Reads For Sunning
If you're looking for a beach book to curl up with this summer, The Early Show has compiled a list of good reads with a little something for everyone.
John Searles, the senior book editor for Cosmopolitan magazine, shared his picks with Early Show Co-Anchor Jane Clayson.
When asked what a good summer book is, Searles replies, "To me, a great summer book is one that you just lose yourself in and just can't put down. You have to get to that last page and hopefully it leaves you changed in some way when you finish. Or it's just a complete escape."
His first pick is Getting Over It by Anna Maxted.
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"This book will appeal to the people who love Bridget Jones' Diary," he says. "But it also stands alone, on its own....The main character deals with her father's death," he adds, noting it's written in a funny, lively style while dealing with serious issues.
Another pick is Half a Heart by Rosellen Brown, who also wrote Before and After.
"Rosellen Brown tends to write these domestic novels that deal with larger societal issues," Searles says amid praise of her novel. "This deals with racism as well as mother-daughter relationships. It's about a woman who's a former civil rights activist who reconnects with longlost daughter who she had in the '60s."
He also suggests Janet Fitch's first novel, White Oleander.
"She hit the jackpot when Oprah picked her last year," Searles says, noting the book is now out in paperback. "It's beautifully written, a compelling story about a young girl whose mother commits a crime and is sent off to prison. This girl is then sent to a series of foster homes and learns some valuable life lessons."
In the mystery and thriller category, he suggests
"This one is a complete page turner,...about a woman who is a speechwriter for the governor of New York, and she begins to receive these threatening phone calls," Searles says. "The threats persist, and the governor is shot. So she flees for a small town in Maine, only to find herself in greater danger."
Hot Six is part of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series about a
female bounty hunter.
"She's chasing after her former mentor who's now a soldier of fortune. What I like about the voice in her books is she doesn't take herself too seriously. It's gripping but also very humorous," Searles says.
In the nonfiction category is public radio contributor David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day, derived from his attempt to learn French when he moves to France with his lover. The book just hit The New York Times bestseller list.
"He has a sort of dictator of a teacher who is pretty vicious every time he butchers the language," Searles explains. "He comes out with phrases like, 'Me talk pretty one day.' And he tries to explain the concept of the Easter bunny to the people in his class, who have no idea what he's talking about. So it's actually very, very funny."
His last two picks are World War II books. ("Which basically surprised me," Searles says. "It's not a topic I'm normally interested in.")
Duty: A Father, A Son and the Man Who Won the War is by Bob Greene, a Chicago Tribune columnist, about his relationship with Paul Tibbetts, the man who flew the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima.
He tries to explain to the younger generation what World War II is all about and what his father sacrificed.
The last one is Flags of our Father by James Bradley.
"It's about the famous photograph of the flag raising at Iwo Jima, and he just does a bio on each man," Searles says.