Announcing: The May/June 2002 Book Sense 76

Well, the big news here is that this spring and summer sees a wonderful bounty of great new books coming out, in cloth and paper … which is great for biz but daunting nonetheless. So, we’re going to produce a separate Summer Paperback 76, covering late May-July, as there is so much good stuff coming in paper, too. The paperbacks would’ve swamped the May/June 76, keeping dozens of worthy new hardcovers off.

So, yes, the May/June Book Sense 76 is almost all hardcover, which I know might be a bit overwhelming for some of you, but, as always, there are great discoveries here, books that the indies can and will make.

Thank you for an unprecedented flood of e-mails, faxes, and postcards! Each 76 is getting harder to do … which is a good problem to have!

Carl

P.S. Still choosing and editing the quotes to use; to you next week.

1. EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED: A Novel, by Jonathan Safran Foer (Houghton Mifflin, $24, 0618173870; April)

2. THE DIVE FROM CLAUSEN'S PIER, by Ann Packer (Knopf, $24, 0375412824; April) Also a Random House Audio (0553714988)

3. HAMLET'S DRESSER: A Memoir, by Bob Smith (Scribner, $24, 0684852691; May 1)

4. THE CURVE OF THE WORLD, by Marcus Stevens (Algonquin, $24.95, 1565123360; May) Also a Penguin Audio (156511633X)

5. MY LIFE IN HEAVY METAL, by Steve Almond (Grove, $23, 0802116302; Feb.)

6. A WEEK IN WINTER, by Marcia Willett (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's, $24.95, 0312287852; May)

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

8. THE NEAL POLLACK ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE, by Neal Pollack (Perennial, $13.95 paper, 0060004533; March) Also a HarperAudio CD (0060011688)

9. SEABISCUIT, by Laura Hillenbrand (Ballantine, $15 paper, 0449005615; March)

10. SPIES: A Novel, by Michael Frayn (Metropolitan/Holt, $23, 0805070583; April)

BASEBALL: A Literary Anthology, edited by Nicholas Dawidoff (Library of America, $35, 193108209X; March)
THE FINAL SEASON: Fathers, Sons, and One Last Season in a Classic American Ballpark, by Tom Stanton (Griffin, $12.95 paper, 0312291566; May)

BAD BLOOD: A Memoir, by Lorna Sage (Morrow, $24.95, 0066214432; March)

THE BLUE BEAR: A True Story of Friendship, Tragedy, and Survival in the Alaskan Wilderness, by Lynn Schooler (Ecco, $25.95, 0066210852; May 7)

COMPLICATIONS: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science, by Atul Gawande (Metropolitan/Holt, $24, 0805063196; April)

THE CULTURE OF MAKE BELIEVE, by Derrick Jensen (Context, $18 paper, 1893956288; April)

GRACEFULLY INSANE: The Rise and Fall of America's Premier Mental Hospital, by Alex Beam (PublicAffairs, $24, 1891620754; Dec. ’01)

LETTERS TO J.D. SALINGER, ed. by Chris Kubica and Will Hochman (U. of Wisconsin, $24.95, 0299178005; April)

NEGOTIATING WITH THE DEAD: A Writer on Writing, by Margaret Atwood (Cambridge U. Press, $18, 0521662605; March)

NO HEROES: A Memoir of Coming Home, by Chris Offutt (Simon & Schuster, $24, 0684865513; April)

THE NOONDAY DEMON: An Atlas of Depression, by Andrew Solomon (Touchstone, $16 paper, 0684854678; April)

NOT BY ACCIDENT: Restructuring a Careless Life, by Samantha Dunn (Holt, $23, 0805065857; March)

RIOT AND REMEMBRANCE: The Tulsa Race War and Its Legacy, by James S. Hirsch (Houghton Mifflin, $25, 0618108130; Feb.)

THE SEA SHALL EMBRACE THEM : The Tragic Story of the Steamship Arctic, by David W. Shaw (Free Press, $25, 0743222172; May)

SOUNDS OF THE RIVER, by Da Chen (HarperCollins, $25.95, 0060199253; Feb.)

THINGS YOU GET FOR FREE, by Michael McGirr, (Atlantic, $25, 0871138379; Feb.)
A Unique Business Book

LOVE IS THE KILLER APP: How to Win Business and Influence Friends, by Tim Sanders (Crown, $21, 060960922X; Feb.) Also a Random House Audio CD (0553712853)

DECKSCAPING: Gardening and Landscaping on and Around Your Deck, by Barbara Ellis (Storey Books, $19.95 paper, 1580174086; Jan.)

RURAL STUDIO: Samuel Mockbee and the Architecture of Decency, by Andrea Oppenheimer Dean (Princeton Architectural Press, $30 paper, 156892925; Feb.)

BEAR ME SAFELY OVER, by Sheri Joseph (Atlantic, $23, 0871138417; April)

THE BOOK OF SHADOWS, by James Reese (William Morrow, $25.95, 0066210151; Feb.)

