Friday, March 17, 2006

Vacation reading

Ok, y'all, I am in need of a little help here. We leave for Puerto Rico on Thursday and I need some good reading material to last me through the six-day trip... a trip that includes two nonstop flights and a lot of beach time, aka prime reading opportunities.

Some things you need to know before offering your suggestions:
~I read fast, especially when I'm reading chick lit fluff. It is not at all unheard of for me to start and finish my first book while on the plane to my destination.
~I really enjoy contemporary fiction -- Ann Beattie, Richard Ford, Chang Rae Lee, Richard Russo, Russell Banks, etc., not least because it makes me slow down and ponder the world the authors are creating (as opposed to the chick lit, which is fun and entertaining, but which makes me gobble it like ice cream).
~I'm not averse to the classics, but I really don't enjoy fantasy/sci fi (sorry, Ginga).
~I don't want to take 94 books with me.
~At the library today, I picked up Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility and a Rick Bass novel (and there's the other problem: see how quickly I ran out of motivation for browsing? I didn't even make it to C!).
~I also pondered getting Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld, but it was checked out.

So, with all those caveats in mind, please give me some ideas, particularly for books I can get at the library. (The library in our neighboring city has a pretty wide selection of current fiction, in addition to the classics.) Many thanks.