<p>I enjoy the Stephanie Plum books. My book club recently read Next Thing on My List by Jill Smolinksi. The main character reminds me of Stephanie Plum.
I just finished A Thousand Spendid Suns, while not a “light” book was very good.</p>
<p>The Devil Wears Prada (others have already mentioned it). This is a rare book where the movie is actually better than the book. The book is good though and an easy, relaxing read. Read the book first, then see the movie. If you see the movie first, you will be disappointed with the book.</p>
<p>The Lovely Bones by Sebold (sp?). Different and engaging.</p>
<p>Eat Pray Love by Gilbert I thought it was a great jounrey through a woman’s divorce and revitalization</p>
<p>Alice Sebold has a new book …The Almost Moon (pub last year). I was very disappointed with it. It starts out…“The day I killed my mother…” As unique as Lovely Bones was, I thought this one was just dumb.</p>
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<p>This series is getting too weird for me. Used to love 'em.</p>
<p>D loves everything Janet Evanovich writes, so another vote for Stephanie Plum. I loved Eat,Pray,Love. I understand it’s going to be made into a movie with Julia Roberts playing Elizabeth Gilbert. It will be interesting to see how it translates to the screen. My favorite for light reading the last year or two is anything by Sophie Kinsella (Shopaholic books,etc.). Completely light “chick lit” - just like substituting junk food for a nutritious meal on occasion! The first book is being made into a movie to be released later this year.</p>
<p>i was trying to remember others…
the series The A-List is my guilty pleasure, haha
it’s like gossip girl except more about the differences between the east/west coast elite (new vs old money)
probably not for you parents though, haha, it’s very much a teen read</p>
<p>astro I agree about Sebold’s newer book. I was sorry I bought it. Her relationship with her mother was never really developed in the book. I was looking forward to a Livia-Soprano type mother (with which I am familiar) and there was nothing there except one statement that I caught that the mother made about the daughter’s possibly having cancer.</p>
<p>I just returned two of the Stephanie Plum novels to the library yesterday and checked out two more. I love them because they make me laugh out loud. I can especially envision Lula in those tight-fitting clothes that are far too small for her. And Grandma Mazur … she’s a hoot! I had not read anything of Janet Evanovich’s until our cruise we took in March. I borrowed a book form the ship’s library and now I think I’ll have to read them all. I also enjoy Patricia Cornwell’s books that feature Dr. Kay Scarpetta. John Sandford’s “Prey” series with Detective Lucas Davenport is another favorite. I like Greg Iles, too.</p>
<p>love alex delaware and alex davenport…read those by patterson and sandford as soon as they come out! sandfords last book was extra special to me–he toured a home of a dear friend to use as a setting for the murders…</p>
<p>did not like greg iles’ book called third degree, but enjoyed his others.</p>
<p>found matrimony interesting–john henckin (sp?)</p>
<p>jodi picoult–but didn’t care for change of heart for some reason–too predictable? </p>
<p>and i love to read books by harlen coben–have the latest, but haven’t started it yet–trying to finish firefly lane by hannah</p>
<p>My h and I both love Bill Bryson. A Walk in the Woods is hysterical.
Gotta check out those Stephanie Plum books…glad I opened this thread!</p>
<p>The ultimate “Fun” Book</p>
<p>A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole</p>
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<p>I can’t believe that he and his buddy actually hiked (parts of) the Applachian Trail! They seemed so unprepared…made me think that maybe I could do it too.</p>
<p>In a Sunburnt Country by Bryson is also really good (Australia). There were a couple of parts that I laughed until I had tears streaming down my face.</p>
<p>A Short History of Nearly Everything is also good…I actually learned a lot of scientific things with that one!</p>
<p>Was on a Bill Bryson kick- in addition to those mentioned
Laughed out loud during “The Thunderbolt Kid”-about his life growing up in Iowa !</p>
<p>Yes, I forgot that one…anyone over 48 can probably relate a lot to the stuff he describes… I started reading it, and ordered my older brother a copy before I’d even gotten halfway…knew he’d like it!</p>
<p>wharfrat–wondered why you liked “A Confederacy of Dunces?” That’s interesting to me because I picked it for a book club a few years ago (I’d just come back from New Orleans & thought it would be fun) but simply couldn’t bear reading about that train wreck of a guy!</p>
<p>Love Bill Bryson–I actually mean to try some of the Appalachian Trail after reading him…one of these days.</p>
<p>I like well written mystery serieses (my mom, an avid mystery reader, knows which to recommend to me.) I followed Patricia Cornwell and Elizabeth George for a long time, but I think both have jumped the shark and I stopped reading them. Same for the Alex Delaware series by Kellerman, too. I still Like Nevada BArr–all set in different national parks, really interesting. The novels by Kathryn Reich which the series Bones is based on are good–kind of Cornwell light (I’ve never seen Bones, though.) I definitely should pick up Stephanie Plum, I can see that!</p>
<p>Someone mentioned Confederacy of Dunces. A similar book, which I mentioned in the other thead, is Michael Malone’s Handling Sin–just a spectacular read–laugh out loud funny, and really touching, too. Don’t know why it isn’t a movie. Some of his other books, especially Uncivil Seasons and Time’s Witness, are really good, too.</p>
<p>Recently released and fun: Beginner’s Greek-- it’s a Jane Austen type tale, light as a feather, written by a man, and funny.</p>
<p>REALLY funny (but remember, I’m demented) was Absurdistan. </p>
<p>The Milagro Beanfield War, Moo, and Waiting To Exhale are three others that had me laughing. I also love the #1 Ladies Detective series.</p>
<p>SBmom–Beginners Greek-- just read it; I absolutely loved that book! And I really like Moo, too. Other good college-themed satires: Straight Man, by Richard Russo, Nice Work, by David Lodge. (all of them are eons more fun and better written than Charlotte Simmons, IMO.)</p>