Mrs. Penguin, Sacramento
Age and Occupation: 26, Video & TV Producer/Director/Editor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Doctor of Physical Therapy
Engagement Date: January 29, 2007
Wedding Date: June 7, 2008
Blogging Since: September 14, 2007
Venue: Winery in the Gold Country
About Me: I'm a silly mess of a girl who, above all else in this world, LOVES the Spice Girls. I eat sushi at least 3 times a week, and feel guilty about how much it costs the other 4 days a week. I love designer jeans and cheap accessories. I don't like sweets, but I love the UCLA Bruins!
No Brainer Reads
May 30th, 2008 @ 8:25 am by Mrs. Penguin
I ordered some light (and boy, do I mean light) reading for our honeymoon this past weekend on Amazon.com. Sitting on the beach with a drink in hand calls for some fun and flirty reads!
I may be married by the time I’m on my honeymoon, but I’ll for sure still have weddings on the brain, so I made sure to pick up a few titles in the wedding-themed category.
Amazon reader rated 4/5 stars
Amazon reader rated stars 4/5
New this week
Amazon reader rated 4/5 stars
Amazon reader rated 4/5 stars
Book cover images all from Amazon.com
What are some of your all-time favorite beach reads?
38 Responses to “No Brainer Reads”
I second the Shopaholic series… also the newest one by Sophie Kinsella was very good too… can’t remember the name offhand.
Anything by Jennifer Weiner. I love her books.
Also, by Plum Sykes: “Bergdorf Blondes” and “Debutante Divorcee” are very fun and light beach-reads.
ooo good finds, I will definitely need some wedding related reading to keep away post-wedding-depression
HCB~ You are right on with everything.
I’m looking forward to spending the weekend in my parents backyard at their pool reading Chasing Harry Winston.
mysteries!! does anyone know any good ones? I’m an agatha christie diehard but I’ve read them all 
I just read Emily Giffin’s Love the One You’re With - it was so good! Hope you enjoy it!
I also second the Plum Sykes comment - both of those books are great as well!
Always a Bridesmaid by Whitney Lyles, I laughed out loud to myself while reading this one, it is so funny 
Her other books are great as well, but this one is the first and definately the best!
I just read Emily Giffin’s Love the One You’re With - it was so good! Hope you enjoy it!
I also second the Plum Sykes comment - both of those books are great as well!
all the books that have been recommended are great. i cant wait to go get some of these new titles you are showing…
@HCB: Re: Bergdorf Blondes and Debutante Divorcee….Plum Sykes is so great! I wasnt the hugest fan of Deb. Divorcee but I read Bergdorf Blondes every couple of years or so just for fun. I really love that book!
Mariane Keyes books are good too…the only thing I dont like about her books is that the characters all have very Irish names…like Cloughdah or something…I mean, its hard for me to read books with crazy names. It seems like my brain gets “hiccuped” every time I read the name and it breaks my flow…kind of like “Hermione” before the Potter movies came out…I was like…Hermies what?
They’re not necessarily totally light reading, but I really enjoyed Eat, Pray, Love and Peony in Love. I’m planning on getting the Harry Winston one, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and maybe some historical fiction.
Jen Lancaster’s books (Bitter is the New Black and Bright Lights, Big Ass) were hilarious!! I just picked up her latest book, Such a Pretty Fat, and so far so good! I always find myself laughing out loud =P
I love you for this post! Great ideas and I’m sure there will be tons more in the comments… my favorite is Anita Shreve.
@Connie: Have you read Laurie Notaro books? They sound RIGHT ON PAR to those books you described, I think you’d love them! I’m going to pick up your suggestions, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read
Autobiography of a fat bride (My favorite of hers)
http://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Fat-Bride-Pretend-Adulthood/dp/037576092X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212158675&sr=8-6
and all her other books! I know you’d love them!
My favorite beach read authors (and I think just about all authors have been mentioned):
-Sophie Kinsella (Remember Me? is the new one- it was great!)
-Marian Keyes (completely agree with the Irish names comment!)
-Christopher Moore (Practical Demonkeeping is one of my favorites)
If you’re looking for a more naughty beach read- I’m not embarrassed to admit I hide Emma Holly books under my bed
I just added these to my summer reading list: Jamestown by Matthew Sharpe (to call it historical fiction is a stretch, it’s one of the oddest books I’ve bought in awhile!), Whale Season by N.M. Kelby, Havana Bay by Martin Cruz Smith
You should totally make a listmania list!
