One hesitates to classify Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben Winters as a beach read, but it's good fun for a lazy summer day nonetheless.

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben Winters

“Sir John himself, being vastly experienced in the ways of the hateful denizens of the inky deep, assured her that while she and her family lived on his island every possible measure of security would be offered to them. He urged her to come with her daughters to Deadwind Island, the place of his own residence, from whence she could judge for herself whether Barton Cottage–as the tiny, wind-rattled shack on Pestilence Isle was called–could be made comfortable to her. Well, not comfortable, he continued, given the amount of mosquitoes that swarmed the house at all hours, comfort was not really feasible. But she could judge whether it could be made tolerable. Despite this cavil, Sir John seemed really anxious to accommodate them; the whole of his letter, though composed in the crabbed, spidery script of a man used to composing treasure maps and desperate pleas for help rather than warm invitations to distant kin, was written in a most friendly style.”

– From Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben Winters

Related Links:

• Great quotes from somewhere in the middle of a book: The Jane Austen Edition (BostonWriters)