Chris Silas Neal 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.
Chris Silas Neal 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.
Chris Silas Neal 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.
Chris Silas Neal 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.
Chris Silas Neal 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.
Chris Silas Neal Top Reads: Summer Heat Sparks Rise In Crime Novels June 17, 2010 • It's no mystery that the Swedes know how to write really good ones. But among the authors with the gift to spin out superior thrillers is a trio of American women and, oddly, the guy who gave us Mr. Magoo. Now, the suspense is over: Mystery fiction aficionado Maureen Corrigan relishes the best of the whodunits.
Chris Silas Neal 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.
Chris Silas Neal 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.
Chris Silas Neal 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.
Chris Silas Neal 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.
Chris Silas Neal 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.
Chris Silas Neal 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?
Chris Silas Neal 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.
Chris Silas Neal 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.
Summer Titles That Will Take You Back In Time Fresh Air June 3, 2010 • Maureen Corrigan has booked an armchair getaway this summer with four books that will send her traveling through time. From turn-of-the-last-century New York tenements, to the 1939 World's Fair, to literary romance on the shores of Lake Geneva, these books will take you to places even the most luxurious vacations can't go.
Chris Silas Neal Summer Books 2010: The Complete List June 4, 2010 • See the titles critics are buzzing about. Get all of NPR's summer book recommendations in one place!
