcast Operations with Blackmagic Design

Chile's TV Modernizes Broadcast Operations with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton September 22, 2026 0 Comments URSA Broadcast G2 brings versatility...

22/09/2026

OWC Shares Sneak Peek at Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Pricing

OWC Shares Sneak Peek at Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Pricing Brie Clayton September 22, 2026 0 Comments Image courtesy of Deposit Photos Business and ...

22/09/2026

Berklee's First Homecoming Block Party Brings Alumni Home for Global Music Festival

Berklee's First Homecoming Block Party Brings Alumni Home for Global Music F...

22/09/2026

New TVU Pocket Offers Broadcast Features In Phone-Sized Unit

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Operative Launches Unified Platform for Advertising and Broadcast Management

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Element Launches New TiVo-Powered Smart TVs in the U.S.

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

NOAA Taps Tomorrow.io for Improved U.S. Weather Forecasts

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Gray Media Promotes Tim Maloney to GM and Director of Sales at WBKO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Reports: Paramount Reaches Settlement with State AGs in Antitrust Suit

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

New Research Lays Out Streaming Services Best Defense Against Churn

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Sinclair Expands The National News Desk

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Paramount Settles Antitrust Lawsuit over WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

U.S. Broadband Industry Investment Hits $92.6 Billion

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Sky commissions Tupac murder trial documentary from Passion Pictures & Propagate Content

From Academy Award-winning Passion Pictures and BAFTA-winning director Marian Mo...

22/09/2026

Wi-Fi, phones and power lines: understanding EMF exposure

Whether it be from the sun or from our phones and other devices, we are all exposed to electromagnetic radiation in some shape or form. With the dramatic growth...

22/09/2026

Comscore's latest AI Intelligence Report Shows Competition Intensifying as Claude and Gemini Gain Ground on ChatGPT

Comscore's latest AI Intelligence Report Shows Competition Intensifying as C...

22/09/2026

The Factory-X Project Sets Standards for Data Sovereignty in Industry

The Factory-X Project Sets Standards for Data Sovereignty in Industry Arvato Systems Brings Digital Sovereignty to Industrial Practice Factory-X Successfully...

22/09/2026

Apple opens Apple Music Hall, a\u00A0state-of-the-art live music venue in London - PRESS RELEASE - Posted on 21 September 2026

LONDON Apple today announced the opening of Apple Music Hall, a brand-new state-...

22/09/2026

Young creativity across the island of Ireland takes centre stage as sixth RT This is Art! competition launches

RT , Creative Ireland and Shared Island Initiative ask young artists to respon...

22/09/2026

NVIDIA Isaac ROS 5.0 Advances Agentic, Open Source Robotics Development

To build and deploy sophisticated robotics applications that can perceive, reason and act in dynamic environments, developers need new physical AI models and to...

21/09/2026

Manifold Taps Ryhaan Williams for North America COO Post

Manifold Technologies, developer of software-defined, FPGA-accelerated infrastructure for live production, has named Ryhaan Williams as Chief Commercial Officer...

21/09/2026

SNS Wins IAMT Best Journal Article Award

Studio Network Solutions (SNS) has won Best Journal Article at the 2026 IAMT Impact Awards for What Video Editors Need When Everything Is Changing Around Them,...

21/09/2026

MLW Announces Streaming Deal with Tubi for Weekly FUSION Series

Major League Wrestling (MLW) has announced a streaming distribution agreement with Tubi for its weekly series MLW FUSION. Beginning September 17, new episodes w...

21/09/2026

Adam Smith Named Chairman of Direct-to-Consumer at Disney Entertainment

Disney Entertainment has announced that Adam Smith has been named Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer, with responsibility for Disney and Hulu including product, engi...

21/09/2026

United Airlines and DISH to Offer Live Football on Starlink-Enabled Seatback Screens

United Airlines and DISH have announced an agreement to bring live professional ...

21/09/2026

SES to Provide Satellite Distribution for JioStar Channels Across India

SES and JioStar have announced a multi-year agreement under which SES will provide satellite distribution services for JioStar's television channel portfoli...

21/09/2026

Detroit Red Wings Announce Detroit SportsNet Broadcast Details for 2026-27 Season

The Detroit Red Wings have announced details for their inaugural season on Detro...

21/09/2026

Manifold Technologies Appoints Ryhaan Williams as CCO for North America

Manifold Technologies has appointed Ryhaan Williams as Chief Commercial Officer for North America, effective October 1, 2026. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Wi...

21/09/2026

DAZN Pick Up L.A. Kings DTC Streaming Rights; ABTV Will Continue as Local TV Home

Angels Broadcast Television (ABTV), the local television home of the Los Angeles...