Good Books to Read on Long Trips?

This is great! I am going to go to Amazon and read about all the books you've all mentioned. I know with all these suggestions I'll find something perfect for my trip. I'm already intrigued by several of the books mentioned. And I agree with the suggestion about used books or leaving them behind. That's why although I usually take books out of the library when I can, I like to buy them for trips -- so I can leave them behind on the plane or in the hotel (and lighten my suitcase for the rest of the trip!)

Keep 'em coming, please!!

Liz

I definately agree about using our Public Libraries! I learned the hard way not to travel with them, though...

I "lost" a few once, somehow, somewhere and had to pay for them. Another time one got so ratty/torn in my travels that I had to pay for it. So that's why I'm pro getting 'em cheap, using 'em and recycling 'em.

BTW, sometimes it can be a great conversation starter to trade magazines with your seatmate (if you're finished, of course!)

I usually read novels in paperback form: easy to carry, easy to read, easy to throw out. Whenever I want to try reading something new, I always go to Amazon.com to get some ideas. Anyway, try Randy Wayne White's Doc Ford novels. It includes mystery, some science, sex, and great setting descriptions.

One thing I did for my recent trip to Italy was to go to the library and get a couple of books on CD. I downloaded them on to my ipod and listened to the books. It saved me a lot of room. Since I respond to more "auditory" stimulous, it worked great for me.

Joanna Trollope or anything by Ruth Rendell. I like to take things with me that I want to read but for some reason don't or won't. Daphne DuMaurier for one.

I don't watch Oprah, but I have found her book club choices to be right on. Songs in Ordinary Time or anything by Mary McGarry Morris, or I know this Much is True by Wally Lamb are a couple of my favorites. Also Snow Falling on Cedars is a great read too. It's always fun to try to find some books that take place where ever it is you are heading too-John Irving if you are heading to Vienna for example (The World According to Garp) Ian McEwan (Atonement among others) in England, or David Liss (Conspiracy of Paper) also England. A great one if Barcelona is your destination is Shadow of the Wind. Enjoy

I'm a John Grisham fan- read all his books. I've now gotten into Michael Connelly's books. They're police detective crime drama type books- they're good but don't require heavyweight thinking to be enjoyable.

Here's a thrifty suggestion:

Check out used bookstores, garage sales, thrift stores, rummage sales for inexpensive books and magazines. Or trade with a friend or co-worker when you are finished reading your copy. Then leave them behind on the plane if you are finished! Another Pax might want it or the crew might?

Now that is recycling and good for the environment!

How about a hilarious memoir? Bitter is the New Black & Bright Lights Big A$$ by Jennifer Lancaster. They are HILARIOUS!

Hi Liz,
I was reading this web site a year or so ago and chanced upon someone's book recommendation if one were bound for Paris. The book is Le divorce by Diane Johnson. I haven't made the trip to Paris yet, but am now better prepared having read that book, which I found in the public library. I quickly discovered a Paris trip was not necessary to enjoy Ms Johnson's book. I recommend it to you.
Happy Landings ... P.

The Shadow of the Wind ...A great suspenseful read and international bestseller that takes place in Barcelona. The author is from Spain.

I like Dan Brown and Michael Crichton! One of my favorite all time books is "Pope Joan" don't remember the author, but it shouldn't be hard to find. It is set during the medieval times so it would be a lot of fun to read while traveling to Europe.

Sue Grafton, her ABC detective story series, they are absolutely addictive, you will fall in love with the main character, a female detective Kinsey Millhone. Not only the plots are good, but Grafton's style and language are better than average. My favourite is "I" is for Innocent, but it is a good idea to start with the "A" is for Alibi and go down the alphabet. The transatlantic flight will seem not long enough to you with these books. The small, light-weight paperbacks can be had at any used-books store for just a couple of dollars now.

During our last trip (5 1/2 months in Europe), we often read English-language books we found along the way, tho we sometimes couldnt find any. We found that National Geo in the local language was a life-saver.
NGs are written in a format that doesnt vary so that it is relatively easy to understand the lingo despite it being in another tongue.

If you like fun books, I can suggest Tim Dorsey's books: "hero" is Serge Storms;an insane serial killer who "mostly" just kills bad guys. Kind of like Carl Hiasson-the weirdness of South Florida. I have also found that British humor is a lot of fun on vacations: Tom Sharpe and have been reading a lot of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. I read about the books on Amazon or Barnes & Noble web sites then go looking in local used book stores or Half.com to find cheap copies that I will leave on the book shelves at our hotels while I pick up something that some one else left behind. I find that book stores in Europe that have books in English have mostly British authors which is how I started reading the above 2 writers. Ah, travel and good books to read along the way. If that isn't a way to live, I don't know what is! We're leaving for Vienna & Italy next week and I have 4 disposable books packed and can' wait to see what I'll find.

I just read the YA YA SISTERHOOD while in Poland, but can't remember the author... and i finished the book and left it in the hotel.
In the "old days" James Michener was good for long trips.

I was looking for light reading before I went. Books that are easy to stop and start reading a lot while I traveled. I brought Nanny Diaries and Shopaholic (I know that you already read the 2nd one). I ended up having to buy a 3rd book while there because I finished those, but wish I would have brought my copy of "Everyone Worth Knowing" by Lauren Weisberger, the author of Devil Wears Prada. I loved Devil Wears Prada, and it is also a perfect LIGHT read for your trip. Very funny!

