Fun books to read on vacation
 

I know we've had this thread in the past but I just did a search and nothing came up. I'm looking for an entertaining LONG read for the upcoming vacation. What are you all reading and enjoying this summer?

I just finished John Grisham's "The Last Juror"...had a hard time putting it down.
HARLAN GOBEN..Excellent mysteries: *Tell No One* and *Gone for Good*..but don't read the last pages first!
For long reading books..I like JAMES MICHENER: *Alaska* (took a cruise because of that one); *Chesapeake*; *Colorado* *Hawaii*..
Most JAMES PATTERSON books.

I just topped a couple of older 'lists'. recently there was a very large thread on this topic, it may have been like 'trashy novels', beach reads or something similar. Maybe these two will help.

Its Harlan Coben, actually. The two mentioned above are not part of his detective series, which features Myron Bolitar. My husband was reading a Bolitar mystery in the airport and laughing so hard a lady came over to ask what he was reading, so she could get a copy too. Its as funny as Carl Hiassen but with a different kind of bizarreness.

Anything by Bill Bryson.

We just came back from a cruise, and I read Donna Hanover's book about people reconnecting with past loves. It's called "My Boyfriend's Back". Very nice vacation read.

If you are going to Utah canyons then read Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire...that will get you in the mood!

Utahtea

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince! :)

Harlan Coben : "Tell No One" or "Gone For Good"

Carl Hiassen : "Strip Tease"

Audrey Niffenegger : "The Time Traveler's Wife"

Khaled Hosseini : "The Kite Runner"

Sue Monk Kidd : "The Secret Life of Bees"

Jennifer Crusie, Marion Keyes, and Sophie Kinsella are all fun authors, too. Have a great vacation!

I just finished Sue Monk's Mermaid Chair-it made me want to go to South Carolina!

I'd noticed that the Mitford series was recommended a few times on some of these previous threads. As it's just now being republished in mass market form, I figured I'd give it a try. I'm a few pages shy of finishing the first one.

It's a departure from my usual reading material (mysteries and historical romance), particularly the strong religious overtone. But I've enjoyed it. I'd describe it as a gentle read. And it would definitely meet your requirement for a long book!

I'm about a third of the way through "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova. A horror thriller, not usually a genre I enjoy, but so far, it's a good, suspenseful read. Think a better-written DaVinci Code with vampires. That got your attention, didn't it!

If you haven't read them before, here are two books that are both LONG and considered by some to be among the best books ever written:

- The Stand by Stephen King

- Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet

I just finished "In For a Penny" by Kathyrn R Wall - a fairly tightly written mystery set on Hilton Head. Have bought several others by her since then. Also read "Hissy Fit" by Mary Kay Andrews - definitely a no-brainer beach book. We are all anxiously awaiting the new Harry Potter. Where are you going? I often like to try to match the books in my suitcase to my destination.

With No One as Witness is the newest mystery by Elizabeth George. PBS is presently presenting the Inspector Lynley series; this is the latest and quite good.

I was really getting into The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami during our beach vacation (but then the book got ruined by a passing shower). I had to move on to another, sadly.

The best series I have ever read were the Diana Gabledon books. There were 4 or 5 long books mixing fact and fiction. I couldn't put them down and neither could my husband.