Hi! preparing for a hopefully relaxing vacation where much time will be spent on a lounge chair reading. Can anyone recommend some good authors/novels for beach reading (you know the kind I mean, nothing heavy but still interesting). I love mysteries, suspense or humorous books. Thanks a lot for your recommendations!

Carl Hiaasen! Most of his books take place in Florida, particularly South Florida, and they are very funny. I wouldn't really call his books mysteries, although you'll find them in the mystery section, but they're a great read. My favorite is called Native Tongue, but you'll do well to start with any of them.

"The Killer Angels." I was reluctant to read it but my husband's persistence finally won out. It is about the battle of Gettysburg but is more of a dramatized account focusing on the lives and thoughts of key characters. It focuses on them as people so it is not overly a history book.
Also, "Time and Again." A great book about a person from modern day that mentally transports himself into 1880's New York. Again, not a history book. An interesting suspense story involving a murder is part of the plot.

Two suggestions. For fiction, try any of Patrick O'Brian's nautical series featuring British sea captain Jack Aubrey and his companion Dr. Stephen Maturin, who also doubles as a British intelligence officer. The setting is the Napoleonic Wars. There are about twenty books in the series. For non-fiction, you might try Lawrence Kusche's BERMUDA TRIANGLE- SOLVED. Not only does Mr. Kusche demolish the legend of mysterious disappearances in the "Bermuda Triangle" through diligent research, it has a nautical theme to it.

Any of the Fletch books by Gregory McDonald. Very, very funny. Much more so than the Chevy Chase movies based on the character. They are all mysteries told with tongue firmly placed in cheek.
By the way, if you go to Amazon.COM they oftentimes have reader reviews of books. Though everyone's opinion is different, it's still interesting to read other people's impressions.

Hi Curious, I envy you. My favorite vacation-a beach, an umbrella, a book. sigh....I highly recommend any Donald Westlake book in the Dortmunder series, funniest books on my bookshelves by far. If you live in the South, any Anne George "Murder" books, i.e. Murder on a Bad Hair Day, Murder on a Girl's Night Out, etc. A beach and books.... I may not concentrate the rest of the day! Have fun!

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I really enjoy all of the Kay Scarpetta mysteries by Patricia Cornwell.

Well, I'm not sure if you are male or female, but some humerous books I absolutely loved are Bridget Jones' Diary and the sequel, Bridget Jones, the Edge of Reason. Another set of funny books that came out a few years ago are Little Alters Everywhere and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells. They are about mothers and daughters who are trying to be gentile ladies in the South. These are all what my husband would call "chic books" but all are funny and great summer reading.

"Don't Stop the Carnival" - Herman Wouk
"A Pirate Looks At 50" - Jimmy Buffett
"Islands In The Stream" - Ernest Hemingway
"The Old Man & the Sea" - Ernest Hemingway

The Dr. Alex Cross series by James Patterson.
"Night Sins" and "Guilty as Sin" by Tami Hoag.
Books by Nicholas Sparks.

Like a previous poster said, if you like the Bridget Jones' genre, you may also really enjoy:

Getting Over It by Anna Maxted
Running in Heels by Anna Maxted
Icy Sparks
The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (I agree with above poster)

Thanks so much for the great suggestions! The "chick books" sound like a lot of fun. I'm writing my list now. Thanks again everyone!

For light reading, I recently been reading the David Baldacci books Total Control, Absolute Power, Saving Faith, Simple Truth.

Chrichton works for me, too.

"Killer Angels" was good as mentioned above. I'd still love to live in Gettysburg. I hear there is a "pre-quel" out???

Hiaasen, Buffett and Tom Corcoran are musts if you're on a beach or on an island. Elmore Leonard and wacky, off-beat mysteries by Kinky Friedman, too.

The Alienest and The Angel of Darkness by Carr were borderline heavy but still do-able.

The "Worldwar" trilogy by Turtledove was very intersting and I'm still working my way thru it.

I did ruin one beach vacation when I read "The Vision of the Anointed" and
"The Death of Common Sense" on the same trip. Increased the bar tab 20%! What was I thinkin'?

160 mo' days until I'm plugged into KONG fm radio readin' away waiting for a tee-time!
Mahalo,
Kal

My absolute favorite "beach book" was the three novels by Nora Roberts. You can buy them all contained in one complete book. They are called - "Born In Fire," "Born in Ice," and "Born In Shame."

More great "chick" novels in the Bridget Jones genre:

"Jemima J" by Jane Green, about an overweight British woman who loses 100 pounds to meet an American man she met on the internet. Funny, poignant, enjoyable.

Also: "Confessions of a Shopaholic" by Sophie Kinsella, about a London financial reporter humorously struggling to control her own addiction to shopping. Quick, bright read.

If you want to laugh out loud, try author Janet Evanovich. Her Stephanie Plum, Bounty Hunter, series is a hoot, especially book #2 - "Two For the Dough". I work in a bookstore & we can't keep the series on the shelf!

Just finished "Chocolat" and it was delicious! A light and easy read - I couldn't put it down. I had thought it would be heavy and full of foreign words I'd have to look up, but it was delightful.

I did, however, end up going for chocolate ice cream and candy on a couple of occasions while reading. It's impossible not to

I second the motions for both Elmore Leonard and Janet Evanovich. You will want to read every one of their novels! I also adore John Irving and Larry McMurtry, but they're not exactly "light" reading.

Check out half.com -- people sell used books, many as good as new, for half price or less. I've been both buyer and seller and have never had a bad experience.

Enjoy!