The Kojo Nnamdi Show

Recommendations for the best reads of the summer from book editors and independent bookstore owners.

Carla Cohen, Editor of the Book Review at Politics and Prose

Lizzie's War: A Novel

by Tim Farrington

HarperOne

Baker Towers

by Jennifer Haigh

William Morrow

The Confessions of Max Tivoli: A Novel

by Andrew Sean Greer

Picador

Crossing California

by Adam Langer

Riverhead Hardcover

The Hungry Tide: A Novel

by Amitav Ghosh

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Small Island: A Novel

by Andrea Levy

Picador

Midnight at the Dragon Cafe: A Novel (Alex Awards (Awards))

by Judy Fong Bates

Counterpoint

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

by Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin

Knopf

Freedom Just Around the Corner: A New American History: 1585-1828

by Walter A. McDougall

Harper

Them: A Memoir of Parents

by Francine du Plessix Gray

Penguin Press HC, The

Hello to All That: A Memoir of War, Zoloft, and Peace

by John Falk

Henry Holt and Co.

Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China

by Rachel DeWoskin

W. W. Norton & Company

Audio books

In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency)

by Alexander McCall Smith

Recorded Books

Saturday

by Ian McEwan

Recorded Books

The Love Wife

by Gish Jen

Recorded Books

Collapse

by Jared Diamond

Penguin Audio

Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal Book Review

The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana

by Umberto Eco

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Captain Alatriste

by Arturo Perez-Reverte

Putnam Adult

The Portrait

by Iain Pears

Riverhead Hardcover

Hunger's Brides: A Novel of the Baroque

by Paul Anderson

Da Capo Press

Divided Kingdom

by Rupert Thomson

Knopf

The Traveler (Fourth Realm Trilogy, Book 1)

by John Twelve Hawks

Doubleday

Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet

by Xinran Xinran

Nan A. Talese

Envy: A Novel

by Kathryn Harrison

Random House

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

by Lisa See

Random House

My Life in CIA: A Chronicle of 1973

by Harry Mathews

Dalkey Archive Press

The Education of Arnold Hitler

by Marc Estrin

Unbridled Books

Breath and Bones

by Susann Cokal

Unbridled Books

The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole: A Novel

by Stephanie Doyon

Simon & Schuster

Sheilah Egan, "A Likely Story" Children’s Bookstore

Animal Sounds (Golden Sturdy Books)

by

Golden Books

Belly Button Book (Boynton on Board)

by Sandra Boynton

Workman Publishing Company

Feely Bugs: To Touch and Feel (Bugs in a Box Books)

by David A. Carter

Little Simon

What will I be? (Mirror Mirror)

by Christopher Inns

Kingfisher

Play, Baby, Play

by Ann Blakeslee

Cartwheel

Go, Baby, Go

by Ann Blakeslee

Cartwheel

What Do You Do?

by Mandy Stanley

Little Simon

Bee-bim Bop!

by Linda Sue Park

Clarion Books

Everybody Makes Mistakes

by Christine Kole MacLean, Cynthia Decker

Dutton Juvenile

The Fairytale Cake

by Mark Sperring

Chicken House

Good Morning, Digger

by Anne Rockwell

Viking Juvenile

The Journey of the One and Only Declaration of Independence

by Judith St. George

Philomel

Reading Makes You Feel Good

by Todd Parr

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Russell the Sheep

by Rob Scotton

HarperCollins

The Visit

by Reeve Lindbergh

Dial

A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms

by

Candlewick

If Frogs Made Weather

by Marion Dane Bauer

Holiday House

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)

by J. K. Rowling

Scholastic, Inc.

The Hidden Myths in Harry Potter: Spellbinding Map and Book of Secrets

by David Colbert, Virginia Allyn

St. Martin's Griffin

Eldest (Inheritance, Book 2)

by Christopher Paolini

Knopf Books for Young Readers

Best Foot Forward

by Joan Bauer

Putnam Juvenile

The Underland Chronicles #3: Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods

by Suzanne Collins

Scholastic Press

Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo

by Obert Skye

Shadow Mountain

The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp (Alfred Kropp Adventures)

by Richard Yancey, Rick Yancey

Bloomsbury USA Childrens

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy

by Jeanne Birdsall

Knopf Books for Young Readers

Angela Dodson, Executive Editor of Black Issues Book Review

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

by Malcolm Gladwell

Little, Brown and Company

Small Island: A Novel

by Andrea Levy

Picador

The Professor's Daughter: A Novel

by Emily Raboteau

Henry Holt and Co.

The Icarus Girl: A Novel

by Helen Oyeyemi

Nan A. Talese

Freshwater Road

by Denise Nicholas

Agate Publishing

The Prophet of Zongo Street: Stories

by Mohammed Naseehu Ali

Amistad

Let George Do It!

by George Foreman, Fran Manushkin

Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing