Top Ten Tuesday: Books for your Beach Bag

Gosh, I had to take my car in to get the brakes fixed this morning, and almost forgot it was Tuesday!  This week's topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted as always by The Broke and the Bookish) is "Top Ten Books That Should Be In Your Beach Bag" OR "Top Ten Books That WILL Be In Your Beach Bag".  I'll be talking about my summer reading list in a couple of weeks, so instead I'll do books that SHOULD be in your beach bag.  I've said this before, but I don't really do "beach reads".  On my last beach vacation, I lay in the sun reading Bernhard Schlink's The Reader.  Still, I appreciate that people like to read something not so heavy when the sun is shining.  My top qualities for a recommended beach book would be: 1) fast-moving (not something where you read each page twice); 2) fun or funny; 3) not likely to make you weep.  With all that said:

1)  What Alice Forgot by Kate Moriarty:  I actually found this book quite thought-provoking, but Alice's character was hilarious and it was not heavy enough to leave me in a mess, so probably a good beach read.

2)  Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen:  I read this on my last vacation too.  It's a bit ridiculous at times, but a fun read.  I mean, there are circus elephants in it, what's not to love?

3)  The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde:  So silly and fun.

4)  Georgiana Darcy's Diary by Anna Elliott:  Obviously this pales in comparison to Austen herself, but it's a light-hearted return to my beloved Pemberley, and it made me smile a lot.

5)  Attachments by Rainbow Rowell:  Beth and Jennifer's emails made me laugh out loud, and this is a quick read for a few days at the beach.

6)  Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella:  At first, I didn't like this book and found Becky annoying, but she did grow on me, and this is a fun, light read for summer.

7)  To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis:  Punting!  Mediums!  Time travel!  A fun read guaranteed to make you laugh at least once.

8)  The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher:  A bit heavier than some of the above, but a real epic, romantic read.

9)  Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen:  A good holiday read because a) it takes place during a holiday; b) the satire is hilarious; c) there's a happy ending (I feel like that's not a spoiler since it's Austen).

10) Austenland by Shannon Hale:  Okay, I'm cheating as I haven't actually read this book (though I saw the movie), but it seems like a great beach read for the ultimate Austen afficionado.