First I read the LA Times summer reading guide. Then I read a similar section from the Chicago Tribune. Then I realized there isn't enough xanax in the world to get me through the books in those two guides. Talk about depressing, gloomy offerings. Summer reading should be playful, right? I mean, who wants to spend their beach vacation reading about a child-molesting priest who joins a fringe cult during World War Two and discovers he's infertile? (That is a mash-up of just about every logline I read this morning. Told ya, depressing and gloomy.)
So I guess I have to make my own summer reading guide. Help. Me. What is the most fun and entertaining book you've read this year so far? On a laugh-o-meter between 1 (slight lip movement) and 10 (laughing too hard to keep reading), where does it rate?
Theresa
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14 comments:
The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
I'm on a Robin Hobb glom. Those are fun books--fantasy sort series.
And I like K8 Johnson's books for the fluffy voice.
I'm really enjoying Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone by Dene Low. It was nominated for the Edgar in YA last year and the over-the-top voice is really cute. (Plus, I took creative writing from the author in college.)
I can't say it's my favorite read this year because the publisher, Hachette, won't download it to my Kindle yet even though the hardcover's in bookstores, but Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan (aka the Fuggirls, from their snarky celebrity fashion website, Go Fug Yourself) have written a YA called Spoiled that sounds delightful.
I enjoyed Pamela Morsi's The Bikini Car Wash, and Kristin Kimball's The Dirty Life
Finally, the New York Times actually *liked* a litfic book by a woman that sounds as though it might not be quite so dismal: The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown. (It's a testament to my TBR pile that I haven't read it yet.)
And if you're looking for an oldie-but-goodie with a summery title, try Judith Rossner's August.
Get some used copies of P. G. Wodehouse. Jeeves rules!
Just read the MG book No Passengers Beyond this Point by Gennifer Choldenko. I dreamed about it the night I finished it, and have been thinking about it ever since.
It's not out until July, but the latest Meg Langslow mystery by Donna Andrews will undoubtedly be brilliant, light anytime reading. Or start at the beginning of the series with ... I think it's "Murder With Peacocks" (they all have birds in the title; upcoming one is "The Real Macaw").. so you'll have read them all before the new one's released.
Just read Helen of Pasadena by Lian Dolan. Really cute, perfect for summer. I also recommend Happy Hour by Michele Scott.
My books are light, fun, romps, too, if you'd like to look them up. At least, I laughed when I wrote them. Of course, maybe that was the wine...
Anything by Jane Green.
A beta reader's dilemma: "Oh, you could try--no, that's not out yet. Or how about--nope, not that one either."
*sigh* How about I just commiserate and say I don't blame you for wanting to avoid those depressing tomes. :)
Not quite laugh-out-loud funny, but I just went through all 4 Royal Spyness mysteries by Rhys Bowen in a week -- if you enjoyed The King's Speech, these are royal-related frothy mysteries that take place at the same time (Her Royal Spyness has the heroine spying on her cousin David and "that horrid American woman"). Just plain fun.
Jennifer Crusie's Maybe This Time, a switched-up Turn of the Screw. Or reread the entire Crusie oeuvre, which I'm doing as therapy and to my great enjoyment. Have you tried Kerry Greenwood? Phryne Fisher series is great fun, set as it is in the 20s, and I like her Corinna Chapman mystery series too. Reminds me of my visit to Melbourne, Australia, and all the great people, all the great food, all the great sights available there.
I read a lot of YA. My favorites for being fun of the past year or so would be Hex Hall & Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins.
I love the voice of the MC and she's someone I want to hang out with.
I also really liked "Princess for Hire" by Lindsey Leavitt but haven't read the sequel because it's not on Kindle yet.
Okay, not Funny books, but books I really, really enjoyed--DRAGON BOUND, debut book by Thea Harrison. SHADES OF MILK & HONEY by Mary Robinette Kowal was a "what if Jane Austen's characters had magic" story. WANNA GET LUCKY by Deborah Coonts--that had some laughs in it, and I just really liked it. And it's a Christmas story, but I liked it a lot: A Countess by Christmas by Annie Burrows--had some cute moments. There's you a few more. :)
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