11 excellent novels for summer reading

Whether you're on the beach, in the airport, or staying in your own backyard, there's nothing like the perfect novel to round out your summer vacation. Here are a handful of very attractive titles appearing this summer.

1. "State of Wonder," by Ann Patchett

(Harper, 368 pp.) Even better than “Bel Canto”? That’s what at least one early reviewer says of Ann Patchett’s latest. This new novel is set in the Amazon, where a young pharmaceutical worker has been sent by her boss (who also happens to be her lover) to investigate the death of a colleague. (June)

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