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In this post, we’ll chart a course for the open ocean, and search the literary depths for 10 books with ‘Sea’ in the title.
We’ll suggest a diverse range of tales that will enchant and thrill all readers. Immerse yourself in mesmerising fantasies, unravel complex mysteries, and experience poignant dramas all while channelling thoughts of the vast, enigmatic ocean.
Whether you’re drawn to tales of mythical underwater realms, heart-stopping adventures on the high seas, or introspective journeys along the shore, our selection promises a literary escape for every reader.
Set sail with us and discover the perfect ‘sea’-themed book to add to your reading list today!
To add a little salt to our voyage, see if you can spot the 5 false facts about the ocean, and the 5 fun facts that are true but bizarre!
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We encourage you to always source books from your local independent bookshop. However, we understand this is sometimes not practical based on location or budget.
Therefore, this post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means, if you click on the link and purchase the book from that link, I get a few dollars at no extra cost to you! This way we can both stock up on beach reads! 😀
Happy Sailing, Friends!
Ocean Fact or Fiction? :
There are worms called Osedax, or “zombie worms,” that feast on the bones of dead whales on the ocean floor!
"The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea" Book Blurb:
For generations, deadly storms have ravaged Mina’s homeland. Her people believe the Sea God, once their protector, now curse them with death and despair. To appease him, each year a maiden is thrown into the sea, in the hopes that one day the ‘true bride’ will be chosen and end the suffering. Many believe Shim Cheong – Mina’s brother’s beloved – to be the legendary true bride. But on the night Cheong is sacrificed, Mina’s brother follows her, even knowing that to interfere is a death sentence. To save her brother, Mina throws herself into the water in Cheong’s stead. Swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of lesser gods and mythical beasts, Mina finds the Sea God, trapped in an enchanted sleep. With the help of a mysterious young man and a motley crew of demons, gods and spirits, Mina sets out to wake him and bring an end to the storms once and for all. But she doesn’t have much time: a human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking.
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Ocean Fact or Fiction? :
Atlantis is actually just a huge underwater amusement park run by dolphins.
"Our Wives Under the Sea" Book Blurb:
Miri thinks she has got her wife back, when Leah finally returns after a deep sea mission that ended in catastrophe. It soon becomes clear, though, that Leah may have come back wrong. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded on the ocean floor, Leah has carried part of it with her, onto dry land and into their home. To have the woman she loves back should mean a return to normal life, but Miri can feel Leah slipping from her grasp. Memories of what they had before – the jokes they shared, the films they watched, all the small things that made Leah hers – only remind Miri of what she stands to lose. Living in the same space but suddenly separate, Miri comes to realise that the life that they had might be gone.
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Ocean Fact or Fiction? :
In the deepest parts of the ocean, hydrothermal vents can spew water that is over 400°C, but the water doesn’t boil due to the extreme pressure!
"Jonathan Livingston Seagull" Book Blurb:
‘Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight – how to get from shore to food and back again,’ writes author Richard Bach in this allegory about a unique bird named Jonathan Livingston Seagull. ‘For most gulls it is not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight.’ Flight is indeed the metaphor that makes this story soar. This bestselling modern classic is a fable about seeking a higher purpose in life, even if your flock, tribe or neighbourhood finds your ambition threatening (at one point our beloved gull is even banished from his flock). By not compromising his higher vision, Jonathan learns the meaning of love and kindness and gets the ultimate payoff – transcendence.
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Ocean Fact or Fiction? :
The ocean has its own monarchy, ruled by a giant octopus called Queen Calamary.
"The House in the Cerulean Sea" Book Blurb:
Linus Baker leads a quiet life. At forty, he has a tiny house with a devious cat and his beloved records for company. And at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, he’s spent many dull years monitoring their orphanages. Then one day, Linus is summoned by Extremely Upper Management and given a highly classified assignment. He must travel to an orphanage where six dangerous children reside, including the Antichrist. There, Linus must somehow determine if they could bring on the end of days. But their guardian, charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, will do anything to protect his wards. As Arthur and Linus grow ever closer, Linus must choose between duty and his dreams.
