The days are longer, the drinks are colder, and the sea is calling. What better time to get lost in a book that smells like the ocean and adventure? From cursed shipwrecks to clever octopuses, lost presidents to magical islands, this month’s picks feel like boarding a ship with no map—just a promise that something unforgettable waits beyond the horizon.

Check out our recommendations, or find your own ocean-inspired read!

Fiction Picks

1. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
Linus Baker lives a quiet, rule-bound life working for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. But when he's sent to evaluate a classified orphanage on a remote island—home to six magical children—he finds more than just case notes. The island’s caretaker is protective, the kids are unforgettable, and Linus starts to wonder if following the rules is really the right thing to do.

2. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
After her husband’s death, Tova takes a night shift at the local aquarium to keep herself busy. There, she forms an unlikely bond with Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus who’s far smarter—and more observant—than anyone realizes. As Marcellus begins to unravel a decades-old mystery, he changes the lives of everyone around him, including Tova’s.

3. Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
Tress has lived her whole life on a quiet island, collecting cups and listening to stories about the deadly seas beyond. But when someone she loves is taken, she leaves everything behind to cross those seas—braving pirates, strange magic, and the unknown. What starts as a rescue mission becomes something much bigger.

Non-Fiction Picks

1. Endurance by Alfred Lansing
A gripping, true account of Ernest Shackleton’s legendary voyage to Antarctica and the extraordinary survival story against impossible odds.

2. The Wager by David Grann
Mutiny, shipwreck, and survival collide in this compelling true tale of an 18th-century naval expedition gone disastrously wrong, leaving survivors fighting not just the sea—but each other.

3. River of Doubt by Candice Millard
After losing his bid for a third presidential term, Theodore Roosevelt embarks on a perilous expedition down an uncharted Amazon tributary to reclaim his sense of adventure and purpose. Part adventure, part thriller, fully unforgettable.