good summer fictions?

something easy, light hearted, maybe even sad books. i thought "Daddy Long Legs" was an excellent, happy book, perfect for summer reading.

Fannie Flagg's I can't wait to get to heaven is all of the above, as well as profoundly human and optimistic.

Sammy's Hill by Kristin Gore. Didn't think I would like it, but surprisingly am enjoying very much. A nice beach read.

The Tea-Olive Bird Watching Society by Augusta Trobaugh is light reading with a little bit of everything. There are places where I laughed out loud and others where I shed a few tears.

Frangipani by Celestine Vaite. Mother-daughter tale set in Tahiti; the voice of the main character is reminiscent of Alexander McCall Smith's Mama Ramotswe.

The Position by Meg Wolitzer. The parents wrote a book similar to the Joy of Sex with art drawings of themselves in various positions; the four kids (ages 6-15) decide that, as a group, they will check this book out. So what happens to a family like this over the years? Witty, yet poignant. And, the reaction of the 6 year old is hysterical; I almost wet my pants laughing...

A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers - see my review for it.

In a Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming. Excellent first mystery set in upstate New York featuring a female ex-Army helicopter pilot turned Episcopal priest and locally grown police chief.

The Watermelon King by Daniel Wallace. Part tall-tale, part social commentary, this is a story of some funky traditions in an Alabama town. Wallace is the author of 'Big Fish' which became a movie.

I desperately needed a good laugh. I've kept a couple of funny books on my shelf for desperate times.

Yesterday I grabbed Sophie Kinsella's book Shopaholic & Sister. It's a laugh a page. I'm more than half-way through.

I suggest it for light summer reading!

I'm actually heading away for a week of holiday tomorrow and am taking with me quite a nice little mix of books to keep me amused and make sure I have choices when I finish one and move onto another:

Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery (reading circle)
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (reading circle)
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards (reading circle)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde (because I'm going to Swindon and that's where it's set!)

I'm also loading up my iPod with:

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Howards End by E M Forster
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

I know I won't finish all of them, but it will make sure there's always something to suit my mood. :)

Down Under, it's Winter, and winter means cold related books like Jane Eyre, Charles Dickens novels, and if you don't like to be reminded of how cold it is by reading about miserable climates, an Ian Fleming book about an exotic location will do.

Happy Southern Hemisphere Winter everyone!

#7: I love taking books with me on vacation (or business trips) that share a setting with my destination! The last time I went to San Francisco, I took Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels with me, which gives one an interesting perspective of the area, to say the least...