Friday, May 28, 2010

Summer Trash

OK, so I've already told y'all about my plans to stick to Southern authors for my summer audiobook list, but who will give me ideas about what actual paper-page-turning books to read for the next few months? Why, the New York Times, of course. Thanks to Janet Maslin's list of  guilt-free beach books, I have a few ideas of what to have on hand to lull me to sleep at night. C'mon, you know you've been dying to read Chelsea Handler's Chelsea, Chelsea, Bang, Bang and Dave Barry's I'll Mature When I'm Dead.

No? Well, maybe something else will strike your fancy. Summertime is a great excuse for reading less intellectually weighty tomes (aka: trash). Nobody expects you to read War and Peace (has anyone actually read W&P - ever?), so you're free to pick up whatever murder mystery, bodice-ripper, or C-level celebrity biography you may be drawn to.

Realizing that one man's trash is another man's college entrance exam essay subject, I'm open to summer reading suggestions. I don't like romance (the type with Fabio, et. al. on the cover) or much of science-fiction, but I'm open to any idea you're not too ashamed to pass along.

Go ahead. Toss your trash my way. Let's agree to leave Tolstoy, Schopenhauer, and Proust in their rightful places, propping up wobbly tables and filling the unreachable shelf in the bookcase.

5 comments:

jomoore said...

Thomas started reading War & Peace (precocious, much?), but he gave up because: "I've been reading it for ages and I still haven't got to the War. They should have called it Peace and War so you know what you're getting." And it was heavy to lug around school...

I'm reading Watership Down, having never read it before. It's on my 'should have read' list.

I'm not a great fan of those big trashy summer reads. If I want an easy read, I head for an Agatha Christie. If I want some nonsense, I re-read Lilian Jackson Braun's 'Cat Who' series. Or I look for a new series of silly detective stories like Agatha Raisin.

In the 'none of the above' category is the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson, 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' et al, if you haven't already read them. They are stunning!

Happy reading! :o)

MaryB said...

I agree with Tom. I think we've all *started* War & Peace - definitely should have started with the war stuff to captivate interest (and it was a pretty boring war, anyway - let tom know that).

I read Watership Down back in the 70s, and it's still one of my favorite books, though it took me a good 100 pages to get into it. Enjoy!

I have a copy of the first Larsson book on my "hold" list at the library. Can't wait to get into that series!

I can always count on you to give good recs for books, Jo. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Mary, Have you read The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser? You will recognize much of Atlanta in the reading. Enjoy!

MaryB said...

Thanks for the suggestion - hadn't heard of Swan House (the book). I'll see if I can track it down!

Liz Hinds said...

The Stephanie Plum books of Janet Evanovich. I've probably mentioned them before. Consistently make me laugh out loud.

And they have won awards!