Like a celebrity book club with a classy membership, Michael Connelly, Mary Karr, Jonathan Lethem, and Neil Gaiman all suggested summer reading at Salon.com.

Editors visited signing booths around BEA, getting some reading intelligence from writers: Gaiman recommended one of the more controversial BEA authors and Karr plugged an Australian historical novel.

Here’s an excerpt: “We tracked down some of our favorite writers to ask them what we should take to the beach this summer. Despite Neil Gaiman’s weariness after signing 170 books in a row, he couldn’t resist a chance to share several of his favorites. Jonathan Lethem opted for a classic. ‘Outlanders’ series writer Diana Gabaldon plugged her favorite crime fiction.”