Ooh, the new Emily Giffin is great! I love her books.
I’m currently embroiled in a love affair with Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight series. I’m talkin’ going to bed late, waking up early, sneaking the books into the bathroom at work so I can find out what happens next (true story, I smuggled it into the bathroom in a UPS box). It. Is. Addictive.
@ashes08 & @JangerToBe: I LOVE Emily Giffin too! I just got my Love the One Your With book and I’m about half way through.
Peng you’re gonna LOVE it!
@Miss Penguin: You’ve read Emily Giffin’s other 3 book already, right?
@AliCherri1: Yep, read em all!
Man I didnt realize what a chick book junkie I was until I’m seeing everything everyones recommending and realizing that I’ve pretty much read them all! Haha
A little different but equally fun and funny, try “Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously”. She hilariously recounts her attempts to cook her way through Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” in one year in a tiny little apartment with her new husband. Relatable and giggle-inducing!
@Susan Eva: The Last Lecture definitely isn’t “beach reading,” but it’s on my list too!
Hooray, lists of books! I remember reading Dog Handling a few years ago and thinking it was cute.
What about Jennifer Crusie, who always manages to put in the best details (slobbery dogs, adorable shoes, hot men, etc)? Or Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, if you want hysterical mystery and girlie kick-assery. Or, for heartfelt, make you cry and call your mom to tell her you love her, Susan Wiggs is a great option. And I’m not ashamed to cop to a love of Nora Roberts, either–sometimes a girl just needs typical true love, ya know?
i read “diary of a mad bride” when i first got obsessed with everything wedding. i read it in a day and was so sad when it was over! haha.
as soon as i finished finals, i picked up “the host” by stephenie meyer. she’s best known for her teen-based vampire novels (the “twilight” series), but “the host” is supposed to be for an older crowd. i couldn’t put it down.
Summer Sisters by Judy Blume is my reread every summer!
I love all the Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovitch, along with almost anything by Meg Cabot (she wrote the Princess Diaries, but also has alot of Chick-Lit out).
Love the Gossip Girls series as well, total fluff books!
@AliCherri1: I love all of Emily’s stuff. Of course, my favorite is her Something series, but this one was great as well.
All the Jennifer Cruisie books
All the Marian Keyes books (my favorite is “The Other Side of the Story”)
Anna Maxted, “Being Committed” and “Running in Heels”
Hester Browne, “The Little Lady Agency”
Amanda Hesser, “Cooking for Mr. Latte” [”A Food Lover’s Courtship, with Recipes”
I also recently read “The Other Boleyn Girl” on vacatiom — an AWESOME page-turner! Not that positive on marriage, though.
@JangerToBe: Ditto.
carl hiaasen and jennifer weiner’s books are really fun beach reads!
Ooh these sound like great recommendations! I just finished writing my engineering masters thesis and decided my brain needed a rest. I got a bunch of girly books out of the library, and totally devoured them. I read these 3 books in the past 2 weeks:
The Opposite of Love by Julie Buxbaum
A Tale of Two Sisters by Anna Maxted (her other books are great too)
Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos
I recommend all 3 of these, they were perfect for my girly reading craving
dude, got all that shiet in my amazon shopping cart now! i was s-m-r-t. we packed so last minute, we forgot to borrow an extra ds (so mr. cb hogged that shiet the whole trip), i had no mags or books, so i slept the whole time. HIFIVE!
I read I Was Told There’d be Cake on my flight from LA to Miami on Tuesday and I was laughing out loud throughout the whole book - it is a great read - very witty
I love anything by Jane Green and Shophie Kinsella.
I absolutely love a book called “Come Together” by Josie Lloyd and Emlin Rees. It’s my favorite chick-lit book of all time.
Also, if you want to go old school, Valley of the Dolls and Peyton Place are great reads!
And HIB2, of course.
Both can only be ordered via Amazon.uk.com, I believe - but still TOTALLY worth the wait.
I am absolutely addicted to Emily Giffin. I went out and bought three of the books after reading “something borrowed”. Amazing. I can’t wait to start reading “love the one you’re with.”
Haha, I took “Dog Handling” on vacation with me a few years ago! It’s definately a light read, but it’s amusing.
The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon! Everyone from my mom to FH to his mom and grandmother LOVED them. I would definitely recommend checking them out. There’s supposed to be a movie in the works too…
