I will probably have time for a real entry later today, but I wanted some input first. I am going to Wilmington this weekend to stay with one of my friends and have girl time. We’re going to the beach on Saturday, and I am not especially enamored of anything I am curently reading. I need suggestions for a good beach book. A few things on my list might work, but I wanted to have some different options. Suggestions, please?
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I’d suggest Nick Hornsby or Chaim Potok. They are engrossing enough that I am not distracted by what’s going on around me. Also, Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles are always good though fast reads.
I have read several Nick Hornsby (last time I went to the beach I had a Nick Hornsby, actually). Which ones are your favorites, Jamie? Brian has my Prydain Chronicles – I said pretty much the same thing (good but fast) when I gave him my copies. I must confess that I am slightly intimidated to start Chaim Potok. I started My Name is Asher Lev in the middle of exams one year and didn’t have time to finish it. It was really more bad timing than anything else, but I have been hesitant to start it again.
Do you read history, Kari? If so, I’d recommend Ellis’s Founding Brothers. Of course, you are getting a recommendation from someone with a great bias towards reading well-written histories of the American Revolution and early founding days; if this isn’t your cup of tea, that’s cool.
this is a little old and you’ve probably read it but Devil Wears Prada?? or Birth of Venus? I found both to be good. Although Birth of Venus is probably not the best beach book… there’s a little too much thinking involved. But I loved Devil Wears Prada.
I was going to say, “Well, you know, all suggestions are dependent on whether my library actually has them checked in.” But, so far so good.
Sometimes I am amazed at all the cool books we have.
I do like history, Geof, so I’ll look at it when I’m on the reference desk and see if I feel like I’m in the mood for it.
Kristen – I like trashy chick lit for the beach. So tell me more about Devil Wears Prada.
I second The Devil Wears Prada, so long as you don’t mind reading more than your share of bad language. It’s a hilarious read (and about the magazine industry, so of course I liked it).
It’s Nick Hornby. No S.
And apparently he has a new-ish book out that I have not seen in stores! And it’s about music, no less, and comes with a CD. I MUST rectify this situation.
Oh, yes, I have seen that book! It’s kind of like essays that the High Fidelity guys would have written. We don’t have it here, but it does sound interesting. It’s called Songbook. It’s in paperback now, which is good news.
(At first I thought you were cursing at me. My friends have been known to call someone a B because they think it’s wrong to say the whole word, that kind of thing. So I was reading “No S” as “No s***.” I get it now. But it didn’t make any sense to me at first.)
If you’ve never read a book by Jamie Turner, I think you’d like her. She writes about the South and creates great characters. She’s a Christian writer, but her work is not typical of “Christian fiction.” I’d especially recommend her first novel, Suncatchers, and I also like Some Wildflower in My Heart.
Yes, I saw Songbook on Books-a-Million and Barnes & Noble’s web sites (and it comes with a CD)! From what I was reading, it sounds more like Nick Hornby has a lot in common with the guy in High Fidelity than anything. (Did I mention I love that book?)
may I recommend Garrison Keillor’s “Lake Wobegon: Summer 1956″ its a great summer read.. for the beach or anywhere.. I can never read at the beach.. or at the airport.. people watching is too much of a priority…hehe
Trey, y’know that people watching at the beach makes you sound like a pervert?
Just kidding. (I hate the beach because swimsuits are evil! But books are good. But sand in books is not good.)
swimsuits are the devil?.. I thought tsggathoua was the devil.. oh well.. and yeah.. I guess it does make me sound like a perv.. thats not what I meant though.. Im a professional people watcher.. its my job…
Kari,
Like I said before, Wallace Stegner’s “Crossing to Safety” is a great read. It’d be a great beach book! Check it out, read it, and let me know how much you enjoy it.
I will so wholeheartedly second Lake Wobegon: Summer 1956. I will put it above anything good I have to say about Ellis. That book kept me sane on my last business trip.
Hmmm….sounds like you’ve already got some Hornsby suggestions. For Potok, I’d probably start with “The Chosen.”
Then there’s always Harry Potter. You can always re-read those. ;o)