Summer Reading at Slate

Slate discovers what writers and other literary types take to the beach on their summer holidays. Children's literature makes an appearance:

• Joan Acocella, critic, The New Yorker recommends Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy because, "it's hair-raising and also quite serious. You get to visit hell." (I'd be cheering right now, but Acocella also recommends The DaVinci Code.)
• Laura Miller, critic, Salon, says she has little time for recreational reading, "But on those rare occasions when I'm not reading for work, I like to reread the books I loved as a child to remind myself of the pleasures that started me down this path to begin with." This summer she wants to read Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series.