Cruising in 2 weeks and need a good book!

[lulu0506]

Another vote for "The Thirteenth Tale" Loved that book!!!

I got lots of recommendations for "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak... it is my next read.

 

[ESN]

I love James Michener books for travel --

"Caribbean" seems appropriate

 

[sandiegosusie]

I put my vote in also for the Sophie Kinsella "shopaholics" series of books...so funny and you don't have to read it all at once.

Also love Anita Shreve...The Pilot's Wife is a good read, as are any of her other books.

Have fun!!

I second the shopaholics series...easy reads and hilarious! I would also reccomend, "Memory Keepers Daughter".

 

[Tink rules]

I'm always amazed how John Grisham knows I need a book for vacation...

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I took Harry Potter, but then I'm still a kid at heart (oops, aren't we all?)

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I took Harry Potter, but then I'm still a kid at heart (oops, aren't we all?)

 

[mmackeymouse]

I took Harry Potter, but then I'm still a kid at heart (oops, aren't we all?)

I LOVE Harry Potter, and if you have read the entire series, you should know the book was clearly not written entirely for children. There were many idiosyncricies and details that only adult, or at least older teen readers would pick up and understand.

The first 2 or 3 books would not be such a bad idea. But, I think the later books of the series are far too deep, dark, and philosophical to be considered "easy reading."

Perhaps, for us HP fans, The Tales of Beedle the Bard would be a good light read.

 

[Tink rules]

I need to go back and read #7... of course that means I need to go back and start with at LEAST #5...

 

[ibouncetoo]

Anything by Philipa Gregory, I started with the Other Boleyn a few years ago. They are follow the historical plot line with fiction woven in. Easy to read and easy to get into.

I discovered these books while on the Magic! Someone had left "The Other Boleyn" in Cove Cafe. I was on my first four day cruise, so I wasn't able to finish it. Needless to say, I hit the book store as soon as I got home. I've enjoyed all of them. For anyone just starting out, The Constant Princess is the first in the chronology.


As a Jimmy Buffet fan, I'd recommend his books to read while crusing.

Tom, just followed the link to take a look at your book. It looks like the PERFECT read for a beach/cruise vacation!

 

[gofenmom]

Another vote for the Outlander series - my favorite . Met a fellow cruiser on the EB Panama Canal Repo that had brought along 3 of Diana Gabaldon's books... Never checked with her to see if she got through them all.

 

[plutojudy]

Nelson DeMille is also an excellent author.

 

[mmackeymouse]

I need to go back and read #7... of course that means I need to go back and start with at LEAST #5...

I assume you are referring to Harry Potter. I definitely intend to re-read the series before Half-Blood comes out this summer.

I initially read the series in its entirety within a span of 10 days a couple of summers ago. I have been meaning to sit down and read them properly this time around, because I am sure I missed a lot of great details in Order and Half-Blood.

Okay, I would recommend The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. There are a lot of shout-outs to Disney in there, as well as lessons about how the author incorporated Disney into his life. Because it recounts the end of a person's life, you may expect it to be depressing, but it is not at all. It is actually very uplifting, a quick read, and weirdly enough, it made me feel so excited about our Disney vacation.

 

[4warmwishers]

We are on the same cruise as you!!!!! I have the new James Patterson book "Run for your life" ready to go. Hope it's a good one.

I would also definetly recommend the Twilight series if you haven't read them. I thought they were GREAT!!!

 

[Anal Annie]

You can find paperbacks (lighter & smaller for travel) for 25% off at Target. I will also vote for anything by John Grisham or Mary Higgins Clark. I am currently on book #2 of the "Sign of Seven" trilogy by Nora Roberts and I will give to the trilogy so far. "Blood Brothers" is book # 1, "The Hollow" is book # 2 and "The Pagan Stone" is book # 3. The first book came out in Dec '07 and the 2nd book in May '08 but the final one just came out in Dec '08. (I like to wait for the whole series to be done so I can go thru the whole series at once.) Nora throws in a little more sumthin' sumthin' if you like a sprinkle of that here & there in your whodunits & thrillers.

Have a great trip (read)!

 

[Carys]

Have you read the Sophie Kinsella books? Ok they are a bit fluff, but a fun read - I love them. The latest one 'Remember Me' is a great book. Her books are really funny.

