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Suggestions for beach books?

G

glypnirsgirl

TUG Review Crew: Expert
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Reading for fun is one of my favorite things to do on vacation. We will be gone for 19 days. Which means I will read about 13 books.

I have recently read Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, Last Night in Twisted River (John Irving), and a lot of classic novels because they are inexpensive for my Kindle (George Bernard Shaw, Jane Austen, Henry James, Edith Wharton, Guy de Maupassant, Balzac, E.M. Forester). For beach.vacation reading, I like something a little lighter. Last Night in Twisted River is definitely a winter read.

I like silly mysteries like the Stephanie Plum series. I used to like Patricia Cornwell, but she has gotten TOOOO dark and dreary. I love Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series - and he has one coming out while we are gone. I like Harlan Coben (am I the only one that cannot tell the Coben books apart - any time I am at the bookstore, I will look at one of his books and not buy it because I think that I have already read it).

Amazon keeps recommending The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - has anyone actually read it? What dd you think?

I have a foot of Greg Iles books sitting on my shelf that I have not started. I bought those on a whim from ebay for $3 plus $4 shipping - it is about 8 books, so it was a good deal.

I have downloaded The Help, Millie's Fling, Hell's Corner and the Imperfectionist .

My favorite books are The Pillars of the Earth, The World According to Garp, The Time Traveler's Wife, For light reading, I have enjoyed The Nanny Diaries, Bridget Jones' Diary, I find the Shopaholic Series a guilty pleasure.

Any ideas!
 
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How about the mystery series by Sue Grafton? Also the Richard Jury series by Martha Grimes. I loved The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory.
 
How about the NEVADA BARR - Anna Pigeon Series? There are currently 16 books in the series, plus she has a few other books not in the series.
 
Have you guys been peeking in my library?? I have read all of the above books except maybe 2! And now I have to go find those - LOL!

There's a not too old thread titled along the lines of 'Ladies, have a you read a book that you can't put down?' that has a long list of posts that recommend books.
 
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is an excellent non-fiction choice. If you prefer fiction, you might try Tana French-- In the Woods or Faithful Place. If you liked Major Pettigrew, you might enjoy the Tower, the Zoo and the Tortoise. I recently finished The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet and liked it very much. Gabaldon's Outlander series would also be great beach reading.
 
DeniseM said:
Yes - you have to read the Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon - http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Ou...40335160/?itm=1&USRI=diana+gabaldon+outlander - there are seven books and you will want to down load them all for your trip. I have loved to read my whole life and this is my all time favorite series.
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This looks like it is right up my alley. Is Outlander or Dragonfly in Amber the first in the series? The reason that I ask is that I asked for them to be placed in order for me and Amazon placed Dragonfly first --- is that right? It looks like this series is enough to last the whole vacation because the books are long.

I love the Sue Grafton books. I checked and it turns out that Sue has written T and U since I read S is for Silence. So those are on my download list.

I have had The Other Boleyn Girl on my wish list for awhile so I will go ahead and download that. I had only read reviews and did not know anyone who had read it yet.

When I was looking for suggestions, I was reading reviews of books that I hae enjoyed and one of the reviewers who has similar taste thought that The Tower, the Zoo and the Tortoise was much better than Major Pettigrew --- and as sometimes happens when I am reading reviews, I lost the thread (because I kept continuing forward) and could not remember the name of the book that she recommended so I was really happy to see this recommendation pop up.

There are a few recommendations that I have never heard of (which is always surprising to me) NEVADA BARR - Anna Pigeon Series, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, Richard Jury series by Martha Grimes. I am really looking forward to trying something really new to me.

Thanks for the suggestions!

elaine
 
Start with the Outlander book - the first and best of the series. Judging from the other books you've read, I think you will like The Other Boleyn Girl.

For something a little different but very good, try Kate Atkinson's Case Histories. It's a first of a series that I really enjoyed.

And since you mentioned the Stephanie Plum series, I think you might enjoy the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris.

Deb
 
I've read the first two Outlander books and have the third on my Kindle but won't start it until our holiday in May.

They are very long, over a thousand pages in print, but really excellent.

I'm struggling through the second "The Girl who. . . " book but just haven't had a lot of time to read lately.
 
Outlander is book #1 - you need to read them in sequence. They are long, so 7 is probably more than enough for one vacation. I could not put these books down! When I finished them, I "missed" the characters, and I can't wait for book #8 to come out!
 
Recently i read 'World War Z' its written as if it is true life accounts of the Zombie Apocalypse...great book...I'd recommend reading 'The Zombie Survival guide' if you haven't read many zombie epics first
 
David Baldacci, John Sandford and Vince Flynn are great authors and all have many best-selling books published.

I love Nevada Barr and the Anna Pigeon series.

If you like Patricia Cornwell, try Kathy Reichs. Her character (can't remember the name) is a forensic anthropologist and works in the medical examiner's office in North Carolina and Quebec. Great series, love her books. The television series "Bones" is based on her books, I think.
 
