Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Some Good Trashy Vacation Reading Recommendations

A friend wrote:
I know this is random, but I need your recommendations for trashy vacation reading. I'm asking for page turners here. I like mysteries but do not like serial killer genres. Doesn't have to be a mystery. Series are good. I've read the Stephanie Plum and True Blood series. No Dean Koonz or Danielle Steele. If you don't want me to share your name because you are too ashamed of the series you are recommending (e.g, derby roller-blading vampires), I will keep you anonymous.
Now we all know I have taken a certain amount of flack already for liking the Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum) series, up to about #12 anyway ... then I finally had had enough of that formula.

My off-the-top-of-my-head list follows, with an R rating applied t0 a few of them for ... oh, come on, you know what for ... R is for racy!
  • I really love the Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher. Every so often a book will have something ... shall we call it "racy"? ... but that varies. Harry's a smart mouth and these books will make me laugh out loud. As the back of his latest book said, like Spenser with magic.

  • A new favorite book of mine, racy in a couple of spots, is Grimspace by Ann Aguirre. It is space opera.It has a sequel but I didn't like it which was disappointing.

  • War of the Oaks is urban fantasy ... not a fantasy but I have loved everything of Emma Bull's that I've read. Also recommended is Territory ... a true blue Western set in Tombstone but ...with magic! Isn't everything better with magic?

  • Sunshine by Robin McKinley ... vampires, cinnamon bun baking and a couple of touches of raciness.

  • Bride of the Rat God by Barbara Hambly ... or, frankly, most of Hambly's early stuff. NOT her later things or her mystery series set in New Orleans which is good but very, very dark.

  • Also, I thought of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander. 1st of a series but I didn't like the second book and didn't finish it. Truly a potboiler with time travel, Scottish rogues, evil British officers and much raciness.

  • Not trashy, but sure to make you feel like it is when you have to venture into the Romance section of the book store, are Georgette Heyer's novels. Funny, frothy, smart romances that are the first Regency Romances. Not to be missed.

  • I'm also partial to a few Barbara Michael titles: Shattered Silk, Into the Darkness, and Stitches in Time. Classic gothic-style romance but written and set in the 1970s (?).

  • Barbara Michael's alter-ego is Elizabeth Peters. So you get the gothic-style romances with a humorous twist. My favorite series of hers is the Vickie Bliss mysteries, though I think the most popular is the Amelia Peabody series. I liked the first book but detested Amelia's son so very, very much that I never read past the second book.
UPDATED TO ADD:
  • Charles de Lint. I like his older books better than the newer. Moon Heart, Jack the Giant Killer, Drink Down the Moon (Jack's sequel), The Riddle of the Wren, and Mulengro. Elizabeth Anne reminded me of him in the comments and says: If you like Emma Bull, you would love Charles deLint. He writes both short stories and full length novels that went a long way towards inventing the genre. "Forests of the Heart" is one my absolute favorites of his novels, and "Dreams Underfoot" is probably where people start. It's a collection of short stories that introduces his usual "cast" of characters. "Seven Wild Sisters" is a stand alone that is deeply beautiful,and makes me want seven daughters of my own.

  • The Marcus Didius Falco series by Lindsey Davis features a cynical, sharp-witted gumshoe in Imperial Rome in 70 A.D. He goes from small case to small case, always short of cash and late on his rent. When he rescues Helena, a senator’s niece, from a kidnapping attempt he is flung headfirst into murder, plots in the Emperor’s family, and a trip to Britain where he winds up working as a slave in a silver mine (the first book in the series, Silver Pigs). Davis has a touch for humor, romance, and suspense as we follow Falco’s adventures. Part of the charm of these books is following Falco’s life as we see him move from case to case and in the process meet other members of his large family, watch changes in the neighbors’ lives, and see if he is lucky in love. Davis is a master storyteller and despite the solid historical setting, her hero has enough modern touches to make us relate to his life without feeling as if the up-to-date attitude is false. I was also reminded of this series by Elizabeth Anne, a.k.a. my light reading soulmate, who says:If you just plain like that noir tone but are intersted in historical fiction, I'd also strongly recommend the Marcus Didius Falco mysteries by Lindsey Davis. They're books about ancient Rome that even us Classicists love. If Sam Spade had lived under the emperor Vespasian, this would have been his story. "The Silver Pigs"is the first in the series, and is now back in print. There's also, I think, something of the Cadfael about Falco. Oh, he's tough and jaded, but he also has a large, sprawling Italian family. In case anyone is intimidated by the setting, it's extremely true to history, but not intimidating. Davis is writing for an audience that knows little about Rome beyond Ben Hur and Gladiator, so while history buffs will get a kick out of seeing Rome in 70 AD brought to life, those who aren't won't be left in the dust.
Ok, never let it be said that I don't let it all hang out for y'all.

I know there's some great stuff I either missed or just never heard of ... I'm looking forward to recommendations from you, the great blogosphere reading public!

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