The browser: Books for summer pleasure

It's only May, but it's never too soon to start making a pile of guilty-pleasure books for your summer vacation. Here are some early recommendations -- starring the Republican National Convention, a Canadian serial killer, a Birkin bag procurer, Civil War doctors, a talking dog and more -- from our Star Tribune staff bookworms.

PHANTOM PREY

by John Sandford (Putnam, 384 pages, $26.95).

Lucas Davenport, Sandford's ace in the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, has his hands full in this 18th "Prey" novel. His wife asks him to look into the apparent murder/disappearance of a friend's daughter. Other seemingly related killings emerge in the Twin Cities Goth community. On the side, Davenport is staking out the apartment of the (sexy, of course) wife of a mobster on the lam, hoping to catch him. And he's on the security committee for the upcoming Republican National Convention in St. Paul. (We'll know in just a few months whether the capital becomes "toast," with protesters running amok, as Davenport fears.) The central plot wears a little thin in the believability department, especially the multilayered portrayal of the mother of the missing woman. But, hey, the heart of this novel is Davenport, who is his usual opinionated, engaging self as he roams from Uptown to Dinkytown, from Sunfish Lake to Highland Park, solving the crimes.

STEVE RIEL, Nation and World editor

THE HOST

by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown, 624 pages, $25.99).

Don't like science fiction? Don't let that keep you away from "The Host." Think of it as science fiction "lite" or, more accurately, as an alien love story. It's quite a fun read. Meyer, a hit among teens with her "Twilight" vampire trilogy, hopes to snare adult readers with this futuristic story of devotion and redemption. Earth has been taken over by parasitic souls who attach themselves to human bodies. Their society is a utopia: Souls live in peace. Everything is shared so there is no need for money. There is no discomfort because medicine has advanced to the point where even the worst ailment is easily healed. Only one thing stands in the way of a perfect society: the human resisters who live in hiding and plot to reclaim their planet. The story follows the soul Wanderer, who is implanted in the body of Melanie Stryder, one of the resisters. Only problem is, Melanie refuses to surrender her body. She fears for the safety of her younger brother, Jamie, and her lover, Jared. Her memories lead Wanderer to their hidey-hole. Wanderer gains the trust of the band of humans and yearns to return the shared body to Melanie. Will that require her ultimate sacrifice? If you can get past the weirdness of two personalities sharing one body, you'll find this novel engaging. Then pass it along to teen Meyer fans; they'll eat it up.

JUDY ROMANOWICH SMITH, news designer

THE CALLING

by Inger Wolfe (Harcourt, 384 pages, $24).

In author Inger Wolfe's new novel, "The Calling," Hazel Micallef, a top cop in her small Canadian community, is nearing retirement with the baggage of a person who's lived an honest if damaged life. The story opens with a chilling murder, perpetrated on an aged and terminally ill victim. We follow Micallef and her staff as they uncover similarly heinous crime scenes, finding little to go on as they race to catch the creepy perp, who performs macabre ministrations on his victims. While the book contains plenty of classic murder-mystery suspense, it felt a bit predictable. I couldn't help comparing it to an old episode of "Murder She Wrote," with sunshiny octogenarians alongside characters in failing health, nearing retirement and soured on the world. As the hunt for the serial killer ramps up, the story becomes more urgent and personal for Micallef, and she becomes a more sympathetic and complex character. "The Calling" is still a solid beach read, particularly for boomers and beyond. I'll leave it to other readers to decipher the mystery of who writer Inger Wolfe is; the book jacket offers only that the name is a pseudonym for a "prominent North American literary novelist."

MARY ELLEN SMITH, news assistant/calendar writer

THE DISAGREEMENT

by Nick Taylor (Simon & Schuster, 360 pages, $24.95).

John Alan Muro, 16, of Lynchburg, Va., dreams of attending medical school in Philadelphia. The problem is that it's April 1861, and Pennsylvania is in another country -- one, moreover, that is about to launch an invasion of his state. Sent by his father, who owns a seemingly prosperous clothing mill, to study medicine at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Muro makes the best of what he thinks is a bad situation. It gets worse. This wonderfully nuanced story of human strengths and foibles is not your typical retelling of Civil War-era medicine, ineffective as it was, but rather a sensitive look at a young man's accelerated journey to adulthood. Along the way we see how Confederate surgeons dealt with dwindling stocks of even the most basic medicines, and how they used natural compounds to do the best they could for their patients -- even if they were on the other side. In his debut, Taylor captures the manners, mores and language of the era, sweeping the reader back in time.

