Holiday reads

[janeite]

I need suggestions please, for books to take on holiday with me.

Things I like:

Jane Austen (well of course!) but I've read them all a zillion times and don't want to take them

Sort of literary historical crime fiction eg: Sherlock Holmes, The Matthew Shardlake novels by CJ Shansom

Terry Pratchett (read em all though); Stephen King (ditto) Isabel Allende (and again); teenage fiction, especially gritty urn=ban stuff and fantasy (hate adult fantasy though, except Pratchet and King); v well written and gripping history books (non-fiction obv)

Literary-ish fiction that isn't poncily over-written - eg: I liked "The Kite Runner" but hated "A Quiet Belief In Angels"; liked Douglas Coupland but hated Attonement; if that means anything!

No chick lit, no Richard and Judy (their suggestions are getting worse and worse) please. What I'd really like is a big fat historical trilogy thing that will last me days - i am a hideously fast reader and hate being without a book.

Please help me! Thank you!

bloss well, yes, I think they are, but he has been my favourite author for ages now, so I am biased. I would like to find a new author who matches up to him, but haven't yet. Any suggestions?!

Janeite if you like teenage fantasy stuff, have you tried Diana Wynn Jones?

Sophies world is worth giving another chance.

Also have you tried the Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning? Big book - lots of v interesting history ( partic post recent Balkan wars) set pre pre WW2 and a suprisingly good story. ( Always suprised its never been made for TV etc)

Balkan Trilogy and the Levant Trilogy which follows it was made, in 1987, into a series for television called Fortunes of War starring Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson and jolly good it was too. DH bought me the DVD recently so I could watch it in full (first time round DS1 was a baby so I never so all of any episode).

Lily - thanks for that - not sure when I first read it ...Defo missed it on TV in 1987 .. think I was more interested in things other than TV !

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I second A Suitable Boy.
And is War and Peace too obvious? I couldn't put it down.
I loved the Olivia Manning Trilogies too.
Have you read Suite Francaise?
Irving (John)?

I'm recommending 'The Crimson Petal and the White' - Michael Faber to everyone this summer (don't think it's a new one though so you may have read it). Presume you've read 'Vanity Fair'?

I second the Crimson Petal.

Or how about Forever Amber by Kathleen Windsor. Historical fiction (set around Charles II time), huge thick book, absolutely gripping.

Also, Jane Harris - the Observations, very witty read.

Kept - D J Taylor - have not read this, but it looks interesting!

Bloss, there are two here - any idea which one?!

Another vote for A Suitable Boy - huge, beautifully written and totally absorbing.

Also Wild Swans.

Wonder if Janeite is already on holiday though?!

If you like well written big sagas, the Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard is worth trying - family saga of well to do family before, during and just after World War II.

Seconding;

English Passengers (please try it again, it's sticky at first but then is about the most brilliant book I ever read - and I, like you, read A LOT)
Cloud Atlas
Suitable Boy (skip the political bits, well, I did )
The Crimson Petal and the White (MADE my summer holiday 2 years ago)

Also how about;
Half a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (best book I read last year)
Anna Karenina
David Copperfield
Life of Pi

And if you like historical, have you ever read anything by Margaret Foster?
Highly recommend The Lady's Maid about Elizabeth Barret Browning's maid.

Wow! Thank you everybody. No time to reply to individuals now as I'm off out to my baby's leaving concert (last day of primary school - sob!) so will have a good old browse later on.

Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingslover is also a great big read

Oh, and Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie - superb

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Havent read all this but be warned: DO NOT choose Wife in the North - it's trite. Honest, it will waste your precious time.

try the Balkan Trilogy (do you remember - it was televised moons ago with Ken Brannagh and Emma T, but don't let that put you off). it's a great read and great weight / weight value for a holiday (I always assess holiday books on their weight (kgs) vs weight (how hard to read). Jilly Cooper (what a genius) tends to lose out on the fact they're heavy books but I finish them in a day or 2. Ulysses loses because it need so much damn concentration to read (verbal weight too much). So I'm looking for something that will keep me engaged for long enough but doesnt send me straight to sleep. That's why I always take a Dickens on my hols...)

I can't recommend Shantaram highly enough. It is an amazing story that is purportedly true, about an Australian criminal who escaped from prison and went on amazing adventures in India and Afghanistan. Just stunning, and really long. Madonna obviously loved it because she got the author to show her around Mumbai when she visited there in January. You won't be disappointed

I like your weight theory of relativity, Swerve!

Haven't had time to browse all of this yet but will have a proper read back and check out titles. Off to the library tomorrow, then the bookshop on Sunday!

I second TheInvisibleHand suggestion of Perez-Reverte historical fiction books. The Captain Alatriste saga in particular is quite good for a light read, in particular the first two books of the series. I don't know how good the English translations are, but he is a good writer in Spanish.

Janeite, joining you from my other thread. If you are a fast reader, you must forget all ideas about one book per holiday. Think instead books first and is there any room left for clothes?

I am going away next week for a holiday which will be a mix of poolside and day trips. I figure for that sort of holiday at least two novels every three days. One regular sized novel a day would be safer. That's why I always like to take a chunky Victorian classic. Problem is I've read so many already.