Beach Read Book List

It's T-minus one week until I and a few friends pack up the car to head down to the powder white beaches of 30A. You may remember my gushing over this place this summer, um, when we lived there. To say I left my heart there isn't being dramatic, so naturally it's the first place we take off to when we have a little time for relaxing and having some fun. Get me there now, s'il vous plait.
But before I can pull out my bikinis and sun hats, I have to prepare in another very important way:
Beach-Read Book List.

I'm a beach-read junkie, especially now when my typical reading comes from textbooks and stalking blogs. And it's time for some literature in my life. I can fly through a book in a day, so I have to make sure to be ultra-prepared and equipped with plenty of paperbacks for my beach bag. Here are a few I'm considering now:

1. A Discovery of Witches: My friend Alex is currently reading this and simultaneously insisting I take it with me next weekend. I read about this Harry Potter-fantasy-twisted-with-Twilight-drama-and-romance-novel-for-adults in People last year and it perked my interest. Here's a little full-disclosure for you: I die over Harry Potter. Genius literary work. Yes, I started reading the novels as a child. Yes, I finished the last one in one day. And yes, I went to the midnight showing of the last movie. But that's a whole different post in itself (obviously along with my pure enjoyment of the Twilight saga). Moral of the story, Alex and I are sold on anything that can give us a sliver of what those books gave us. And, from its reputation on the New York Times best seller list, this one can.

2. And while you're thinking of Robert Pattinson, Water For Elephants: I am totally guilty of wanting to read this because of the upcoming flick starring Reese and Robert. But, perk for me, it's supposedly a romantic page-turner not to be put down. And that's why it's on my list.

3. One Thousand Gifts: This book, "a dare to live fully right where you are", was recommended to me by a very positive friend. Filled with the author's narrative and insight into life, it makes Grace abundantly clear and threads a way of becoming present to Him that provides deep and lasting joy. Sounds like a winner to me.

4. Crazy Love: I've been wanting to get my hands on this one for a while. "Overwhelmed by a Relentless God"? That sounds ridiculously ideal. However, I've heard from a few that it can be a lot to swallow. So I'm in need of further research/opinion/commentary for this one. Help please.

5. The Beautiful and the Damned: Oh Fitzgerald, I'll read anything you've written. Accounting the life of the young and the chic, this novel follows a couple in the best years of their life, filled with money and glamor, through the worst, where marriage makes things harder and life begins to crumble in only the way Fitzgerald can account for. I actually own this book, and have been waiting for the attention span needed to pick through his prose in order to gain the satisfaction the novel deserves.

6. Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea: I know I'm a little late on this train, but if I hear one more friend tell me how incredibly funny this book is, I'm going to fall over. So, for that reason alone, I think it deserves a spot on the list.

So there you have it- the candidates, as of right now. Please please please help me out with this decision. Read it? Give me your opinion. Have another book I simply must read? Let me know (I love it all from memoirs to girly reads to spiritual-based to whatever). I'm counting on you, and I know you will, because you people that keep coming back, reading, and commenting on my thoughts are the best.
xoxo