100 best beach books: how many of them are in ebook format?
By Paul Biba
NPR did a poll and received 136,000 votes from 16,000 responders. Here are the first 20. To see the rest go over to NPRs redesigned website here. What are your best ebook beach books?
1. The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
2. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
3. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
4. Bridget Jones’s Diary, by Helen Fielding
5. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
6. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, by Rebecca Wells
7. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
8. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
9. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg
10. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver
11. The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
12. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
13. The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan
14. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
15. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
16. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
17. Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett
18. The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
19. Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides
20. Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen
Thanks to Books on the Nightstand for the link.
July 30th, 2009 at 10:43 am
As a Janeite, I prefer Persuasion and Sanditon for beach books, as they actually take place, at least partly, at the seaside.
Both are available as free ebooks from various sites. There’s a completion of Sanditon by “Another Lady” that I don’t think is available yet.
July 30th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
The Hobbit as a beach read? I thought we LOTR geeks were supposed to stay out of the sun.
July 31st, 2009 at 8:08 am
@Aaron: yet another stereotype debunked!
August 3rd, 2009 at 7:37 am
Exactly who decides that these are “the best beach” books? Best for what? Attracting the opposite sex? (Oh, no, Harry Potter is in there…) Reader enjoyment? (Oh, no, Harry Potter is in there…) Intelligent reading, (Oh, no, Harry Potter is in there…)
Call them “most popular,” fine. But don’t presume to call them “best,” as that is purely a personal judgment call. Personally, I wouldn’t take most of those books to the beach at all: Too many distractions to allow you to get fully involved with them!