What do you recommend to read?

[Sunebeach]

Probably a bad place to post a question of this sort...but why not? If people can get on CC and talk about what kind of swimsuit to buy...

 

I am an avoracious reader and am looking for a good "beach read", I love romance...of course, but like a little drama thrown in there. What's everyone reading? I'd love to know!!!;)

 

And yes, I've already read the 'shades of grey..' oh, my!!!

[dave_k63]

Probably a bad place to post a question of this sort...but why not? If people can get on CC and talk about what kind of swimsuit to buy...

 

I am an avoracious reader and am looking for a good "beach read", I love romance...of course, but like a little drama thrown in there. What's everyone reading? I'd love to know!!!;)

 

And yes, I've already read the 'shades of grey..' oh, my!!!

I have loaded up my kindle with the latest legal thrillers by Grishman, Randy Springer and Michael Connally. You might also like "Cruise Confidential" by Bruns - it's a somewhat interesting look at life behind the scenes on Carnival cruiseships. That being said, can't be sure it's all true, but it is interesting.

[Sunebeach]

Just finished "Cruise Confidential", very eye opening...but again, like you,not sure how 'true' it was. Though I did witness our assistant waiter working the buffets and other food venues several times, and she was absolutely worn out!

Thanks for your suggestions...

 

Anyone else???

[cb at sea]

I love Robert B Parker's books....he died last year, but he has quite a list! (His book spawned "Spenser, for Hire", at detective show back in the 80's I think)...Great characters, and not so intense that you can't stop reading to people watch! I find complicated storylines difficult on a ship where there's so much going on, that you're always stopping your reading to see what's happenin'!

Also like Grisham!

I also like Dave Barry's books...he's such a HOOT! (Not novels, but he's so funny, it doesn't matter!) Whenever I read one in public, I'm laughing out loud....but it's fun!

[jasbo49]

"Buzz Cut," an old one by James W. Hall, is certainly not a romance, but it's a mystery that takes place on a cruise ship. Might be able to find an old paperback for a buck somewhere.

 

Jim

[wactedout]

Hello,

 

My friend highly recommends "At Home" by Bill Bryson. A fascinating nonfiction read about houses, written by a master writer/storyteller.

[luvscruising2007]

I love James Patterson and Sue Grafton. Both are usually easy reads and great when you're cruising or at the beach.

[DonnaK]

Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen.

 

Santa Cruise by Mary and Carol Higgins Clark.

 

A Necessary Woman by Helen Van Slyke (about a reporter who goes on a world cruise and reports back from all the exotic places).

 

If you like romance, Harlequin has a collection of 12 books set on cruise ships. (Mediterranean Nights series).

 

Elin Hilderbrand and Elizabeth Adler have many excellent beach resort novels.

[MrsPete]

Romance with a little drama . . . have you read Karen Marie Moning's Fever series? I think it's four books total, relaxing beach-type reading. More plot than her other novels. Sucks you in from page one, introduces well-developed characters about whom you care, but the twists are so unpredictable that you don't find yourself saying, "Okay, I know what's going to happen -- let's get it over with".

 

In the first chapter, first book, the protagonist Makayla Lane is a rather spoiled Southern belle lounging around by her parents' pool in small-town Georgia. She's just graduated and is spending the summer bartending, hanging out by the lake with the boys drinking and looking great in her bikini. She has no real focus in life, and her biggest concern in her life is the color of her nail polish. Then the phone rings, and she finds out her sister, who is pursuing a master's degree in Ireland, has been murdered. I like the line in which she says her whole life is divided in to BC and AC: Before Call and After Call.

 

From this point she discovers that pretty much everything she's believed about herself and her family has been a lie. Against her parents' will, she goes to Ireland. She discovers rather slowly that she has supernatural powers, and she is surrounded by creatures she'd thought were fictional -- some adore her, others want to kill her. She meets a man who is both terrifying and deliciously attractive -- and he's definitely keeping secrets about something big (don't even try to guess, you would never guess right). He's not the only one keeping secrets; you will never guess who actually killed her sister.

 

I loved this series.

[jocap]

A story about cruising: "Here Come the Girls" by Milly Johnson.

It's about 4 school friends who have a reunion before reaching 40 yrs, on a cruise ship. The author did her research on P&O's Azura, which is the same design as Princess Grand Class ships.

Light reading and humorous.

I agree with the Bill Bryson- anything by him!

Jo.

[cjstock]

Have you read the Hunger Games series? It's really excellent and not just for young adults. Also, the Sookie Stackhouse books are a fun read. There are 9-10 so far in the series, I think the first one is "Dead Until Morning".

[cjstock]

Have you read the Hunger Games series? It's really excellent and not just for young adults. Also, the Sookie Stackhouse books are a fun read. There are 9-10 so far in the series, I think the first one is "Dead Until Dark".

[cjstock]

Oops, sorry for the multiple posts. I was trying to correct the title in the first and ended up posting again, whoops!

[Sunebeach]

There's so many to consider...

 

I agree, Hunger Games series was great...as were the Twilight series...even if they were written for 'kids'. I enjoyed the 'Brotherhood vampire" series written by Sherilyn Kenyon, they were very adult and "dark" but fun. Finishing the "Shades of Grey" series now. LOVE Nora Roberts...but not her JD Robb books. LOVE Jane Austen, but need to concentrate when I read her books, so I can't people watch...lol.

