Features

Summer Between The Lines

A A A Comments By STEVE LOWERY Thursday, May 19 2005

People like to read during the summer, don't they? Sure, why not? We asked Michelle Choi, store manager at Book Soup in South Coast Plaza, what those people will be reading, or what they might think about reading, or what she might suggest they read, or what they call that stuff chicks read.

Sowhatareyoustockingforthesummer?
I have a big order coming in for TheHotKidby Elmore Leonard. And a lot of people are asking for YOU:TheOwner'sManual,a self-help book. What else? What else? Oh, there's actually a book called TheBeachBook.It looks pretty summery on the cover, but it's a pretty legitimate anthology. (All stories relate somehow to the beach. Authors include Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Gina Berriault, Roald Dahl and Jeffrey Eugenides.) For headier stuff, Ian McEwan's Saturdayis still pretty popular, and there's ExtremelyLoudandIncrediblyCloseby Jonathan Safran Foer.

There'sthatgenreofbooks,Idon'tknowwhatyou'dcallit,they'rewomen'sbooks,usuallyprettyfunny.KindagotstartedwithBridgetJones'sDiaryandSexandtheCity.Whatdotheycall...
Chick Lit.

What?
They call it Chick Lit. They're those books, usually with pink or red covers, usually with a picture of a shopping bag or woman's head on them.

Aretheystillprettypopular?
Yeah, their popularity is kinda continuing. There was talk that they were going to try and do the same thing with men, but it's never happened.

Inoticedearlieryousaidthatabooklooked"summery"butwasactuallyprettylegitimate.Doyoubuyintothisideathatbeachreadingmeanslightweightreading?
I don't know. It may just be a stereotype; on the other hand, I could understand if someone is going to be at the beach, not wanting to get depressed.

Whatdoyoureadatthebeach?
Me? I really don't go to the beach, not unless friends come into town, and then I'd be talking to them at the beach.

Okay,butifthosefriendsaskedyoutorecommendabookforthematthebeach,whatwouldyoutellthem?
Well, this isn't necessarily a beach book, but MotherlessBrooklynby Jonathan Lethem, a novel book about a detective with Tourette's investigating a murder. I'd also suggest Runaway,a collection of short stories by Alice Munro. I think short-story collections are great for the beach because you can just kinda read one or two.