Summer Reads '09

Summer’s coming. For millions that means barbeque, beach, and for many, a good book — or five, or six, or all we can fit in the bag.
Choosing can be tough — like choosing a bottle of wine. So many out there, but what’s really good? Will old-standby authors deliver again? Will new ones delight and amaze?
We’re here to help — with a literary critic, a book review editor, and a bookstore manager — to give you a heads-up on their top picks for this summer. "Beat the Reaper." "Little Bee." "The Moonflower Vine." And many more.
This hour, On Point: Top picks, summers reads, 2009.
You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.Guests:

Joining us from New York is Liesl Schillinger, a regular contributor to The New York Times Book Review, which published its annual summer reading issue this past Sunday.

From Seattle, Wash., we're joined by Jamil Zaidi, manager at The Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle.

And from St. Paul, Minn., we're joined by Laurie Hertzel, senior editor in charge of books coverage and book reviews at The Minneapolis Star Tribune.

More links:

This week The Wall Street Journal ran its summer reading list, "A Book Lover's Summer."

Here are our guests' recommendations...

Liesl Schillinger:
• EVERY MAN DIES ALONE, by Hans Fallada
• LITTLE BEE, Chris Cleave
• UNRELIABLE MEMOIRS, by Clive James (Newly re-released)
• LOWBOY, by John Wray
• FAMILY PLANNING, by Karan Mahajan
• LOSING MOM AND PUP, by Christopher Buckley
• OUTLIERS, by Malcolm Gladwell
• THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett
• OUT OF MY SKIN: A NOVEL, by John Haskell
• THE FAMILY MAN, by Elinor Lipman
• THE TALL BOOK, by Arianne Cohen
• I LOVED, I LOST, I MADE SPAGHETTI, by Giulia Melucci
• THE GARRICK YEAR, by Margaret Drabble
• A HERO OF OUR TIME, by Mikhail Lermontov, trans. by Natasha Randall

Jamil Zaidi:
• THE SELECTED WORKS OF T.S. SPIVET, by Reif Larson
• THE WAY THROUGH DOORS, by Jesse Ball
• BEAT THE REAPER, by Josh Bazell
• THE DARK SIDE OF LOVE, by Rafik Schami
• THE GIVEN DAY, by Dennis Lehane
• WONDERFUL WORLD, by Javier Calvo
• THE HOUSEKEEPER & THE PROFESSOR, by Yoko Ogawa
• THE ANGEL'S GAME, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (On Sale 6/13)
• CHILD 44, by Tom Rob Smith
• THE SECRET SPEECH, by Tom Rob Smith
• THE DARK VOLUME, by Gordon Dahlquist (Third in a series)
• THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, by Stieg Larsson
• DROOD, by Dan Simmons
• WANTING, by Richard Flanagan
• THE LAST DICKENS, by Matthew Pearl

Laurie Hertzel:
• I DO NOT COME TO YOU BY CHANCE, by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani
• THE MOONFLOWER VINE, by Jetta Carleton
• THE HOUSE AT SUGAR BEACH, by Helene Cooper
• THE SOUL THIEF, Charles Baxter (New in paperback)
• READING THE OED, by Ammon Shea
• THE FROZEN THAMES, by Helen Humphreys
• THE NINETEENTH WIFE, by David Ebershoff
• THE RED CONVERTIBLE, by Louise Erdrich
• STARVATION LAKE, by Bryan Gruley
• IRREPLACEABLE, by Stephen Lovely
• A SHORT WALK IN THE HINDU KUSH, by Eric Newby