Memorial Day is fast approaching, and with it, lists of poolside reading recommendations.

Nancy Pearl presented hers on NPR’s Morning Edition earlier in the week. One of the titles is, of course, the first in her curated list of reprints, the Book Lust Rediscoveries series, the 1961 title, A Gay and Melancholy Sound, which she first discovered in the Annapolis Public Library when she was 18. She says it may be her “favorite novel ever” (amazing for someone who has read so many books).

Asked about the negative reaction from some independent booksellers over her decision to publish the series with Amazon, she replied, ”I was not surprised, but sorry that happened. My loyalty has always been to…putting readers together with good books. When this idea was offered to many, many publishers, Amazon was the company that loved it and felt that it fit their mission.”

In addition to coming back in print, the title is available as an audiobook for the first time (Brilliance Audio).

Among her other picks is Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain. Nancy says her copy is so filled with markers for quotes she wants to remember that it is now twice its original size. A debut novel, it has been receiving a chorus of kudos,

The cover blurb from Karl Marlantes (Matterhorn, What It’s Like to Go to War) calls it “The Catch 22 of the Iraq War.”

The Washington Post — “a masterful gut-punch of a debut novel.”

The NYT Book Review – “everything is brilliantly done”

The Huffington Post points out Fountain “was Malcolm Gladwell’s prime example in an essay about how it takes 10,000 hours to become great at anything” and claims that the book “has already established itself as the finest novel about the Iraq War.”

No less a critic than the Washington Post‘s Jonathan Yardley calls Turn Right at Machu Picchu, (Dutton, June 30) an “entirely delightful book.” Author Mark Adams decided to celebrate the centenary of the “discovery” of Machu Picchu by following the trek himself, a challenge he was not fully prepared for.

He was interviewed on NPR Weekend Edition Sunday. The book is also on NPR’s list of the “Summer’s Biggest, Juiciest Nonfiction Adventures,” which calls it, “as close to an armchair vacation as you’ll get all summer long.”

Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time Mark Adams Retail Price: $26.95 Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: Dutton Adult – (2011-06-30) ISBN / EAN: 0525952241 / 9780525952244

Parade Magazine weighed in with their 12 picks for summer reading last week (distinguishing themselves by being the only ones to select Bonnie Jo Campbell’s Once Upon a River, getting strong critical acclaim and showing heavy holds in libraries). With the country in the midst of a seemingly endless heat wave, it seems appropriate to now call the summer reading lists of 2011 a wrap.

On the right side of the site, we’ve linked to the major lists, under “Previews — Summer ’11.” Browsing through the various list serves as a quick R.A. refresher.

For an exhaustive (and exhausting) list of nearly every guide, check out the blog Largehearted Boy. It’s interesting if your curious what books more specialized sources, like what Ad Age recommends.

Since it’s instructive to see how others hand-sell books, below are Harlan Coben and Jennifer Weiner (who is on several reading lists herself, for Then Came You, Atria, out this week), presenting their top picks on the Today Show earlier this month.

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Wendy Bartlett, Collection Development Manager, Cuyahoga P.L. emailed us that libraries may want to check their holds on The Long Drive Home (S&S, 5/17) by Will Allison, a novel about a man who gives in to rare fit of road rage, killing a teenager in the process. His subsequent lies and deceptions eventually tear apart his once perfect family.

It is a People magazine Pick in the 5/30 issue, which describes it as “a gripping morality tale …Allison’s eye for the quiet details of domestic life highlights what’s at stake, and he makes brilliant use of the precocious [six-year-old daughter] Sara…” The 7/4 NYT Book Review attests to the novel’s emotional power, although the reviewer questions the book’s key plot element and is “queasy” about being made to like the main character.

Based on holds, Wendy says she is now placing a 3^rd order and put book on Cuyahoga’s popular  “Coming Soon/Bestsellers” handout.

Tell us what books are taking off in your library ;email us, or leave a comment below.

On NPR’s Morning Edition today, Nancy Pearl presents “10 Terrific Summer Reads” (audio will be available around 9 a.m., Eastern). The list is eclectic, ranging from a graphic novel series (Castle Waiting & Castle Waiting II, Linda Medley, Fantagraphic Books) to Y.A. (Matched, Ally Condie, Dutton) and  to a mass market paperback original (Midnight Riot, Ben Aaronovitch, Del Rey).

If you are going to ALA, you can catch Nancy as she hosts the 2nd annual AAP Editor Buzz program at ALA this Sunday, 10:30 to noon, Room 392, the New Orleans Convention Center.

Our friends and former colleagues at Shelf Awareness have launched a new publication aimed at consumers, Shelf Awareness for Readers. The twice-weekly email newsletter focuses on books, with a dozen reviews of both adult and childrens books as well as features, and some stories from the six-year-old trade publication, now called Shelf Awareness Pro. UPDATE: The reviews will be licensed; Ingram has already signed up.

One feature that readers advisors are sure to love is “Further Reading.” In this issue, it recommends books to extend the experience after reading Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder.

This new version of The Shelf is launching with an extensive marketing campaign, so you are likely to hear about it from your customers.