THE CITY OF YOUR FINAL DESTINATION, by Peter Cameron (Farrar, $24, 0374281971; May)

THE COMPANY: A Novel of the CIA, by Robert Littell (Overlook Press, $28.95, 1585671975; April 11)

CRAZY AS CHOCOLATE, by Elisabeth Hyde (MacAdam/Cage, $25, 1931561036; March)

DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES, by Eugene McCabe (Bloosmbury, $23.95, 1582342377; April)

Featured Author: Gail Tsukiyama
DREAMING WATER (St. Martin’s $23.95, 0312206070; April) (Three of Tsukiyama past paperbacks have been 76 picks, and are reading group favorites: WOMEN OF THE SILK, THE SAMURAI'S GARDEN, and LANGUAGE OF THREADS)

EDUCATING WAVERLY, by Laura Kalpakian (William Morrow, $24.95, 0380977680; May)

THE FOODTASTER, by Ugo DiFonte; trans. by Peter Elbling (Permanent Press, $26, 1579620477; May)

GARDEN OF FAITH, by Lynne Hinton (HarperSanFrancisco, $20.95, 0062517465; May)

GOULD’S BOOK OF FISH: A Novel in Twelve Fish, by Richard Flanagan (Grove, $27.50, 0802117112; April)

HAPPINESS, by Will Ferguson (Canongate, $24, 1841952753; June)

THE HAUNTING OF L, by Howard Norman (Farrar, $24, 0374168253; April)

HENRY’S LIST OF WRONGS, by John Scott Shepherd (Rugged Land, $24.95, 1590710010; April)

INSTANCES OF THE NUMBER 3, by Salley Vickers (Farrar, $23, 0374177023; April)

INTO THE FOREST, by Edna O’Brien (Houghton Mifflin, $24, 0618197303; March)

LAND WHERE MY FATHERS DIED, by Joe Edd Morris (Context, $24.95, 189395627X; April)

LAST YEAR’S JESUS: A Novella and Nine Stories, by Ellen Slezak's (Hyperion, $22.95, 0786867418; April)

Featured Author: Tim Winton
DIRT MUSIC, by Tim Winton (Scribner, $26, 0743228022; May) Just reissued in paper: CLOUDSTREET ($14, 0743234413) and THAT EYE, THE SKY ($11, 0743234421). And Winton’s classic, THE RIDERS ($12, 0684822776), is already available in paper.

LET THEIR SPIRITS DANCE, by Stella Pope Duarte (Rayo/HarperCollins, $24.95, 0060186372; May)

LOST NATION, Jeffrey Lent (Atlantic Monthly, $25, 0871138433; May)

MY MOTHER’S ISLAND, by Marnie Mueller (Curbstone Press, $24.95, 1880684829; April)

NECTAR, by David Fickett (Tor, $23.95, 0765301741; May)

OXYGEN, by Andrew Miller (Harcourt, $24, 0151007217; April)

POINT FURY, by John Maxwell (Scribner, $25, 0743222075; April)

THE SEASON OF LILLIAN DAWES, by Katherine Mosby (HarperCollins, $24.95, 0066212723; April) Also a HarperAudio (0060082976)

THE SOUND OF THE TREES, by Robert Gatewood (Holt, $25, 0805068023; May)

STAY, by Nicola Griffith (Doubleday, $23.95, 0385503008; April)

STEP-BALL-CHANGE, by Jeanne Ray (Harmony, $22.95, 0609610031; May)

THREE JUNES, by Julia Glass (Pantheon, $25, 0375421440; May)

THE TRUE SOURCES OF THE NILE, by Sarah Stone (Doubleday, $23.95, 0385503016; April)

UNLESS, by Carol Shields (4th Estate/HarperCollins, $24.95, 0007141076; May) Also HarperAudio (0060098899)

WILD GINGER, by Anchee Min (Houghton Mifflin, $23, 0618068864; April 8)

WISH YOU WERE HERE, by Stewart O'Nan (Grove, $25, 0802117155; May)

WOMAN MADE OF SAND: A Novel in Stories, by Joann Kobin (Delphinium, $23, 1883285232; March)

YOU'RE AN ANIMAL, VISKOVITZ, by Allesandro Boffa; trans. by John Casey (Knopf, $18, 0375405283; in stores May 21)

A FINE PLACE, by Nicholas Montemarano (Context, $21.95, 1893956210; Feb.)

PALLADIO, by Jonathan Dee (Doubleday, $24.95, 038550179X; Jan.)

SUMMER IN BADEN-BADEN, by Leonid Tsypkin; trans. by Roger Keys (New Directions, $23.95, 0811214842; Nov. ’01)

TESTIMONY OF AN IRISH SLAVE GIRL, by Kate McCafferty (Viking, $24.95, 0670030651; Feb.)

VIOLENCE, NUDITY, ADULT CONTENT, by Vince Passaro (Simon & Schuster, $24, 068485726X; Feb.)

WAVEMAKER II, by Mary-Beth Hughes (Atlantic, $24, 0871138352; Feb.)

WIDE BLUE YONDER, by Jean Thompson (Simon & Schuster, $24, 074320512X; Dec. ’01)

THE YEARS OF RICE AND SALT, by Kim Stanley Robinson (Bantam, $25.95, 0553109200; Feb.)

BETWEEN BITES: Memoirs of a Hungry Hedonist, by James Villas (Wiley, $24.95, 0471214205; April)

A IS FOR IRELAND, by M. Mallace (SakonnetPress, $29.95 paper, 0970933304; July ’01)

PASSPORTER WALT DISNEY WORLD 2002: The Unique Travel Guide, Planner, Organizer, Journal and Keepsake! by Jennifer Watson, Dave Marx, and Allison Cerel Marx (PassPorter Travel Press, $21.95, 1587710021; Feb. ’02)