July 29, 2009

NPR 100 Best Beach Reads? You've Got to be Kidding Me...

So, I have like two blogs half written - one about Nathan and my trip to Guatemala, and one about our crazy cooking adventures (yes, there was a fire...no, no one got hurt...except a pan, but he recovered nicely). However, both of those blogs will have to wait, because I need to do some ranting about one of my favorite topics:

BOOKS.

NPR just listed their audience's top 100 Beach Reads. Check it out here.

I have a complaint.

Old Man and the Sea made the list.

REALLY? Come on!

Maybe I just have a different definition of a "Beach Read." Something light and entertaining, perhaps silly, mindless. The Kite Runner wasn't mindless at all, but I would pick that for a Beach Read over Old Man and the Sea!

I also don't think of Catch 22 as a beach read, but for entirely different reasons - there's so much packed into that novel I don't think I could catch it all on the beach (no pun intended).

I know I'm going to get backlash for this. That's fine. I'm working on stating my opinions and feelings...and I feel that Old Man and the Sea was the most. boring. book. I have ever read.

There. I said it.

Books I did appreciate being on the list:

- Harry Potter series (yeah, fast beach reading!)
- Adventures of Huck Finn (Classic!)
- Love in the Time of Cholera (I really enjoy Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
- Pride and Prejudice
- Ender's Game
(So good. Go read it.)

There are a lot of good books on this list, many of which I currently have on hold at my local library.

And just as a side note, I do not having anything against Hemingway. I have enjoyed other novels by him. Just not Old Man and the Sea.

(I also have issues with Pillars of the Earth ...but those are much bigger issues...)

Enjoy the last bit of summer! Go pick up a good beach read, whatever that is for you.

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