Use the list below to browse NPR's 2012 Summer Booksrecommendations. Each critic's list is presented separately. Click on the article names to read our critics' comments about the books.
A World On The Page: Five Great Travel Memoirs
Recommended by Parul Sehgal
Dreaming in French, by Alice Yaeger Kaplan, hardcover, 289 pages, Univ of Chicago Press, list price $26
People Who Eat Darkness, by Richard Lloyd Parry, paperback, 454 pages, FSG Originals, list price $16
Beautiful Thing, by Sonia Faleiro, paperback, 225 pages, Black Cat, list price $15
Wild, by Cheryl Strayed, hardcover, 315 pages, Random House Inc, list price $25.95
Agua Viva, by Clarice Lispector, paperback, 88 pages, New Directions, list price $14.95
Laughing Matters: Five Funny Books With Substance
Recommended by Heller McAlpin
The Uninvited Guests, by Sadie Jones, hardcover, 262 pages, HarperCollins, list price $24.99
The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac, by Kris D'Agostino, paperback, 340 pages, Algonquin Books, list price $13.95
Wife 22, by Melanie Gideon, hardcover, 380 pages, Ballantine Books, list price $26
How To Be a Woman, by Caitlin Moran, paperback, 320 pages, HarperCollins, list price $15.99
Hope: A Tragedy, by Shalom Auslander, hardcover, 292 pages, Penguin Group USA, list price $26.95
What's The Big Idea? 5 Books To Inspire Innovation
Recommended by Jonah Lehrer
The Age of Insight, by Eric R. Kandel, hardcover, 636 pages, Random House Inc, list price $40
The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human, by Jonathan Gottschall, hardcover, 248 pages, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, list price $24
The Idea Factory: Bell Laps and the Great Age of American Innovation, by Jon Gertner, hardcover, 422 pages, Penguin Group USA, list price $29.95
Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman, hardcover, 499 pages, Farrar Straus & Giroux, list price $30
Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet, by Andrew Blum, hardcover, 294 pages, Ecco, list price $26.99
Lesser-Known Lit: Seeking Summer's Hidden Gems
Recommended by Barrie Hardymon
The Spoiler, by Annalena McAfee, hardcover, 287 pages, Knopf, list price $25.95
Overseas, by Beatriz Williams, hardcover, 456 pages, Putnam Adult, list price $25.95
A Land More Kind Than Home, by Wiley Cash, hardcover, 309 pages, William Morrow, list price $24.99
The Uninivited Guests, by Sadie Jones, hardcover, 262 pages, HarperCollins, list price $24.99
A Farewell to Arms: The Hemingway Library Edition, by Ernest Hemingway, hardcover, 330 pages, Scribner, list price $27
Reading Romance Between (And Under) The Covers
Recommended by Mary Bly
Two Rings: A Story of Love and War, by Millie Werber and Eve Keller, hardcover, 234 pages, PublicAffairs, list price $24
The Garden Intrigue, by Lauren Willig, hardcover, 388 pages, Dutton Adult, list price $25.95
A Night Like This, by Julia Quinn, paperback, 373 pages, Avon, list price $7.99
Somebody to Love, by Kristan Higgins, paperback, 425 pages, HQN Books, list price $7.99
Paris, I Love You but You're Bringing Me Down, by Rosecrans Baldwin, hardcover, 288 pages, Farrar Straus & Giroux, list price $26
Rich Reads: Historical Fiction Fit For A Queen
Recommended by Madeline Miller
History of a Pleasure Seeker, by Richard Mason, hardcover, 277 pages, Knopf, list price $25.95
Enchantments, by Kathryn Harrison, hardcover, 314 pages, Random House Inc, list price $27
Pure, by Andrew Miller, paperback, 331 pages, Europa Editions, list price $17
HHhH, by Laurent Binet, hardcover, 327 pages, Farrar Straus & Giroux, list price $26
