<p>here’s a vote for My Losing Season… just finished it & you dont have to be a basketball fan to follow …</p>
<p>Any of James Michener’s books (‘Texas’, ‘Hawaii’, ‘Centennial’, ‘The Source’, etc.). They’re historical fiction, usually long, but usually interesting. They’re all available in paperback and many used book stores have them if you want them extra cheap.</p>
<p>Or, you can do what I did once and get the entire unedited diaries of the Lewis and Clark expedition - that should keep you going for a while. ;)</p>
<p>Since you’re going to the Grand Canyon, you could read John Wesley Powell’s book on his exploration of the Grand Canyon in the 1800s - The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons. It’s available in paperback from Amazon. He was a pretty amazing guy.</p>
<p>Your local library has tons of free books, and the librarian might have some good suggestions as well. Here are considerations:</p>
<p>any book by Michener, but Space, Caribbean, and Hawaii are my personal favorites;
any book by Dostoevsky;
Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath.</p>
<p>The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon-very cool book, set in Barcelona. Tragic, thrilling, all that.</p>
<p>Water for Elephants</p>
<p>Revolutionary Road</p>
<p>The Time Traveller’s Wife</p>
<p>Infidel by Ayann Hirsi Ali</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Infidel: Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Infidel-Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali/dp/0743289692/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236644301&sr=8-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Infidel-Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali/dp/0743289692/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236644301&sr=8-1)</p>
<p>Yes Yes Yes on Water For Elephants. </p>
<p>It does begin at Cornell, in a classroom (!) … but travels all over the country. </p>
<p>I also enjoyed An American Wife. The Time Traveller’s Wife is an interesting read. And The Road is just plain spooky, sobering and spooky.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Aww…read that two years ago, right before our Barcelona spring break…wish I was going back there…loved Barcelona.</p>
<p>Loving Frank might be an interesting choice for Phoenix, though I doubt we’ll go back to Taliesin West this trip.</p>
<p>Michener - sorry, can’t handle him, or McCurtry either.</p>
<p>Isn’t Prince of Tides violent and depressing?</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great suggestions.</p>
<p>The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Help
Both have a somewhat historic angle and are fiction</p>
<p>I vote down:</p>
<p>Story of Edgar Sawtelle – it was okay, but I finished it feeling irritated. Hamlet all by itself is better, IMO, and Ophelia as a dog just weirded me out. Although all of the canine details were great.</p>
<p>The Road – fabulous, fabulous book, but not a vacation book. I had nightmares over that book. :P</p>
<p>Pillars of the Earth – didn’t think it was well written, and it was pornographic in the weirdest places, lol.</p>
<hr>
<p>+1:</p>
<p>Time Traveler’s Wife – greatest. book. ever. in fact I didn’t even think to recommend it because everyone, literally everyone I know has read it.</p>
<p>Gone with the Wind – definitely long enough for a vacation :)</p>
<p>and I’m plugging for Middlesex again, because I can :P</p>
<p>Any of the old Clavell books should be easily available at a used book store in paperback, well written, historical (take Shogun for Japan, TaiPan and Noble House for China are the best) and are pretty thick</p>
<p>Somehow I’ve been reading a string of books that relate to WWII, but these books are really about the people, not the battles, and I loved them all:</p>
<p>Skeletons at the Feast - Bohjalian - about ethnic Germans living in Poland and their experiences as Germany began to lose the war
City of Thieves - Beniov - about a 17-y.o. coming of age during the Seige of Leningrad
The Zookeeper’s Wife - forgot the author - about Warsaw during the war</p>
<p>and about Afghanistan: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Hosseini (Kite Runner author)</p>
<p>Time Travelers Wife is an amazing read, I hated finishing it. Definitely a book to read on an airplane or with other dedicated amounts of time, because picking it up for 5 minutes at a time might be confusing.</p>
<p>I just finished The Help and really liked it, but it’s a new release and won’t be out in paperback yet.</p>
<p>Yes, ditto cpeltz and Delicate Arch – Time Traveler’s Wife is a great book – nicely written, interesting, engaging but not too heavy. Romantic but not ‘romance.’ I’d say perfect for a vacay!</p>
<p>Pillars of the Earth is good but too long and heavy to take on a trip. The sequel, eh, not so great. I finished them both though just this year. :)</p>
<p>Edit to add: oooh, yes, Time Traveler’s Wife is a winner!</p>
<p>In addition to seconding Time Traveler’s Wife and Middlesex, I would add Richard Russo’s Bridge of Sighs. You always need more than one book!</p>
<p>I’ve had Bridge of Sighs ready on my Kindle…booklady, thanks, it’s next up!</p>
<p>Is that better than Empire Falls (I think Russo’s prior book)? I found that one a bit slow & a downer, though it was award-winning & had great reviews.</p>