Good holiday reads

[ChatterMonkey]

I have a long awaited and much needed holiday booked for next month, and I want to start planning my holiday reads!

The holiday is just myself and dp, all invlusive and we plan on having a lot of time lying in the sun doing very little so we both want lots of books to read!

I quite like the usual light and fluffy holiday reads, but one of the best books ive ever read was the night circus (which i read on holiday!) So anything like that would be good as well.

I like writing style that is easy to read, and where you can conpletely lose yourself in the world of the book. This is more important than the genre or story imo, i can get into and enjoy any sort of subject matter if its written well enough.

For dp, hes not read properly in a while, has read lots of steven king books years ago. Is also partial to non-fiction books (normally about murderers and serial killers...) Hes keen to read 1984, i think he would really enjoy it due to dystopian world. Anything similar to that that he might enjoy?

Planning on going to waterstones today for a good browse!

Any recommendations?

Bump before i head into town!

Janet evanovitch is good for a light read (Stephanie Plum books) , also the St Mary's chronicles is a bit of fun

I'm taking a couple of Anthony Horowitz books with me, so Magpie Murders, recently serialised on Britbox; and Moonflower Murders. Perhaps also some Le Carre, from the Smiley series.
I also like Patricia Highsmith who write The Amazing Mr Ripley, well-written, tense stories, and, not to everyone's taste, Mary Stewart. She wrote in the 1950s, 1960's chiefly. Spirited, intelligent young women finding unexpected danger in various beautifully-described parts of Europe. She know her history, myths and botany well.

I think you both may enjoy the Terry Pratchett Discworld books. He writes so well and his world is reflective of our own in a unique way.

With Stephen King. Have you read/your husband read the gunslinger series. The first one is a bit dry but the rest are amazing. I read them one holiday and become so immersed in the world I was sad when I finished and missed the characters.

Another one that is good and different is The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M Auel, It's kind of a prehistoric history of the world except it is fiction with a lot of poetic license. Ideal holiday reading.

Any Human Heart or anything by William Boyd is easy to get lost in. I’m currently enjoying Waiting for Sunrise.

Margaret Attwood is good for dystopian novels.

I second Patricia Highsmith - for either of you. Her best books (Strangers On a Train, Ripley, This Sweet Sickness) are gripping and well-written while slipping down effortlessly.

I love Ruth Rendell / Barbara Vine on a holiday too.

For your husband, In Cold Blood (true crime, but not schlocky sensationalism) and The City and the City by China Mieville (high-concept sort-of sci-fi novel) sprung to my mind.

Finally, not sure this really meets the brief, but one of my most memorable holiday books was All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. Really gorgeous descriptions and a good story. (I wouldn’t recommend the sequels for poolside reading though - The Crossing spoilt part of another holiday as I was so upset by it.)

Another William Boyd book I'd recommend is Brazzaville Beach which follows a scientist researching chimpanzee behaviour in Africa. Stuff happens. The protagonist is a very interesting, very strong woman, very well written.

Do you like Marian Keyes? I've just finished Rachel Again, the sequel to Rachel's Holiday. I really enjoyed it.

Rachel Cusk might be worth looking at too.