Bring Up the Bodies, by Hilary Mantel, hardcover, 410 pages, Henry Holt & Co, list price $28
Summer's Best Sci-Fi: Planets, Politics, Apocalypse
Recommended by Annalee Newitz
After the Apocalypse: Stories, by Maureen F. McHugh, paperback, 264 pages, Small Beer Press, list price $16
Throne of the Crescent Moon, by Saladin Ahmed, hardcover, 274 pages, DAW Hardcover, list price $24.95
Arctic Rising, by Tobias S. Buckell, hardcover, 303 pages, Tor Books, list price $24.99
2312, by Kim Stanley Robinson, hardcover, 561 pages, Orbit, list price $25.99
Blackout, by Mira Grant, paperback, 659 pages, Orbit, list price $9.99
Want A Winner? These Books Made The Critics' Cut
Recommended by Laura Miller, Salon.com
Broken Harbor, by Tana French, hardcover, 464 pages, Viking Adult, list price $27.95
Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, hardcover, 416 pages, Random House Inc, list price $25
Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady, by Kate Summerscale, hardcover, 303 pages, Bloomsbury, list price $26
Recommended by David Ulin, The L.A. Times
Diaries, by George Orwell and Peter Davison, hardcover, 608 pages, Liveright, list price $39.95
Journalism, by Joe Sacco, hardcover, 191 pages, Metropolitan Books, list price $29
The Twenty-Year Death, by Ariel S. Winter, hardcover, 700 pages, Hard Case Crime, list price $25.99
Recommended by Ron Charles, The Washington Post
Canada, by Richard Ford, hardcover, 420 pages, HarperCollins, list price $27.99
Arcadia, by Lauren Groff, hardcover, 291 pages, Hyperion Books, list price $25.99
Sail Into Summer With Novel Picks From Alan Cheuse
Recommended by Alan Cheuse
Home, by Toni Morrison, hardcover, 144 pages, Random House Inc, list price $24
Canada, by Richard Ford, hardcover, 420 pages, HarperCollins, list price $27.99
Arcadia, by Lauren Groff, hardcover, 291 pages, Hyperion Books, list price $25.99
The Queen's Lover, by Francine du Plessix Gray, hardcover, 288 pages, Penguin Press, list price $25.95
Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, hardcover, 416 pages, Random House Inc, list price $25
Book Party For One: A Loner's Summer Survival Guide
Recommended by Maureen Corrigan
Birdseye: Adventures Of A Curious Man, by Mark Kurlansky, hardcover, 251 pages, Random House, list price $25.95
My Dear Governess: The Letters of Edith Wharton to Anna Bahlmann, by Edith Wharton and Irene C. Goldman-Price, hardcover, 296 pages, Yale University Press, list price $30
Crusoe's Daughter, by Jane Garden, paperback, 265 pages, Penguin Group USA, list price $16
The Red House, by Mark Haddon, hardcover, 272 pages, Random House Inc, list price $25.95
Teen Reads: Summer Books For You And Your BFF
Recommended by L. Lee Butler
The Drowned Cities, by Paolo Bacigalupi, hardcover, 437 pages, Little Brown & Co, list price $17.99
The Girls of No Return, by Erin Saldin, hardcover, 345 pages, Scholastic, list price $17.99
Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters, by Meredith Zeitlin, hardcover, 282 pages, Penguin Group USA, list price $16.99
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, by Benjamin Alire Saenz, hardcover, 359 pages, Simon & Schuster, list price $16.99
The Disenchantments, by Nina Lacour, hardcover, 308 pages, Penguin Group USA, list price $16.99
Pack Your Bags for Six Flights Of Fantasy
Recommended by Petra Mayer
The Killing Moon, by N.K. Jemisin, paperback, 440 pages, Little Brown &Co, list price $14.99
Babylon Steel, by Gaie Sebold, paperback, 543 pages, Pocket Books, list price $7.99
