Ten 'beach' reads
Jun. 15th, 2013 11:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
birdienl
Inspired by the always interesting 'Top Ten Tuesday'-posts of
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caffeinatedlife, I decided to join in this week, as I found the topic interesting. I'm aware it's no longer Tuesday (in fact, it's closer to next Tuesday...), but I hope you enjoy the post none the less!(Top Ten Tuesdays is a weekly meme, created by the blog The Broke and the Bookish)
The topic was 'Top Ten Beach reads'. Now I'm not a big beach fan, so I'd redefine this list as 'Top Ten reads for a summer holiday, whether on the beach, in the forest or in your own garden' ;-)
In no particular order:
1. Tara Heavey - Sowing the seeds of love: Aoife, recently moved to Dublin with her young son, decides to fix a neglected garden in her neighborhood. She advertises for helpers and meets people who will change her life. This book makes you want to go outside and enjoy all the green and growing things around you. It may even inspire you to start gardening yourself! Warm and wise and just overall a pleasant read, this is a typical 'Irish' contemporary novel.
2. Catrin Collier - Swansea Girls (and sequels): In the mid-50's, four friends grow up from teenagers into women in Swansea, Wales. Catrin Collier proves that stories about everyday life can be engrossing. The four girls: Judy, Lily, Helen and Katie, will feel like friends before you end this novel.
3. Rosy Thornton - More than love letters: A modern romance based on the story of John Thornton and Margaret Hale from Gaskell's North and South. A book build up out of letters, emails and newspaper clippings. A funny and deeply romantic story.
4. James Herriot - All Creatures Great and Small (or any of the follow-up books): The memoirs of a rural vet in the 1930s. Being around animals is always the ultimate relaxation for me, whether in real life or on the page. The touching, sweet and funny stories of the famous vet James Herriot are perfect for a holiday, I'd say!
5. Philip Gulley - Home to Harmony: It's been quite a while since I read this book, but I remember it as one of the warmest and most funniest contemporary Christian books I've read. It respectfully makes fun of real-life things we often have to deal with in our church or living as a Christian in the 21st century.
6. Luanne Rice - Beach girls: A lot of the novels of Luanne Rice take place in Connecticut, in the tourist towns and on the beaches: instant summer holiday feeling guaranteed! In addition, Rice writes poignant stories about hurt people and how they heal. The stories are always hopeful and wise, a joy to read.
7. Jasper Fforde - The Eyre Affair (or any of its sequels): Thursday Next is a literary detective in an alternative 1980s, where the Crimean War is still ongoing and people keep re-engineered dodos as pets. Sheer fun and brilliance and filled to the brim with literary allusions, Fforde's books are a joy to read for all bibliophiles!
8. Lynn Austin - Wonderland Creek: During the Great Depression, Alice Ripley decides to donate books to a remote library in Kentucky. She never anticipated staying and helping or even less becoming a travelling librarian, on horseback none the less! One of the many great books by Lynn Austin, with an interesting historical background. Every book-lover will recognize herself in Alice and be touched by the adventures she experiences.
9. Thea Beckman - Geef me de ruimte!: Revisiting childhood or teenage favourites might be just the thing for a holiday read! I hope to do this with this book, the first of a trilogy about the 100-year war between France and England. As all Thea Beckman's books, it's filled with characters you immediately take to heart and an interesting historical background.
10. Jane Austen and another lady - Sanditon: Sanditon is the ultimate beach-read for any Janeite! The novel takes place in a sleepy seaside town trying to become the next fashionable resort. It's filled with Austen's tell-tale wit and wonderful characters. And though Jane Austen sadly did not finish the novel herself, 'another lady' (Marie Dobbs) did this in a style very true to Austen.
1. Tara Heavey - Sowing the seeds of love: Aoife, recently moved to Dublin with her young son, decides to fix a neglected garden in her neighborhood. She advertises for helpers and meets people who will change her life. This book makes you want to go outside and enjoy all the green and growing things around you. It may even inspire you to start gardening yourself! Warm and wise and just overall a pleasant read, this is a typical 'Irish' contemporary novel.
2. Catrin Collier - Swansea Girls (and sequels): In the mid-50's, four friends grow up from teenagers into women in Swansea, Wales. Catrin Collier proves that stories about everyday life can be engrossing. The four girls: Judy, Lily, Helen and Katie, will feel like friends before you end this novel.
3. Rosy Thornton - More than love letters: A modern romance based on the story of John Thornton and Margaret Hale from Gaskell's North and South. A book build up out of letters, emails and newspaper clippings. A funny and deeply romantic story.
4. James Herriot - All Creatures Great and Small (or any of the follow-up books): The memoirs of a rural vet in the 1930s. Being around animals is always the ultimate relaxation for me, whether in real life or on the page. The touching, sweet and funny stories of the famous vet James Herriot are perfect for a holiday, I'd say!
5. Philip Gulley - Home to Harmony: It's been quite a while since I read this book, but I remember it as one of the warmest and most funniest contemporary Christian books I've read. It respectfully makes fun of real-life things we often have to deal with in our church or living as a Christian in the 21st century.
6. Luanne Rice - Beach girls: A lot of the novels of Luanne Rice take place in Connecticut, in the tourist towns and on the beaches: instant summer holiday feeling guaranteed! In addition, Rice writes poignant stories about hurt people and how they heal. The stories are always hopeful and wise, a joy to read.
7. Jasper Fforde - The Eyre Affair (or any of its sequels): Thursday Next is a literary detective in an alternative 1980s, where the Crimean War is still ongoing and people keep re-engineered dodos as pets. Sheer fun and brilliance and filled to the brim with literary allusions, Fforde's books are a joy to read for all bibliophiles!
8. Lynn Austin - Wonderland Creek: During the Great Depression, Alice Ripley decides to donate books to a remote library in Kentucky. She never anticipated staying and helping or even less becoming a travelling librarian, on horseback none the less! One of the many great books by Lynn Austin, with an interesting historical background. Every book-lover will recognize herself in Alice and be touched by the adventures she experiences.
9. Thea Beckman - Geef me de ruimte!: Revisiting childhood or teenage favourites might be just the thing for a holiday read! I hope to do this with this book, the first of a trilogy about the 100-year war between France and England. As all Thea Beckman's books, it's filled with characters you immediately take to heart and an interesting historical background.
10. Jane Austen and another lady - Sanditon: Sanditon is the ultimate beach-read for any Janeite! The novel takes place in a sleepy seaside town trying to become the next fashionable resort. It's filled with Austen's tell-tale wit and wonderful characters. And though Jane Austen sadly did not finish the novel herself, 'another lady' (Marie Dobbs) did this in a style very true to Austen.
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Date: 2013-06-16 08:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-17 03:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-17 07:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-17 07:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-22 03:47 pm (UTC)Great choices for that week's TTT. I've been meaning to check out Rosy Thornton's books...should bump that up the list. And I agree with the Jane Austen title--that or Northanger Abbey would've made it on my beach read list ;)
no subject
Date: 2013-06-23 06:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-06-23 10:20 pm (UTC)Curious about 'Sandition.' Especially since it was Jane's one unfinished manuscript. This particular books was recommended to me once so I am excited about it. :)
Lianne always has fun memes!
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Date: 2013-06-24 09:00 am (UTC)