Best beach read for 2004
 

I know we did this thread last year and I got some great ideas then. Since I have'nt seen this discussed in a while and I leave for sunny Mexico next week, what new books should I take along?

The best book I took with me to read on the beach this past summer in Hawaii was the newly (then) released John Grisham - "The King of Torts." If you haven't read this one, it's a great book.

Last week in Mexico, the Dan Brown books were most visible around the pool and on the beach (DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons). I read All He Ever Wanted, The Patron Saint of Liars (by the author of Bel Canto), The Life of Pi, and Ellen Foster.

Protect and Defend by Richard North Patterson

oh...and his new one...Balance of Power

DaVinci codes!

What difference does it make what's new & popular with the masses? The world is full of great literature - pick something that interests YOU.

I'm taking 'The Time Traveler's Wife" and 'Life of Pi'with me for my week in Cuba.
Just finished reading 'The Red Tent' and it was great.
Don't know if you're male or female though jette. The Red Tent would probably not be enjoyed if you were male. Likewise, if you haven't read 'Girl With a Pearl Earring'yet, it's also a good read.

Ditto for the Davinci Code, The Red Tent ( if you are female) & Girl with Pearl Earring, also Memoirs of A Geisha and if you haven't seen the movie - Mystic River. An older one but still a fun read - Divine Secrets of The Ya Ya Sisterhood.

Sometimes it's fun to read something that has references to where you are.
I read 'All the Pretty Horses' while I was in Mexico.

I have never missed a Grisham novel. I give them to my dad for presents after I read them or keep them up at our condo for the renters.

He has a new one out again. I love all the Nicholas Sparks novels, also. The latest one, The Wedding was a very good read.

I read Cold Mountain, The Girl With The Pearl Earring and Secret Storm many years ago. James Patterson The Beach House was very good read.

Also enjoy the Nora Roberts books and Jude Deveraux novels. Am currently reading High Tide.

Also just finished reading The Purpose Drive Life and A Love Worth Giving by Max Lucado. His recent book It's Not About Me is on my list. ***kim***

one more rant: the whole rigamorole post this week from the mother who wanted to take her kids with her to a place where she could either: 1) get a drink w/some food; 2) get a drink while waiting for some food; 3) drink herself silly while waiting to get picked up in a bar to go to a motel while the kids waited at the bar; 4) order drinks for the kids; 5) set them up to be alcoholics; 6) and so on.
It got pretty silly, and it sure got people going.

Great stuff, Thanks! I read "All the Pretty Horses" several years ago and thought is was magical.
BTW, I am female but hopefully there are still some men who read out there that will find something of interest here also.

I second Mystic River, even though it's not my favorite by Lehane. He's great.

If you want funny satire on Florida, I love Carl Hiassen and Tim Dorsey. I'm currently reading Dorsey's latest and it's hysterical.

If you haven't read them, The Vampire Cronicles by Anne Rice are excellent. It is actually three books.

Definitely not the new Ellen Degeneres book, what a DUD!

For very light reading the Big Stone Gap series by Andrian Trigiana are good. So is her book Lucia, Lucia.

I recently read "In Revere, In Those Days" - a depiction of working class life in Revere, Massachusetts in the 1960s. Its also a beautifully written coming of age story. Not well known but definately worth finding.

Just finished "The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint," which I enjoyed. "Life of Pi" is a great read. I am one of the few who preferred "Angels and Demons" (by Dan Brown) to "DaVinci Code." The Jane Evanovich books are funny and easy reading, sort of along the lines of the Sue Grafton series but a bit raunchier. "Running With Scissors" and "Dry" by Augustin Burroughs are wonderful, they are his memoirs and are disturbing and funny. More depth than David Sedaris. Don't read "Wicked" at the beach, it's interesting but a bit heavy-handed. Bill Bryson writes hilarious travelogues, he hasn't done Mexico (yet) but there are plenty others.

Oh yes, Bill Bryson is great! Also, Dave Barry is funny - both his humor books and his 2 fiction ones.

"Good in Bed" by Jennifer Weiner. As they say "I laughed ... I cried".

Second, "The Wedding," by Sparks. I also liked "The five people you meet in heaven," by Mitch Albom.

