Tuesday 31 May 2011

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books That Should Be In A Beach Bag



Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish which I am taking part in. 

To be honest I don't treat reading on the beach any different that I treat reading on the train, at home or at any other location. I don't really do beaches anyway as I much prefer sitting in a shaded bar with a beer in one hand and a book in the other. However, I think that what I am going to do here is cover my top ten quick and easy reads that wouldn't tax my mind to much whilst lying on the beach.

1. Various Star Trek Novels
It could be any Star Trek Novel really, I am a bit of a Star Trek geek and I always find the books easy to read. I know the characters very well from the TV and the science is always kept light.

2. Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling
I think most people are aware of the Harry Potter novels and know that they are fun and fast paced. I actually read one of these once while on holiday, it was a good way to un-wind after a busy day out seeing the sights.

3. Sci-Fi Short Story Collections
I am not actually going to specify any actual collection here but I always find these types of thing are a good. The individual stories are usually quick and don't tend to get bogged down or overly complex unlike some of the normal Sci-Fi novels. You can easily just sit and read one of the stories to completion before heading to the sea for a swim.

4. Various Christopher Pike Novels
These books tend to be short, fun and sometimes completely ridiculous but even now I can imagine sitting down on the beach and reading a few of them. They do tend to be more horror focussed which can be quite an interesting difference to the sunny surroundings of a beach.

5. Various Roald Dahl Novels
Quirky, funny and a breeze to read over, these books always remind me of my childhood and I could read them over and over again.

6 Spellsinger Series by Alan Dean Foster
A lot of the fantasy novels I read tend to be heavy epic things that can take an eternity to read through. The Spellsinger series however were light natured, humorous and easy to read. I keep meaning to try and buy then again as I never actually read some of the later books.

7. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
The Hobbit is a magical novel and is so much lighter and easier to read The Lord of The Rings.

8. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
Funny, witty and plain entertaining, this book I think epitomises the type of beach read than you can lay back and enjoy without to much brain power being utilised.

9. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
The first of the terrifically funny Discworld novels and one of the shortest, this would be a good introduction to the world of Terry Pratchett whilst you relax on the beach.

10. Twlight by Stephenie Meyer
This book is here only because if you read it on the beach then you can throw it in the sea when Bella gets more annoying than you can handle. But in all honesty, it is an easy read than can be picked up and put down as required, provided you can deal with the characters.

10 comments:

  1. I didn't even think of Christopher Pike--you are so right! I remember reading him in the summers of junior high. Scared me silly :)

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  2. Loved Bridget Jones's Diary, I am going to have to check The Colour of Magic out, it sounds good.

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  3. Oh my gosh! Christopher Pike. I have not picked one up in like 10 years. My nephew LOVES the Discworld books. I've never read any of them but I did watch 2 of the movies. Does that count?

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  4. Harry Potter, Roald Dahl, Colour of Magic and The Hobbit - totally agreed!! HP made it to my list, but I settled on all the books about DEATH from Discworld - I love that guy!

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  5. Twilight -- "This book is here only because if you read it on the beach then you can throw it in the sea when Bella gets more annoying than you can handle." LOL

    Great list!

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  6. Star Trek books: You bet! I'd forgotten how many of those I read as a teen...
    And Bridget Jones would be perfect, as would Roald Dahl or Christopher Pike. It's been so long since I revisited them.
    Thanks for the fun and unique list - and your mention of Pratchett made me realize that I should have put his pal Neil Gaiman on my own list!

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  7. The only sci-fi book I have in my bag is Ender's Game. Have you read it? Oh!I want to read Christopher Pike stuff now. Lol

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  8. I have some Christopher Pike books lined up for when I feel I can start a new series...they tend to suck me in though!

    I don't have specific beach reads either, but that's beacuse I live by it.

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  9. Excellent list. I especially like your inclusion of the Pratchett books. I've not read any of these in a long time.

    Here's my list of books I plan to put in my beach bag this summer.

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  10. Star Trek novels?! Hi! That makes three of Treklit readers on blogger, I think. ;) Great list, especially love the first three.

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