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I enjoy Kathy Reich's books, too. (Temperance Brennan is her character's name...if I spelled it right. Spell check made me change it.)
I think that Sue Grafton's T & U are her best, though I think I've missed a couple somewhere along the line.
I'm reading "The Girl Who Played With Fire" now, and wish I could stay away from this ^&*% computer long enough to get back to it. I ate up "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo".
It sounds as if you'll have more than enough reading material with the Outlander books. Have a wonderful vacation.
 
What great recommendations. I am sure I will have a great time reading and relaxing.

Ian and I are usually extremely active on vacation. We love to hike and snorkel. I told him I really want to take it easy and rest. It is a new concept for him.

He is still planning on 2 hikes, 1 kayak trip and snorkeling every day. I am hoping that the Kauai is small enough that we will still have 4 or 5 hours per day, at least to read.

Thanks for the great recommendations!

elaine
 
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Another thought if you like silly or light mysteries is Jasper FForde's "The Eyre Affair", one of a series of stories featuring Thursday Next of the British literary crimes unit. Very amusing story in which the heroine moves in and out of historical fiction. His books are difficult to describe; best to read the synopses and reviews on Amazon.
 
For mysteries, the oft mentioned Nevada Barr series is very good.

I also liked the Lyn Hamilton series, especially after the first few books in the series. Hamilton grew as a writer. The first books were "pretty good" but by the end, I couldn't wait for her next book. Unfortunately Hamilton died of cancer and there will be no more. The series introduces you to a wide variety of foreign locales with each novel interweaving ancient folklore from that locale.

The two Michael Stanley (actually this is the first names of two people) Botswana mysteries are excellent.

A book (non-mystery) that is just is an absolute stitch to read (you will be shaking your head in disbelief about what happens next) is The Caliph's House.

You will either love Elegance of a Hedgehog or find it a bit overwhelming. It is extremely funny. (I rarely laugh out loud when reading a book, but I did for this one.) The book mixes in a lot of European philosophy and aesthetics and because of that some people find it too serious minded.
 
Should the Lyn Hamilton books be read in order?
 
I never know quite what to say about that, Denise. There is definitely a story line that runs through the entire series, but I am afraid that someone starting at the very beginning might think these books are pretty good, but not super and give up on the series.

My niece went to China on her honeymoon and I recommended that she read The Chinese Alchemist (one of the very later books, maybe even the last). She loved it, passed it on to her mother who then went back and read the entire series. Maybe that is the way to do it. Read that book first and see if you like the concept and style. If so, go back to the beginning and take them in order.
 
Another unforgettable read: The Bronze Horseman, followed up with Tatiana and Alexander and then The Summer Garden.

I'm off to Hawaii shortly and want to download the Outlander books on my kindle. What order should I read them? The order isn't clear on Amazon.

Also, are they lendable?
 
Ridewithme38 said:
Recently i read 'World War Z' its written as if it is true life accounts of the Zombie Apocalypse...great book...I'd recommend reading 'The Zombie Survival guide' if you haven't read many zombie epics first
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You are so funny that I wasn't sure that this was a real book. I looked and both books got great reviews.

I really liked the Stephanie Winston vampire series. And I had liked Ann Rice's books before that.

Thanks for the recommendation. I have ordered the Zombie Survival Guide.

elaine
 
Blue Skies said:
David Baldacci, John Sandford and Vince Flynn are great authors and all have many best-selling books published.

I love Nevada Barr and the Anna Pigeon series.

If you like Patricia Cornwell, try Kathy Reichs. Her character (can't remember the name) is a forensic anthropologist and works in the medical examiner's office in North Carolina and Quebec. Great series, love her books. The television series "Bones" is based on her books, I think.
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I love David Baldacci. The first book that I read was The Winner. I went on to read the Camel Club mysteries and I found that one was released in November that I have not read. So that went on my list too.

I have not read either John Sandford nor Vince Flynn. Do you have any particular favorite books that they have written?

The Kathy Reichs books sound good, too.

elaine
 
If you love the Outlander books, there is also a spin-off series - not quite as good, but good for an "Outlander fix."

Lord John Grey:

• Lord John and the Hellfire Club (1998)
• Lord John and the Private Matter (2003)
• Lord John and the Succubus (2003)
• Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (2007)
• Lord John and the Haunted Soldier (2007)
• The Custom of the Army (2010)
• Lord John and the Scottish Prisoner (Forthcoming)
 
I love mysteries based in locations I want to travel to.
Kate Shugak series by Dana Stabenow set in Alaska
JA Jance lives in Seattle and Arizona and writes mysteries set in each; the Joanna Brady series, Ali Reynolds (the newer ones) are in AZ and JP Beaumont in Seattle.
Laurie King's books with Sherlock Holmes as a lead character are fun.
Susan Wittig Albert has a series featuring China Bayles as an herbalist in the Texas hill country which now has me wanting to go there in the spring.

I agree with you that the later Patricia Cornwell series got creepy. The Nevada Barr mysteries set in National parks do the same thing. The earlier ones are good, but the one set in Rocky Mtn Park was one I wished I hadn't read.

Sue
 
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