Summer 2007 Reading Guide

There's nothing as relaxing as summer reading. You can bring old favorites on holiday or simply discover new authors by the backyard pool. One week it can be romance, the next adventure - with quick trips into the world of history, non- fiction or mystery. Any page turner will do during these kick back and chill times.

The best part about summer reading is rediscovering the classics. Novels read twenty years ago seem to take on a different spin as we age. We may identify with the characters more or better understand the themes thanks to experience. Most classics are heavy reads, suited more to a winter's night than a summer's day. This is not true in the case of one of my favorites, George Eliot's Middlemarch (Penguin Classics). This is an epic book but a page turner. It may have some obscure references such as the Corn Laws for example but get beyond those and it's still a brightly woven tale. Read it and fall once more for Dorothea Ladislaw and her fellow neighbors. Jane Austen's novels are always fun to revisit , especially Pride and Prejudice and Emma (both published by PenguinUSA). Sense and Sensibility (Penguin Classics) is another book to bring along on holiday. Get lost in the Dashwood sisters' stormy affairs of the heart as a summer rain pours on.

If you're longing to join in on the pirate craze, then spend time in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (Penguin Classic) Read it on the beach for the whole effect of being at sea. You'll have the smell of the ocean and the squawk of the gulls to add to this fascinating swashbuckler. Beats sitting in a stuffy movie theater eating stale popcorn and watching Johnny Depp overact . Another fun adventure read is Jonathan's Swift's Gulliver's Travels (Penguin Classics). Readers can follow Lemuel Gulliver in his travels to fantastical lands Other classic adventures are Jules Verne's Around The World in Eighty Days and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, (both published by Penguin Books)

For a more updated reading crack open Peter Benchley's Jaws and The Deep (RandomHouse), both fun suspenseful reads that may give you pause about taking a dip in any body of water. Any Jackie Collins book, new or old is good, full of dirt and glitz. Her latest , Drop Dead Beautiful (St Martin's Press) is the latest installment on character Lucky Santangelo. If her life doesn't appeal to you then get your hands on another Collins classic , Hollywood Wives. (also published by St Martin's Press) A more modern updated version is the sharply funny and bitingly true The Starter Wife (Simon and Schuster) by Gigi Levangie Grazer . If you want a softer version of chick lit then buy Fiona Neill's The Secret Life Of A Slummy Mummy (Riverhead Books, division of Penguin Press) Think Bridget Jones now messily married and dealing with overbearing class mums. Another beach or pool side read is Lori Culwell's Hollywood Carwash (IUNIVERSE) based on a certain TV to movie actress and her crazy, controlling Hollywood superstar husband. Romance genre fans will have a field this summer 2007. The novelist Jayne Ann Krentz has two books out under her name and her penname, Amanda Quick. Both, deal with the mysterious and deadly Arcane society They are White Lies and Second Sight ( both from Putnam Publishing). Sabrina Jeffries scores again with Beware A Scot's Revenge (Pocket Books) , the latest in her School For Heiresses series. It takes readers into the Scottish highlands with a feisty heiress and her wild, brawny hero. Another romance novelist, Tracy Anne Warren has scored a hit with the vastly entertaining The Wedding Trap (Ballentine Books) It's the final in the her trilogy u featuring the wild Brantford twins and their bluestocking friend, Eliza. Other romance novelists worth picking up are Victoria Alexander and Jane Feather. Any of their works are perfect escapes on a long , hot Saturday afternoon.

Mysteries are another fun genre to read while on vacation. If you like traditional then go for any of the Agatha Christies. It's a great to revisit St Mary Mead and the doings of its 'most famous sleuth. Miss Jane Marple. If she proves to be too cozy then try any of the Hercule Poirot mysteries for exotic locales and colorful characters. Another fun mystery series are the Richard Jury books written by Martha Grimes. These are masterfully written books dealing with the Scotland Yard superintendent and his whimsical and often wacky group of friends and acquaintances. These are quick and fun reads with endings that are downright surprising.

Autobiographies play a big part of this summer's reading list. For pure vitriolic he said/ she said dirt read former New Jersey governor. Jim McGreevey's The Confession (Regan Books) and his ex wife Dina Matos McGreevey's Silent Partner : A Memoir Of My Marriage (Hyperion). Both are scandalous tell alls of a man hell bent on power no matter whose lives he trampled and the woman he trampled. On a somewhat gentler note , there is Tina Brown's The Diana Chronicles (Doubleday)which fuels our fascination with the late princess. For a more interesting royal read go to Charles Beauclerk's Nell Gwynn: Mistress to a King (Atlantic Monthly). This is a witty and insightful look at the author's ancestors; the famous Restoration actress Nell Gwynn and her love , Charles II. It's a great period piece that will spur the imagination on a steamy summer night.

This is the season to get lost in a good book. You can either rediscover the classics or get lost in a new author. Bring fiction to the beach and non-fiction on the plane. Just make sure there's a page turner at your side this summer 2007.