None of the much-anticipated “next Stieg Larsson’s” have come close to that author’s uber-best-selling popularity. The latest contender, The Snowman by Jo Nesbo, Knopf, landed on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list, where it is now at #13 after 4 weeks, slipping from a high of #9, making it unlikely to touch the Larsson record. Still, it’s quite an achievement for a book in translation.

For fans who want more, USA Today offers a list of “Scandie Lit” coming out this summer (all are international best sellers). Below are their picks, with our annotations:

The Inspector and Silence: An Inspector VanVeeteren Mystery by Swedish writer Hakan Nesser, Pantheon, 6/14 — the fifth title in the series to be translated into English; excellent prepub reviews.

The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler, FSG, July 5 – Expected to be a major success (it’s one of People‘s Picks for the summer, calling it ”spellbinding”), this first novel by a Swedish husband-and-wife team, it’s been signed for a movie, to be directed by Lasse Hallstrom.

Bad Intentions: An Inspector Sejer Mystery by Karin Fossum, HMH, 8/9; Fossum has been called the “Norwegian queen of crime.”

Call Me Princess by Denmark’s Sara Blaedel, Pegasus,  8/17; the publisher compares this “Danish crime queen” to both Stieg Larsson and Camilla Lackberg. This is her American debut.

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen. Dutton, 8/23; winner of several Danish crime fiction prizes, Adler-Olsen has dominated Danish best seller lists, but most of his books have not been translated into English. PW gives this one a starred review, “Stieg Larsson fans will be delighted.”

Not on the USA Today list

Until Thy Wrath Be Past, by Swedish crime writer Asa Larsson, SilverOak/Sterling 8/9; SilverOak is a new imprint that focuses on Scandinavian crime; they brought Three Seconds by Roslund & Hellstrom to the US. It was on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list for four weeks in January, rising to #8.

In her May interview on Seattle’s NPR station, WKUO, Nancy Pearl says she’s been reading two “wonderful novels” [listen here] that she will be talking about on an upcoming interview on the NPR’s national Morning Edition show.

The first, The Coffins of Little Hope, by Timothy Schaffert, (Unbridled, 4/19), also receives a strong endorsement from Ron Charles this week in the Washington Post, Janet Maslin last month in the NYT and is awarded four of a possible four stars in the 5/16 issue of  People magazine, in a review describing it as,

Memorably narrated by octogenarian obit writer Essie Myles, this is a witty, sometimes profound story about media, mortality and rash acts undertaken in the name of love.

Author Timothy Schaffert appeared in early May at the Omaha Public Library. In a promo on the local morning tv show, he offers an intriguing description of the plot (don’t worry; the intro from the show’s rather excitable hosts, who clearly have not read the book, is mercifully brief).

It is published by indie press Unbridled Books. Founded in 2003, the press has built a strong reputation in just a few years for discovering literary fiction (one of their major breakouts is The Singer’s Gun by Emily St. John Mandel, a finalist for the Indie Booksellers Choice award).

The other favorite Nancy mentions is Emily Alone by Stuart O’Nan (Viking/Penguin, March 17). She says both in it and The Coffins of Little Hope the authors allow you to get to know a character in depth, both the good and the bad, similar to what Evan Connell achieved with Mrs. Bridge and Elizabeth Stroud with Olive Kitteridge.

Already hailed with 3 starred prepub reviews, GalleyChat buzz and four of a possible four stars in People magazine, Jennifer Haigh’s Faith receives a powerful review from Ron Charles in the Washington Post. The story follows a woman as she investigates accusations of sexual abuse against her stepbrother, a Catholic priest. Charles says Haigh,

…brings a refreshing degree of humanity to a story you think you know well, and in chapters both riveting and profound, she catches the avalanche of guilt this tragedy unleashes in one devout family.

Faith: A Novel Jennifer Haigh Retail Price: $25.99 Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Harper – (2011-05-10) ISBN / EAN: 0060755806 / 9780060755805

Large Print, HarperLuxe; Audio, Dreamscape and Playaway

It takes a lot these days for a what-my-untrainable-dog-taught-me memoir to rise to the top of the category. Christian Science Monitor‘s book editor, Marjorie Kehe, dog lover herself, has seen them all, and, despite her vow to not be sucked in by another one, says that Martin Kihn’s Bad Dog (Pantheon/Knopf Doubleday, April) is just “too good to miss.”  The Book Beast lists it as one of this week’s “Hot Reads”.

But what convinced us is a ringing endorsement by EarlyWord Kids contributor, Lisa Von Drasek,

On the surface this is a twelve step recovery memoir with a nod to Caroline Knapp’s Drinking: A Love Story. In the dog book category, it is less Marley and more Knapp’s Pack of Two. But really, this story of a man who sobered up, fell in love with his exuberant Bernese Mountain dog, and worked really hard to win back the human love of his life, deserves its own category. Told with humor and humility, Marty relates his dog training struggles while referencing the famous and disparate schools of thought on the subject. Readers will be rooting for him. (Spoiler – the dog doesn’t die; phew!)

