Books for the beach
Summer holidays are a book-lover’s best friend. We spend those long hot days reading until late in bed because we don’t have to get up early, relaxing at the beach or at the pool or just lying about, reading some more, having club sandwiches and fries delivered to your deck chair by someone who looks like your favourite Griffyndor or Ravenclaw (or smurf, for all I know).
But BEWARE!
Dangers lurk .
In Australia, summer is a time of adventure, right? Maybe even extreme adventures. Some people go surfing or mountain-biking or diving in shark-infested waters, kayaking or sailing. Or play cricket for days on end in 35 degree heat.
Not me, I hear you say.
Oh no no no. Not we book lovers.
Are you kidding?
Reading is an extreme sport. It’s one of the most dangerous leisure activities on earth.
You think I’m joking?
Your honour, allow me to present my evidence.
Exhibit A: Jaws, by Peter Benchley.
I never saw the famous horror movie Jaws. Or Jaws 2, or Jaws 3 or Jaws the Christmas Special or Jaws Meets the Wiggles. No way on earth. Why? Because I read the book, one summer’s day, lying on a banana lounge in front of a tent in the Anglesea camping ground and I NEVER SURFED AGAIN from that day on.
To this very day, every summer, I’ll be frolicking in the shallows at my favourite beach and suddenly I’ll remember Benchley’s description of the “big fish” moving silently through the water hunting prey and in my head I’ll hear that freaky theme music and I will run for my life clear out of the surf and up on to the beach - and preferably into a nearby fish and chip shop to take my revenge by eating a huge fillet of flake.
Exhibit B: War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
OK, so the book itself is not a threat to human life and limb. Far from it. It’s my favourite book, from the very first time I started reading it, one summer on the beach (it cools you down nicely, since it’s set in Russia and it’s always snowing). Unfortunately, I found it so mesmerising, I didn’t notice how pink I was getting.
I was so sunburnt my shoulders blistered and I couldn’t bend my legs for a week. You know that tender bit behind your knees? Nasty.
Exhibit C: The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
If you haven’t read it yet, I can’t think of better holiday reading, except for one major problem. The film adaptation doesn’t open until March 23 (but who’s counting?) and the trailers look so damn thrilling the suspense might kill you before you ever get to see it.
Exhibit D: one day, one time...
You might read a book that changes your life. Or your mind. It could be the very next book. It could be this summer.
So be warned.
Reading is not for the faint-hearted. At least, it’s not for the easily scared or sunburned.
Or is that just me?
So now you have been warned, what do you plan to read in your hammock/deck chair/ocean liner/camel this summer?
Update:
Am at the beach (well, at a nearby cafe) having emerged from a Margaret Mahy fantasy and about to launch into a Garth Nix. Forgot to mention one other danger: agreeing to things because you aren't listening to the conversations people have with you while you are pretending to listen to what they say when really you are still reading. Can lead to all sorts of unforeseen circumstances.
Happy reading, all. Thanks for all the suggestions.
[slurps on milkshake, and turns another page]
Now. Where was I?
Kelly
Agreed! Summer is a great time for reading. But so is winter, when you can crawl into bed with the 'leccy blacket on, and be transported away from the cold. :)
Too late! I already read The Hunger Games AND its sequels over three summer days last year. :-) Finished Simon Haynes' Hal Junior novel yesterday on the beach (one sitting). Now I'm reading Kathy Reichs' YA novel Seizure and probably will read that on the beach if I'm not finished it by my next beach day. One summer I nearly got swamped by the waves at Sorrento reading Fellowship Of The Rings. So you're right - it's a dangerous sport! :-)
Loved this! Here's my list of other beach books to consider (or not ...there's always the cricket to fall asleep in front of, and you don't get sunburned).
- Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare. Anyone who's read Clockwork Angel will love, love, love this one.
- Bzrk by Michael Grant. It's about nano-warfare, and darker than the Gone series, but just as well written. A total page turner.
- Going Postal by Terry Pratchett. I dipped into this because I saw the TV version . The book is much, much better.
- Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott. There's a huge fan club out there for this US writer, and I can see why. The cover makes it look a bit light and fluffy, but there's lots going on under the surface - just like Jaws, in fact.
