NMR: Please help me with beach reading

[Deleted]

We are going to the beach next week, and I'm looking for recommendations for good beach reading. Unfortunately, I haven't liked most of the chick lit I've been recommended. Off the top of my head, I recall disliking Emily Giffin (Something Borrowed and Something Blue) and Jennifer Weiner (Little Earthquakes). I read them awhile ago, but I do remember enjoying the Shopaholic books. One of my friends recommended Mary Kay Andrews, but it looks like most of her books are about divorce or equally unpleasant topics.

Recent books I've enjoyed: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Hunger Games, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Help, Outliers

I don't necessarily need to read "chick lit" at the beach, but I do want something fairly light. What recommendations do you have?

[Deleted]

Have you read the Stephanie Plum series?

[biscoffcookies]

If you liked the Hunger Games, I recommend Divergent and its recently released sequel, Insurgent (although the third book will not be released until fall 2013....boo).

I also might suggest Anna and the French Kiss -- it is young adult but pretty cute and fluffy (kind of the same feeling as the Shopaholic books, which is why I mention it).

[Deleted]

Bossypants by Tina Fey.

[thedutchgirl]

John Green stuff. It is YA, so it is light-ish, but it is so good. His most recent is The Fault in Our Stars. Love. I also love the Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. It is also YA, but it is set in Nazi Germany during WWII, so you might not want to read it on the beach. I also loved Special Topics in Calamity Physica by Marisha Pessl. Not YA but still has a young narrator.

[thedutchgirl]

I will note that the Fault in Our Stars is a tear jerker, so I guess you might not want to read it on the beach. It is so good though!

[pugz]

definitely Stephanie Perkins' books, they are stand alones which is nice. Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door.

[ijack]

I really liked The Daughter of Smoke and Bones as well and those mentioned above. I loved The Night Circus too.

[biscoffcookies]

May 21, 2012 18:30:44 GMT -5 thedutchgirl said:

John Green stuff. It is YA, so it is light-ish, but it is so good. His most recent is The Fault in Our Stars. Love. I also love the Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. It is also YA, but it is set in Nazi Germany during WWII, so you might not want to read it on the beach. I also loved Special Topics in Calamity Physica by Marisha Pessl. Not YA but still has a young narrator.

I also loved the Book Thief, but it made me ugly cry near the end (big sobs and everything -- DH saw me and freaked out, thinking something was seriously wrong with me) -- so depending on your tolerance for having other people see you cry, you may want to save that one for your house.

Have you ever read Jennifer Cruisie? My favorite of hers is Bet Me, but all of them are good fluffy fun (and, unlike all my other recommendations, adults are actually her target audience!).

[mrsd2006]

Mary Kay Andrews is not unpleasant at all!! Very light fun reads, perfect for the beach. She spends a lot of time in my hometown (Savannah, GA), which is near a beach, and some of her books feature the area (Savannah Blues, Savannah Breeze). She also writes a series under her real name, Kathy Hogan Trochek, which is a little more serious- about an ex homicide detective in ATL who now owns a cleaning business and gets into all kinds of trouble solving cases (Callahan McGarrity series)

Do you have a nook or kindle? Sometimes you can download a sample of the book, try some of hers out.

[shortstax]

May 21, 2012 18:25:42 GMT -5 biscoffcookies said:

I also might suggest Anna and the French Kiss -- it is young adult but pretty cute and fluffy (kind of the same feeling as the Shopaholic books, which is why I mention it).

This book made me feel like a giddy 18 year old girl again! DH made fun of me for having this face the whole time I was reading it ;D

Excellent beach read suggestion!

[starburst]

Jen Lancaster's books are pretty funny. I also like Jill Mansell for light reads.

[charminglife]

I really enjoy Christopher Buckley - I dont think he has anything really recent but Supreme Courtship was hysterical.

[spunkytumi]

I think we have similar tastes.

Never Let Me Go, The Devil in the White City, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, Love in the Time of Cholera

Have fun at the beach!

[troopersmom]

I like reading Dorothea Benton Frank while at the beach. I literally LOL in almost all her books.

[bqbride]

I just finished Water for Elephants, which was a quick read that I loved. I didn't expect to, so that was a nice surprise. Wonderful story!

[basilosaurus]

I'm currently reading Emperor of all Maladies, which is a history of cancer. it's engaging in the way Henrietta Lacks was, but I wouldn't say it's light. It's certainly not as heavy as it would seem, though, as it's not emotional, and it's written for the lay-audience. It's actually really interesting. About as heavy as And the Band Played On.

If not that, I just finished two sort of local historical fiction books, but I'd think they would be more universally engaging. Alan Brennert: Moloka'i and Honolulu. Really, I think I'd enjoy them even if I hadn't just moved to Hawaii.

[purposelyvague]

Two of my good friends just recommended "Before I go to Sleep." They both said it was so good they had to stay up late to finish it. I don't know if it's light since I haven't read it myself yet.

[Deleted]

Thanks everyone for the great ideas! I have read Bossypants and Anna and the French Kiss and enjoyed both of them. I downloaded a free John Green sampler on my Kindle, and I like the few pages of Alaska that I've read so far.

[Deleted]

May 21, 2012 19:48:02 GMT -5 v said:

Bossypants or Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

OMG I love Mindy Kaling. This is a great idea!

[Deleted]

May 21, 2012 19:34:57 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I'm currently reading Emperor of all Maladies, which is a history of cancer. it's engaging in the way Henrietta Lacks was, but I wouldn't say it's light. It's certainly not as heavy as it would seem, though, as it's not emotional, and it's written for the lay-audience. It's actually really interesting. About as heavy as And the Band Played On.

If not that, I just finished two sort of local historical fiction books, but I'd think they would be more universally engaging. Alan Brennert: Moloka'i and Honolulu. Really, I think I'd enjoy them even if I hadn't just moved to Hawaii.

I'm a scientist myself, and I do like a lot of nonfiction, so I will check out Emperor of All Maladies.

[sept508]

Sophia Kinsella, I believe is the author's name of the Shopaholic series. She has a few others too that I really enjoy. I, per usual, didn't jump on the series when it was popular so I am just now enjoying it.

I don't really know if it would be considered "light", but I LOVED The Ha-Ha. I could not put it down.

[womet]

:::checking in so I can find this when I need another book to read at the beach:::

[mccallister84]

I like Jane green a lot. And Sophie Kinsella (the shopaholic author) writes under her real name as well - Madeline Wickham (sp?).

[pippa]

Elin Hilderbrand is good beach reading.

[dancingirl21]

A good, quick series that is light and entertaining includes:

Slightly Single, Slightly Settled, Slightly Engaged, Slightly Married, Slightly Suburban by Wendy Markham

I just bought The Mortal Instruments series for my vacation. So far there are 5 books. They are YA sci fi/fantasy novels. I have heard they are like Harry Potter/True Blood/Hunger Games all combined.

[atouchofklasse]

I agree with Molokai.

[dev22]

Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (aka The Blogess). Laughed so hard during this book that I had tears rolling down my face.

[vtdiamond]

I second, Water for Elephants, I'm finishing it up now.
I also just started, Most Talkative by Andy Cohen which is a pretty fun light hearted read.

[megstoo]

May 21, 2012 18:28:14 GMT -5 @libgrl said:

Bossypants by Tina Fey.

Another for bossypants - it was funny and I know I actually laughed out loud in a couple parts.