Literary escapes

Yeah, it’s hot. But it’s good heat, yeah? And what would you be holding in your hands as you sit underneath a beach umbrella, No. 45 sun block slathered over your body and a cold drink nearby?

Larry O’Neal, the main book guy at the Valley Hastings, opts for the obvious. “I’ve always given (James) Michener’s ‘Hawaii’ to people when they go there,” he says. “It’s a long read (Fawcett, 1,056 pages, $7.99 paper), but there’s so much history they really appreciate it.”

Chris O’Harra, the intrepid reader, co-founder and owner of Auntie’s Bookstore, picks a different state to visit each year. One of her favorites: Georgia. “With Savannah, you’d probably go with ‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’ (Vintage, 400 pages, $14.95 paper) by John Berendt,” she says. “It would be perfect to match Savannah with the book. It would just bring it to life.”

“I could say that I would tackle ‘Gone with the Wind,’ ” O’Harra adds, referring to the Margaret Mitchell classic featuring Southern belle Scarlett O’Hara (Warner Books, 1,024 pages, $7.99 paper). “But I don’t think that I would. I mean, her name might be O’Hara, but it’s still not my favorite book.”

If your summer vacation plans include traveling to Washington, D.C., the staff of the Whitman County Library in Colfax has several recommendations. Popular authors whose books are set in D.C. would include Vince Flynn (“Transfer of Power”; Pocket Star, 592 pages, $7.99 paper) and Margaret Truman, their favorite being “Murder at the Library of Congress” (Fawcett, 320 pages, $6.99 paper). “Of course, there are the nonfiction titles such as ‘All the President’s Men’ (by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein; Simon & Schuster, 352 pages, $14 paper) and ‘American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nation’s Drive to End Welfare’ (by Jason DeParle; Penguin, 432 pages, $16 paper),” library director Kristie Kirkpatrick e-mailed. “And if you’re visiting the Holocaust Museum, try ‘Night’ (Hill and Wang, 144 pages, $9 paper) by Elie Wiesel or ‘Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl’ (Bantam, 304 pages, $5.99 paper).”

All intrepid explorers have had what this trip takes: courage.

So about the seventh time that your 7-year-old daughter wants to ride the Pirates of the Caribbean, hoping to see Johnny Depp, and you find yourself standing in that long line, think of the book waiting back at the hotel: Caroline Alexander’s “The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition” (Knopf, 224 pages, $29.95).

Though a tad expensive, this oversize study of British explorer Ernest Shackleton’s three-year sojourn to Antarctica is the recommended summer-read by Philip Stark, a University of California, Berkeley, statistics professor. As Starks says on the university Web site, “The spectacular photographs, taken by Frank Hurley, are from glass plates that also survived the expedition, miraculously.”

By the way, according to the Disneyland Web site http://disneyland.disney.go.com, Pirates of the Caribbean will be closed until June 26. But there’s always the Haunted Mansion.

Yes, folks, there are beaches on the East Coast. Especially if you go south, down Carolina way.

So here’s the perfect vacation read for, say, that trek to Kitty Hawk: Pat Conroy’s “The Prince of Tides” (Bantam, 672 pages, $7.99 paper). Conroy’s favorite subject, his dysfunctional family – see “The Great Santini” (Bantam, 448 pages, $7.99) and “Beach Music” (Bantam, 816 pages, $7.99) – is likely to make your life seem downright boring by comparison. Maybe Conroy should read Dr. Phil, too.

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See those sails out there on the water? Well, since Patrick O’Brian died in 2000, fans of sailing adventure have mourned his passing by reading, and rereading, his 20 Aubrey/Maturin books, which begin with “Master and Commander” (W.W. Norton, 411 pages, $13.95 paper). Jay Worrall, while not exactly a substitute, works in the same field. And his two books so far, “Sails on the Horizon” (Random House, 304 pages, $12.95 paper) and “Any Approaching Enemy” (Random House, 288 pages, $24.95), both novels of the British navy during the Napoleonic Wars, are a good start. His protagonist, Capt. Charles Edgemont, is a fearless ocean warrior in love with a spirited Quaker – and committed pacifist – named Penelope Brown. The unlikely romantic combination makes more sparks than the fuse of an 18-pound cannon.

OK, repeat after me – New York is the greatest city in the world. Far from being intimidating, it’s invigorating. Still … in August? Crowded, hot and humid, New York is worth visiting only if you spend all your time in an air-conditioned limo. You’d have to be crazy to do otherwise. Which is why you might want to pick up something written by Dr. Phil McGraw. A favorite of Oprah’s, Dr. Phil offers up his folksy wisdom in ways that are as readable as they are paternal. Try preparing for the Big Apple by reading “Family First: Your Step-by-Step Plan for Creating a Phenomenal Family” (Free Press, 304 pages, $15 paper). Or for a more overall approach, try “Life Strategies: Doing What Works, Doing What Matters” (Hyperion Press, 282 pages, $13.95 paper).

Sometimes you don’t go anywhere. Sometimes people come visit you. And they aren’t always welcomed. Your sister’s newest boyfriend, for example, the one whose politics are too (choose one: liberal, conservative, libertarian or apathetic) for you.

Well, Susan Stamberg of National Public Radio talked to three owners of independent bookstores and the staff of the Birmingham, Ala., store Alabama Booksmith came up with the perfect choice: David Sedaris’ “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim” (Back Bay Books, 272 pages, $14.95 paper). You may not want him to visit your own home, but Sedaris’ younger brother – known affectionately as “The Rooster” – causes the crowds at the store to “go wild” whenever Sedaris mentions his name. And if there was a book among those listed here that should be listened to, instead of read, this is the one. The humor of the audio CD (Time Warner Books, three discs, $31.98 but available in used editions and online for half that) is heightened by Sedaris’ distinctive voice.

Earlee Young, a bookseller at the Coeur d’Alene Borders Books, has a recommendation for those parents thinking of doing the park experience.

“I’m thinking Yellowstone,” Young says, “because it’s so close to us. And I’m thinking that would be a wonderful direction to go.”

Her suggestion: Connie and Peter Roop’s “Going to Yellowstone” (Farcountry Press, 48 pages, $12.95 paper) a book designed for children 8-13 as a resource guide about our first national park.

“It’s got chapters on geology, Native Americans, explorers, wildlife, historic structures, landmarks,” Young says. “And it came out in March 2005, so it’s a current release.”

Say you just have to go and visit those relatives in Miles City. Greg Delzer, owner of Spokane’s Defunct Books, offers up some travelogues. But not just any travel stories: “Generally the ones I really like … involve not just physical journeys but life journeys or some sort of combination thereof.” He recommends three: “Blue Highways: A Journey into America” (Back Bay Books, 448 pages, $15.95) by William Least Heat-Moon, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” (HarperTorch, 560 pages, $7.99 paper) by Robert M. Pirsig and “Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein’s Brain” (Dial Press, 224 pages, $10 paper) by Michael Paterniti. Of course, if you’re driving, and you go anywhere near the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, 65 miles southeast of Billings, you might want to pop a CD of Sarah Vowell’s book “Assassination Vacation” (Simon & Schuster, two discs, $29.95) into your car player. A bizarrely funny look at death, it might put you in the mood.