Best Summer Beach Reads.

We all think of different kinds of books when we search for the perfect Beach Reads. Some like a juicy rom-com. Others look for the latest spy thriller or cozy mystery. We at Island Bookstores have been enjoying the latest local history books for the last few summers. Lately there are a plethora of titles to choose from. Most of these books can be easily completed during your summer vacation and they allow you to get glimpses of how natives and locals have lived their lives and impacted our community between the summer seasons.

Between Tides: by Angel Khoury
Angel Khoury, a 40 year resident of the Outer Banks, gives us a haunting and lovely tale borrowed  from history.  Shifting between Cape Cod and Cape Hatteras, the story spans decades and generations to  explore the settings, two lengths of rough coastline, that shaped the characters and determined the course of their lives. With lyrical prose and deft interweaving of parallel lives, Khoury has created a mesmerizing account of loneliness, love, family entanglement  and how the geography of Hatteras Island itself is a character.  (Dzanc Books, $18.95)

Remarkable Women of the Outer Banks: by Hannah Bunn West
The author of this lively and informative narrative history is native to Dare County. Her deep appreciation of the women whose stories she tells is evident on every page. The selection of characters covers the history of the area from European contact to the present. The Outer Banks of North Carolina has always attracted pragmatic, self-sufficient souls whose descendants have made their lives against a background of economic, geographical and social change. This book contains six of those lives and references dozens more in the telling of the rich intertwined history of place and culture. The reader is treated to a nuanced and balanced local history.  (The History Press, $21.99)

Andy Griffith’s Manteo: His Real Mayberry: by John Railey
Both of these entertaining beach reads focus on different aspects of Roanoke Island and the Lost Colony production, topics that author John Railey knows well. Railey has spent many many days during the last 40 years establishing friendships and connections in the Roanoke Island community. He explores different aspects in his books published last summer and this spring. Last year’s offering, The Lost Colony Murder is a true crime mystery from the late 1960’s that took decades and one person’s death to unravel. Railey deftly brings the reader along as years passed and details bubbled to the surface that finally allowed the solution to a decades old murder to emerge. Andy Griffith’s Roanoke Island is a tribute to the beloved television star and local character as told through the memories of some of his closest friends. Andy Griffith got his acting start and embarked on his adult life after playing a part in the long running outdoor drama The Lost Colony. Andy had an immeasurable impact on the community although one could argue that it was no larger than the impact the community had on him.
(The History Press:  Andy Griffith’s Manteo $19.79, Lost Colony Murder $21.99)
The Lost Colony Murder on the Outer Banks: Seeking Justice for Brenda Joyce Holland by John Railey

Memories of the Currituck Outer Banks: As Told by Erie Bowden by Clark Twiddy
Author, native, and local historian Clark Twiddy spent countless hours talking to Ernie Bowden and reviewing his handwritten memoirs. Ernie is a six generation native of Corolla and his life and escapades stretch from a painfully remote village in the time of the Wright brothers to the booming resort village of today. The journey from early isolation to popularity is recalled with remarkable insight.. On any given day, Ernie was a sailor, cattle baron, salvage specialist, hunter, fisherman, legal expert and elected official all at once. Your enjoyment of your visit to the Currituck Outer Banks can only be enhanced as you envision the village as it was 100 years ago.  (The History Press $21.21) 

Corolla and the Currituck Outer Banks: by R. Wayne and Nancy Gray
Another, broader, history of the Currituck Banks is provided by local authors R. Wayne and Nancy Gray. The Grays have written close to a dozen local history books and each is well researched and entertaining. In this story, readers will learn about the pre contact indigenous population, the early fishing and farming villages and the era of the hunt clubs. Wayne passed away in 2021 so this will be his last local history offering but Nancy plans to continue researching and writing about her beloved home.
(Arcadia, $23.17)