nina

We're coming up on the 2003 summer beach reading list. Just a reminder to all the newcomers. We prefer interesting but not too deep (we need to keep one eye out for stray dorsal fins and hyperactive children). So, what book can you recommend for a great summer read?

I'll start,
The Nanny Diaries,
very funny yet frightening, perfect for a day at the beach!

Suggestions please, I've got 3 weeks at the beach and no novels on the horizon!

Ivanna No

Nina, you'll be able to bite off a good piece of "War and Peace" by the time summer 2003 rolls around. Good planning, though.

nina

Yeah, I know, I said 2003 but I meant 2002. God knows why I'm trying to rush things. I hate not having an edit function!

nina

Ivanna, You are ignoring the rules. War and Peace is much too heavy for beach reading, even if it's not to be completed by next year.

Ivanna No

I know, honey. Just stick to Redbook and you'll do fine.

linda

If you're going to Florida, you must read anything by Carl Hiassen. Start with TouristSeason, Skin Tight, Double Whammy, Sick Puppy (New)

Carol

If you watch Regis and Kelly, Kelly will give you some great juicy novels to read. She just started a book club for beach readers the first one is "If Looks Can Kill".

IMO-Daddy's Little Girl by Mary Higgins Clark is a great read.

I agree the Nannie's Diary is great to.

i

Leslie

"Getting Over It" by Anna Maxted.

kate

I like a good mystery.
English preferably-
Aunt Diminty's Death is good

scarlett

My favorite book could be fun reading at the beach,but it could make you cry,it did me!
Gone with the Wind.

Pat

ANYTHING by John Irving! Love him.

travellyn

The Janet Evanovich series of crime novels with a protagonist named Stephanie Plum, a bumbling bounty hunter. I've never laughed out loud more, but I can't read the funny passages to my 12 year old daughter when she asks because they tend to be so bawdy. There are 7 so far, with another due out in June. The titles are all based on numbers - starts with One for the Money.

al

"Red Lobster, White Trash & the Blue Lagoon - Joe Queenan's America" by...Joe Queenan.

A very funny look at American culture, from Broadway to Billy Joel. Less than 200 pages w/ big print. A beachside natural.

Pat

Forgot to add - have ya'll read "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood"? I loved that book - can't wait for the movie to come out on June 7th.

RAE

"Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain. Nice light reading about the reality of the restaurant industry in New York as told by a chef who has seen it all.

Funny, well written and honest.

xxx

I agree, The Janet Evanovich series is a great beach read. Nora Roberts books too!

Headhunters - Jules Bass (very cute fun book!)

kal

Pat-Mrs Kal read Ya Ya last trip to Kauai and is waiting for the movie, too.

Ditto Hiassen while on a beach vacation!
Or Elmore Leonard.

"Killing Pablo" looks very interesting.
The search for and subsquent death of Columbian Coke Kingpin Pablo Escobar.
"Take my silver or take my lead...you have a choice". Interesting.
Kal

nina

Thanks!!! Some of these sound great, especially Al's suggestion and the kitchen confidential one. Lot's of fun stuff!

jamie

all of Harlan Coben's books are great. His new paperback is Tell No One, a great read. He also has a series featuring Myron Bolitar, all of which are excellent.

arjay

Okay, so it may not qualify as "light" summer reading, but you know how it is when you just finish a terrific read and want to share....? So I've got to offer Anna Quinlen's novels, "One True Thing" and "Black and Blue." Excellent story-telling, both of them.

Elizabeth Berg's novels (tho I liked the first, "Durable Goods" the least) are all quick reads - well done and with food for thought about women's lives.