Summer Books And Summer Reading 2010 NPR presents the best fiction, nonfiction, mysteries and cookbooks for summer 2010. Get our critics' picks, find recipes and read selections of all our recommended books.

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Summer Books 2010

NPR presents the best fiction, nonfiction, mysteries and cookbooks for summer 2010.

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Booksellers' Picks: 15 Soaring Summer Reads

Chris Silas Neal

Critics' Lists: Summer 2010

Booksellers' Picks: 15 Soaring Summer Reads

May 29, 2010 • Susan Stamberg gathers recommendations from booksellers Rona Brinlee, Lucia Silva and Daniel Goldin. Their selections for summertime reading include books about small-town America, a polygamist father in over his head, and a postmistress in New England during World War II.

Booksellers' Picks: 15 Soaring Summer Reads

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Audience Picks: Top 100 'Killer Thrillers'

Chris Silas Neal

Thrilled To Death

Audience Picks: Top 100 'Killer Thrillers'

August 4, 2010 • The NPR audience cast more than 17,000 ballots in our Killer Thrillers poll. The winning novels are a diverse mix, ranging in style and period from Dracula to The Da Vinci Code. All are fast-moving tales of suspense and adventure.

Chris Silas Neal

Critics' Lists: Summer 2010

Summer Books That Make The Critics' Cut

June 19, 2010 • Just what is a summer book, anyway? Does it have to be a big, fat, juicy page turner to earn the right to be packed away in the luggage (or downloaded on the e-reader)? We put that question to several book reviewers to find out what they like to take along on summer getaways.

Summer Books That Make The Critics' Cut

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Back To Reality: Nonfiction For The Summer's End

Chris Silas Neal

Critics' Lists: Summer 2010

Back To Reality: Nonfiction For The Summer's End

August 18, 2010 • The days are getting shorter, and it's hard to breeze though pages like you did on vacation just a few short weeks ago. Critic Cord Jefferson offers five nonfiction titles — true stories that will gently ease you out of the summer months, and back into the routines of fall.

Literary Destinations: Five Books To Help You Escape

Chris Silas Neal

Critics' Lists: Summer 2010

Literary Destinations: Five Books To Help You Escape

August 12, 2010 • In these stories — three novels and two works of nonfiction — a history teacher, a wry angst-filled teen, a budding celebrity chef, an intrepid spice hunter, and Ernest Hemingway himself whisk you to vacation spots around the world.

Literary Destinations: Five Books To Help You Escape

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Librarian Nancy Pearl Picks 'Under The Radar' Reads

Chris Silas Neal

Critics' Lists: Summer 2010

Librarian Nancy Pearl Picks 'Under The Radar' Reads

August 3, 2010 • As a librarian and a reader, Nancy Pearl scours the shelves in search of hidden treasures — titles you may have missed. Her findings include two chilling thrillers, one exquisite 1960s memoir, a lively biography of George Orwell, an example of historical fiction at its very best, and much more fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

Librarian Nancy Pearl Picks 'Under The Radar' Reads

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One Nightstand, Six Affairs: Novels Of Illicit Love

Chris Silas Neal

Critics' Lists: Summer 2010

One Nightstand, Six Affairs: Novels Of Illicit Love

July 28, 2010 • Hotels, pools, beaches, airplanes: all good places to ignite a summer fling — or read about one. Here are six recent titles that will let you explore, from the safety of your deck chair, our human capacity for ecstasy and pain.

Fun In The Sun: Laugh-Out-Loud Summer Books

Chris Silas Neal

Critics' Lists: Summer 2010

Fun In The Sun: Laugh-Out-Loud Summer Books

July 21, 2010 • Read these books at the beach, and people two towels over will wonder why you're chortling. There are plenty of books that will make you laugh, but critic Heller McAlpin separates the mere giggles from the all-out gut-busters.

'Killer Thrillers': Vote For The 100 Best Ever

Chris Silas Neal

Thrilled To Death

'Killer Thrillers': Vote For The 100 Best Ever

July 19, 2010 • NPR is assembling a list of the most pulse-quickening, suspenseful novels ever written.

Beakers To Beaches: Summer's Best Science Books

Chris Silas Neal

Critics' Lists: Summer 2010

Beakers To Beaches: Summer's Best Science Books

July 14, 2010 • You don't need a background in science to enjoy these research-fueled reads. From the mysteries of the male brain to the logistics of having a clone to the problem of mortality, these books straightforwardly tackle present and future scientific puzzles.

Zombies And Giant Squid: Summer's Monster Hits!

Chris Silas Neal

Critics' Lists: Summer 2010

Zombies And Giant Squid: Summer's Monster Hits!

July 8, 2010 • Tired of vampires? Here are five freaky summer reads featuring gods, monsters, aliens, mutants, pulsating brains, sword-canes, dirigibles and derring-do. Each one, says critic Glen Weldon, is enlivened by wit and wordplay — not weepy, bloodsucking introspection.

Best Of The Bestsellers: Wisdom Of The Crowds

Chris Silas Neal

Critics' Lists: Summer 2010

Best Of The Bestsellers: Wisdom Of The Crowds

June 29, 2010 • Bestsellerdom doesn't necessarily bring with it a promise of quality, so we've hand-selected five titles from the NPR Bestseller List: an acutely observed first novel with satiric punch, three works of fiction from established authors at the top of their game, and a startlingly powerful science thriller from a nonfiction newcomer.

To Market, To Market: 10 Top Summer Cookbooks

Chris Silas Neal

Critics' Lists: Summer 2010

To Market, To Market: 10 Top Summer Cookbooks

June 20, 2010 • This year has yielded a bumper crop of cookbooks for the farmers market regular. Food writer T. Susan Chang has sorted through this bounty to come up with an armload of recommendations — as well as a score of great summer recipes — for the locavore in your life.

To Market, To Market: 10 Top Summer Cookbooks

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Your Nominations For The Killer Thrillers Poll

Chris Silas Neal

Books

Your Nominations For The Killer Thrillers Poll

June 18, 2010 • This summer, we're drawing up a list of favorite action-packed fiction, and we need your help. Nominate the titles that have quickened your pulse, left you guessing, and kept you up late, late into the night. Tell us your favorites now -- we can't stand the suspense.

Top Reads: Summer Heat Sparks Rise In Crime Novels

Chris Silas Neal

Critics' Lists: Summer 2010

Fiction, Long And Short, For Summertime Escapes

June 14, 2010 • Whether you're vacationing for a week or a weekend, Alan Cheuse has a fiction recommendation to fit. Novels from Jennifer Egan and Laurence Gonzales for your weeklong escapes; a novella from Ann Beattie for those three-day getaways; and stories from Robert Stone for all you day-trippers.

Fiction, Long And Short, For Summertime Escapes

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Historical Fiction: The Ultimate Summer Getaway

Chris Silas Neal

Critics' Lists: Summer 2010

Historical Fiction: The Ultimate Summer Getaway

June 7, 2010 • 2010's best century-hopping novels will transport you from Europe of a millennium ago to '60s-era San Francisco, with stops in Spain and Berlin, and raucous encounters with Moors and Romantic poets, along the way. What more do you need except a sturdy sand chair?