Books: Essential summer reads
If mass-market fiction isn't your bag, check out the new title from historian extraordinaire Antony Beevor, a collection of Michelle Obama's words of wisdom and an eclectic mix of heroes and heroines, all with their own stories to tell.
Here are just a few of the books on offer which may end up in your suitcase:
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FOR HER
:: Girl Friday by Jane Green (Michael Joseph, £16.99).
This is more mum-lit than chick-lit, as it centres on a divorced mother who takes a job as an assistant to a reclusive novelist, uncovering a secret that he has been hiding for years. If you can't manage a weighty hardback, look out for the newly-published paperback edition of her previous book, The Beach House.
:: Rescue Me: My Life With Battersea Dogs by Melissa Wareham (Ebury, July 16, £12.99).
Fascinating stories about neglected pooches and their owners told by a former manager at the famous dogs' home, who has become a familiar face on TV shows such as Pet Rescue.
:: Starting Over by Tony Parsons (HarperCollins, Aug 6, £12.99).
After initial success with Man And Boy, Parsons's novels are a favourite with the ladies and this will be no different. It centres on a 42-year-old man who has a heart attack and is given the heart of a 19-year-old. Suddenly everything changes, as he becomes a friend to his teenage children. But he also finds that being young isn't all it's cracked up to be.
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FOR HIM
Car Fever: Dispatches From Behind The Wheel by James May (Hodder, Aug 20, £18.99).
If you're having a late summer break you may take 'Captain Slow' with you - here he airs opinions of everything from cars to personalised number plates, service stations and the trials and tribulations of modern man. A good old rant of a read.
:: Mercenary by Duncan Falconer (Sphere, £10).
Action-packed fictional tale featuring Special Services operative Stratton, who becomes unwittingly involved in a local rebel uprising in Central America. The author is an ex-member of the SBS (Special Boat Service) so should know what he's talking about when it comes to action.
:: The Dangerous Book Of Heroes by Conn and David Iggulden (HarperCollins, £20).
This is a great dip-in, dip-out read, with tales of heroes who fought for justice, adventurers and discoverers. Find out how Hillary and Tenzing scaled the highest peak in the world, about the epic journeys of Captain Cook and the bravery of soldiers and seamen including Horatio Nelson and the 'Unknown Warrior'.
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THRILLERS
:: Roadside Crosses by Jeffery Deaver (Hodder, Jul 23, £18.99).
Deaver is famous for his fast-moving plots and twists and turns, and this latest novel is no different. It finds special agent Kathryn Dance, a specialist in body language, on the trail of a serial murderer who leaves a cross on the side of the road as a warning of his next attack.
:: The Lovers by John Connolly (Hodder, Jul 9, £17.99).
New Charlie Parker novel, in which he investigates a case close to home centring on his father, a New York policeman, who killed a young couple and then committed suicide without explanation.
:: Ravens by George Dawes Green (Sphere, Jul 6, £12.99).
Fourteen years after the publication of The Juror, which was made into a film starring Demi Moore and Alec Baldwin, this author returns with a tale about a couple of petty criminals in the Deep South who take hostage a family which has won a huge amount on the lottery, and hatch a plan to extort half the prize.
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HISTORICAL
:: The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (Simon & Schuster, Aug 18).
From the best-selling author of The Other Anne Boleyn comes the first in a new series, The Cousins' War, set amid the tumult and intrigue of The War of the Roses. The author brings this family drama to colourful life through its women, beginning with the story of Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen, a common woman who ascends to royalty by virtue of her beauty and whose two sons become the central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the Princes in the Tower whose fate remains unknown to this day.
:: Bones Of The Hills by Conn Iggulden (HarperCollins, £7.99).
The paperback version of the third in this epic Conqueror series is worth packing in your suitcase. Anyone who has read Wolf Of The Plains and Lords Of The Bow will not want to miss the third instalment following the story of one of the most powerful figures in history, Genghis Khan. Historical fiction at its best.
:: D-Day by Antony Beevor (Viking, £25).
It's a bit on the pricey side but if you're feeling flush, Antony Beevor's account of the battle for Normandy is worth its weight in gold. Making use of overlooked and new material from more than 30 archives, his research is impeccable and he has used reports, diaries, letters and American combat historian interviews conducted just after the action to describe what actually happened on the ground.
BIOGRAPHY
:: High Society: Grace Kelly And Hollywood by Donald Spoto (Hutchinson, £18.99).
The celebrated biographer of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe goes through unpublished taped interviews to compile this detailed account of his friend, the late actress and royal. It's published to coincide with the 80th anniversary of her birth.
:: Michelle Obama: In Her Own Words by Lisa Rogak (Virgin, £7.99).
She's one glamorous First Lady, but Michelle Obama has shown she's not just eye candy among American circles. This collection of her quotations is drawn from a range of sources including press interviews, speeches and her own writing, and covers everything from racism and war to motherhood.
:: My World In Motion by Jo Whiley (Virgin, £18.99).
Radio One DJ Jo Whiley is a well-known voice, but now fans can go behind the radio mic to find out the story of how she became a music industry insider, from her musical epiphany (being carried over the crowd at a Clash concert) to when she became friends with John Peel at Glastonbury and interviewed Bono. She reveals what it's like to be a private person in a very public world.
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PICK OF THE PAPERBACKS
Feast your eyes on some of the reads you might have missed in hardback. There's Fern Britten's autobiography (Penguin, £7.99) and Jackie Collins's Married Lovers (Pocket, £7.99) – another steamy page-turner from the queen of passion and power. Sheila Hancock's second book, Just Me (Bloomsbury, £7.99), focuses on her life without John Thaw, while Jodi Picoult's Songs Of The Humpback Whale (Hodder, £7.99) is another likely chart-topper.
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HANNAH STEPHENSON
Press Association
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