Beach read lovers: Book it to Blue Water Resort on Cape Cod

This is the start of “second summer,” when the sun sets earlier and the night air is brisk. It’s the season between Labor Day and full on leaf-peeping season.

If you’re a summer beach reader, however, you may have a stack of books you didn’t get to this summer. How can you get enough of the beach-reading vibe in now before the cold winds blow?

Cape Cod has a way. This year, Red Jacket Resorts in Yarmouth debuts Books By the Sea (redjacketresorts.com/books-by-the-sea-reading-retreat) an immersive weekend experience at their Blue Water Resort that lets you dive into books on the beach under the sun (or umbrella), along with other beach book lovers and local beach book authors themselves.

From Sept. 18-20, beach read lovers can enjoy dinners, group chats, beach meet ups, craft times and conversations with Massachusetts-based Instant USA TODAY bestselling author Hannah Selinger, celebrating her novel “Valley of the Moms,” Instant USA TODAY bestselling author and journalist Jeanette Settembre whose debut novel is “Little Red Flags,” and acclaimed author Meg Mitchell Moore, whose most recent novel is “Down With The Shipmans.”

“We created Books by the Sea as a way to bring people together through the shared love of reading, conversation, and connection,” said Meaghan Didato, Marketing Manager at Red Jacket Resorts. “Cape Cod has always been a place where guests come to slow down, recharge, and make meaningful memories, making it the perfect setting for book lovers to escape the everyday and connect with fellow readers.”

The weekend goes like this: Check in begins at 4 p.m. on Friday. In your room you’ll find a special book gift along with a curated Red Jacket Resorts gift. Your night is free for mingling; you’ll find lots of other attendees at the resort’s many dining spots.

Saturday is when the fun kicks in. After breakfast and coffee, you’ll have a chance to visit with each of the three authors to talk about beaches and books, get a photo and signed book, and shop a great selection of other local-themed books and authors.

The beach will be busy with readers all afternoon and then that evening, all attend a dinner and panel discussion with the three authors. Sunday breakfast will be the last chapter, with more chatter, book swapping and – if you’re lucky – new book friends to keep in touch with.

The event is going to be special not just for the guests but the authors themselves, said Meg Mitchell Moore.

“I’ve never done something like this before,” she said. “This is so much more than a reading or meet up. We will be focused on our reading. And with how distracted with life we all can be, even I am giving myself permission to just read and enjoy sharing our reading experiences.”

A Newburyport resident, she loves the idea of heading to Cape Cod post-Labor Day.

“I spent so much time on the Cape growing up,” she said. “My grandmother had a cottage and we were there every summer, as a kid, in college, all through life.”

Her new book, “Down With The Shipmans,” fits the weekend well, she said.

“This is such a beach book,” she said. The story follows three adults (and their two dogs) through a summer weekend on the seacoast of Rye, New Hampshire. There’s salt water and salty tears, laughter and bonding.

She’s looking forward to bonding with her readers, but also to sharing sacred reading space.

“There’s a good amount of down time, so I’m bringing my own stack of books,” she said. On top of that pile? “The Calamity Club.”

“I love to read on the beach,” she said. “Sand in a book? It’s a great thing.”

Reservations for multiple packages can be made at https://www.redjacketresorts.com/books-by-the-sea-reading-retreat…Read more by Moira McCarthy