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July/August
2002 Book Sense 76 Picks
76 unique and provocative
selections from a great diversity of voices...all personally recommended by
the independent booksellers of America.
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| The Top Ten Vote-Getters |
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 The
Solace of Leaving Early
by Haven
Kimmel
"This novel is terrific. I love these characters for having absorbed literature
and philosophy, and then remembering it as they tried to make sense of their lives
and others. Flawed as they were, so many of the characters were so good and lovable.
I'll be handselling this book starting the minute it comes in." - Diane
Leslie, Dutton's Books, Brentwood, CA
 Life
of Pi
by Yann
Martel
"Martel weaves a brilliant tale that is part adventure story and part spiritual
quest. The part of the book that relates how Pi becomes a practicing Hindu/Moslem/Christian
is worth the price of the book, and the portion that deals with Pi and a Bengal
tiger adrift on the ocean in a lifeboat together is everything you might imagine
and more." - Stephen Grutzmacher, Passtimes Books, Sister Bay, WI
 The
Lovely Bones
by Alice
Sebold
"This remarkable first novel is narrated by a 14-year-old murder victim who
watches from heaven as her family and friends struggle with their grief, pain,
and desperation to understand. What could be maudlin is instead a spirited, devastating,
and ultimately hopeful book about love and healing. Susie will enter your heart
and you will be enriched by her." - Tripp Ryder, Carleton College Bookstore,
Northfield, MN
 Perma
Red
by
Debra Magpie Earling
"There are some stunning passages in this novel. Earling distills such beauty
and complexity from the hopelessness of the Flathead Indian Reservation and from
the landscape and the people as well. She also gives us flashes of a mythic world
that not all of us are privileged to know. Earling may soon be joining the ranks
of Erdrich, Silko and Welch." - Danielle Zielinski, Harvard Book Store,
Cambridge, MA
 The
Emperor of Ocean Park
by Stephen
L. Carter
"This fantastic literary mystery is the perfect substitute for War and
Peace this summer. At 650+ pages, it is well worth the time and energy. The
main character's challenge to solve the puzzle left behind by his dead father
keeps the pages turning, and the descriptions of the characters and their complicated
relationships are fascinating." - Terry Lucas, Open Book, Westhampton
Beach, NY
 The
Monk Downstairs: A Novel
by Tim
Farrington
"In prose as spare and serene as the character Michael himself, Farrington
celebrates the love between a divorced mother and her tenant, a monk who has just
left the monastery, and the possibility of hope in a time of transition. It will
have a long life on our staff pick table." - Kathleen Caldwell, Readers'
Books, Sonoma, CA
 Perfect
Match
by Jodi
Picoult
"Picoult is one of my favorite writers, and this is one of her best. Assistant
D.A. Nina Frost must deal with the emotional turmoil that comes when a crime strikes
her own family. If you have never read this author, this is the place to start.
I guarantee you will want to read all her books." - Dana DeVito, Moravian
Book Shop, Bethlehem, PA
 Fragrant
Harbor
by John
Lanchester
"Lanchester, who wrote the wonderful Debt to Pleasure, has done it
again. Set in Hong Kong from 1935 to the present, he follows a man traveling on
a ship to start a new life. Add in the story of a young Chinese missionary nun,
and there begins a trail of intrigue dealing with crime, money and the Hong Kong
undercurrents of modern business. I just loved it." - Roberta Rubin,
The Bookstall at Chestnut Court, Winnetka, IL
 Moral
Hazard
by Kate
Jennings
"This novel takes the seemingly opposite worlds of Wall Street finance and
the loss of a spouse to disease, and shows parallels that one normally would never
see. It is amazing that in such a relatively short book, Jennings can address
complicated subjects with both the candor and delicacy that they deserve. This
novel is one of survival and compassion, and it is a must read." - Maret
Orliss, Vroman's Bookstore, Pasadena, CA
 Without
Reservations: The Travels of an Independent Woman
by Alice
Steinbach
"An elegantly written, thought-provoking, and inspiring account of Steinbach's
journeys in search of the 'self' she'd lost touch with in the process of being
a wife, mother and reporter." - Susan Hickman, Distant Lands Travel
Store, Pasadena, CA
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