 

My tastes are very eclectic, much like my taste in music...anything goes usually.

 

Keep the ideas coming!!!

Thanks

[CapeCodCruiser]

Janet Evanovich - Stephanie Plum series - One for the Money etc...

 

A little romance, a little drama and a whole lotta fun!

[Summersemester]

What a great question! Stephen King's Book 11/22/63 about time travel to stop the Kennedy assassination is very engaging. Just downloaded a bunch of under $10. novels for the cruise. I teach English, so I want nonsense for a week. Also love Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas series. The Night Circus was also great. Ann Patchett's Bel Canto was tremendous, but it is from a few years back. David Sedaris is also nonfiction, but, like Bill Bryson, is a terrific essayist.

[Bookish Angel]

Australian sisters who reunite at their family-owned motel. A thick book that is much better than average chick lit.

 

Books by Haitian author Edwidge Danticat are very good as are the novels of South Africa's Pamela Jooste. Both authors' novels reference important social and global issues within their well-written stories.

[donaldsc]

Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

"The Wreck of the Titan" redirects here. For the Doctor Who audio drama, see The Wreck of the Titan (audio drama).

Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan is an 1898 novella written by Morgan Robertson. The story features the ocean liner Titan, which sinks in the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg. The Titan and its sinking have been noted to be very similar to the real-life passenger ship RMS Titanic, which sank fourteen years later. Following the wreck the novel was reissued with some changes, particularly in the ship's gross tonnage, to make it closer to the Titanic.

 

The first half of Futility introduces the hero, John Rowland. Rowland is a disgraced former US Navy officer, who is now an alcoholic and has fallen to the lowest levels of society. Dismissed from the Navy, he is working as a deckhand on the Titan. The ship hits the iceberg, capsizing and sinking somewhat before the halfway point of the novel. The second half follows Rowland, as he saves the young daughter of a former lover by jumping onto the iceberg with her. After a number of adventures, in which he fights a polar bear (suffering permanent physical disability due to wounds sustained in the fight) and finds a lifeboat washed up on the iceberg, he is eventually rescued by a passing ship, overcomes his addiction and, over several years, works his way up to a lucrative Government job restoring his former income and position in society. In the closing lines of the story he receives a message from his former lover, pleading for him to visit her and her daughter.

 

Sort of old but appropriate. Note when it was written.

 

DON

[jasbo49]

Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen.

Oh, man, don't get me started on Hiaasen. His first book, "Tourist Season," is a classic if you have even a little skosh of environmentalist in you. All his early stuff is classic and "Skinny Dip" is the best of his not-so-early stuff.

 

Totally different genre, check out S.J. Rozan, the only female author to whom I'm addicted. I recommend all her books.

 

If you can stand a little outdoorsy-ness in your reading, I'd heartily recommend C.J. Box and Steve Hamilton.

 

If you might relate to small-town newspapers, try Bryan Gruley and Bruce DeSilva.

 

I haven't even mentioned Don Winslow ("California Fire and Life") or T. Jefferson Parker ("Silent Joe," "California Girls").

 

All these are really top-notch authors who are simply below the radar (except Hiaasen; he's pretty well-known).

 

Jim

[semibitter]

Sunebeach

if you love historical romance with a good mystery thrown in I suggest the Sebastian St Cyr series by C.S.Harris they are set in the early 1800's each book is hard to put down.

[Sunebeach]

Books by Haitian author Edwidge Danticat are very good .

 

Just finished one of hers...Dew Breaker...very captivating. ALso read, Chronincle of a Death Foretold, and one about the Miribal sisters of the Dominican Republic during the terror reign of Trujilo.

 

I've also read alot of Phillipa Gregory and Alison Wier, mostly historical fiction about King Henry the VIII, and his wives etc.

 

I'm LOVING this...glad I started this thread!!! keep 'em coming!!!

[paul929207]

I just re-read Ken Follett's "Fall of Giants". It is the first part of his 20th century trilogy. Fiction, but with WW1 and the Russian Revolution as the background. Part two is due out in September and will cover WWII and the depression.

[jasbo49]

No matter what your literary tastes, this is so much better than arguing over chair hogs or dress codes or which cruise line is best.

 

Some of the suggestions are not up my alley, but I'll never say they're "wrong," and they'll never say I'm full of it.

 

Jim

[Sunebeach]

I just re-read Ken Follett's "Fall of Giants". It is the first part of his 20th century trilogy. Fiction, but with WW1 and the Russian Revolution as the background. Part two is due out in September and will cover WWII and the depression.

 

 

I read the Tom the Builder one...can't remember the name...and need to read the 'sequel'...do you remember the name of it? That sounds so interesting...

[Sunebeach]

No matter what your literary tastes, this is so much better than arguing over chair hogs or dress codes or which cruise line is best.

 

Some of the suggestions are not up my alley, but I'll never say they're "wrong," and they'll never say I'm full of it.

 

Jim

 

 

You are SOOO right..much better than someone's snarky comments about the buffet lines or complaints. Everyone's tastes in reading is appreciated. Thanks for the input!!