There have been calls for an Official MN Summer Reading List.
So we're starting one.
Please list your suggestions for suitcase-friendly summer reads on this thread.
Same criteria as book club ie no misery memoirs, sleb biogs, yummy-mummy lit, books with more than 800 pages, or books with no punctuation or capital letters.
Your recommendations can be fiction or non-fiction. And if you agree with other people's picks, please say so, so that we can try to come up with a handy list of your top 10 (or 20) summer reads.
And <shameless plug>, a reminder that MN bookclub will be back in September. Details to follow presently.
Thank you.
frasersmummy
Tue 27-Jul-10 17:26:59
too good to be true by Sheila O'flanagan
deaddei
Tue 27-Jul-10 17:29:33
The Little Friend- Donna Tartt
AlaskaNebraska
Tue 27-Jul-10 18:32:17
Non fiction. " nothing to envy" by Sarah someone. About north Korea told in very readable style through about five family stories. Outstanding.
AlaskaNebraska
Tue 27-Jul-10 18:34:13
Also like " the group" reccyed on here , new York womenn in early 1930s. GreAt
ComeWhineWithMe
Tue 27-Jul-10 18:35:54
The Help - Very very good.
SparkyMalarky
Tue 27-Jul-10 18:37:53
Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
BelligerentGhoul
Tue 27-Jul-10 18:41:18
Hurray!
Yes to The Help - the voices ring so true in it: although it is not perfect, it is well worth reading.
I absolutely loved reading The Moonstone on holiday as it is so mysterious and 'closed in' and gloomy - a good contrast to the sunshine!
I always take at least one Austen with me as a guaranteed read - there's nothing worse than taking a load of books and then not liking ANY of them.
Will be back later for a nosey and with more recs!
LaBellaSantaCatarinadiSienna
Tue 27-Jul-10 18:45:02
Agree with The Help. Also couldn't put Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones down
AlaskaNebraska
Tue 27-Jul-10 18:49:36
Bit isn't the help written in the vernacular? That might put me off
BelligerentGhoul
Tue 27-Jul-10 18:51:01
This is an interesting non-fiction one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reading-Lolita-Tehran-Memoir-Books/dp/0007289537/ref=sr_1_1?s=books& ie=UTF8&qid=1280253003&sr=1-1 reading Lolita In Tehran]]
AlaskaNebraska
Tue 27-Jul-10 18:52:07
Finding Monsieur right is chick lit shit. Read the rules
titferbrains
Tue 27-Jul-10 18:53:51
I've just finished Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby read on the way to pembrokeshire and back. A very easy read but good fun and lots of witty writing.
I read the help ages ago and thought it was great.
BelligerentGhoul
Tue 27-Jul-10 18:56:03
Alaska - it is very readable but the voices ring true. It's not like The Colour Purple or The Commitments or that sort of thing, where the voices get in the way because you have to work at them so much.
AlaskaNebraska
Tue 27-Jul-10 18:56:17
Ooh and simon millar book on the berlin wall , my Part in it's downfall. Vvvg and readable. Can't link am on phone
AlaskaNebraska
Tue 27-Jul-10 18:57:35
Shudder at memory of color purple
KnottyLocks
Tue 27-Jul-10 19:33:26
'City of Thieves' by David Benioff is a different and enjoyable read. You can tell that the author has also written film scripts.
Fibonacci
Tue 27-Jul-10 20:20:52
I also enjoyed Juliet, Naked.
last good book I read was The Road Home by Rose Tremain.
Careful
Tue 27-Jul-10 20:41:49
yy to The Help.
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin.
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngosi Adichie.
Lustrum by Robert Harris.
alana39
Tue 27-Jul-10 20:52:33
Oh yes Brooklyn and The White Tiger.
And if you have read Brooklyn already, try Colm Toibin's other books (
alana39
Tue 27-Jul-10 20:54:06
Can't work this laptop!
Was also about to add Graham Robb's The Discovery of France as non-fiction, especially if you're going there.
Lacuna, by Barbara "poisonwood bible" Kingsolver. A great saga.
ArcticRoll
Tue 27-Jul-10 21:55:51
yy to The Road Home and Half of a Yellow Sun
Also Ladder of Years -an oldish Anne Tyler but a perfect Mumsnet summer read-mother on beach walks along beach and keeps walking.
Also One Day David Nicholls- a light read but well written.
American Wife-a great airport/beach read.