Sometimes what you want is not a “beach book” but a book literally set at the beach.

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‘The road was from a fairy tale, a long stretch of sand inside a tunnel of lush pine trees. When they reached the end, there was the ocean, sparkling in the sun, dark blue against a small sandy beach, which was nestled between two long stretches of rocky coast.’

In “Maine,” by J. Courtney Sullivan, three generations of the dysfunctional Kelleher family descend on their summer cottage with all their baggage in tow — sibling rivalry, illness, alcoholism, parenting difficulties.

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‘The water! Franny wanted to run toward it with her hand clasping open and closed like a lobster’s claws to hold on to it, a shimmery dream. The Mediterranean was richly blue, with tiny waves lapping in and out.’

In “The Vacationers” by Emma Straub, a New York family — loving, bickering, full of secrets — arrives on the Spanish island of Mallorca for a two-week vacation.