Thursday, June 24, 2010
Smarty Beach Book Picks
By Ashley H, Charlotte Smarty Pants
With the popularity of last year's beach book suggested reading list, and vacation travel already in the works, I thought it was high time to bring this beauty of this blog back!
Last summer was my season of Twilight, I read the entire series of all 4 books in one month and was forever changed (my husband even surprised me with a trip out to Forks this past December, but that's possibly a whole 'nother blog in itself). Love it or hate it, the Twilight saga has taken the world by storm. But there are so many other GREAT books out there and many of you had some stellar suggestions last year. So, for our 2010 reads, I've compiled the list from last year so we can keep this as a resource, these are somewhat catagorized and in no particular order. I still use this when seeking new titles and love working my way thru so many of your suggestions, keep em coming!
Here we go...
Ashley's Top Titles
Are you there Vodka, It's Me Chelsea (Chelsea Handler. Absolutely hysterical read, it takes a lot to make me LOL and this book kept me in stitches...the title alone is a riot. I finished it in one weekend so an easy one to get thru)
Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn- Stephanie Meyer
Memoirs of a Geisha
Lords of Discipline (Pat Conroy, one of my all time fav authors)
The Great Santini (Pat Conroy)
The Horse Whisperer
My Sister's Keeper (Jodi Picoult, get the tissues ready for this one)
The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
Blackbird (Jennifer Lauck)
Still Waters (Jennifer Lauck, these two memoirs from Jennifer about her unbelievable life still haunt me years later)
Jen P's (of CSP) favs....
The Red Tent - Anita Diamant
The Other Boleyn Girl - Phillipa Gregory
The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters - Elisabeth Robinson
The Shack - William Young (middle drags out some, but really gets you thinking about God)
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Lovely Bones- Alice Seabold
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl who Played with Fire - Stieg Larsson
The Middle Place and Lift - Kelly Corrigan
Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson
Smarty Reader suggestions (in no particular order)…
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Guernsey Potato Peel Pie & Literary Society
The Art of Racing in the Rain (reader reco though I also have this one and haven’t gotten around to reading it yet but heard it’s a great dog lovers book)
The Soloist
Firefly Lane- Kristin Hannah
Friday Night Knitting Club and its sequel, Knit 2
The Pact, Nineteen Minutes, Change of Heart- Jodi Piccoult
The History of Love - Nicole Krauss
The Namesake - Jumpha Lahiri
A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson (totally hilarious, I read this years ago and it is well worth a read!)
Persuasion - Jane Austen (this is short)
The Help
The King of Lies
Same Kind of Different as Me- Ron Hall
The Glass Castle (Katie from TSP highly recommended this as well, unbelievable autobiographical read)
Fault Lines- Nancy Huston
Leaving Maggie Hope- Anthony Abbott (Davidson author)
Middlesex- Jeffrey Eugenides
Redeeming Love - Francine Rivers
Riding Lessons - Sara Gruen
Blossom Street Series - Debbie Macomber
Daughter's Keeper- Ayelet Waldman
Bad Mother- Ayelet Waldman
It Happens Every Day- Isabel Gillies
Cooking For Mr. Latte- Amanda Hesser
The Senator's Wife- Sue Miller
Certain Girls- Jennifer Weiner
American Wife, Prep- Curtis Sittenfeld
Water for Elephants (being made into a movie this summer starring Robert Pattinson)
1000 White Women
A Fine Balance
Kaffir Boy
Angela's Ashes
Hidden Diaries of Marie Antoinette
Girl With the Pearl Earring
Pocketfull of Names
A Thousand Splendid Suns (for those of you who liked The Kite Runner you’ll love this one by same author)
Midwives- Chris Bohjalian
A Reliable Wife - Robert Goolrick
Author recommended reads (anything by…)
Anne Tyler
Emily Giffin
Jodi Piccoult
David Sedaris
Most books by Augusten Burroughs
Anne Lamott books (especially Operating Instructions)
Nick Hornby
All 3 books by Wally Lamb
Jane Green
Christian reads…
Karen Kingsbury Redemption series
Yada Yada Prayer Group- Neta Jackson
Historical reads…
Outlander series- Diana Gabaldon
The Burning Shore- Wilbur Smith
Memoirs of Cleopatra- Margaret George (anything by her really)
Pillars of the Earth- Ken Follet
Princes of Ireland- Edward Rutherford
Suggested FUN reads…
Jen Lancaster books - Bitter is the New Black and the rest
Emily Giffin books
A Prayer for Owen Meany (very funny)
Your word is golden, Smarties, give us your scoop on your favorite titles we should all check out this summer and thanks in advance for some brilliant and fun reads!
Don't forget TOMORROW is the last day to register to win a pair of Orthaheel flip flops - a generous offer from Fleet Feet of Winston-Salem. You must be a Triad Smarty Pants newsletter subscriber to be eligible to win. This promotion ends Friday, June 25 and TWO winners will be announced shortly afterwards - just in time for you to sport these sandals at the pool!
6 comments:
Oh TSP I love you so! Great book list, I had been waiting for this one!! There are some titles I haven't read yet, so I'm making my library list now. John Irving (A prayer for Owen Meany) is great.. he has a long list of titles that have a good mix of humor, satire, flaw, and steam. HE's also the author of The world According to Garp, Cider house rules, The Hotel New Hampshire, and a Widow for one year.
Great list, ladies! My favorite of this past year has been The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Awesome, awesome awesome. Could not put it down.
Let us not forget The Devil in the Jr. League. It is a great saucy novel.
Don't forget "Smarty Mom" Rachel Keener's books - The Killing Tree and The Memory Thief.
I read both of Rachel Kenner's books after reading about her on TSP! Both were fantastic reads and I would highly recommend both!
Liz
The Shack is one of my all time favorites! I find myself remembering certain aspects of the book and applying them to real life. There's a good life lesson hidden in the words we ALL need to hear and act on.
Post a Comment