Ok so I am late to the book party, but of late I have read:

Twlight, New Moon and Eclipse - all by Stephenie Meyer GREAT BOOKS!!!! Twilight was recommended by one of my students and then another of my friends who is an English teacher told me to read it too...loved all three.

Steve and Me - the book by Terri Irwin about her and Steve(the croc hunter), also liked that very much.

I too enjoyed My Sister's Keeper. Plain Truth by J. Picoult was great as well.

Starting on the Kite Runner (way behind I know)

Read Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier - good book, a little slow in parts. Well written.

The last book I read was World War Z by Max Brooks. I’m currently reading Nick Flynn's Another Bullshit Night in Suck City and after that I'll be picking up a copy of The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

I've never heard of this, but now I think I'll need to pick up a copy. That's the best book title I've EVER heard.

Not sure if this one has been mentioned on here, but one of my recent favorites was The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards.

I especially recommend it for all the Pittsburgh GCers since it's partially set there.

I am bumping this thread as I'm going to Mexico for 1 week beach vacation.

While true crime interests me, I don't want to feel depressed and freaked out. I also don't want to read any Chick Lit type of books, as these also depress and annoy me also. I've read all 4 of the Twilight series, so that's done too. (I do like the Sophie Kinsella books, but I've read them all at this point, including her new one with the ghost in it, Aunt Sadie).

I need something to read, and I'm kinda looking for something a la Jackie Collins (I've read all of her books to date). Something with a bit of sex, intrigue, Hollywood, and there's usually a psycho killer looming in the background also.

If you have some suggestions, please share!

Well, the ones I'm about to recommend are light hearted murder mysteries with a lot of humor and some romance tossed in too. Plus, you get recipes. They are light, quick reading. They are the "Murder She Baked" series by Joann Fluke. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, Cheesecake Murder, Carrot Cake Murder.. there are a bunch of them. I recommend reading them in the right order (Amazon can help you figure that out I think) because it follows the main character's life through them. So, they aren't depressing or freak outish, aren't really hollywoodish either though. Also, the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich are light murder mysteries with romance tossed in too. One for the Money is the first one in the series.

After reading 280 pages for school this weekend, I am mourning the time to read for pleasure... <sigh>

My mother is all about those baker books, she was telling me about them but I don't have any time for pleasure reading.

I always read Danielle Steel when I wanted something mindless on vacation, or John Grisham worked as well.

The Kingdom of God is Within You - Leo Tolstoy

I'm terrible at "pleasure reading", I like meaningful stuff.

I'm rereading the Harry Potter series. The first time I read them, I read them ALL in 7 weeks. That's 4,224 pages in 7 weeks- I'm a bit of a speed-reader/read whenever I get the chance kind of person.

But because I read them so fast with my goal to be done so quickly (it was the summer Book 7 came out), I missed so much. My youngest sister is now reading them for the first time, and I'm enjoying the reread. If I'm not careful, I'll go through them just as quickly- I didn't realize how good they were the first time round!

Can't help you with the Jackie Collins-type genre, but just had to pass on The Help by Stockett. Absolutely loved it and so has everyone I talk to. Good book.

Have fun in Mexico!! I'm jealous! :)

I love Joanne Flukes books. Haven't made any of her recipes yet. I also recommend the series by Earlene Fowler. The first in the series is Fools Puzzle They are very light reading and the grandmother is hysterical. Like the Fluke books, I recommend reading them in order so that you see the relationship between the characters develop.

DaffyKD

It's not set in Hollywood, but Sydney Sheldon's "Master of the Game" is one of my favorite trash novel reads. Good plot and characters.

This may seem somewhat "nutty," but my daughter has been all over me to read the Percy Jackson series. I have found these books by Rick Riordan to be absolutely riveting. The target audience is the Harry Potter crowd... and yes, the first movie of the series comes out in February.

Imagine Greek Mythology moving to present day. And that the gods sometimes have children with mortals [shades of Hercules] - and you get the Percy Jackson series, with Percy being the son of a god and therefore a hero who bridges both the world of the gods and humans.

Solid entertainment. And I love it partly because it is educational without being hard hitting.

My sister in law bought me the "Sookie Stackhouse" books by Charlaine Harris because she knows I love True Blood. I'm 1/2 way through the second book and I am thouroughly enjoying them. They are a quick paced, tongue in cheek Vampire series. (first is Dead Until Dark, the second is Living Dead in Dallas)

I'm finding that the books are better than the show. Most of the characters are the same, but better fleshed out, but the plot lines are a bit different.

Anyway, it would be a fun, quick read on a beach somewhere.