Three weeks until a week long vacation at a beach resort without the kids. Can anyone recommend a good book or two? On the scale of difficulty for fiction, nothing Pynchon-esque (on one end) or Grisham-esque (on the other). Non-fiction palatable, but unless it is Krakauer-esque, not that interested.
P.S. I like saying -esque.
Game of Thrones is pure crack, and George R.R. Martin is the only dealer on the planet. I’ve enjoyed the books quite a bit. Lots of storylines to keep track of, however, so it may require too much thought for a “beach read”. Plus the series is up to several thousand pages now…
For non-fiction that is easily digested, I would recommend Bill Bryson’s A Walk In The Woods. Very entertaining and full of historical tidbits.
[quote]twojarslave wrote:
Game of Thrones is pure crack, and George R.R. Martin is the only dealer on the planet. I’ve enjoyed the books quite a bit. Lots of storylines to keep track of, however, so it may require too much thought for a “beach read”. Plus the series is up to several thousand pages now…
For non-fiction that is easily digested, I would recommend Bill Bryson’s A Walk In The Woods. Very entertaining and full of historical tidbits.[/quote]
Game of Thrones is definitely not light beach reading…
If you want an easy to read and highly entertaining series, read Inheritance by Christoper Paolini. They’re written for teens/young adult, but I just read them last year (at 27) and enjoyed them all. I read the 4 book series in about a week.
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
If you want an easy to read and highly entertaining series, read Inheritance by Christoper Paolini. They’re written for teens/young adult, but I just read them last year (at 27) and enjoyed them all. I read the 4 book series in about a week. [/quote]
I second this. They’re very enjoyable reads, and if you stick with it they get better as they go. Also very easy to read and don’t take too much time or thought. I quite enjoy them.
And there’s always the Conan stories… The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian is the first compilation in a set of them.
Pretty easy reading.
I think the last time I actually did any reading on the beach, I was working my way through the James Bond novels.
Game of Thrones is only tough because of the number of characters…but I think Martin is good and understanding in that he’ll help refresh the reader’s memory if the person is not a major character.
Also I thik it’s not even that important to know exactly who every single character in Game of Thrones is in order to read it…I mean among the minor characters…you just need to know where the story is happening this chapter and that person may just be an exposition character anyway.
At the beach I’d read Jeeves & Wooster.
I would think “the alchemist” would be a good beach book
Thanks for the recommendations. I am holding off on the Game of Thrones saga until he is finished writing it. I don’t want to get Robert Jordan-ed.
For beach reading? forget long-winded novels. Pick up a couple of good short-story compilations.
Bradbury is very entertaining.
[quote]Roran wrote:
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
If you want an easy to read and highly entertaining series, read Inheritance by Christoper Paolini. They’re written for teens/young adult, but I just read them last year (at 27) and enjoyed them all. I read the 4 book series in about a week. [/quote]
I second this. They’re very enjoyable reads, and if you stick with it they get better as they go. Also very easy to read and don’t take too much time or thought. I quite enjoy them.[/quote]
They definitely get better as they go. I can’t recommend the series more highly. I felt like a kid again reading the books and while easy to read I was definitely attached/pulling for some of the characters.
if you enjoy detective novels check out the Virgil Flowers series by John Sandford. the first one I read was Rough Country. fun read. can’t beat a book about a murder at a lesbian fish camp in the Minnesota woods.
You could always be that guy reading a copy of Penthouse Letters on the beach.
Stay classy.
[quote]CLINK wrote:
For beach reading? forget long-winded novels. Pick up a couple of good short-story compilations.[/quote]
Good point. To that effect I am going to second Lorez’s Conan compilation suggestion. Really entertaining, light short stories.
[quote]csulli wrote:
[quote]CLINK wrote:
For beach reading? forget long-winded novels. Pick up a couple of good short-story compilations.[/quote]
Good point. To that effect I am going to second Lorez’s Conan compilation suggestion. Really entertaining, light short stories.[/quote]
Well, technically I’m seconding your suggestion from awhile back…
I’d never have considered reading them if it weren’t for your recommendation.
I would recommend “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” trilogy. The other 2 books are “The Girl Who Played With Fire” and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest”. Very good reading and one book builds on the previous one.
Charles Bukowski novels are entertaining and you’ll zip through them. Post Office, Factotum, Women and Ham On Rye in particular.
American Desperado by John Roberts,
The Flashman series of books by Macdonald -Fraser
The Dirt by Motley Crue
Nards suggestion of P.G. Wodehouse is also great
Appreciate the responses. Thanks again.
The Atomic Dog book by TC. Can’t go wrong with those.