Summer reads for the beach, the pool or an easy chair
By Susan Nienow CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The recent hot weather has been a good excuse to indulge in a good book while enjoying the air conditioning.

Those hazy, lazy days of summer bring a picture of reading and snoozing in a hammock in the shade of a grand old oak. But if you have to squeeze reading between driving the boys to soccer camp and waiting at the hair salon while the stylist figures out how to cut the girls' hair so it doesn't hang in their eyes, here are recommendations for everything from beach reads to books that haunt you long after you've finished the last page.

Tom Shepley, publications and promotions manager for the Chesterfield County Public Library, did some research and consulted library staff to come up with suggestions for all readers. But if you are looking for a specific setting or type of character - a novel that takes place on the mid-Atlantic coast and has a female detective, for example - library staff is trained to locate it.

Teen books

Teens may have book lists to work through for specific classes before September, and both the libraries and the schools have suggested reading lists. Some beach reads for teens include "Girl at Sea" by Maureen Johnson and "Summer Ball" by Mike Lupica, the sequel to "Travel Team." For teens who want grittier fare, "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak and "Keturah and Lord Death" by Martine Leavitt are two possibilities. And novels that are examples of trends include "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling (who started that trend) and "Sealed with a Diss" by Lisi Harrison (part of the Clique series).

Some schools are participating in a Battle of the Books program, said John Sims, who owns The Cracked Book with his wife, Kim.

"It seems that's all the kids are looking for," said Sims.

Beach books

Mention beach books and Martha Graydon, co-owner of The Book Exchange, has more than a few suggestions. Anything by Nora Roberts is popular, and Jodi Picolt is one of the hottest authors with her family dramas. The contemporary romance is always a favorite, and leading the favorite authors' list are Jane Green and Sophie Kinsella.

The shop has a "Staff Favorites" rack, and those books tend toward lighter reading. A recent customer was looking for number 11 of the Janet Evanovitch books, snatching up a hardback version when she discovered the paperbacks were gone. "Thanks to Oprah, people are going back to the classics," Graydon observed.

Vampire love stories are popular now such as those by Laurell Hamilton. Mysteries about specific things like ice skating, dogs, cats, cooking and even tea shops are in demand, too. Many of the strictly romance authors have evolved to romantic suspense now, like Nora Roberts.

For more light reads, check out "Devil May Cry" by Sherrilyn Kenyon, and "Shoe Addicts Anonymous" and "The Heart Shaped Box" by Joe Hill, suggested Shepley.

Serious reading

This category is still good reading, but not in the "race through it in a few hours" category. "A Thousand Splendid Suns" is a favorite follow-up novel of Khaled Husseini, author of "The Kite Runner." "Peony in Love" by Lisa See and "The Camel Bookmobile" by Masha Hamilton are two additional suggestions.

The classics are always good choices for this category.

Nonfiction books

Typically, men prefer nonfiction books to fiction, Sims pointed out. Shepley indicated that the following nonfiction books are popular: "F5: Devastation, Survival, and the Most Violent Tornado Outbreak of the 20th Century" by Mark Levine, "When a Crocodile Eats the Sun" by Peter Godwin and "Dishwasher" by Pete Jordan.