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Ocean Fact or Fiction? :
More people have walked on the moon than have visited the deepest parts of the ocean.
"The Starless Sea" Book Blurb:
When Zachary Rawlins stumbles across a strange book hidden in his university library it leads him on a quest unlike any other. Its pages entrance him with their tales of lovelorn prisoners, lost cities and nameless acolytes, but they also contain something impossible- a recollection from his own childhood. Determined to solve the puzzle of the book, Zachary follows the clues he finds on the cover – a bee, a key and a sword. They guide him to a masquerade ball, to a dangerous secret club, and finally through a magical doorway created by the fierce and mysterious Mirabel. This door leads to a subterranean labyrinth filled with stories, hidden far beneath the surface of the earth. When the labyrinth is threatened, Zachary must race with Mirabel, and Dorian, a handsome barefoot man with shifting alliances, through its twisting tunnels and crowded ballrooms, searching for the end of his story.
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Ocean Fact or Fiction? :
There are dedicated ‘highways’ for submarines under the ocean that certain marine animals have learned to use as undersea short-cuts.
"In the Heart of the Sea" Book Blurb:
In 1820, the whaleship Essex was rammed and sunk by an angry sperm whale, leaving the desperate crew to drift for more than ninety days in three tiny boats. Nathaniel Philbrick uses little-known documents and vivid details about the Nantucket whaling tradition to reveal the chilling facts of this infamous maritime disaster. In the Heart of the Sea has been adapted into a major feature film starring Chris Hemsworth.
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Ocean Fact or Fiction? :
There are places in the ocean where the water glows in the dark due to bioluminescent plankton, creating a magical, surreal experience.
"Down the River Unto the Sea" Book Blurb:
Joe King Oliver was one of the NYPD’s finest investigators until, dispatched to arrest a well-heeled car thief, he is framed for assault, a charge that lands him in the notorious Rikers Island prison. A decade later, King is a private detective, running his agency with the help of his teenage daughter, Aja-Denise. When he receives a card in the mail from the woman who admits she was paid by someone in the NYPD to frame him all those years ago, King realises that he has no choice but to take his own case: figuring out who on the force wanted him disposed of – and why. At the same time, King must investigate the case of black radical journalist Leonard Compton, aka A Free Man, accused of killing two on-duty police officers who had been abusing their badges to traffic drugs and women into the city’s poorest neighbourhoods. In pursuit of justice, our hero must beat dirty cops and even dirtier bankers. All the while, two lives hang in the balance: Compton’s, and King’s own.
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Ocean Fact or Fiction? :
Whales communicate via an advanced underwater Wi-Fi network that even humans haven’t been able to hack. Until now.
"Beside the Syrian Sea" Book Blurb:
Jonas is a spy with a problem. His quiet life spent writing reports for British intelligence is turned upside-down when his father is kidnapped by ISIS, and he soon finds himself dangerously out of his depth in Beirut, struggling to put into action the most audacious plan imaginable. As events hurtle towards a confrontation with the kidnappers, and the British government realises the full horror of what he is planning, Jonas is forced to decide how far he is willing to go to see his father again.
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Ocean Fact or Fiction? :
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a massive “island” of floating plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean, larger than the state of Texas.
"Tress of the Emerald Sea" Book Blurb:
The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?
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Ocean Fact or Fiction? :
There are schools for mermaids where they learn human languages and how to use underwater smartphones called ‘clamshells’.
"Peril on the Atlantic" Book Blurb:
As the Queen Mary sets sail across the Atlantic, Alice can’t wait for the summer of adventure that lies ahead. She’s excited to explore the huge ship, with its shops, animals and even celebrities on board.But while Alice’s sailor father focuses on winning a prestigious race, she witnesses a shocking attack. Alice and her new friend Sonny start to uncover a dark sabotage plot, and as they investigate gold bars, anonymous notes and lost silk gloves, secrets in their own lives come to the surface.When fog threatens the boat’s journey, and dangerous enemies show themselves, Alice and Sonny are in their own race to solve all the mysteries unfolding. But what they discover might change both their lives forever.
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