NPR Airs Summer Picks by Independents

On the first day of summer, National Public Radio's special correspondent Susan Stamberg turned to three independent booksellers for their top picks for "best beach reads." Stamberg, who regularly devotes segments to interviews with independent booksellers around the country, hosted the Morning Edition story, "An Independent View of Summer Reading: Bookstore Owners Offer Lists of Literary Picks," which featured booksellers representing the South, Midwest, and West. The guests talked about first novels, book club recommendations, and this season's book-lover's book.

Lucia Silva, manager of Portrait of a Bookstore in Studio City, California; Laura Hansen of Bookin' It, Little Falls, Minnesota; and Rona Brinlee, owner of the Book Mark in Atlantic City, Florida, were asked to provide one summer reading recommendation and describe it. The three were also asked to contribute several additional titles to be posted on the NPR Web site (npr.org). Of the recommendations, four were Book Sense Picks.

Hansen's top choice was John Dalton's Heaven Lake (Scribner), the story of a young Midwesterner who journeys to Taiwan as a missionary, but must leave in shame after getting entangled with a local girl. Hansen told Stamberg that she favors first novels. "They seem to have a story that the author wanted to tell for a long time," she said. Her selections featured on the NPR Web site, www.npr.org/, included Easter Island, by Jennifer Vanderbes (Dial), a July/August 2003 Book Sense Pick in hardcover and a Summer 2004 Book Sense Paperback Pick.

Brinlee, who has contributed to Morning Edition's summer reading list a number of times, chose Mrs. Kimble, a 2004 Book Sense Book of the Year finalist by Jennifer Haigh (Perennial). "The book just sucks you in immediately," she told listeners. Mrs. Kimble follows three women who all married the same man, a con-artist, at different times. Brinlee recommended it for book clubs.

The Shadow of Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (The Penguin Press) was also a Brinlee recommendation featured on the air. The novel is set in a cemetery for forgotten books, Brinlee told BTW, adding that as a book about books, it's the perfect bibliophile's read. For the NPR Web site, she picked Cursed By a Happy Childhood: Tales of Growing up Then and Now by Carl Lennertz (Harmony Books), a May 2004 Book Sense Pick. (For a related story from this week's BTW, click here).

Brinlee said she loves participating, despite pre-show jitters, and her community appreciates the coverage of their local bookstore. "Our customers are always happy to hear their bookstore is on a national show. They want the books talked about on NPR," she said. She also noted that NPR listeners are heavy book buyers and mentioned that one customer has Book Mark's phone number programmed on speed dial, so when she hears a book mentioned on NPR, she immediately calls the bookstore and orders it.

Silva, another returnee to Morning Edition, introduced a more visual choice to the mix: Found -- The Best Lost, Tossed and Forgotten Items From Around the World, edited by Davy Rothbart (S&S), which presents a collection of lost love-letters, hate-letters, photographs, and to-do lists all capturing a slice of life. "It's very voyeuristic, but totally thrilling," said Silva. "You kind of feel like you shouldn't keep reading it, but you can't stop."

Among Silva's recommendations featured on the NPR Web site was Ann Patchett's Truth & Beauty: A Friendship (HarperCollins), a June 2004 Book Sense Pick.

Stamberg, an ardent reader who has admitted to benefiting from the list herself, has made an annual tradition of interviewing independent booksellers for NPR's summer suggestions, and she told BTW via e-mail: "Every year, independent booksellers around the country give our listeners marvelous ideas for how to pack our beach bags for vacation. I know I can always count on them for great suggestions and great summer reading."

To listen to "An Independent View of Summer Reading" and to see the complete list of title selections click here. --Karen Schechner