Play all audios:
Never mind that the release of the sixth Harry Potter book is still a month away. Summer is just around the corner, and our book reviewer Alan Cheuse has been busy compiling his picks for
the season. Whether your summer plans include the beach, or the mountains, or just your own backyard, there's probably something on his list for you. FICTION: _THE PRACTICE OF DECEIT_,
BY ELIZABETH BENEDICT (HOUGHTON MIFFLIN): "The first-person story of the marriage between a Scarsdale, New York, therapist and his South Boston-born divorce lawyer wife -- a marriage
coming apart at the seams. Benedict tells it from the man's point of view, and the story practically spills into your lap as you turn the pages." _NATIVES AND EXOTICS_, BY JANE
ALISON (HARCOURT): "In a lyrical series of chapters, [Alison] recalls the adventures of a family of wanderers and settlers and diplomats, with an early cameo appearance by the great
German naturalist and explorer Alexander Von Humboldt... a fascinating summer journey between book covers that spans centuries and continents." _EUROPE CENTRAL_, BY WILLIAM VOLLMAN
(VIKING): "Vollman's depiction of the struggle between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia reads like Solzhenitsyn on acid, with a surreal romance starring [Russian composer Dmitry]
Shostakovich at the center of the book, and major battles and betrayals and genocide erupting about the edges." _SUNSTORM_, BY ARTHUR C. CLARKE AND STEPHEN BAXTER (DEL REY): "An
absolute must for science fiction fans," this book is the conclusion to the authors' "A Time Odyssey" series. _LEGENDS_, BY ROBERT LITTELL (Overlook): "The spy novel
of the summer -- a tour de force about a former CIA agent who's taken on so many false identities he's not sure who he is." _THE RIGHT MADNESS_, BY JAMES CRUMLEY (VIKING):
Written by "Montana's answer to Mickey Spillane," this hard-boiled P.I. novel opens on a "seemingly idyllic summer evening and soon leads to a lot of murder and mayhem --
and gruff male meditations on the joys and rigors of Crumley's late middle-aged private eye." NONFICTION: _THE RESTLESS SLEEP_, BY STACY HORN (VIKING): In "an obsessive
nonfiction account" of New York City Police Department's cold-case squad, Horn "writes in outrage at [long-unsolved crimes] and with great affection for both the living and
the dead." YOUNG ADULT: _BROKEN CHINA_, BY LORI AURELIA WILLIAMS (SIMON & SCHUSTER): "Young-adult fiction with a true voice, about children raising children." POETRY:
_WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS: SELECTED POEMS_, EDITED BY ROBERT PINSKY (LIBRARY OF AMERICA): A new volume of Williams' poetry -- over 100 poems, including the lively and goofy "Danse
Russe." CD: _NATIVE JOY FOR REAL_ BY JOY HARJO (MEKKO PRODUCTIONS/DISTRIBUTED BY WINGS PRESS): An American Indian poet sings her poems and plays sax. SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS: _THE
WONDER SPOT_, BY MELISSA BANK (VIKING) _FOLLIES_, BY ANN BEATTIE (SCRIBNER) _A PERFECT STRANGER_, BY ROXANA ROBINSON (RANDOM HOUSE) _TROPICAL FISH_, BY DOREEN BAINGANA (UNIVERSITY OF
MASSACHUSETTS PRESS) _NOBODY'S BABY_, BY LEO LITWAK (FORTHCOMING FROM EL LEON LITERARY ARTS) Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.