I Need A Good Book To Read On My Trip

[TravelSmarty]

Since looking at old ruins, churches, and other landmarks sometimes makes my eyes glaze over, I do some literary sleuthing beforehand to make those visits interesting. When I get each site, I pull out the related passages. For example, a snippet from Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame helped me imagine the cathedral's bell tower through the eyes of Quasimodo.

[kakalina]

An Echo In The Bone, Diana Gabaldon's newest in the Outlander series is wonderful.

[Shadow 1]

I love this thread and just downloaded Solomon vs. Lord for my Kindle based on reviews from this board. I love courtroom drama books. I am also going to read The Cartel, as suggested from this thread.

 

Some books I would like to suggest:

 

Stupid & Contagious, Caprice Crane - This was a cute and funny book. Some laugh out loud moments.

 

But Enough about Me, Jancee Dunn - funny memoir/biography, Jancee grew up in the 80s and was obsessed with music. She gets a job with Rolling Stone magazine and starts meeting and interviewing rock idols. Some very funny moments in this book.

 

The books by Janet Evanovich - as mentioned in several other posts, very funny!

 

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseni

The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseni

 

Pillars of The Earth, Ken Follet - Excellent book, over 1000 pages though but a great read.

 

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See - set in 19th century China, an excellent book.

 

Push Not the River, James Conroyd Martin - 18th century Poland, historical romance based on a true story.

 

The Other Boleyn Girl - Phillipa Gregory

The Red Tent, Anita Diament

 

Pope Joan, Donna Cross

 

Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen - I really liked this book but my daughter just couldn't get into it. Some books are like that. I had trouble with The Time Traveler's Wife which so many people just loved. I may try to read it again someday.

 

All Michael Connelly's books. I have read them all.

 

That is enough for now! I love to read and enjoy seeing what other people suggest! Happy cruising!

Barb

[SFParrtHd]

I love this thread and just downloaded Solomon vs. Lord for my Kindle based on reviews from this board. I love courtroom drama books. I am also going to read The Cartel, as suggested from this thread.

 

Some books I would like to suggest:

 

Stupid & Contagious, Caprice Crane - This was a cute and funny book. Some laugh out loud moments.

 

But Enough about Me, Jancee Dunn - funny memoir/biography, Jancee grew up in the 80s and was obsessed with music. She gets a job with Rolling Stone magazine and starts meeting and interviewing rock idols. Some very funny moments in this book.

 

The books by Janet Evanovich - as mentioned in several other posts, very funny!

 

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseni

The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseni

 

Pillars of The Earth, Ken Follet - Excellent book, over 1000 pages though but a great read.

 

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See - set in 19th century China, an excellent book.

 

Push Not the River, James Conroyd Martin - 18th century Poland, historical romance based on a true story.

 

The Other Boleyn Girl - Phillipa Gregory

The Red Tent, Anita Diament

 

Pope Joan, Donna Cross

 

Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen - I really liked this book but my daughter just couldn't get into it. Some books are like that. I had trouble with The Time Traveler's Wife which so many people just loved. I may try to read it again someday.

 

All Michael Connelly's books. I have read them all.

 

That is enough for now! I love to read and enjoy seeing what other people suggest! Happy cruising!

Barb

 

Barb, I have gotten some good suggestions here also. I loved Solomon vs Lord and have a few of the next books in the series in my TBR box. I love my Kindle so it's hard getting to the "real" books ;) If you liked Lisa See, her Shanghai Girls was really good. I also can't help but recommend The Help.

[Shadow 1]

Barb, I have gotten some good suggestions here also. I loved Solomon vs Lord and have a few of the next books in the series in my TBR box. I love my Kindle so it's hard getting to the "real" books ;) If you liked Lisa See, her Shanghai Girls was really good. I also can't help but recommend The Help.

 

Oh yes, I did see the Shanghai Girls recommended. That is on my read list as well! I will check out The Help also! Thank you!

[arunkumarrr]

Lord of flies book is a very good book.. I like that book very much..

[SFParrtHd]

I just read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and Saving CeeCee Honeycutt. Both were very good.

[Gone_Again]

Slumdog Millionaire, one of the best books I've ever read. If you've seen the movie, don't worry, the book is quite a bit different and 100 times better! ;)

[magandab]

I just read The Guernsey Literary and Potatoe Peel Pie Society and loved it. Our cruise in August stops at Guernsey, in fact the book lit a fire under my mom to go there. Very expensve book! :D

 

I also read The Help which was excellent. Slice of American life, Mississippi in 1962.

[magandab]

A note for those of us who would love, but can't justify a Kindle just now. There are free downloads on the Amazon site, Kindle for PC an Kindle for for MAC. I downloaded it to my netbook, which I take traveling anyway. Worked like a charm. Same books available, and very fast download.

[cctn]

A note for those of us who would love, but can't justify a Kindle just now. There are free downloads on the Amazon site, Kindle for PC an Kindle for for MAC. I downloaded it to my netbook, which I take traveling anyway. Worked like a charm. Same books available, and very fast download.

