Have I mentioned that we're going on vacation next week? No? Really? I'm truly surprised because it's all I can think about. I was sure that was all I had been rambling on about.
We leave Sunday morning for the shores of SC. We're taking my dad's big RV to a state park along the coast. I've never been there but my mom says it's one of the most gorgeous beaches that she's been to. The upside is that the cost of the space from Sunday to Thursday was only $100. Seeing as how we spent $600 in gas in the month of May, we need a cheap vacation.
So, I need your help. I need some book recommendations. I've been kind of in a dry spell recently, reading-wise. So, help me out. Recommend something. But preferably not anything too new. I need to check it out from my library and they don't usually have the newest things (it is a University library after all).
Here's what I like: mysteries (though not really police procedurals), historical fiction (particularly dealing with the 1940s/WWII), 19th Century British Lit., some "chick lit," and that's about all I can think of.
Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
Mixed Bag
12 years ago
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14 comments:
oohh!! ooohh!! pick me, pick me!!
Gwen Bristow-Jubilee Trail (about the settling of California and the people who carried supplies from the east coast to the west) and Calico Palace (about the Gold Rush in California). Both nice and long and GOOOOOD!
Have fun on vacation!!!
I left you a bunch of titles & authors on Twitter but looking at your preferences, have you read The Alienist? and there is a sequel to that. also Joss' friend wrote a historical book about a famous cathouse in...Chicago? may be in the links on Joss' site.
Vacation, awesome!!! I am super excited for mine which starts Saturday. The last time I took a whole week off was 5 years ago on my honeymoon. As for a book, I highly recommend this beach read but with substance, For My Daughters by Barbara Delinsky. I read it in 24 hours a couple of weeks ago and already had 2 people read it since who loved it.
I just finished Turned Funny by Celestine Sibley which I really enjoyed. Also as far as chick lit, I think Jenn Lancaster is pretty funny (and she has a few books out so one of them may be at the library) and I also LOVE Phillippa Gregory's historical fiction. If you haven't ever read David Sedaris you should pick up his too, he is laugh out loud funny. Literally. Like I can't read him in public places because I look like a crazy person.
Anything by Phillipa Gregory, awesome historical fiction.
Anything by Adiana Trigiani, hysterical!
"The True and Oustanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters"
Robinson
"I Don't Know How She Does It" Pearson
I left you my recommendations on Twitter but I'll be checking here for more since hopefully, I'll have some time on maternity leave to read a few!
I love, love, love MC Beaton - she writes cottage-type mysteries and has two series: Hamish MacBeth and Agatha Raisin. They are a quick entertaining read.
Ummm, you wouldn't happen to be going to Hunting Island would you? Can I come! We used to camp there every summer when I lived in Columbia, SC. The beaches are gorgeous.
Brock & Body Thoene have a historically accurate fiction series on the wwII era. Everyone I know of that read them has loved them. They're Christian fiction though, so that theme would be running through it. It's the Shiloh Legacy I believe and then there's a stand alone called Twilight of Courage.
I'm just starting "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith and it's good. Historical almost-fiction, I think. Set in Depression era, I think. (Gimme a break, I'm still waking up every night to feed the baby! can't concentrate much!)
But it's really good so far. :)
Well, for 19th cent. Brit. Lit. you can't go wrong with Jane Austen. I just read Persuasion and loved it. I must admit, though, that Pride and Prejudice is my favorite of hers followed very closely by Sense and Sensibility and Emma. Also from that era and location is The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. It's a mystery and an all around fabulous read.
As for contemporary reads, I love Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. They are very fast reads and laugh out loud funny. The first one in the series is One for the Money.
I'd keep my fingers crossed that they have On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan. It's not 19thC British - more 1960's British. I loved it. Gave a great insight into why people make such bad decisions.
Oh, and how about a love story?
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. As an American classic that should definitely be available.
How about Widow of the South by robert hicks or The Thirteenth Tale by diane setterfield? there is also The Road by Cormac McCarthy; Light on Snow by Anita Shreve; peace like a river by leif enger; Plain Truth by Picoult, 19 minutes by picoult, My sisters keeper by jodi picoult... those are some of the ones i have read recently.
Have fun reading on the beach! I am very jealous!
I know I mentioned Bodie and Brock Thoene over Twitter (WWII historical fiction, and as Birdie mentioned, has the Christian theme running through it...heck, I'll mail 'em to ya to borrow!), but I've got a multi-category winner: "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" by Laurie R. King. It's about a girl who becomes Sherlock Holmes apprentice...so mystery, 19th century Brit Lit, and light chick-lit all in one! (well, technically more since I think there are two other books...they're downstairs and I'm too lazy to look). I know you're already gone for your trip, but some fun reading once you're back...or get them on CD or something so you can listen to them in the car. Which is what we did with the Harry Potter books...we have the audio recordings of books 1-6. Certainly made the long commute much better.
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