"You should be embarrassed." This is what my husband said to me when I told him that I was going to post about the books (ahem novels) that I read while we were on vacation. Yeah, well I probably should be... but I'm not. As far as I'm concerned vacations were created for some serious relaxing. Reading The Russian Greats is not my idea of relaxing. I could lie and tell you all that I read Pride and Prejudice, some Tolstoy, or Dostoevsky, but since our relationship is based solely on brutal honesty I have to admit that my list looked something more like Patterson, Giffin, and Evans.
With that being said, here is my reading list.
- Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin. This is the 3rd time I have read this book (I realize I probably shouldn't admit that.) I seriously just can't help myself. I don't know what it is, something about the story line just grabs me every time. I love how the ending turns out (no spoiler alerts here) so I find myself re-reading this whenever I feel the urge for a happy ending. Aka all of the time.
- Eat, Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Since I'm being honest here I must tell you I didn't read the entire book. I made it through Eat, and about 3/4 of Pray and I simply quit (something I have never done before.) I am not a very religious person and I thought that the "yoga" part of it would be enough to get me through. It wasn't. I realize that most women LOVED this book and I may get my ass kicked here but somehow I just couldn't force myself to make it to the end. Believe me I tried. I may skip ahead to "Love" to see what I'm missing. That or go see the movie.
- Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster. Her books kill me, as does her blog. They are pretty much the equivalent to an Us Weekly which makes them even better.
- Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster. Ditto.
- Mating Rituals of the North American WASP by Lauren Lipton. A few months ago one of my favorite bloggers Melissa C. Morris wrote a review of this novel and recommended it. I downloaded it to my Kindle and never started reading it. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. On the beach it was great. At home I probably wouldn't have gotten that into it.
- I, Alex Cross by James Patterson. Okay, I admit it. I am still a huge Alex Cross fan. You can read these books in about an hour and since the author comes out with one pretty much every other day I see this as a very good thing. They are so cheesy and so predictable and this may be what I love the most.
- The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich. As a Facebook *fanatic* of course I had to read the unauthorized bio about the guys who created my favorite medium of all time. My husband thought this book sucked, I pretty much loved it. The fact that it is based mostly in Boston is pretty cool too. In short I heart you Mark Zuckerberg. You are so the new Steve Jobs.
- Nanny Returns by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. This is the new follow up to The Nanny Diaries. Great beach book and a cute story. I am a sucker for anything sequel related so I was destined to like this one as well.
- The Loop by Nicholas Evans. On day 8 I ran out of books on my Kindle and found this book in the lending library on the island. 5/8 of the way through I realized that I had read it before about 10 years ago. Not a bad story but if you are going to read anything by this author read The Horse Whisperer and the Smoke Jumper (one of my all time favs.)
So there you have it. 9 books in 8 days. None of them will be winning a Pulitzer anytime soon but they kept me very entertained in my chaise lounge by the sea, and also cost me more than a few hours of missed sleep. Am I embarrassed? Not in the least!
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12 comments :
You enjoyed them, and you were on holiday to relax. Nothing to be embarrassed about :-)
Hi,
recently found your blog. I really enjoy it. Thank you!
I have nominated you for a Swedish Creative Blogger Award.
http://fashionablemama.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-have-been-nominated-for-creative.html
Tove
Just so you know I couldn't get past pray either. You are not alone.
I think any reading is good reading. Read what you like as long as you read. For me, at least, reading is an escape. It's my absolute favorite pastime.
im so glad you were honest about eat pray love. i havent read it, and never really wanted to, but everyone (ok, oprah) made it seem as though this book were the 2nd coming. now i dont have to read it, AND dont have to feel guilty about it!
bri
You shouldn't be embarrassed! I've read five of those books and really enjoyed them. Reading the Russian classics is like eating bran and veggies every day. A girl needs some chocolate once in a while, too!
So glad I am not the only one who stays up late reading! It is really the only thing I am willing to lose sleep over - even over going out! Sounds like the perfect vacation for you.... :)
I was just telling someone yesterday that I am the only woman on earth who didn't think that Eat, Pray, Love was life-altering. I'm with you...meh. So glad to hear someone else say that!
Your vacation looked amazing. But couldn't you have at least waited until winter abated before posting those GORGEOUS photos?! You're killing me here.
It's not like your some academic literary geek. I have been reading Jane Greene lately. I also read new age self help books (gasp!). I loved listening to the Nannie diaries on tape it made me to be even more conscious of how I treat those taking care of my children. There is this older gentlement at work who continues to make patronizing comments when he sees me reading "Whatcha reading another romance novel?" Not everything fiction is romance dumbass-I am annoyed because i have heard the comment at least 5 times. Even easy reading sharpens the brain. I read much faster, and have a much better vocabulary then my dh who only reads trade magazines. Thanks for the book tips.
All hail to some fantastic holiday reading!
Thanks for the recommendations!!
You HAVE to ge to the Love part of Eat, Pray, Love. I honestly set the book down 1/2 way through Pray and let it sit there for 3 months. It was so slow, and so boring to me. Once I skipped ahead, I loved the ending. Totally worth it, IMO.
So nice to see someone write positively about their vacation, despite all the travel!
I skipped through most of the Pray section, and I'm in the beginning of Love, and so far, I'm still not impressed. While I understand the premise, the actual memoir bores me to tears. (I actually just did a review post on my blog.) I do, however, L.O.V.E. Jen Lancaster, but have yet to read PIP. Soon?
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