Although I'm not a fan of the shopaholic series, I really enjoyed Remember Me - easy going narrative and fun story, would recommend it for cruise reading.

If you like Sophie Kinsella, I would also recommend Marian Keyes. I find her just a little bit less "light" and even funnier. For something a bit heavier, I like Philippa Gregory - "The Other Bolyn Girl" or "The Virgin's Lover"...I'm also working my way through the Shack but it is not what you would call a light read.

Have fun!

Beth

I also enjoy Marian Keyes for a light read, although the latest one of hers that I read (This Charming Man) was a little darker than usual - I read it while relaxing one weekend at some hot springs and was a page turner but is probably a little heavier in some of its subject matter than I'd want to be reading on vacation.

Also would Not recommend The Thirteenth Tale for cruise reading - what a great story teller! but not a light-hearted tale at all. As depressing as Jodie Picoult's novels (who I also enjoy reading but again - wouldn't recommend for a cruise!).

I have enjoyed each Phillipa Gregory book I've read (3 I think off hand?) and if you enjoy dramatised historical novels of this sort you might also enjoy The Duchess by Amanda Foreman (which was made into a movie last year starring Keira Knightly).

Looking over my bookshelf, I'm amazed by how many novels I've bought in the last 6 months or so have been actually quite depressing (although good reads). Maybe you could arrange to swap a book with someone else part-way through your cruise if you're an avid reader?

 

[ibouncetoo]

We did a book swap on the WestBoundPanamaCanal cruise this past May. We had a large cloth bag (like a laundry bag) fastened to the railing outside one stateroom and people dropped off and picked up books as needed (everyone brought a book they had already read to get the pile started). When we were done the books were given to the CREW for their enjoyement. Any books left behind are usually placed in Cove Cafe for guests, you must designate that your books are for crew so that they can keep them. And they were VERY HAPPY to get them.

.

 

[Soccermom-Cheri]

sorry if this has already been mentioned, but...
I love the Harlan Coben books, especially the "Myron" (a character) books. They have sports backdrops but it didn't bother me (a non-sports fan). The characters are funny and all of the books are an easy read.

I also just finished "Sarah's Key". It is set in WWII and not for everyone but I LOVED it.

 

[trekygirl26]

I took Harry Potter, but then I'm still a kid at heart (oops, aren't we all?)

I'll derfinitely give a shout out for the HP books! I am just starting to re-read the Deathly Hallows for about the 6th time. I absolutely hated reading until i read these books. They got me to enjoy reading again. They are very well written, have a great story line, and are a lot of fun to read. The first three are somewhat of an easy read, but the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th are a bit harder being the're 600-800 pages long, but it is well worth it! JK Rowling is an amazing authur and you will be amazed at how well she writes and how she ties events together from the first book to the last. I just can't say enough about these books.

 

[llsstt11]

the Maximum Ride series by James Paterson are fantastic- they are supposed to be for teens but every adult LOVES them- there not to long and not to short but make sure to bring all four because they leaving you hanging at the end and you don/t want to spend your hole cruise wondering whats going to happen next- you could probably get away with bringing the first three the fourth one is kind of an after thought
if you chose not to bring thses on the curise i would consider reading these any way

 

[Johnna_Story]

Thanks everyone!

I have many ideas now, not only for my trip, but for months afterwards!!

I did get the The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (since that's also what my bookclub decided to read this month); and two of the lastet murder mysteries by Linda Fairstein. I had forgotten that I had read her whole series two years ago (a few on the cruise that year) and there are two paperbacks that have come out since then. Also a new release in hardcover this month I believe. Linda Fairstein was the DA in New York City who started the $ex crimes division in the early 80's. Her first big case was the "Preppy Murder Case" in NYC - Robert Chambers was convicted.

Anyway - for you murder mystery fans, that's my recommendation. All of her books revolve around the character of Alex Cooper - a character very much like the author I believe.

Thanks for all the ideas - I've read many of your suggestions (LOVED Time Traveler's Wife, HP series, Phillipa Gregory, Grisham, Mary Higgins Clark), and will put many of the rest of them on my "to read" list.

Amazing the information you can get from the DIS!