What to Read?
I am a big time book reader. I have read just about every book that has been published about this administration and this war. Lots of heavy reading and lots of concentration required for reading all these books. I’ll be jumping into Al Gore’s book in a couple of days.
See that picture above? See the blue and white umbrella? That is our umbrella and that’s where we will be once again in a about four weeks from now. We will be going on vacation again to that very spot and I do not want to sit under that umbrella on the beach and read about wars and political deception. I want to laugh out loud while I’m reading. I want to read something that’s fun. I have been stuck in war books so long that I am out of touch with fun fiction and non fiction books. Do you have a favorite fun-reading book or books that you could suggest? I really would appreciate all your suggestions. Thank you so much.
posted by pissed off patricia at 1:40 AM
40 Comments:
POP, you may enjoy Games People Play by Eric Berne, MD; Grove Press, New York, 1964.
As another student of politics you will then notice patterns of behavior.
Enjoy vaca!
Several books come to mind, with my number one choice for a gut-busting laugh being "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal" by Christopher Moore. His book "Fluke" is also good, and you especialy might like it since several of the characters are oceanographers. "Making History" by Stephen Fry is also a fun read.
I have just finished Barbara Kingsolver's new book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and like all of her writing is a good read. It is about her experience of having her family try to eat only locally or self produced food for a year.
if you're looking for total escapist mystery style, go for dean koontz or jonathan kellerman.
After Molly Ivins died, I picked up a couple of her books. Hilarious even years after she wrote them.
Hey, nice spot- you got room in that suitcase for me?
I tend to read fiction on holidays. It's the only time I deliberately read trashy romance novels.
Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man by Fannie Flagg. You will laugh until you choke, I promise.
One of the bloggers I read, patry francis of Simply Wait, has written quite a mystery novel. I'm not a usual fan of such things, but this one was a real page-turner. If you want escapism, read: The Liar's Diary.
Right now I'm reading one of those books of short stories by the british veterinarian. "All things bright and beautiful, All Creatures Great and Small... and on. He has I think 5 books out now, and I find them very soothing, little heart warming and sometimes hilarious stories about the pre and post WWII farming community that he serves. They make great bathroom books too!
Go Grab anything by Carl Hiaasen.
Two of my favorites are "lucky you" and "Tourist Season." You will laugh out loud! And animals are always featured to some degree!
Chris, I was just about to suggest him!!! I just finished "Basket Case", yea Pissed, go for Carl Hiaasen. You would enjoy the read, (I think)
Not political at all but a favorite of mine, Wicked by Gregory Maguire...left me feeling bad for the wicked witch of the west lol
Lamb is definitely a good suggestion. An earlier book by Moore, Coyote Blue, is also a hoot. If you enjoy literary satire, I recommend The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature by (you guessed it) Neal Pollack.
Well, try some "chick-lit", like "The Tuesday Erotica Club" by Lisa Beth Kovetz. It's funny and not as funky sex-wise as you might imagine."The Secret Life of Mrs. Claus" by Carly Alexander is also funny, sad and sweet chik-lit. Now those are two I've read in that category, although I'm generally a mystery reader. In that regard, if you haven't read them all already, read Sue Grafton's series - and start at "A is for Alibi" and work your way toward "S is for Silence". They're all in paperback and easy to tote along. Have a wonderful time - and don't forget the 45 SPF....
I discovered a writer from the UK who died in 1992 at the age of 52, Angela Carter. Wonderful intelligent voice, and one of her novels which I really savored is called Nights at the Circus. Witty, bizarre, and smart as hell. Not exactly escapist fiction, Carter was a full-on rebel and feminist, but dang, what a spirit. She and Molly Ivins are two I would like to channel...
You can read fiction that's not just junk, and still be diverted.
Oh, I loved Amy Tan's book, Saving Fish From Drowning. Read it in Tahiti. It is hilarious, and interesting, and highly entertaining.
And (I am so sad to admit it) I am a big Harry Potter fan.
Harry Potter Rocks!!!
If you must have fiction, last book i laughed out loud at was Bridget Jones Diary, sad as that fact is. 5 people you meet in heaven made me cry in a good way. Any of James Patterson's nail biting mysteries are good, The Big Bad Wolf hands down the best in franchise. If you can stand some light hearted non fiction;
I would love to re-read A Pirate Looks at 50, by Jimmy Buffet on a beach spot like yours. Seabiscut was a great book, will be on edge of ur seat, or blanket, even if you've never seen a horse race. Chanel, A woman of her own was a fascinating, if not entirely athorized biography. Have Fun!
