The Summer Reading/Paperback Book Sense 76

As promised last week, here’s the first Paperback Book Sense 76, which features a wonderful selection of great reading for the summer months.

Don’t forget the May/June Book Sense 76, as well. It features more of the great bounty of new books coming out, with an emphasis on the many worthy hardcover publications.

June, July, and August 2002

1. THE MIRACLE LIFE OF EDGAR MINT, by Brady Udall (Vintage, $14, 0375719180; May 21)

2. THE NEAL POLLACK ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE: The Collected Writings of Neal Pollack, by Neal Pollack (Perennial, $13.95, 0060004533; March) Also a HarperAudio CD (0060011688)

3. SEABISCUIT: An American Legend, by Laura Hillenbrand (Ballantine, $15, 0449005615; March)

4. THE PRIZE WINNER OF DEFIANCE, OHIO: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less, by Terry Ryan (Touchstone, $13, 0743211235; April)

5. EMPIRE FALLS, by Richard Russo (Vintage, $14.95, 0375726403; May)

6. MYSTIC RIVER, by Dennis Lehane (HarperTorch, $7.99, 0380731851; April)

7. CLOSE TO SHORE: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916, by Michael Capuzzo (Broadway, $14.95, 0767904141; May 21)

8. GOD-SHAPED HOLE, by Tiffanie DeBartolo (Sourcebooks, $12, 1570719586; May)

9. YEAR OF WONDERS, by Geraldine Brooks (Penguin, $14, 0142001430; May)

10. BEL CANTO, by Ann Patchett (Perennial, $13.95, 0060934417; June)

Wonderful Rediscoveries for Your Summer
These three books are among independent booksellers' favorites of all time, and all are being reissued in beautiful new editions this summer.

CROSSING TO SAFETY, by Wallace Stegner (Modern Library, $13.95 037575931X; April)

GEEK LOVE, by Katherine Dunn (Vintage, $13, 0375713344; June)

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, by Harper Lee (Perennial, $11.95, 0060935464; March)

New Fiction in Paperback
Intelligent and fun beach reading -- and perfect for reading groups, too.

ALL WE KNOW OF HEAVEN, by Remy Rougeau (Mariner Books, $13, 0618219226; June)

ASSORTED FIRE EVENTS: Stories, by David Means (Harvest, $12, 0156013541; Feb.)

BACKPACK, by Emily Barr (Plume, $13, 0452282934; Jan.)

BITCH GODDESS, by Robert Rodi (Plume, $13, 0452283108; March)

CANE RIVER, by Lalita Tademy (Warner, $13.95, 0446678457; April)

CHALKTOWN, by Melinda Haynes (Washington Square Press, $14, 0743442504, June)

CLAY'S QUILT, by Silas House (Ballantine, $14, 0345450698; Feb.)

THE COLD SIX THOUSAND, by James Ellroy (Vintage, $15.95, 037572740X; June)

THE COLLECTED STORIES OF RICHARD YATES, by Richard Yates (Picador, $16, 0312420811; May)

THE CRANBERRY QUEEN, by Kathleen DeMarco (Talk Miramax, $12.95, 0786890371; May)

THE DANCER UPSTAIRS, by Nicholas Shakespeare (Anchor, $13, 0385721072; Feb.)

ENTERING NORMAL, by Anne D. LeClaire (Ballantine, $14, 0345445732; June)

FIRST LADY, by Michael Malone (Sourcebooks, $15 paper, 1570719713; May)

FIVE QUARTERS OF THE ORANGE, by Joanne Harris (Perennial, $13.95, 0060958022; June)

THE GARDENS OF COVINGTON, by Joan Medlicott (St. Martin's, $6.99, 0312980124; May)

GOOD IN BED, by Jennifer Weiner (Washington Square Press, $13, 0743418174; April)

THE GOOD PEOPLE OF NEW YORK, by Thisbe Nissen (Anchor, $13, 0385720610; May)

THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS, by Simon Mawer (Back Bay, $13.95, 0316973742; May)

GRAND AMBITION, by Lisa Michaels (Norton, $13.95, 0393322955; April)

HOTEL WORLD, by Ali Smith (Anchor, $12, 0385722109; Jan.)

IN CUBA I WAS A GERMAN SHEPHERD, by Ana Menendez (Grove, $13, 0802116884; May)

JOHN HENRY DAYS, by Colson Whitehead (Anchor, $14, 0385498209; May)

Heads-up! Pat Conroy has a big new novel coming this fall, but you can sate yourself this summer on these beautiful new editions of all his previous books, just reissued by Bantam: BEACH MUSIC (0553381539), GREAT SANTINI (0553381555), LORDS OF DISCIPLINE (0553381563), PRINCE OF TIDES (0553381547), and WATER IS WIDE (0553381571).

THE LAST SAMURAI, by Helen DeWitt (Talk Miramax, $14.95, 0786887001; March)

THE LAST REPORT ON THE MIRACLES AT LITTLE NO HORSE, by Louise Erdrich (Perennial, $12.95, 0060931221, April)

THE LECTURER'S TALE, by James Hynd (Picador, $14, 0312287712; Feb.)

