Books & Crannies is raffling off our—almost—life size image of Johnny Depp in full Jack Sparrow regalia. The raffle prize also includes two tickets to the sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which is being released July 7, as well as your choice of one of the Jack Sparrow books from our extensive collection. The raffle tickets are only $1, and the drawing will take place Thursday, July 6 at 7 p.m., and we ask that you be present to win. Also on Thursday, July 6, we'll be having another Advance Copy Party, from 6-8 p.m., where you can select a "freebie" from the many advance copies of upcoming books we receive from publishers. Come by and see what we have—you might just find something you'll enjoy.

Summer Reading For Local Schools

The summer reading lists from our local schools include some really wonderful titles, such as Girl in Hyacinth Blue, The Butterfly and the Diving Bell, Kite Runner, Sign of the Beaver, Old School, as well as the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, the Hoofbeats series, and the new Heartland series (Chestnut). The selections for all grades are truly terrific. We have supplies of summer reading books, but we encourage you to stop by soon as these books are going fast!

Summer Reading for the Rest of Us

A Patriot's Handbook, edited by Caroline Kennedy, is an anthology of poems, documents, speeches, songs and letters that is an inspiring and revelatory examination of our unique American spirit, in all its diversity, hubris and indomitable optimism.

Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pochantas and the Heart of a New Nation, by David A. Price, tells a familiar story of these two mythic characters in a whole new way, and also brings in the lives and experiences of hundreds of other interesting characters. Price paints a vivid picture of life in the New World, evoking the adventure, danger, hardship and triumph of the Jamestown colony.

Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson, might be considered a thriller or suspense novel, but this author takes the genre and adeptly turns it upside down and inside out. The book is certainly exciting and suspenseful, but it is also an exploration of dysfunctional families who triumph over tragedy—and who, incidentally, are also very funny along the way.

In Cage of Stars, a 12-year-old Mormon girl confronts tragedy and must decide between revenge and forgiveness, after the murders of her two sisters. The path she takes is painful, but redemption is always at hand. Author Jacquelyn Mitchard (The Deep End of the Ocean) takes us on the journey and shows us the consequences of the choices we make.

In The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, Michael Pollan looks at the politics of food. Ruth Reichl, editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine, says Pollan "tears down the walls that separate us from what we eat…Reading this book is a wonderful, life-changing experience."

Chosen by a Horse: A Memoir, by Susan Richards, is a story of redemption, for both horse and woman, and is a touching, loving tale that demonstrates how animals can heal us.

If none of these pique your interest, there are always the old faithfuls, those writers who never let you down: Carl Hiassen, Anita Shreve, Alexander McCall Smith, Anne Tyler, Tom Wolfe, and others—we all have our favorites.