"The Secret Knowledge of Water" by Craig Childs if you want nature writing.
"God is Not Great" by Christopher Hitchens for a religious critique that's timely.
"The Good Soldier Svejk" by Jaroslav Hasek for a hilarious anti-war novel.
I am sure others have suggested it but Molly Ivins would be a good read m'dear :)
Anything at all by Janet Evanovich. She cracks me up. That beach looks sooooooo good to me right now. *sigh*
dear PoP,
i'm a pulp fiction fan.
Loren Estelman's Amos Walker,
Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder or
Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch.
almost forgot,
the best and from Florida too:
Charles Willeford's Hoke Moseley or
'Shark Infested Custard'
peace, peter
Oh, I LOVE Matt Scudder. He's an on-again, off-again recovering alcoholic, and he's just a mess.
I lopok forward to reading your summary. :-)
Good for you. Enjoy yourself. There is som much beauty it the world don't obsess over war & politics.
I really enjoyed Moby Dick...and it might be good to read on the beach, but watch out for the whales.
I second the Janet Evanovich. They are sort of mysteries, but they never fail to make me laugh out loud. A Girl Named Zippy also had me laughing in spots. I just finished The Next Thing on My list by Jill Smolinski, and while not hilarious, it was good, easy read.
Being a bit of a Sci-Fantasy buff, I'd recommend anything by David Eddings - who has a lovely sense of humor to include with his breathtaking skills at "theatre of the mind through literature".
Donna Andrews, Lillian Jackson Braun and Susan Conant are some of my favorites for truly "cheap trashy murder mysteries" - but the Mystery Genre Queen of my bookshelf is, and always will be, Elizabeth Peters (aka Barbara Michaels) and you really can't do any better for laughing out loud than her "Amelia Peabody" series.
Enjoy your holiday!
Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels are rollicking good fun. Joan Hess's Maggody novels are usually lots of fun too, though she's gotten stale lately (Evanovich has gotten a bit darker, but better... get the whole series, every single one of them will have you laughing out loud for hours). One of the funniest books in my collections is not, alas, in print anymore. I am talking about Walter Jon William's hilarious science fiction novel Rock of Ages, which has everything -- I mean *EVERYTHING* -- including alien Elvis impersonators who have elevated Elvis to a religion and Graceland into a major shrine to their religion, Texans who are, well, more Texan than Texans, the works. But if you can track it down used, it's a great fun read and I re-read it every year and laugh just as hard as the first time.
If you want something that is still fun but with more bite to it, Carl Hiassen writes novels ripped right out of the pages of the Florida newspaper that he writes for. He has a bizarre set of characters that would be unbelievable, except that he can give you exactly which issue, page, and column of the Miami Herald he got each character out of.
And that's it for fun reads for me for the moment. I don't read as much as I used to because the print just seems to be getting smaller as I age. Well, that, and I need to prop my glasses up to read. I need reading glasses. Sigh.
- Badtux the Literate Penguin
Tobaco Road by Erskine Caldwell. Wearing diapers while reading it is strongly adviced.
If you have a slightly twisted sense of humor, try some George Saunders. I finished Pastoralia recently: great, can't-put-it-down reading.
I can't wait to see the posts after all that serenity!
the one I'm reading presently is about prayer and spirituality
any of the Kim Harrison books. Yes I have become a Rachel Morgan schill
Bill Bryson, A Short History of Everything. Or failing that, a good detective novel. HArd to suggest things as you might not be able to get them over there. But these are the things my Mummy's into. How about a big book of Far Side cartoons, for nostalgia and laughter?
Bob :@}
Anything H.L. Mencken.
Dean Koontz, Hiassen, John Steinbeck's Cannery Row.
I have been enjoying rereading Vonnegut.
Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
by John Grogan
I read it last Xmas on my trip to Panama. I absolutely loved it!
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780060817084&itm=1
Anything by Carl Hiaasen or Bob Morris
R.
I don't know your tastes, but have you ever read The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov? I'd recommend this translation. It's funny, magical, witty and has some sly political and social commentary.
David Sedaris is always good for a laugh, although I think he's best if you can see him live.
Personally, I like to alternative between some acclaimed novel and something pulpy, and am trying to get back into more fiction after a great deal of political non-fiction last year.
So do you have a list? ;-)
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