Kihn’s first memoir, House of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch and Then Tell You the Time, (Business Plus/Grand Central) has been adapted for a half-hour comedy series, starring Kristen Bell and Don Cheadle. It’s set to air on Showtime and may debut this fall.

Bad Dog: A Love Story Martin Kihn Retail Price: $23.95 Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: Pantheon – (2011-04-05) ISBN / EAN: 0307379159 / 9780307379153

OverDrive, ebook.

Holy Appeal Factors; USA Today offers a rundown of new and forthcoming books to read if your interest in Nordic noir has been “stoked by Stieg.” (Click on titles above for full biblio. info.)

Each annotation includes the “Stieg factor,” such as this one for Hennig Mankell’s latest (and final) in his Kurt Wallander series, The Troubled Man, “The brooding Wallander makes Salander’s black moods feel like a sunny day in Miami.”

In a companion story, Dierdre Donahue looks at this spring’s Scandinavian invasion of authors on book tour in the US.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the responses to our Favorite 2010 Books to Recommend challenge. We asked you to give us your own passionate book recommendations (not reviews, but an expressions of true love) and you came through. It’s like eavesdropping at the new book shelves.

We want more! Please add to the list (click here and add to the comments).

Here’s a few that sold me:

The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love Kristin Kimball Retail Price: $25.00 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Scribner – (2010-10-12) ISBN / EAN: 1416551603 / 9781416551607

Corinne Chronopoulos: The Dirty Life tells the true story of a NYC journalist who falls for an organic farmer while writing a story about him. This may sound like a cliche story line – city girl goes to the country – but it is actually a story about where our food comes from and the choices we make when we eat. Kimball is a fantastic writer and I really loved hearing about how two people struggled to bring a piece of land alive and produce food for themselves and their community. This book made we want to be a farmer and changed the way I consume.

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An Irish Country Courtship: A Novel (Irish Country Books) Patrick Taylor Retail Price: $25.99 Hardcover: 464 pages Publisher: Forge Books – (2010-09-28) ISBN / EAN: 0765321742 / 9780765321749

Linda: I loved An Irish Country Courtship by Patrick Taylor. This series is one of my favorites for escapist reading. The author evokes life in a Northern Irish village in the mid-1960′s with wonderful characters and an exceptional ear for dialogue. There’s even a glossary at the end clarifying unfamiliar local expressions.

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Turtle in Paradise Jennifer L. Holm Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 208 pages Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers – (2010-05-11) ISBN / EAN: 0375836888 / 9780375836886

Susan: I like books that make the reader want to do further research into a specific time or event. This semi-autobiographical novel about a young girl who is shipped off to her mother’s family in Key West during the Great Depression has a wonderful cast of characters, real buried treasure, and an ending that will knock your socks off.

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Boneshaker (Sci Fi Essential Books) Cherie Priest Retail Price: $15.99 Paperback: 416 pages Publisher: Tor Books – (2009-09-29) ISBN / EAN: 0765318415 / 9780765318411

Debbi: Steampunk, zombies, airships & pirates, Seattle a long time ago, crazy inventors, single mother wanting only the best for her teenage son and highly poisonous materials floating around… completely unlike anything I’ve read before, quite outside my usual interests and I LOVED it.

We challenged you to tell us about your favorite 2010 books to recommend, along with your own passionate annotations, and you came through, making every one sound irresistible.

Please, check out the suggestions and add your own.

Below are the covers of some of the titles:

On NPR’s Morning Edition today, Nancy Pearl recommended several memoirs. She says that The Hare with Amber Eyes is the best work of nonfiction she read this year.

The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family’s Century of Art and Loss Edmund de Waal Retail Price: $26.00 Hardcover: 368 pages Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux – (2010-08-31) ISBN / EAN: 0374105979 / 9780374105976

Best books lists can be stuffy, requiring all that dispassionate justification of “quality.” It’s often more fun to hear what people simply loved.

The UK’s Guardian asked various writers and other public figures to recommend their favorites of 2010. Their responses are strikingly different from the often dry annotations on best books lists. For instance, a book that has received plenty of admiring attention breathes new life from this passionate recommendation,

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell is as enjoyable as a Patrick O’Brian novel and much better written. It’s a brilliantly imagined journey through 17th-century Japan and Holland which is moving, thoughtful and unexpectedly funny.

Curtis Sittenfeld (author of American Wife) recommends Stiltsville, an EarlyWord favorite. Now that she’s won us over with that example of impeccible taste, we’re ready to give her second recommendation a try.

I fell in love with two American first novels. Stiltsville by Susanna Daniel (Harper) is the gorgeously written story of a marriage over several decades, and it takes place in Miami, Florida, a place so vividly depicted you feel like you’ve travelled there while reading. If You Follow Me by Malena Watrous (HarperPerennial) is about a college graduate who goes to teach English in Japan, thinking she’ll end up in Tokyo and instead landing in a rural nuclear power plant town. It’s funny in a sharp, dark, painfully true way.

So, please, help us create a “Librarian’s Favorites” list; tell us what you loved this year, complete with your heartfelt recommendation.