Book Suggestions? - Shawnee,KS

One of my favorite light-hearted books is "Good In Bed" by Jennifer Weiner. Hilarious!!!! Another of hers that I liked is "In Her Shoes" (I think they made of movie of that one but I haven't seen it - book was fabulous) I forget the author of another one I love called "Something Borrowed" I know they made a movie of that one (maybe it came out recently or it's coming out soon?) and I'll probably go see it. Someone else suggested the Angry Housewives Eating Bons Bons and I wanted to second that one too!!

The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich is pretty lighthearted, although predictable if you've read one of them already.

They are not light heated, but I LOVE Jodi Piccoult books. They are really well written and provacative. They make you think and would probably be great for discussions.
L.

I just started a book called "Talking to Girls about Duran Duran.' It was written by a reporter for Rolling Stone and has a ton of great reviews. If you were a teen in the 1980s I highly recommend it as it is all about a teenage boys experiences in this decade. So far I am loving it b/c I turned 13 in 1980 and it is so hitting home. You could have an 80s theme party when you meet to discuss it!

Probably already read it but my favorite book is The Help by Katherine Stockett.

thanks for asking this question!
im going to have to check out some of these suggestions.
my hubby says i only read crappy teenager books!
teenager books, yes. crappy, no!
i just finished he fablehaven series and it was amazing!
anyway, i would like to read more grown up books for a change!

Lottery by Patricia Wood
Benny & Shrimp: A Novel by Katarina Mazetti
The Kid by Dan Savage
Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik
Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen
Bossypants by Tina Fey

The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich are easy, fun books. That's about the only light stuff I read. All of my other favorite books are drama or mystery!

The "Wild Boy" book by Andy Taylor is pretty good if you want to know all about Duran Duran. You can add that to Mallory P.'s suggestion.

Not lighthearted by any means, but an excellent book -"WeNeed to Talk About Kevin", by Liev Schriever. Will strike any parent to the core, I think

Oh the best book I read last year "The Help" was super funny and set back in the 60tis. So well written and movie coming soon filming now I can't wait to see.

One Day by David Nicholls
The Pile of Stuff at the Bottom of the Stairs by Christina Hopkinson

I recommend Ben Elton's 'Meltdown' or 'Chartthrob' and 'Blind Truth' all very interesting, thought-provoking, funny, and very easy to read with light heartedness.

The Education of Little Tree, by Forest Carter, is a fun read, even if it does get just a bit heavy toward the end. It's really funny, uplifting, engaging, and heart-warming. Thanks for triggering me to think of it just before Father's Day. It was my dad's favorite book.

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The Education of Little Tree, by Forest Carter, is a fun read, even if it does get just a bit heavy toward the end. It's really funny, uplifting, engaging, and heart-warming. Thanks for triggering me to think of it just before Father's Day. It was my dad's favorite book.

Bossypants Tina Fey or Running with scissors. Or anything by david sedaris.

You know, I loved Laurie Colwin's "Happy All the Time". (It's not sappy, or predictable... just very very real and good.) A lovely woman once walked into the record store I worked at and said "You should read "Happy All the Time"". I bought it a couple days later and my copy has since been passed around to all my friends-- everyone likes it a lot and tells me thanks. It's an interesting book with good characters, likable characters, which develop in a beautiful and unformulaic way. I go back and read it every 3-4 years or so. Too bad Colwin died in an airplane accident...we missed out.

I love Elizabeth Bergs books for fun, light hearted good reads. You can usually find one of her books at Target too, so it would be easy for everybody to find. My favorite book by her was Open House, but that one is a bit older.

Check out the intermediate grades (5-8th grade about) reading lists in the local libraries. They are sometimes light-hearted, and definitely easy reads. And if you get the list of Newbery Award and Honors books, they are always well written. Here's a few I've enjoyed:
Because of Winn-Dixie
Holes
A Wrinkle in Time (okay, not so light-hearted, but really really good)
Number the Stars (ditto)
The Secret Garden (really good message here too, but not sappy)
Goose Girl

I also liked "Good in Bed", and will recommend "The Nanny Diaries", too.

I agree "The Help" is a fantastic read. For lighthearted, someone mentioned "Something Borrowed". The author is Emily Giffin, and any of her books would be good. She's very witty. "Talking to girls about Duran Duran" or even "Mix tape" by Rob Sheffield would be great. His writing is incredibly insightful when it comes to music and pop culture, and he just as a great way with words in a witty, sometimes snarky way.

I really enjoyed Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. Both are very quirky and funny and just very different books...nothing predictable here!

I have to second the recommendation to read We Need to Talk About Kevin. NOT lighthearted but an excellent read!

I just read a beach-read kind of book for my book club next week. Thought I would hate it and find it too predictable (ok, it sort of is) but I found myself enjoying the writing and the character imagery. And it's about a road trip and I love those. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour. Some of it is unrealistic/improbable, but still fun to read.

I enjoyed Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris. Short (very!) stories that could generate a lot of discussion.

My book club read Mrs. Bridge by Evan Connell last month. Set in KC by a KC author. We had a great discussion and it so easy to read!

Recently read The Moonflower Vine and liked it. Not too much thought, but a good story with a little surprise.

If you are into Scifi, Romance, Action novels, I would suggest anything by Gena Showalter and Kresley Cole. I just finish reading a book called the Diary of a Mad Fat Girl by Stephanie McAfee. Serious but funny with a lot of laugh out loud moments.

I definitely second the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. In fact anything she's written is pretty light-hearted.

Katie MacAlisters' A Girls Guide to Vampires is great and very funny. So is her The Corset Diaries ... I laughed till I cried reading that one. Actually most of her stuff is pretty light and funny. She's got a really wacky sense of humor and infuses it in all her works.

Sherrilyn Kenyon has some good ones too. While they are a little heavier than the previous two mentioned ... she's also got an off beat sense of humor and usually there's at least one smartass in her books. Always some humor to go along with the heavy stuff.

Edited to add: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. SOOOOOOOOOOOOO funny.

These are older books, But I really like them and have read them each a few times..

The Memory of Running (it is not about running) by Ron McLarty

The Physick Boom of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

The weed that strings the hangman's bag by Alan Bradley is really good. Light, smart and fun to read!

Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos.
Or, High Tide in Tuscon by Barbara Kingsolver. It is a collections of essays, and while not "lighthearted" it really interesting and would spark some interesting discussion, I suspect.