<p>Mostly my pleasure reading is non-fiction, but for an upcoming overseas flight I am looking for some absorbing, fast-moving fiction. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Guilty secret here -- not really "literary" -- but I like to read Patricia Cornwell "Scarpetta" mysteries on planes. They are always there in the airport bookstores and they are just sort of reliable. Scarpetta is so cool. I wish she'd come visit the "Dressing Young" thread.</p>
<p>I also like to purchase an Architectural Digest for longer flights. Don't subscribe but it absorbs me on long flights. Usually, the decor within horrifies more than inspires me, part of the fun.</p>
<p>The "#1 Ladies Detective Agency" series fits the bill for this. The mystery elements are fine, but I mostly enjoy the main character, her humor, and the developments in her life. I also enjoy the depiction of Botswana. Do start with the first one if you are interested, though after that the order isn't very important.</p>
<p>It's a long thread, but it might well answer your question:</p>
<p>Ok, here's non-fiction that is as engrossing as any fiction I've ever read: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I did a lot of flying earlier this month and could not put the book down!</p>
<p>On a recent trip, I really enjoyed three of the first Tom Ripley novels by Patricia Highsmith: The Talented Mr. Ripley, Ripley Underground and Ripley's Game.</p>
<p>Agreed about the post above. The last long flight I was on I read I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb. Definitely riveting and a good read.</p>
<p>What about our (cc) book club's book- Before I go to Sleep by S.J. Watson? Otherwise I second The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.</p>
<p>Harlan Coben, any of his novels, but you won't be able to put one down until you finish it. I'm loving the Jane Austen mystery series by Stephanie Barron. You would probably have to have had to read her novels (Jane's) to enjoy the series.</p>
<p>well...I'm also going on a long plane flight and I'm loading my IPad kindle app with a bunch of "beach reading". I have several books by Diane Mott Davidson (murder mysteries and the one who helps solve the crime is a caterer), and some by Joanne Fluke that are not literary wonders but are fun and easy reading. I'm then taking some magazines (Real Simple) that I can read and leave behind.</p>
<p>I once read 'The Ghost of Flight 401' while flying cross-country on an L1011 (it's a book about an actual crash of an L1011) but I don't recommend that if you're squeamish about flying!</p>
<p>It's hard to answer your question though because everyone's interests vary. I'm currently reading a book by one of the Auschwitz prisoners, a doctor, who worked with Dr. Mengele in the camp and it's interesting so far.</p>
<p>For more pulp fiction anything by James Patterson (crime/murder stories) is usually very fast moving and absorbing but sometimes a little graphic. For something a little more tame Agatha Christie stories are always good.</p>
<p>In the middle of 11/22/63 by Stephen King......and was ****ed that they made me turn off my Kindle before landing today.....excellent and really blends quasi science fiction with history</p>
<p>Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.</p>
<p>Tons and tons of magazines - and then you give them to all of the people sitting around you when you're done. I have a thing about coming home with less than I left with. It's almost a game for me.</p>
<p>I would suggest Lee Child's Reacher novels. Harlan Coben also. Coben has written a number of "stand-alones," as well as a series about a character named Myron Bolitar. If you are going to read the series, you really need to start at the beginning. Locating the first book makes it a more complex proposition. Wally Lamb's This Much I Know Is True is one of my favorite novels of all time, but for airplane reading something that is episodic and a true page turner is called for, IMHO. A quality thriller/mystery that I HIGHLY recommend is Michael Gruber's Tropic of Night. Actually, anything by Michael Gruber, but that particular one is the first in a sort of series. I really loved his Book of Air and Shadows, which is a standalone about a lost Shakespeare manuscript. Diana Gabaldon is a great read, too. It all depends on what you enjoy.</p>
<p>Our whole family, even the grown ups, found The Hunger War books impossible to put down. For more beach reading fare, I think Carl Hiassen's books about lowlifes in Florida (very funny mysteries) are great.</p>
<p>^The Hunger Games??? by Suzanne Collins. Everyone in my family also enjoyed those books.</p>
<p>Oldies, but goodies and plenty long:
Clan of the Cave Bear and sequels by Jean Auel- probably a girly read
Any of James Clavell's books, but especially Noble House and Tai-Pan (and Shogun)- my DH is all about non-fiction, I have never seen him read fiction, but we listened to Noble House on my ipod on a recent long drive and got halfway through. DH was very interested and finished listening at home.
Stephen King's Insomnia ( a long book) or Four Seasons (4 novellas including Shawshank Redemption and the story which became the movie Stand by Me)</p>
<p>Lee Child is good
Hunger Games trilogy is good
Crime fiction, any of the prey books by Sanford or any Alex Delaware books by Kellerman are not so long, but fun reads.</p>
<p>Yes Hunger Games. :)</p>
<p>A page-turner for someone who is into non-fiction is The Hot Zone. About Ebola.</p>