I like to read the insides of my eyelids.
I-)I-)I-)I-)

Nicholas Sparks has a website, www.nicholassparks.com There is a message board also. I have every novel he has ever written. Anxiously awaiting the next one!! ***kim***

Am I the only one who reads Janet Evanovich? If you like quirky, hilarious characters a la TV's "Six Feet Under" or "Northern Exposure" you should love her mysteries. The best ones are the those that have numbers in the titles. Just a warning though...if you start with "One For The Money" you'd better pick up the next one as well. They're addictive!

Last year while relaxing in Abaco, Bahamas, I loved reading "Step Ball Change" by Jeanne Ray...
a light hearted, quick read... laughed histerically in the hammock...
a great book to pass on.

Has anyone read the new Ann Rule book? I've heard it is about Oregon and Hawaii. Sounds interesting? Any opinions on this book? ***kim*** :)

I also love the Janet Evanovich books. Perfect for a vacation. Also the Anne George mystery series. It features two sisters -- just hilarious. The Harry Potter books are great as well, if there is anyone left who hasn't read them. They are definitely to be enjoyed by adults as well as kids.

Kimamom,

I read the new Ann Rule book and it was just as good as her others. For every other author, I wait until the book comes out in paperback, but Ann Rule I buy the hardback. I was not disappointed in her newest.

I just finished "Da Vinci Code," "All He Ever Wanted," and "Plant Life," which I would recommend, especially "Plant Life." This is a novel by Patricia Duncan, a NC writer, about a small town in NC in which the main place of employment is a textile plant. It is infinitely insightful and enjoyable and even if you have never had the 'southern experience' you will be able to relate to these generations of women. A great read. I could hardly put it down.

Hey jlb, all your books are in my library as well! Last trip I took to Florida I had fun reading "A Trip to the Beach" by the Blanchards. It's about their trials and tribulations opening a restaurant in the Caribbean. Great recipes too!

Love this thread and look forward to it every year. I snap up anything and everything by Marian Keyes--especially 'Watermelon' and her newest, 'Sushi for Beginners.' Fannie Flagg's 'Standing in the Rainbow' makes me nostalgic for a time and place that I never knew. Isabel Wolff's 'Out of the Blue' is a good read. Jane Heller writes some of the best beach books around and I'll miss Olivia Goldsmith's humor but look forward to her last book coming out posthumously (can't remember the name).

Tess,

Sounds like we have similar taste in books. I love Marian Keyes - haven't read Sushi for Beginners yet. I'll have to order it from the library consortium. Standing in the Rainbow was wonderful too. I wish Fannie Flagg was more prolific (sp?). Welcome to the World Baby Girld was terrific too. I never knew there was such an issue as what was described there. I didn't guess the main character's "secret" at all.

I love these book recommendation threads. Thanks to Loisde especially for "Plant Life" I'm going to check out that book.

My recommendation is to head to the local thrift shop and buy a bunch of paperbacks that you won't mind leaving behind. Tons of best sellers from not too far back there.

I loved, The Woman's Number One Detective Agency & Tears of the Giraffe. The books are based in Africa, a warm and sunny read for the beach.

kimamom...ann rule is great. i read "heart full of lies" and it was very interesting. it's a true story about a couple, based in oregon and hawaii. maybe that's the one you meant.

Bennie,
lol--your post sent me to the library to check out Welcome to the World Baby Girl. It's been a few years so it's time for a re-read. I'm with you--wish Fannie Flagg would publish books more often.

Tesws - it looks like Flagg has a new book coming out in Nov - you can pre-order it on Amazon. Looks like a Christmas book a la Skipping Christmas by Grisham.

Something else you might enjoy is Cold Sassy Tree- life in the south at the turn of the century and Leaving Cold Sassy. Not new books but very interesting and well written.

I'll second the recommendation for "Cold Sassy Tree" - I read it several years ago, and loved it. I just finished reading "Tepper Isn't Going Out" by Calvin Trillin, and found it very funny and entertaining.

the queen bee of mimosa branch by haywood smith is an easy read with humor and great characters.

I also love Janet Evanovich for beach reads, very funny. Kind of like Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone books, but funnier and a bit raunchier.
I just finished "Last Car to Elysian Fields," a New Orleans murder mystery which was great. "Fay" by Larry Brown is a wonderful southern novel, not exactly uplifting but a very meaty story.

All of these sound great!! I'm off to Costco tonight to stock up on around six different novels for the next couple of weeks!! Keep the suggestions coming!! ***kim***