The Pattern Scars, by Caitlin Sweet, paperback, 377 pages, Diamond Comic Distributors, list price $16.95
The Best of Kage Baker, by Kage Baker, hardcover, 501 pages, Subterranean, list price $40
Throne of the Crescent Moon, by Saladin Ahmed, hardcover, 274 pages, Penguin Group, list price $24.95
Crucible of Gold, by Naomi Novik, hardcover, 323 pages, Random House Inc, list price $25
5 New Mysteries Return To The Scene Of The Crime
Recommended by Maureen Corrigan
The Confession, by Charles Todd, hardcover, 344 pages, HarperCollins, list price $25.99
The Stonecutter, by Camilla Lackberg and Steven T. Murray, hardcover, 489 pages, WW Norton & Co., list price $25.95
Dorchester Terrace, by Anne Perry, hardcover, 333 pages, Random House, list price $26
Hurt Machine: A Moe Prager Mystery, by Reed Farrel Coleman, paperback, 309 pages, Adams Media Corp, list price $15.95
Cop To Corpse: A Peter Diamond Investigation, by Peter Lovesey, hardcover, 304 pages, Random House, list price: $25
15 Summer Reads Handpicked By Indie Booksellers
Recommended by Lucia Silva, Portrait of a Bookstore
I Saw A Peacock With A Fiery Tail, by Jonathan Yamakami and Ramsingh Urveti, hardcover, 56 pages, Tara Books, list price $17.50
The Mark Inside: A Perfect Swindle, A Cunning Revenge, And A Small History Of The Big Con, by Amy Reading, hardcover, 290 pages, Random House, list price $26.95
The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human, by Jonathan Gottschall, hardcover, 248 pages, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, list price $24
Hole In My Life, by Jack Gantos, paperback, 199 pages, Feiwel & Friends, list price $9.99
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?, by Jeanette Winterson, hardcover, 230 pages, Grove Press, list price $25
Recommended by Daniel Goldin, Boswell Book Co.
Absolution, by Patrick Flanery, hardcover, 388 pages, Penguin Group USA, list price $26.95
The Book Of Jonas, by Stephen Dau, hardcover, 258 pages, Penguin Group USA, list price $24.95
A Good American, by Alex George, hardcover, 387 pages, Penguin Group USA, list price $25.95
The Healing, by Jonathan Odell, hardcover, 340 pages, Random House Inc., list price $26
Hit Lit: Cracking The Code Of The Twentieth Century's Biggest Bestsellers, by James W. Hall, paperback, 294 pages, Random House Inc, list price $16
Mr g, A Novel About The Creation, by Alan Lightman, hardcover, 214 pages, Random House Inc, list price $24.95
Recommended by Rona Brinlee, The BookMark
Coral Glynn, by Peter Cameron, hardcover, 210 pages, Farrar Straus & Giroux, list price $24
Boleto, by Alyson Hagy, hardcover, 251 pages, Farrar Straus & Giroux, list price $24
Glaciers, by Alexis M. Smith, paperback, 174 pages, Tin House Books, list price $10.95
The Cheerleaders Of Doom, by Michael Buckley and Ethen Beavers, hardcover, 245 pages, Harry N Abrams Inc, list price $14.95
The Collective, by Don Lee, hardcover, 352 pages, W W Norton & Co Inc, list price $25.95
Literary Look Ahead: 13 Great Books On The Horizon
Recommended by Michael Schaub
Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, hardcover, 416 pages, Random House Inc, list price $25
Hotels, Hospitals, And Jails: A Memoir, by Anthony Swofford, hardcover, 276 pages, Grand Central Pub, list price $26.99
The Red House, by Mark Haddon, hardcover, 272 pages, Random House Inc, list price $25.95
The Neruda Case, by Roberto Ampuero, hardcover, 352 pages, Penguin Group USA, list price $26.95
Barack Obama: The Story, by David Maraniss, hardcover, 448 pages, Simon & Schuster, list price $32.50
