At first I was happy to accept Dr. Brander's conversational tone in presenting the science and safety of beaches. Presumably, he knows what he's talking about in that area. Unfortunately, he frequently takes a victim-blaming, pedantic approach, although the pedantry doesn't seem to apply to him and his attempts at jokes. His history, etymology, and epidemiology are not just lacking, but sometimes spreading or even inventing misinformation. This was deeply disappointing and made me question whether I was getting good science in his actual field.

The epub formatting is quite bad, and I had to use two different devices to read it properly - my phone for images, and my e-reader for the text, and both were still sometimes difficult to navigate due to a lack of back links and large information boxes breaking up the main text. Some of these are redundant or could have been proper subsections on their own, and the chapter summaries are simply too long in relation to the chapter length to be necessary. There's an extensive index, but I'd rather have citations and a bibliography so I can learn more about the actual science.

I grew up in the mountains and - other than a vacation - didn't get to know the beach until I was in my 20s, and I quickly fell in love! (It coincided with my falling in love with a California girl!) I love the waves, the sand, the sun, the water, and especially how it's the perfect spot to enjoy a good book! And although I never learned how to surf, I'm happy watching my kids surf and looking for seashells on the beach. So, this was a great book for me.

Rob Brander, aka Dr. Rip, discusses the geomorphology of beaches, which is the study of how beaches form and why. He discusses where beach sand comes from, the size of the particles (from sand to rocks), and how it's all affected by waves. He also talks about beach safety, especially how different rip currents form and why as well as how to get out (it's not as simple as I've been told, and the easiest way is to avoid them in the first place). In fact, he spends a lot of time on rip currents since they are responsible for far more ocean deaths than anything else. He wraps it up with some of the other dangers such as jellyfish, cone snails, and of course, sharks.

This is an easy to read and very accessible book for casual readers. Although he does discuss some things that are a bit more complex, he does it in a way that makes it easy to understand and each chapter ends with a "bottom line" summary of important points. I was probably looking for something a little more technical, but found this a pleasant read about my favorite place. (Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance electronic review copy.)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! An absolute beach lover, I have always laid out on the sand, watching the waves and wondering exactly how they worked. And how the surfers knew what were going to be good surfing waves. And why some of the beaches were sandy, rocky, yellow, white, or even black.
Thanks to this easily understood, easily read, short little book, it's opened my eyes up to what's actually happening. The author has a way of explaining the facts in language everyone can understand. Not at all stuffy or overly wordy.
It's a book you can read in pieces, a chapter or two at a time. Or take it with you on your next beach vacation and read it as you watch the wave action.
It also explains rip currents, which it would be very advisable for anyone who swims in the ocean to understand.
Just a great little, fun book!