MARY AND O'NEIL, by Justin Cronin (Delta, $11.95, 0385333595; Jan.)

MIRABILIS, by Susann Cokal (Blue Hen, $14, 042518532X; May)

MOON WOMEN, by Pamela Duncan (Delta, $12.95, 0385335210; April)

MY DREAMS OF YOU by Nuala O'Faolain (Riverhead, $14,1573229083; Feb.)

NEVER CHANGE, by Elizabeth Berg (Washington Square Press, $13, 0743411331; May)

NO ONE THINKS OF GREENLAND, by John Griesemer (Picador, $14, 0312283369; May)

OUR ARCADIA, by Robin Lippincott (Penguin, $14, 0142001236; June)

THE PASSAGE, by Connie Willis (Bantam, $6.99, 0553580515; Jan.)

PERFECT ARRANGEMENT, by Suzanne Berne (Plume, $13, 0452283221; May)

PINK CADILLAC, by Robert Dunn (Coral Press, $19.95, 0970829302; July '01)

SALT AND SAFFRON, by Kamila Shamsie (Bloomsbury, $14.95; 158234261X; May)

THESE GRANITE ISLANDS, by Sarah Stonich (Back Bay, $13.95, 0316815586; March)

A TORTOISE FOR THE QUEEN OF TONGA: Stories, by Julia Whitty (Mariner, $12, 0618119809; April)

THE TORTURER'S APPRENTICE, by John Biguenet (Ecco, $12.95, 0060007451; Feb.)

WOODEN SEA, by Jonathan Carroll (Tor, $13.95, 0765300133; Feb.)

THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE, SO FAR: My Mother, Alzheimer's and Me, by M.A. Harper (Harvest,$14, 0156007185; April)

Memoir, Current Events, and History

AUGUSTA GONE: A True Story, by Martha Tod Dudman (Perennial, $12.95, 0060014156; March)

BALSAMIC DREAMS: A Short But Self-Important History of the Baby Boomer Generation, by Joe Queenan (Picador, $14, 031242082X; June)

THE BOTANY OF DESIRE: A Plant's Eye View of the World, by Michael Pollan (Random House, $13.95, 0375760393; May)

COMFORT ME WITH APPLES: More Adventures at the Table, by Ruth Reichl (Random House, $13.95; 0375758739; April)

DOUBLE FOLD: Libraries and the Assault on Paper, by Nicholson Baker (Vintage, $14, 0375726217; April)

DRAGON SEEKERS: How an Extraordinary Circle of Fossilists Discovered the Dinosaurs and Paved the Way for Darwin, by Christopher McGowan (Perseus, $17, 0738206733; May)

MILKING THE MOON: A Southerner's Story of Life on This Planet, by Eugene Walter, as told to K. Clark (Three Rivers, $14, 0609809652; April)

NICKEL AND DIMED: On (Not) Getting by in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich (Owl, $13, 0805063897; May)

THE PIANO SHOP ON THE LEFT BANK: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier, by Thad Carhart (Random House, $13.95, 0375758623; March)

POSITIVELY 4TH STREET: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina, and Richard Farina, by David Hajdu (North Point Press, $14, 086547642X; April)

A PRIMATE'S MEMOIR: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among The Baboons, by Robert Sapolsky (Touchstone, $14 paper, 0743202414; March)

RIVER TOWN: Two Years on the Yangtze, by Peter Hessler (Perennial, $13.95, 0060953748; Dec. '01)

ROAD ANGELS: Searching for Home on America's Coast of Dreams, by Kent Nerburn (HarperSanFrancisco, $14, 0060698683; June)

RUNNING AFTER ANTELOPE, by Scott Carrier (Counterpoint, $14, 1582431795; March)

SEASON OF THE BODY: Essays, by Brenda Miller (Sarabande, $14.95, 1889330698; April)

SOMEHOW FORM A FAMILY: Stories That Are Mostly True, by Tony Earley (Algonquin, $13, 1565123603; May)

STRETCHING LESSONS: The Daring that Starts from Within, by Sue Bender (Harper San Francisco, $14.95, 0062516833; May)

TOO CLOSE TO THE FALLS, by Catherine Gildiner (Penguin, $14, 014200040X; March)

TOUCHING MY FATHER'S SOUL: A Sherpa's Journey to the Top of Everest, by Jamling Tenzing Norgay (HarperSanFrancisco, $14.95, 0062516884; May)

A VOYAGE FOR MADMEN, by Peter Nichols (Perennial, $13.95, 0060957034; June)

UPHILL WALKERS: Portrait of a Family, by Madeleine Blais (Grove, $13, 0802138926; May)

WALKING THE BIBLE: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses, by Bruce Feiler (Perennial, $14.95, 0380807319; March)

Mysteries

See the separate Mystery 76 Top Ten due out in June, in this store or at BookSense.com. Also note that P.D. James‚ backlist being reissued in beautiful new editions.

Summer Reading for Teens? -- See the Teen and the Children's 76s