Holiday reading recommendations - no chick lit

[BugBearisBugBear]

Imagine you're off to sunny France next month with DH, the DCs and the grandparents for a week. You have little time to read, but because of the gps you are hoping to manage at least a couple of afternoons lounging by the pool. You can only take one book because of weight restrictions. So the book you take must be gripping and not one you will give up on after 40 pages.

What would you recommend?

Am not into chick lit at all. I read the Booker shortlist/literary fiction blah but want something easy to read and non-depressing. It must not be at all challenging.

Jasper Fforde, The Eyre Affair.

Anything by Rose Tremain.

I loved Music and Silence. And Restoration.

Could not get into the one set in early America at all though.

do you have to know Jane Eyre well to read the Eyre Affaire? I've forgotten most of what happens.

Don't know if I have read that one. But also loved Music and Silence, Restoration, The cupboard, and The way I Found Her.

A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian by Marina Lewycka.
Funny, easy to read but not superficial.

I didn't enjoy the ukranian tractors thing, but due to severe shortage of english language books in munich, I bought a copy of Two Caravans, which is her next book. Im reading it at the moment, and quite like it. It's better, I think.

Try Fred Vargas, even if you dont normally read detective novels. She's completely different, and would fit your requirements to be gripping, literary and non-challenging.

In the Woods by Tana French.

or more classical but not too hardgoing - Vanity Fair.

CJ Sansom - Dissolution would be my recommendation. Readit on the beach last year and it was great

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

One Big Damn Puzzler by John Harding.

Funny book about the way of life of a bizarre set of characters who live on a fictional South Sea island.

E.g. One of them is attempting to translate 'Hamlet' into pidgin english. (Is be or is be not, is be one big damn puzzler)

I loved it

A year of wonders by Geraldine Brookes - I challenge you not to be moved, informed and totally captivated by this. Set in the Derbyshire village of Eyam during the plague.

Thanks, these are great recommendations.

I read a Thousand Splendid Suns and In the Woods earlier this year, loved them both. That's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for - not really drossy fiction, so well written, but also difficult to put down.

In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.

you've probably already read this, but if not, Small Island by Andrea Levy is ace.

Then we came to the end, by Joshua Ferris
Am loving this
Anything by William Sutcliffe, especially Are You Experienced?
I liked the first Marina Lewycka so it is good to hear that her second is even better
Everyone I know who has read Year of Wonders rates it very highly - but is it not a bit sad yogabird?

I'm currently reading the Savage Garden, am about half way through, it's good. better than the last book I read

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How about The red tent by Anita Diamant?

It retells some of the bible stories from a womans point of view or mainly from Dinah's point of view - a daughter of Jacab. It's sort of historical, biblical and fictional.

Ooops, Jacob!

Cod - I read a Spot of Bother, thought it was very easy to read, not a bad story line, made me laugh in places as well. I got DH Agent Zigzag for Christmas and he loved it.

Have read both the Mark Haddon ones, I liked them a lot.

I've got the Courtesan one in my book pile already. So that's a maybe.

Quite fancy the Joshua Ferris one.

I would go for Year of Wonders, but another pre-requisite is that the book is NOT depressing. I want to be full of summer fun on my hols, so will save that for later in the year!

Piers Morgan - maybe. I quite like celebrity nonsense.