Hi Liz and have a great flight..I am so anxious to go to Spain
.. If you like to laugh and if you find amusement in the slapstick.. Start Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum Mystery series.. they are well writen and so funny you just might disturb your seat mate and find yourself addicted to the heroine and her whacked out family, friends and lovers...I brought two on my flight and actually passed on the peanuts so I could keep reading..Adios and safe trip. P.S. Thank you "threaders" I'm on my way to the library to pick up some of these suggestions.

I love all these suggestions. So far "Shadow of the Wind" has been suggested twice (and I will be going to Barcelona), so I think I will get that and one of the detective or mystery books that have been suggested. Hopefully those will hold me for my trip!

I actually have read every shopaholic book, the Nanny Diaries, and the Ya-Ya Sisterhood :) All lots of fun. I also read quite a few of the Oprah books, although not all those mentioned.

Maybe in addition to leaving books I finish on my trip, I will look for new/used ones as I go along too -- that sounds like a fun way to discover new authors.

I am so excited about this trip, and an added bonus will be lots of uninterrupted time to read a good book or two!!

Thanks everyone. Wishing each one of you amazing travels and good books to enjoy on the way,

Liz

I like any mystery that takes place outside of the US. I just discovered Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti. The setting is Venice & it's making me want to go there.

I love the following authors: Robert Jordan, Terry Pritchard, Diana Galbaldon, Isac Asimov. Yes, I really, really, really enjoy sci-fi (heavy on the fantasy).

The Miss Julia books by Ann B. Ross are a light, fun read but not very long (finished mine a week into our 21 day trip even though I wasn't spending much time reading!). I picked up 'Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling' at Pension Gimmelwald. Someone had left it for a fellow traveler. Great book! I recommend it for anyone going to Rome to see the ceiling in person!

Lisa

I also highly recommend Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich's books, and also enjoy Harlen Coben - an excellent mystery novelist - good stories, not too graphic or crude - great for a vacation whodunit!

It's best to get into a series in case you finish the book. You always have the next book.

Someone suggested rummage sales and used bookstores to pick up cheap used paperbacks. What about your library? At our library, the friends foundation sells books, and they have a big rack of old, used paperbacks for 50 cents each. I just picked up a couple Grisham novels, and if I finish them and don't want to cart them around, I won't feel bad about recycling them or tossing them because they were only 50 cents each and they're not in that great of condition anyway. It's a great way to support your local library, too! :)

Hi - I like books with "self contained" chapters for travel as you can do a chapter, put the book down for a few days and pick it up and do another chapter without losing the thread. A good example is "Hidden Power" by K. Marton which is about American first ladies of the 20th century. I know, sounds fascinating . . . but it is! Each chapter deals with a different first lady and is beautifully written and very interesting. I was especially intrigued by the story of Woodrow Wilson and his wife - when he had a stroke (before the advent of paparazzi & press hiding in the trees) Mrs. Wilson basically ran the country.

Another option is funny or intriguing, first-person stories. One of my faves: "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson (but be careful, people will look at you funny if you're sitting on a train lauging to yourself like a loon (which you WILL be if you read this one). Or another tack, "Into the Wild" by John Krakhauer. I also LOVE "The Hot Zone" (page turner!)

I always take a variety of books when I travel so I have options. When I went to Paris this summer I took Murder in the Marais by Cara Black. She does a fabulous job of bringing the city to life. The heroine is a PI with a dwarf partner. I came home and bought every book in the series. I also took The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova which is a big book and is a modern take on the Dracula story.

Here is website that I've recently found to use besides Amazon....http://www.alibris.com/

I like Grisham, too and found an author that is very much like him...Craig Parshall. Check him out at the library before you buy to see what you think though.

Here's a website that you can go to that is a free book "exchange." People register books and then leave them in places when they're done (the wild). You can see what's available in your area to discover:
http://www.bookcrossing.com/

A good book to read before visiting France, which is a fun story and a wonderful look at the unique differences between France and the US: Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris, by Sarah Turnbull. A love story but full of Paris: Three Weeks in Paris, by Barbara Taylor Bradford. A funny and tender account of an American couple who leave New York City in 1995 with their infant son for a lark in Paris. And of course, the books by Peter Mayle, Toujours Provence, and A Year in Provence. Just to name a few!!

a 700 plus pager called " The Company ", explores the history of the CIA within a thin verneer fiction setting.

As a confessed readaholic, I can be without my suitcase but not without my books. Between the two of us my husband and I take 4-5 books just for reading pleasure.
I usually ask a librarian for suggestions or go to the back of guide books for ideas. We often take library paperpacks and keep them in those plastic ziplock bags. Another thing we have done for years if we are sharing a thick book is try to get it second hand and then tear it into parts if we are both reading it at the same time. We put it back together in a ziplock for home. On our last trip to Italy we did this with The Agony and the Ecstasy. I also read An Italian Education by Tim Parks, and several by Donna Leon, The Conclave by Roberto Pazzi and The Almond Picker by Simonetta. For reading on the plane I usually have Travelers Tales or similar short stories for the country that I will be traveling to. For great escape you might try the authors Robert Ludlum or Charles McCarry. For Spain Shadow of the Wind was terrific.