I saw this today and I couldn’t help but post it here. Plus we’re all in need of a lighter post. NPR is holding a vote for the 100 Best Beach Books Ever. They received 600 nominations, which they narrowed down to a list of 200. Now you get to vote for 10, whether those are good books to read at the beach, good books about beaches…or (if you’re not a fan of beaches) books that you’ll read wherever you are.
Anyways, NPR makes it really easy to embed the voting screen, so you can do it right here! It’s probably not a huge mystery what I voted for: The Rum Diary, Big Sur, Lord of the Flies, and Heart of Darkness. I didn’t feel like voting for 10, and I’m not much for reading on the beach…
UPDATE 7/29/09: The winners were announced today. What do I have to say about it? As Mr. Horse often stated on Ren & Stimpy, “Hmmmmm…no sir, I don’t like it.” This list has almost zero connection to beaches except Jaws and (barely squeezed in at the 100th spot) Treasure Island. Nor are they short books — as in, convenient to take to the beach. Who the flip would pack Anna Karenina, a 1,000-page book, in their beach tote? The unsurprising top ten includes the Harry Pooper series and Bridget Jones. Whoopee. I guess even NPR’s book-reading audience isn’t too far removed from the general book-reading population. You won’t find me on their beach though…
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- On Reading a ‘New Release’ Book (February 6, 2010)
- Once a Monotheism, Always a Monotheism (February 16, 2010)
- Time for a Long Break (July 13, 2010)
- Tom Burrell On His Book ‘Brainwashed’ (March 24, 2010)
