Beach reading?

[merchimerch]

I am taking a vacation, a whole 5 days that are going to be just about me eating nice food, drinking nice drinks, and plopping myself on the beach to read and occasionally cool off in the ocean.

It is the first time in my life that I've planned a vacation just for myself, not visiting family, not going somewhere with a partner whose needs/whims I will have to consider (my Bosnian may join me for a couple days, but he knows that this is MY vacation--luckily we seem to be pretty compatible in terms of activities).

I'm really excited to have time to relax and recharge. The only thing missing right now is a delicious reading list.

So tell me, flist, what should I read?

I usually favor science fiction (especially Orson Scott Card, Isaac Asimov, and Octavia Butler), historical fiction, women's fiction, and biography/memoirs, but feel free to suggest something out of left field if you think I'd enjoy it.

Comments

[nonseqmenagerie.livejournal.com]

I'll second the Charles DeLint recommendation, although I've found myself preferring his short fiction for the most part - I like his longer works, but something about his short stories resonates better with me. I also liked The Little Country. Kind of a story within a story, lots of music talk.

I gave you Lamb by Christopher Moore, and I could recommend Island of the Sequined Love Nun, Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove and Practical Demonkeeping from his other works. Very funny, but often thought provoking - Island for example, deals with Micronesia and the idea of cargo cults and organ harvesting, Lust Lizard with the idea of psychiatrists who medicate their patients without necessarily listening to them, and Demonkeeping about faith.

Dan, Colin, and I have been reading a series called The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher - kind of detective novel with a wizard as the lead, told in first person, very funny, interesting to see a series done with a male lead (since a lot of the works that are similar are written by women and have a female lead). The first book in that series is called Storm Front.

[kethryvis.livejournal.com]

I'll second Lamb (and densaer will third it, I'm sure)... that is a kickin' book. I snickered my way through that whole blessed book :)

[merchimerch.livejournal.com]

yeah Lamb is amazing - I spent a summer reading through a lot of Moore's books after you gave it to me :) I haven't read Practical Demonkeeping, however and might want to add that to my list.

I've never gotten into detective novels, don't know why...