[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/summer_readers_Titles.jpg” caption=”Pictured from left, Robin Tancredi, Helen Rankin, Barry Petrie, Tawn Marshall and Kim Thompson, (absent, Nick Marquis), show off their favourite summer reads. Photo credit: Chantall Van Raay”]Whether it's for a weeklong vacation on a beach up north or a quick lunch on a bench under a tree, everyone needs a few good books to get them through the summer. And staff in McMaster's Titles bookstore have some suggestions to help you pick the right summer read.

Cashier supervisor Kim Thompson admits that when it comes to reading, her first love is fantasy. “I have the latest Harry Potter, but I'm saving it for my vacation.”

However, she will read just about anything and as host of the bookstore reading circle is reading a lot of books she wouldn't normally pick off the shelf. “Right now, we're reading Creation Myths by Clare Brown. It tells the story of how seven babies came into the world. All of the characters are interconnected. It's very lighthearted – the typical summer read.”

The reading circle meets on the first or second Wednesday of each month and discusses the previous month's book over coffee and cookies. Members also get 15 per cent off that month's pick.

Thompson invites people to “stop by and see what it's all about.” You can contact her at kthomps@mcmaster.ca.

Thompson's other summer read is The Cripple and His Talismans by Anosh Irani about a young Indian boy searching Bombay for his lost arm. “It's very odd, bizarre, and cryptic,” she says. “You really have to read between the lines to find the meaning.”

The odd and bizarre are a draw for Nick Marquis who works in the micro-computer centre. “I like it when the characters are bizarre or anti-heroes, because they're more interesting,” he explains. “I like characters who are very flawed because they're most real. No one's perfect.”

In Diary by Chuck Palahniuk, the protagonist is Misty Marie Kleinman, a frustrated former artist reflecting on her life as she reaches middle age and her husband lies in a coma. “It's written in diary form and addressed to the reader as though you are the husband. I picked it up because I enjoy non-linear narratives. The writing is very interesting. It's not predictable,” says Marquis, who is a fan of Palahniuk's other books including Fight Club, Choke and Lullaby. Other favourite authors include J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings), Timothy Findley (The Wars), and Dalton Trumbo (Johnny Got His Gun).

Concludes Marquis, “I like writers whose protagonists are anti-heroes. They're these unlikable characters that you develop a real liking for.”

As a fourth-year English student, cashier Tawn Marshall does a lot of reading during the school year, but not always books of her choice. “It felt really good to get back to reading outside of the required lists,” she says.

And her summer reading list is both extensive and eclectic. “I usually have four or five different books on the go and they're all different types.” Some of the highlights include Eva Luna by Isabel Allende, which chronicles the life of a young servant girl who escapes oppression through story-telling; The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. by Sandra Gulland, which offers a fictionalized account of Josephine Bonaparte's diaries and her correspondence – and a fascinating glimpse into the life of Napoleon; Green Grass Running Water by Canadian native author Thomas King, which follows a group of men and women searching for the middle ground between Native American tradition and the modern world; and Goblins! by Brian Froud and Ari Berk which offers a researched yet playful introduction to the world of goblins.

“I read everything. I don't play favourites,” says Marshall. “I believe literature has a place in everyday life, even if it's just 10 minutes before bed.” Of course, three hours under a tree is much more Marshall's ideal.

Intrigued by The Da Vinci Code, Helen Rankin in General Books is now waiting to read its prequel, Angels and Demons. “I'm saving it for my holidays, but I'm sharing it with my niece. I'm sure it will be back to me by then.”

This generous mom is also waiting for the new Harry Potter to work its way through her children to her. In the meantime, Rankin has returned to old favourites. “I like reading Catherine Coulter's series of FBI mysteries. They all revolve around a specific unit of FBI profilers.”

Clive Cussler and Nora Roberts also meet her criteria: “easy reads that I don't have to devote a lot of time to, but that I can get involved in the stories.”

Rankin's partner in General Books, Robin Tancredi, is a resolved reader: “I never read the back of the book or the inside flap.”

However, she has no trouble finding books she's interested in. “Certain authors, I absolutely read their books. Other ones come from listening to sales reps, customer recommendations, or just seeing what books continue to sell.”

Top picks so far this summer are Namesake by Pulitzer Prize winning writer Jhumpa Lahiri and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Namesake tells the story of a Bengali family who moves from Calcutta to the States. The Kite Runner follows two young boys – one wealthy and one a servant – in Afghanistan. Separated after the Soviet Union invades, their lives once again intertwine years later.

“I like to experience different cultures in my reading,” says Tancredi. A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews is also on her list, but I won't tell you what it's about, because Tancredi hasn't started it yet.

Barry Petrie, interim director of the bookstore, counts bestsellers such as Dan Brown's Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code and J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter chronicles on his summer reading list along with a couple other special picks. “I'm about halfway through The Da Vinci Code, but I'm also reading Bridge: 25 Ways to Compete in the Bidding (by Barbara Seagram, Marc Smith) and Freakonomics (by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner).” he says.

Explaining his boning up on bridge, Petrie says, “I've been playing with someone who's on his way to becoming a bridge master, and I'm new.” And Freakonomics is anything but a dry textbook – as the subtitle A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything suggests. “It's about the stuff and riddles of everyday life.”

Petrie, who generally spends his days over in the Health Sciences Centre where he manages that bookstore, has been thrilled to switch to Titles. “I never knew all the stuff that was here,” he says. “This place is a hidden treasure.”

Or perhaps not so hidden, seeing as how willing staff are to share their secrets. Drop by Titles Bookstore in the basement of Gilmour Hall and discover the treasure for yourself.