[Book Filter]: Need Recommendations for Summer Reading

June 5, 2009 9:44 AM

Recommend me some books like these, please (more after the jump)

I'm a voracious reader of all types of genres, but my dirty secret is that I also enjoy (especially during the summer) books with romance and flawed characters who find some kind of redemption.

The best example I can find of this is the movie version of A Good Year (which throws in europe, bonus!); I like the book too, but I actually think the movie is better.

I also enjoyed Proof of Life (yes I know, again with the movies, but I can't find good book examples!)... but the guy doesn't get the girl, which just isn't acceptable.

To give some more guidance, I like the Bridget Jones stuff OK, but not, on the whole, Nicholas Sparks.

Beyond that, I'm hard to put to find too many more examples (hence the question!).

But: Trashy romance novels are out, dept of character in. I don't mind action/adventure mixed with my stories.

Recommend me some good mindless summer reading, please!

posted by finitejest to media & arts (14 comments total)

Pretty much anything by Tom Perrotta fits this bill, but especially Little Children and Joe College.

you might also like The Frog King by Adam Davies

last, give Douglas Coupland a try for endearingly flawed characters...JPod, Microserfs, and Hey, Nostradamus! are his best, in my opinion.
posted by namewithoutwords at 10:12 AM on June 5

I'll trot out my old stand-bys again, although the characters are not terribly flawed but believably imperfect:

Ironfire (aka The Sword and the Scimitar) by David Ball, set in the Mediterranean in the mid-1500s and culminating in the Siege of Malta. Great characters, bittersweet romance, and more gory late-medieval warfare than you could shake an arquebus at.

The Far Pavilions by M M Kaye, an epic romance/adventure novel set in mid-1800s British India and Afghanistan. Ditto with the characters, romance, and bloodshed (although they use rifles, not arquebuses).
posted by Quietgal at 10:42 AM on June 5

Jane Eyre

Gone with the Wind (no, seriously, it's a good book)
posted by Houstonian at 10:48 AM on June 5

I don't find them to be mindless, but I've always enjoyed John Irving's works--Cider House Rules, World According to Garp, Prayer for Owen Meany, etc. They're not necessarily "romance" books, but they do have aspects of romance and are generally very enjoyable reads.
posted by arm426 at 11:03 AM on June 5

Marian Keyes. She follows a pretty standard chicklit formula, but there's romance and redemption and to be honest, they're not bad at all.
posted by elsietheeel at 11:18 AM on June 5

Ooh, ooh - Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver is a great summer read and fits the bill perfectly. I found out after reading it that it's a followup to The Bean Trees, but I hadn't read that and didn't find it made any difference. The book stands on its own quite well.

Also:
Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back - both by Terry McMillan
Summer Sisters by Judy Blume (the same author from your childhood, but not a child's book)
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb - although it's heavier on character and lighter on romance

Timeline by Michael Crichton, while not definitely a romance novel, is a very fun summer read. (It does have a small amount of romance, but it's an adventure novel).
posted by yawper at 11:20 AM on June 5

I'm going to recommend anything by Maeve Binchy if you haven't read her stuff yet. She wrote the book Circle of Friends that the movie was based on.

The basic plot of about 90% of her books is as follows: Woman is wronged by man, strikes out on her own to find that she CAN make it in the world, finds true love. There is also usually a sister or best friend who sleeps around.

My favorite is Evening Class. I makes me want to go to Ireland and learn Italian, you'll understand once you read the book.

They make good summer reads as they are for the most part light and easy to read.
posted by magnetsphere at 11:43 AM on June 5

Oh man, have you ever read any Maeve Binchy? She's popular from awhile back - Minnie Driver was in the movie of Circle of Friends. She's a great read, and definitely a good writer on top of it.

Can't miss author for what you need.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 11:46 AM on June 5

Flawed characters who find redemption, and a little romance.

I'd recommend Wally Lamb's I Know This Much Is True.

Read this several years ago. It's a big book, but it was so compelling that I finished it in just a few days.
posted by marsha56 at 12:04 PM on June 5

Even though I'm a Cube -- Cube don't read chick-lit -- and I won't be caught in public with them, one of my secret loves are Joanne Harris' novels. Chocolat was recommended to me for another reason, but it and Holy Fools and her other novels seem to fit your bill.
posted by Weighted Companion Cube at 12:25 PM on June 5

Daniel Silva, especially his Gabriel Allon series, which encompasses about ten books at this point. He's flawed, but seeks resolution. There's some romance in it, but nothing overwhelming.
posted by TravellingCari at 2:27 PM on June 5

Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner (it has a sequel)
Baggage by Emily Barr
posted by soelo at 3:00 PM on June 5

I highly recommend Freddy and Fredericka by Mark Helprin. It's smart, funny, but a good summer (as in: easy & quick) read that fits in with all of your requirements.
posted by hellogoodbye at 4:23 PM on June 5

Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin. Seriously. The maid of honor/protagonist sleeps with the groom-to-be (the bride is her bff from childhood), and you don't hate her. I hate chick lit, but loved this book. There's a sequel, too, but I haven't read it yet.

Seconding Good in Bed. Great read.
posted by messylissa at 6:23 PM on June 5