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Comment by compscistd | Hacker News Reader

What’s something you’d recommend to a friend as a beach read?

The Book of Wonder is a series of weird short stories, some of them gloomy and pessimistic but many with a thread of dark humor. "Chu-bu and Sheemish" is one of my all-time favorite short stories - it's creative and hilarious. [1]

I also liked A Voyage to Arcturus, which has become a modern cult classic. It's probably my favorite book I've read for SE, though it might be a little heavy for a "beach read." [2]

P. G. Wodehouse is always a good bet for lighter reading. [3]

The Martian books are also light swashbuckling sci-fi. [4]

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is considered to be one of the best murder mysteries ever written. [5]

[1] https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/lord-dunsany/the-book-of-w...

[2] https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/david-lindsay/a-voyage-to-...

[3] https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/p-g-wodehouse

[4] https://standardebooks.org/collections/martian

[5] https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/agatha-christie/the-murder...

Thanks a lot for doing this! I just downloaded a PG Wodehouse book on the iPad and I am thoroughly impressed by the quality of the book! I read PG's books when I was young. I used to borrow them from a local library so I don't own any of them.

The first book I downloaded from standard ebooks was a PG Wodehouse book. I’d never read him and figured I’d give both him and the service a try. Neither disappointed.

Along with Wodehouse, I would also suggest E F Benson.

I’ll second Alex’s recommendations of P. G. Wodehouse (especially Jeeves Stories) and Agatha Christie.

A personal favorite of mine is Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days: https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/jules-verne/around-the-wor...

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