MICHAEL J. BONAFIELD, news copy editor

LOVE THE ONE YOU'RE WITH

by Emily Giffin (St. Martin's Press, 342 pages, $24.95).

Ellen Dempsey Graham has an adorable lawyer-husband, a sassy older sister, a charming best friend and a successful career as a freelance photographer in New York. Everything is swell, until one day on a rain-slick New York street, she bumps into Leo. Her first real, intense love. Dark, moody, sexy. The man who dumped her. The man she never really got over. And, it turns out, the man who never really got over her. Their chance meeting and a subsequent magazine assignment on which they collaborate dredge up feelings Ellen thought she'd squelched and also bring up questions about her still-new marriage -- interminable questions, it sometimes seems. Internal conversation is standard in chick lit -- and "Love the One You're With," Giffin's fourth novel, is definitely of that genre. Giffin's characters are all quite likable -- even dark and moody Leo -- but at times you may want to tell Ellen, "OK, enough introspection already!" This book is full of fun New York details and musings on the human condition that are more insightful than many books in this genre -- but it could be just as good at about half the length.

SHERRI HILDEBRANDT, news copy editor

BRINGING HOME THE BIRKIN: MY LIFE IN HOT PURSUIT OF THE WORLD'S MOST COVETED HANDBAG

by Michael Tonello (William Morrow, 272 pages, $25.95).

This fashionable memoir recounts a fascinating chapter in the life of a label lover, commercial photography beautician and businessman who found himself unexpectedly jobless days after moving to Barcelona, Spain. Starting with his old Polo Ralph Lauren cashmere scarf and a can-do attitude, the sassy and resourceful Tonello built a very lucrative eBay resale business from his apartment, specializing in Hermès scarves and the French luxury purveyor's highly desired Birkin bag. Tonello used his considerable wit and charm to get around the Birkin's two-year waiting list for such well-heeled clients as songwriter Carole Bayer Sager and some he knew only by e-mail address. Not only did he travel the world with style in pursuit of rare (and terribly expensive) Hermès items, but he found true love, intrigue -- and a lot of handbags. It's hard not to be swept up in his delightful "one-man Birkin Brigades."

MARCI SCHMITT, FEATURES LAYOUT EDITOR

THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN

by Garth Stein (HarperCollins, 321 pages, $34.95).

Dog owners almost always believe that their dogs have stories to tell -- lively, philosophical, even tortured stories. If only they could talk. Stein understands this. In his sentimental novel, a lab-terrier mix named Enzo tells the story of a grieving family that is nearly ripped apart by evil and controlling in-laws. Enzo is named after Italian race car legend Enzo Ferrari. Enzo the dog is a fan of Formula One racing, as is his revered master, Denny, who is struggling to make a living at it. Enzo loves the speed of racing, but appreciates the zen of the sport even more. In race cars, as in life, over-thinking and white-knuckling it can put you in a tailspin, or worse. Especially if it's raining. It's impossible not to love Enzo, with his flair for the dramatic and twisted canine humor. Though the story line is mawkish at times, you find yourself cheering for Enzo, who narrates the tale from his deathbed. Convinced he'll be reincarnated as a human in his next life, Enzo eagerly awaits his fate. It's hard not to believe.

JACKIE CROSBY, Business retail reporter

BELONG TO ME

by Marisa de los Santos (William Morrow, 390 pages, $24.95).

When Cornelia Brown makes her awkward transition from the city to the suburbs, she invites us along on her "fall from grace." Her clothes are wrong. Her hair is too short. She is a childless woman in a world of first-class schools and a remarkable teen named Dev who expresses his emotions in the language of Darwinian evolution and string theory. Her neighbor Piper has a Martha Stewart manicured life and a nails-on-the-chalkboard personality. Her new friend Lake is likeable but elusive. We fall in love with Cornelia and her husband, Teo, as they navigate a new landscape, along with grief, secrets, betrayal and the universal ache to love and belong. Marisa de los Santos' witty dialogue, profound characters and punch-in-the-stomach plot twist keep the book from becoming just a catty novel. We keep cheering for Cornelia as she's discovering who she is -- and who to trust.

HOLLY COLLIER, news copy editor