You are what you read. Forget asking people what their sign is. Just peer into their beach bags this summer and see what they're reading. It can tell you, well, volumes about who they are -- and whether it's worth striking up a conversation.
Thrill seeker "Breath," by Tim Winton (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). Atmospherics come at you full-steam in this dark, erotic coming-of-age novel about two teen surfer boys in Australia who gravitate toward risk. Loonie takes chances wherever he finds them. Bruce, the narrator, is less impulsive and more thoughtful. Recalling their adventures with the benefit of hindsight, he revisits their relationship with Sando, the older mentor who eggs them on to ever-bigger waves, and his American wife, Eva, who urges Bruce on in other ways.
Crime stopper "The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective," by Kate Summerscale (Bloomsbury). In crime annals, it's right up there with the Lindbergh trial or the mystery surrounding JonBenet Ramsey: In 1860, one of Scotland Yard's finest was sent to solve the murder of a little boy at an upscale address near London. It turned out Jack Whicher's hunch was right, and his footwork fed the public imagination as well as writers such as Charles Dickens. Sadly, failure to clinch the case in court upended Whicher's career.
Bookaholic "Books: A Memoir," by Larry McMurtry (Simon & Schuster, in stores July 8). McMurtry talks about his passion for used-book collecting and selling with the same detail and quirkiness that have made him famous as a novelist ("Lonesome Dove") and screenwriter ("Brokeback Mountain"). The Texan ran a used bookstore for years in Georgetown and still is in the book business in his hometown of Archer City. As he tells it, he is a rarity among booksellers: Not only does he write books, he actually reads them.
Foodie "Rosewater and Soda Bread: A Novel of Three Sisters, Two Countries and the Language of Food," by Marsha Mehran (Random House). Marjan, Bahar and Layla are back. The three Aminpour sisters, introduced in Mehran's fragrant first novel, "Pomegranate Soup," are still serving up Iranian food and lessons in multicultural understanding in the village of Ballinacroagh in Ireland's County Mayo. This time the story not only includes Persian recipes but an Irish one as well. Gormeh sabzi with currant soda bread, anyone?
Culture vulture "The Voice," by Thomas Quasthoff (Pantheon). Quasthoff sings like an angel. He's also armless and barely 4 feet tall. In this funny and moving memoir, the world-renowned baritone charts his rise from a Thalidomide victim to Grammy-winning concert soloist (mom, dad and brother Michael are given full credit). Most engaging is his wry take on the competitive world of classical music (he names names). Don't feel sorry for him. He doesn't.
History student "Peace," by Richard Bausch (Knopf). With the war in Iraq still occupying the headlines, this novella addresses a question on many of our minds: Can there be morality in war? Bausch's story doesn't supply a facile answer, but rather offers a spare and haunting meditation on the confusing and contradictory choices wars inflict on those who fight them. Set in Italy in the winter of 1944, it is the story of how one group of U.S. soldiers coped.
Humanitarian "Say You're One of Them," by Uwem Akpan (Little, Brown). This fierce story collection from a Nigerian-born Jesuit priest brings home Africa's most haunting tragedies in tales that take you from the streets of Nairobi to the Hutu-Tutsi genocide. These fictional tales are told through the eyes of children who may not understand what they're seeing. But you will. Raising awareness of some terrible situations, Akpan seems inspired by the biblical prophecy "A little child will lead them."
