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Booksellers' Picks for the Beach — or the Backyard

Rainy Day Books, in Kansas City, Kan., is one of three independent bookstores we polled for summer-reading picks.
Rainy Day Books, in Kansas City, Kan., is one of three independent bookstores we polled for summer-reading picks.

If your idea of packing for vacation is a suitcase full of books and two bathing suits, you've come to the right spot. We've gathered suggestions from three independent booksellers about hot-weather reads to go on your packing list.

The moods range from mystery to giddy romp, the topics from life behind the veil to wedding-night anxiety to superhero angst — and the literary modes from sprawling apocalyptic novel to what might be called a puzzle-master's experiment with form. Read on to meet our bookseller friends and discover their recommendations — including several not heard in the radio broadcast — about what the well-read traveler will be carrying this summer.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Susan Stamberg
Susan Stamberg was one of NPR's "founding mothers" (she also coined the phrase). She joined the network at the time of its inception in 1971, and her career at NPR spanned more than five decades.