TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Beach Books

Heading to SXM soon and looking for some good page-turners to download to my kindle. Anyone have a favorite recent beach book? I like light, easy reads, nothing heaving, no psychological thrillers...thanks!

Some one recently bought me The Girl on the Train which many tell me is very popular. I just downloaded Boys in the Boat, but it think it may be a bit heavy. Loved the Invention of Wings, Defending Jacob, Me Before You, Still Alice and Left Neglected. Just food for thought.

I always enjoy reading books that mention places where I am, so the T. Stelma trilogy, Happy Bay, Cole Bay Band, and Sandy Ground were fun reads on the island.

Anything byJohn Forsyth, Ken Folliet especially "Night Over Water" or "Pillars of the Earth" or Tom Clancy. John Forsyth's books "Icon and The Kill List" are excellent reads. If those are dont apeal to you, try Rober Lublum's "Pompeii" which gives a vivid and descriptive account of the events before and during the eruption. Great fiction reads all! Enjoy your trip and your reads

I don't know if you are into Bio's, but Steven Tylers book is great it's called Does the Noise Inside My Head Bother You? I also like Valerie Bertinelli's book Losing it: Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time.

There is always Nicholas Spark books or my favorite quick read James Patterson one of my favorites You've Been Warned

Thanks! I will check these out. I always end up reading the same authors, so like to have something different to mix things up. Really like the idea of reading books about the island while on the island!

Another bio suggestion - Keith Richards bio - Life, have read thru it 3 times now - obviously I am a Stones fan
J&B

I just read The Rosie Project and The Nightingale. Enjoyed both very much.

Didn't know Keith Richards wrote a book, thanks for the info!!That will be my next read...

I just read: The Secret Between Us by Barbara Delinsky, Landline by Rainbow Rowell, Tempting Fate by Jane Green, and Still Missing by Chevy Stevens. All were very good.

AMERICAN SNIPER. Great book

On another book thread someone mentioned reading some of Jimmy Buffet's books. They're set in the Caribbean. I never would have considered reading his stuff but they were a wonderful vacation read. (I didn't even know what a ParrotHead was! ) Buffet has a great love of geography and local characters. I recommend both A Salty Piece of Land and Tales From Margaritaville.

I read the book about the couple who opened the restaurant on Anguilla last time we were in SXM. I think it's called A Trip to the Beach - or something close to that.

Not set on St. Maarten/Martin but lots of mentions.

I enjoyed it.

That was about the Blanchards who started a restaurant on Anguilla. Good Fun.

These don't fit your preferences, but should be considered as you'll be in the Caribbean after all.

Caribbean – James Michener
Don’t Stop the Carnival – Herman Wouk
The Carnival Never Got Started – S. Guy Lovelace
A Small Place -- Jamaica Kincaid : a short easy read about her views of growing up in Antigua and was made into a movie: Life and Debt that was set and filmed in Jamaica

Any Tom Clancy is a good read as well. It’s a bit scary as several books are later emulated by the bad guys in the world.

You might want to try The Beach Trees and On Folly Beach, both by Karen White

Dr. Doug,

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Any Tom Clancy is a good read as well. It’s a bit scary as several books are later emulated by the bad guys in the world.



Scary to say the least, and my thoughts exactly! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

I also enjoyed "A Salty Piece of Land". Especially, reading it under a yellow umbrella on my favorite beach.

sorry for being long... my two picks last summer were Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende (historical fiction) and Anthony C. Winkler's God Carlos- but I like most things by Winkler. now I'm thinking of the time I spend over $100 at a local bookstore on St. Kitts. pre-internet days I had to write to the island info ctr and find out exactly where the book stores were. I found some wonderful short works by local authors. I never did inquire where bookstores on SXM are... but I did search for a VHS of Winkler's The Lunatic once... it was a fun mini-adventure. For older stuff, you can't go wrong with Don't Stop the Carnival.. Bob Sachosis Swimming in the Volcano comes to mind. He also had a book of short stories I loved. another: http://www.amazon.com/Penguin-Book-Caribbean-Short-Stories/dp/0140245030/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

Leaving Time by Jodi Piccoult. I couldn't put it down, and I wanted it to go on forever.

I was finally give Caribbean a try until I read some thoughts on goodreads. is there story or is it more factual?

Gone Bamboo by Anthony Bourdain, which features a fictional setting based on SXM, about a husband and wife (former professional assassins) who have been transplanted to the island.

this sounds like a wrist slitter to me, but regardless, did you enjoy it?

Transvestite mob bosses. Need I say more? It was a fun read. What comes through is that Bourdain really loves SXM. So that's pretty cool. Enough rum and anything becomes great literature. Seriously, though, anything by Megan Abbot is great- her latest "Fever" is perfect for the beach.

Getting dozens of 5-star reviews on Amazon, etc. - Everett and Rothaker, mystery thrillers, by new author Jenifer Ruff, with the brilliant and beautiful "perfect woman", Brooke Walton.

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Lovelace and Kincaid are true stories and Michener is as always historical fiction.

ruhroh.. double scary. I'm not with you on the rum thing.. although Cheeseburger in Paradise is a great place to spend and afternoon or evening boozing (especially with the crew of the windjammer)Jimmy Buffet's rum-soaked tunes make me way to explode. The last time I popped in my JB tape I ended up screaming in frustration.. I wonder now why I kept it..