Redefining the summer beach book

The term "beach book" often refers to fluffy romances, chick lit, or chunky paperback thrillers, books whose plots you forget before you've even dusted the sand off your swimsuit. We've found some of those books for this summer book roundup, sure. Who doesn't occasionally seek out a read to take your mind off real life?

But not all beach books have to fit that narrow category. "Which Brings Me to You" is a lovely tome told in letters, and Elinor Lipman's "My Latest Grievance" is witty and genuine. Douglas Coupland's "JPod" isn't a worthy successor to his hilarious "Microserfs," but he remains the king of the perfectly placed pop-culture detail, and some of his rapid-fire writing is laugh-out-loud funny.

Looking for a book to scare you out of the water? Sure, "Jaws" kept a nation out of the oceans for at least a year, but "Natural Selection," a debut novel about flying killer manta rays (no, really) is gonna need a bigger boat. And the castaways on ABC's "Lost" may need to keep themselves occupied with the show's tie-in mystery, "Bad Twin," but the rest of us have access to better books.    —Gael Fashingbauer Cooper

Bite me
Bookstore shelves are packed with fish-out-of-water stories, but “Natural Selection” (Hyperion, $22) may be the first novel to take the metaphor literally.

Hyperion

Evolution, it seems, bites. That’s the premise behind this would-be thriller by first-time novelist Dave Freedman, as manta rays adapt to a dwindling food supply by growing to the size of hang gliders, sprouting razor-sharp teeth and learning to fly. In theory, the idea of benign creatures bursting out of their environment and developing a taste for human blood has plenty of potential, but the tension simply isn’t there. Because Freedman doesn’t impart the rays with even a semblance of a personality, they resonate about as much as a shark riding a bike or a goldfish driving a car. Scary? Not too. The human characters — a rag-tag group of scientists — aren’t much more multi-dimensional.

For a book about an airborne killing machine, the body count is remarkably low. Several sea-creatures-who-bite-folks beach-reads (including Peter Benchley’s “Jaws” and Steve Alten’s “MEG” novels) have done a far better job of creating nail-nibbling scenarios, a sense of suspenseful fun and more fully-realized characters. If only “Natural Selection” had found a way to evolve into a more compelling read.     —Brian Bellmont

The 'Lost' book
"Bad Twin" (Hyperion, $22), attributed to fictional author Gary Troup, was written for one purpose: Hyperion and ABC are both owned by Disney, and to tie in with ABC's plane-crash drama "Lost," Hyperion put out this slim detective story. The book has been referred to on the show several times — Troup has been written into the script as one of the dead passengers, and con-man character Sawyer has been seen reading the discovered manuscript, eager to find out "whodunnit."

Hyperion

Indeed, if you're stuck on a deserted island without a library, "Bad Twin" might be a good distraction. Of course, the side of a cereal box might be a good distraction. In our world, there are hundreds of mystery novels that are better than the thinly plotted "Bad Twin." Scruffy detective Paul Artisan is set on the trail of a missing twin who's the heir to a vast fortune. Artisan himself is every scrappy James Rockford-esque PI out there, the most interesting thing about him being that he shares an elderly dog with his elderly friend, retired professor Manny Weissman. Where most people might consult an encyclopedia, Paul consults Manny.

The case he's on isn't worth much discussion. Not only could Sawyer not figure out from the plot whodunnit, but it's so unguessable that the book uses the last 10 pages to explain everything that happened. "Lost" fanatics may want to borrow a copy just for the occasional dropped clues to the show's larger mystery — Artisan stops off accidentally at a Hanso Foundation office, John Locke is referred to, a stewardess is named Cindy, all tidbits from the show. The Widmore family, introduced in the "Lost" season finale, plays a prominent role in the book. But sooner or later, some "Lost" fanatic will compile the clues online, and even show devotees can skip "Bad Twin" entirely.    —Gael Fashingbauer Cooper

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