Looking for a sizzling read this summer that you can start off on your journey and finish on the beach? Hannah Stephenson picks the ones to pack

WHETHER you're packing the new Harry Potter or thumbing through new releases by popular authors including Jeffery Deaver, Alexander McCall Smith, David Baldacci, Freya North and Danielle Steel, there's no shortage of beach reads this summer.

Bestsellers including Jilly Cooper's Wicked!, Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion and The Life And Times Of The Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson, have all been released in paperback format in time for the holiday season.

Other paperback releases likely to be snapped up include Recoil by Andy McNab, A Place Called Here by Cecelia Ahern, and A Spot Of Bother by Mark Haddon.

For those who crave the classics, publishers have rejacketed the best from Jane Austen to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in easy-to-carry formats.

If you want the low-down on celebrities, good bets include the autobiographies of former model and rock chick Pattie Boyd, ex-wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton, due for release in August.

Meanwhile, paperback editions of Peter Kay's runaway success The Sound Of Laughter, Michael Palin's Diaries 1969-79 , Gordon Ramsay's autobiography Humble Pie and Rupert Everett's memoir Red Carpets And Other Banana Skins are now available.

Here are just a few of the offerings you may want to pack in your suitcase.

THRILLERS

The Sleeping Doll, by Jeffery Deaver (Hodder & Stoughton, £14.99): The master crime writer introduced kinesics expert Kathryn Dance briefly in his previous novel, The Cold Moon, but now gives her a series of her own, the first of which finds her up against a ritual murderer known as The Son Of Manson.

Simple Genius, by David Baldacci (Macmillan, £17.99): Nasty goings-on in a psychiatric hospital pharmacy prompt Michelle Maxwell, seen in Split Second and Hour Game, to investigate.

IN PAPERBACK: The Naming Of The Dead by Ian Rankin (Orion, £6.99): Rebus's latest investigation is set during the G8 Summit in Edinburgh.

The Afghan, by Frederick Forsyth (Corgi, £6.99): Out in paperback just in time for your summer holiday comes another fast-moving terrorist thriller about someone infiltrating al Qaida.

CHICK LIT

Pillow Talk, by Freya North (Harper- Collins, £11.99): A young jeweller troubled by sleepwalking falls in love with an insomniac. Together they try to put their pasts to bed and finally get a good night's sleep in each other's arms.

Gold Diggers, by Tasmina Perry (HarperCollins, £12.99): If you love beach reads full of lust, greed and glamour, check out this follow-up to Daddy's Girls in which three female gold-diggers attempt to win the heart of New York billionaire Adam Gold.

A Crowded Marriage, by Catherine Alliott (Headline, £6.99): The author of Not That Kind Of Girl and A Married Man brings us this tale of an artist and her husband who hit upon hard times and are forced to move out of London to a rent-free cottage in the country, courtesy of her husband's ex-girlfriend.

HISTORICAL

The Interpretation Of Murder, by Jed Rubenfeld (Headline, £7.99): The winner of 2007's Richard & Judy best read of the year is a literary thriller inspired by Sigmund Freud's 1909 visit to America.

When a beautiful young woman from the upper echelons of New York society is found bound and strangled in her penthouse apartment, Freud is asked to investigate.

The Last Fighting Tommy, by Harry Patch and Richard van Emden (Bloomsbury, £16.99): Harry Patch is now 108 years old and the last British soldier alive to have fought in the trenches during the First World War. He tells of his remarkable life, which has spanned six monarchs and 20 prime ministers.

IN PAPERBACK: Imperium, by Robert Harris (Arrow, £6.99): His latest historical thriller takes us inside the violent, treacherous world of politics in ancient Rome, to describe how one man - clever, compassionate, devious, vulnerable - fought to reach the top.

Diana, by Sarah Bradford (Penguin, £7.99): Tying in with the tenth anniversary of Diana's death, this detailed biography should do well.

The Sixth Wife, by Suzannah Dunn (HarperPerennial, £6.99): Henry VIII fans should snap up this historical novel, based on the life of Katharine Parr, his sixth wife.

REAL LIFE

All That Glitters: Living On The Dark Side Of Rock And Roll, by Pearl Lowe (Hodder & Stoughton, £16.99): This is the story of Pearl Lowe - singer, model, designer, rebellious daughter, battered wife, adored girlfriend, party animal, mother, Britpop icon - and her battle with drugs.

The Blair Years, by Alastair Campbell (Hutchinson, £25): There's bound to be loads of spin surrounding this new book, taken from Alastair Campbell's daily diaries over nearly ten years, charting the rise of New Labour and the tumultuous years of Tony Blair's leadership.

IN PAPERBACK: War Stories, by Jeremy Bowen (Pocket, £7.99): The wellknown BBC reporter recalls the close shaves he has had during his bulletdodging career.

Damaged, by Cathy Glass (Harper- Collins, £6.99): Disturbing memoir from a foster carer about a child in her care who was abused by her parents and let down by social services.

GENERAL

Merde Happens, by Stephen Clarke (Bantam, £10.99): Following his first book, A Year In The Merde, which became a runaway success, we now find Paul West travelling across America in a cramped Mini to promote the UK as a tourist destination, with his French girlfriend and his American poet pal.

A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini (Bloomsbury, £16.99): After the success of his debut novel The Kite Runner, this second book is written with tremendous insight and understanding of Afghan culture. The novel centres on the lives and loves of two remarkably strong women who form a bond as unbreakable as it is unlikely.