 

 

Amy: What a coincidence! I just found this thread and saw your name - you just posted on the CA thread just now -!! so glad for that! I have the Guernsey Lit book and will start it soon - highly rated.

see you on the CA thread!! carol

[Geraldo05]

Here's some unusual choices that I either have or will read:

 

• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
  
• Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
  

[robvan]

I just finished a great book by Kristin Hannah, Winter Garden. A great mother/daugher relationship book. Best I have read in awhile.

[cctn]

I just started reading the Miss Julia series - by Ann B Ross - really cute stories of a widowed southern lady... there are 11 books in the series and so far, I have read 3.

carol

[SFParrtHd]

I just finished a great book by Kristin Hannah, Winter Garden. A great mother/daugher relationship book. Best I have read in awhile.

 

Firefly Lane by her was very good, if you haven't read it already :)

[madge57]

Try "Under The Dome" by Stephen King!!!

[Meredisney]

Skinny Dip..........Re wife thrown overboard by her husband on a Cruise Ship seeks revenge after surviving the swim back to shore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I VOTE FOR SKINNY DIP!!!!! Perfect for cruise reading, plus I love the author!

 

Also "Don't Cry For Me Hot Pastrami" a cute mystery that takes place on a Caribbean cruise.

Edited March 30, 2010 by Meredisney

[robvan]

Firefly Lane by her was very good, if you haven't read it already :)

 

Read that and all her books. She is very good.

[LynnAB]

Cruise Confidential by Brian David Burns is a very interesting read for anyone who cruises.

 

It was written by an American who signed up to work on a cruise ship and his tales about it. It will enlighten you on what goes on that you don't know about and will make you realize that the crew work even harder than we could imagine. It made me even more appreciative of the crew.

 

I have read so many mixed reviewes on Cruise Confidential, but I really enjoyed it. I felt like I was there and experiencing Brian's behind the scenes antics, which I liked. It's fun to live vicariously sometimes <g>.

[05mak05]

I thought "Cruise Confidential" was a page turner. While I knew the crew worked horrendous hours, I did not realize just how difficult it was. I also loved "The Help," "Shanghai Girls," "Pillars of the Earth," "World Without End," "The Art of Racing in the Rain," "River God." Are there any other books written by crew members worth the read?

[Zoey1]

Wow...how fun...I just found this thread...will have to go back and find some that I haven't read (ie the Janet Evanovich books)

some of my favorite reads were

The Help

Firefly lane

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The art of racing in the rain

Sarah's key

Not my daughter by Barbara Delinsky

Shattered dreams by Irene Spencer

 

My husband just bought me a nook..he LOVES his..I am still not sure if I miss my "actual" books or not, yet I just came back from a trip and it was great having the nook for it.

 

When I finish the book I am reading, I am thinking of trying a soft place to land hopefully finishing up in time to get into The pillars of the earth before my 5/29 Oasis cruise!!

What else are y'all reading??

[Bookish Angel]

Just finished this eclectic, very literate non-fiction book by Michael Perry. He's a volunteer firefighter and EMT as well as a writer in a small Wisconsin town. Funny, sad, philosophical - it was wonderful.

 

Another good book I recently read was "The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors" by Michelle Young-Stone. It's a fictional, quirky story but the author was actually struck by lightning some years back and I can see where the experience influenced the writing. Quite good.

 

A bit off topic, but a good way to acquire books at no cost is to set up a book swap shelf in your workplace. I did so a few months back and it has been very successful and I have put close to 50 books on the shelves and have taken some good ones. I work for public radio so the selection is VERY diverse and in a few languages!

[ILoveScotland]

Just finished The Book of Ebenezer Le Page by G.B. Edwards. This book was written in the 1970s but not published until after Edwards' death.

 

It is a fictional memoir of the title character and spans some 70 or more years of life on the Channel Island of Guernsey and is one of the most fascinating books I've read in a very long time. It takes a little while to get used to the grammar and ways Le Page "speaks," but it's worth it.

[oulaLuLu]

If you can appreciate satire, irony and being able to laugh at oneself then Will Ferguson's "Happiness: A Novel" is wonderful. I didn't know anything about the book but happened to be at an author's reading a few years back and couldn't resist giving it a chance. What an unexpected surprise! And it came at a time when I really needed a good laugh ...

Ah, I see he has a book about traveling through Japan, "Hitching a Ride with Buddha" that I am promptly ordering from my paperback swap.

 

Gabriel Garcia ***** is my favorite, but without a kindle I leave the books with bulk at home ; -).

[ybehome]

What a great thread. I have some new ideas, although I have read nearly everything posted. I just got my nook and am making the transition easily although I was a bit worried.

 

Some of my favorites

Non-Fiction

Three Cups of Tea, Stones into Schools, Greg Mortenson- non-fiction about building schools for girls in Afghanistan

 

Bill Bryson- Travel writer

 

Historical fiction

Michael and Jeff Shaara

 

Mystery

Everyone listed above

 

Hope you all keep adding as I love new ideas!