to hell with pink books about men and prada. there are a few new books worthy of your beach bag:


blank canvas.
lulu meets god and doubts him, by danielle ganek, works as a wry and witty send-up of the art world. with an insider's snark, the novel manages to slice to the core of the gallery scene and still leave us with characters we care to read about. and some we hate. but we think they may be based on our ex-boyfriends. www.amazon.com


good advice.
okay, we'll admit it sounded hokey at first. but then eat, drink, and be gorgeous caught our eye. nutritionist esther blum, tells you everything from what's really in a frappaccino to how to make a smoothie that fights UTIs (urinary tract infections). $22.95. www.eatdrinkandbegorgeous.com

built to last.
what would be left behind if people vanished? shopping malls and subway tunnels or copper pipe and radio waves? in the intriguing the world without us, einstein's dreams author alan weisman takes a look at, well, you can figure it out. www.powells.com


what's in a name?
septembers of shiraz only sounds like a new peter mayles' book. in fact, the debut novel by dalia sofer is the heartrending story of a jewish family fleeing iran - based on her own escape from the country as a child in 1982. www.amazon.com


don't call it a comeback.
the police, version 2007, might be back on the tour, but the images in every breath you take of the band's '82 and '83 days on the road taken by guitarist andy summer remind us why we cared in the first place. because sting was hot. www.taschen.com


D-enlisted.
in the very funny last one in by nicholas kulish, a gossip columnist for a city paper is mistakenly shipped off to iraq and embedded with the troops. the satire is already being described as a combination of evelyn waugh and joseph heller. (that's a good thing.) www.amazon.com


whip smart.
light reading doesn't need to be dumb. first among sequels, by jasper fforde, a frequently bizarre but lovable satiric detective story, whips along like a thriller with lit smarts. www.powells.com