Comments on: What should I read on my vacation?

By: Kevin Grange

Kevin Grange — Sat, 18 May 2013 14:18:12 +0000

I’ve heard good things about Shantaram too. Or you might read Khaled Hosseini’s new book, And the Mountains Echoed. Abraham Verghese’s Cutting for Stone is also on my list. If you’re interested in adventure, Kevin Fedarko’s new book, The Emerald Mile, details the fastest ride in history through the heart of the Colorado River and Grand Canyon.

Have a great time and enjoy Australia!

By: Jane C

Jane C — Thu, 16 May 2013 02:25:23 +0000

I’ve been on a few long haul flights (I’m a dual citizen: US and New Zealand) and so have a few suggestions.
I would recommend A Fraction of the Whole, by Steve Toltz (Australian, and will be hilarious in a pressurized setting), As the Earth Turns Silver, by Alison Wong (A NZ poet writing prose – beautiful), anything by Maurice Gee (NZ author), or the 100 Year old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson (Much too long, but would probably be weirdly enjoyable coupled with dinner at 1.00am.)
I also always throw in a Dickens that I haven’t read or haven’t read for an extremely long time, because the chapters seem to suit the pace of the exhilerating long haul flight activities.
Just a note, New Zealand has the most bookstores and golf courses per capita of any country in the world. (The statistics are almost reliable.) Well worth a visit.

Congratulations and have a lovely time downunder!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:43:27 +0000

Child of God, Cormac McCarthy

The October Country, Ray Bradbury

Geek Love, Katherine Dunn

Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Peter Hoeg

It would be nice if you weren’t here, Charles Grodin

Homeboy, Seth Morgan (tough to find)

Cheers.

mfstout

By: Lynn

Lynn — Wed, 15 May 2013 00:01:51 +0000

Jane, if you want to read a wonderful book that you can’t put down, then I suggest reading The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani. It’s a book that transports you to another time and place and when you come to the end you only wish there were 300 or 400 more pages to read. Believe me, a novel about a young girl in seventeenth-century Iran and her desire to create carpets was not exactly my cup of tea. Nor was it the light reading I was looking for when I bought the book, but I was hooked from the first page! You can read my review of the book here, http://itsallmaya.com/the-blood-of-flowers-a-great-read/. Bon voyage and good reading!

By: Kevin A. Lewis

Kevin A. Lewis — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:39:24 +0000

Since I deduce by the DGLM list and blog posts in general that you probably read way more “serious” fiction than is good for you, I suggest an Americana classic by Stephen King-SALEMS LOT. It’s notable for the way it takes a silly, worn-out (even in the early 70’s)idea like vampires and renders them all too real and in the present tense, to quote an old Jethro Tull song. King always freezes his stories in a real-time context, which gives them the same weird feel you get from an old photo of a particular historic scene, and the Garrison Keillor-on-acid depiction of a small New England town in 1974 is worth the read even before things start spinning out of control. And before you protest that you’re much too grown-up for this kind of nonsense, bear in mind that that’s what everyone in town says while clinging desparately to their familiar frame of reference. C’mon, don’t be a chicken-I double dare ya…

By: Susanna

Susanna — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:16:59 +0000

A few months ago on a book review thread for-by travelers, SHANTARAM kept coming up, and then I realized I’d received it as a gift and not read it. It is very long and it is flawed, but it is also hypnotic in some way and a pretty fascinating view of an Australian criminals escapee’s life in India.

By: Chantilla the Nun

Chantilla the Nun — Mon, 13 May 2013 21:57:52 +0000

As you are going to Australia, let me suggest to read “The Light Between Oceans” (2012) by the Australian author (she now lives in London) M.L. Stedman. The storyline is in Southwest Australia.

By: Leonardo

Leonardo — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:56:52 +0000

Oh, as you are going to Australia, and though you probably already have it, the wonderful masterpiece by Bruce Chatwin The Songlines.

http://www.amazon.com/Songlines-Bruce-Chatwin/dp/0140094296

Did you know that the aborigines (who like to be called origines) have mapped the entire Australian continent with song? For your trip, this is perhaps light enough and deep enough to gain some incredible insights and appreciate more what Australia is all about.

By: Tamara

Tamara — Mon, 13 May 2013 17:02:39 +0000

I’d suggest Herman Koch’s The Dinner and Elena Ferrante’s The Days of Abandonment ~ both wonderfully disturbing. In both cases, you start out thinking, this protagonist is reasonable. He or she is in a difficult situation and seems very level-headed, if not snarky, about it. Then you get pulled down the rabbit hole and you wonder, how the heck did I get here!