BOOK YOURSELF A READING REGIMEN FOR SUMMER VACATION.

Byline: James Bemis Commentary

For most Ventura County residents, summer means vacations and vacations mean free time for traveling, beach going, or - if you're like me - catching up on your reading. Here are my recommendations for a summer reading regimen:

--``The Innocence of Father Brown,'' by G.K. Chesterton. I'm not a fan of detective fiction, but I do love Chesterton. Full of Chesterton's characteristic wit and eminent common sense, these 12 stories simply ring with brilliance.

Blending mystery, theology and social commentary with a rich array of memorable characters, Chesterton's stories are perfect light, but literate, summer hors d'oeuvres. Father Brown, a simple but wise Catholic priest, must be the most unusual detective in the genre.

And yet, when you think about it, a priest-detective makes perfect sense. When asked how he knew so much about crime and horror, Father Brown answers, with characteristic understatement, ``Has it never occurred to you that a man who does nothing but hear men's real sins is not likely to be wholly unaware of human evil?''

Touche.

--``Chronicles of Narnia,'' by C.S. Lewis. If there's any justice, Lewis will be recognized as one of the 20th century's best authors, and the seven- book ``Chronicles'' are his masterpiece. Perfect for family summer reading, these books can be enjoyed by the adventurous of all ages. Buy a set and keep passing them from family member to family member. You won't regret it.

Exciting battles, narrow escapes, selfless heroism, strange and marvelous characters, the war between good and evil - they're all here. Let the ``Chronicles'' be your entree for his other great works - and find out why Lewis may be the greatest writer of our age.

--``The Life of Samuel Johnson,'' by James Boswell. Rereading Boswell this summer confirmed an earlier impression this is the greatest biography ever written. It's not that the book is meticulously researched or covers so broad a scope, but simply that Boswell's subject, Dr. Johnson, is so interesting.

Johnson - writer, poet, and sole author of the first dictionary of the English language - was huge, ungainly and thoroughly lovable; truly a man with a hard head and a soft heart. Boswell's first-person accounts of their time together in 18th-century London combines the immediacy of journalism with the timeless wit and wisdom of Johnson's great aphorisms.

Johnson's lucidity is the perfect antidote for the propaganda and fuzzy thinking infecting our own time.

--``The Iliad,'' by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles. What? Read Homer for fun? Absolutely.

As an account of men at war, ``The Iliad'' has never been topped, and Homer's descriptions of the blood and crunch of battle crackle with excitement. But there's a lyrical side to the great epic poem, too, and Priam's tearful visit to Achilles' tent to beg for the return of the desecrated body of Hector, his dead son, remains one of the most moving scenes in all of literature.

Fagles' translation uses modern language and delivers a clear, robust rendition. His translation of ``The Odyssey'' is first-rate, too. Every book-lover owes him a huge debt of gratitude for invigorating these classics.

--``The History of Christendom, Volumes 1-3,'' by Warren H. Carroll. Reading the first three books of this projected seven volume series (the fourth is due out shortly) on the history of Christendom is daunting, I'll grant you. With each book running about 600 pages, taking on this project will require more than a vacation's worth of reading.

But, oh, is it worth it.

Carroll's thesis is that history is not made by sterile, evolutionary forces, but by red-blooded men and women responding to cultural forces around them. Not only does this intuitively make sense, but - particularly in Carroll's expert hands - history becomes a wild, rollicking ride through time. Great men and women of the past - Moses, Jesus Christ, Charlemagne, St. Francis, St. Catherine of Siena - spring from the pages of his works.

You can't really understand our world without first understanding Western civilization, and you can't understand Western civilization without knowing the story of Christendom. Secular chronicles simply lack the explanatory power of those that acknowledge religion as the driving force throughout history. If you've ever wondered why the world is shaped as it is, then Carroll's great series are the books for you.