The Age Of Miracles, by Karen Thompson Walker, hardcover, 320 pages, Random House Inc, list price $26
Not The Israel My Parents Promised Me, by Harvey Pekar and J. T. Waldman, hardcover, 176 pages, Farrar Straus & Giroux, list price $24.95
Shadow Of Night, by Deborah Harkness, hardcover, 592 pages, Penguin Group USA, list price $28.95
The Violinist's Thumb And Other Lost Tales Of Love, War, And Genius, As Written By Our Genetic Code, by Sam Kean, hardcover, 400 pages, Little Brown & Co, list price $25.99
The Impeachment Of Abraham Lincoln, by Stephen L. Carter, hardcover, 400 pages, Random House Inc, list price: $26.95
You & Me, by Padgett Powell, hardcover, 192 pages, HarperCollins, list price $23.99
Where'd You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple, hardcover, 304 pages, Little Brown & Co, list price $25.99
A Wilderness Of Error: The Trials Of Jeffrey MacDonald, by Errol Morris, hardcover, 352 pages, Penguin Group USA, list price $29.95
Nancy Pearl Unearths Great Summer Reads
Recommended by Nancy Pearl
The Map of My Dead Pilots: The Dangerous Game of Flying in Alaska, by Colleen Catherine Mondor, hardcover, 242 pages, Globe Pequot Pr, list price $22.95
A Gay and Melancholy Sound, by Merle Miller, paperback, 567 pages, AmazonEncore, list price $14.95
Treasure Island!!!, by Sara Levine, paperback, 172 pages, , Penguin Group USA, list price: $15
A Partial History of Lost Causes, by Jennifer Dubois, hardcover, 372 pages, Random House Inc, list price $26
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, by Ben Fountain, hardcover, 307 pages, HarperCollins, list price $25.99
Dissolution, by C. J. Sansom, paperback, 389 pages, Penguin Group USA, list price $15
Lost, by Michael Robotham, paperback, 368 pages, Random House Inc, list price $13.95
Plant Eater's Paradise: 2012's Best Summer Cookbooks
Recommended by T. Susan Chang
The Fresh & Green Table: Delicious Ideas for Bringing Fresh & Green Into Your Day, by Susie Middleton, paperback, 224 pages, Chronicle Books Llc, list price $24.95
Asian Tofu: Discover the Best, Make Your Own, and Cook It at Home, by Andrea Nguyen and Maren Caruso, hardcover, 231 pages, Random House Inc, list price $30
Sunset Edible Garden Cookbook: Fresh, Healthy Cooking from the Garden, by Sunset, paperback, 288 pages, Little Brown & Co, list price $24.95
Ripe: A Cook in the Orchard, by Nigel Slater and Jonathan Lovekin, hardcover, 591 pages, Random House Inc, list price: $40
Ripe: A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables, by Cheryl Sternman Rule and Paulette Phlipot, hardcover, 312 pages, Perseus Books Group, list price: $25
The Fresh Egg Cookbook: From Chicken to Kitchen, Recipes for Using Eggs from Farmers' Markets, Local Farms, and Your Own Backyard, by Jennifer Trainer Thompson, paperback, 182 pages, Workman Pub Co, list price: $14.95
Herbivoracious, A Flavor Revolution, with 150 Vibrant and Original Vegetarian Recipes, by Michael Natkin, hardcover, 367 pages, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, list price $24.95
United States of Pie, Regional Favorites from East to West and North to South, by Adrienne Kane, paperback, 288 pages, HarperCollins, list price $24.99
Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream Book, by Jake Godby, Sean Vahey, Paolo Lucchesi and Frankie Frankeny, paperback, 143 pages, Chronicle Books, list price: $19.95
Pasta Italiana: 100 Recipes from Fettuccine to Conchiglie, by Gino D'acampo and Kate Whitaker, hardcover, 208 pages, Natl Book Network, list price $24.95
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