Book Sense Best Books, Volume 1: 125 Favorite Books Recommended by Independent Booksellers

Celebrating five years of the successful Book Sense program, the first compilation of "must-read" adult and children's titles selected and annotated by trusted and experienced booksellers.

Book Sense, the successful national brand representing more than 1,200 independent booksellers throughout the USA, celebrates its fifth birthday in 2004. The Book Sense name — which embodies the passion, personality, knowledge, community, and character of its members — is the reason independent booksellers are once again being recognized for the vital role they play in connecting great books with passionate readers.

As part of its birthday celebration, Book Sense (a subsidiary of the American Booksellers Association) circulated a ballot with 371 titles — all of the top-10-ranked books on the Book Sense Best Books lists over the last five years. Over 1,000 members voted for the books they most enjoyed hand-selling, resulting in a "Best of the First Five Years" list of 15 adult and 10 children's titles. As a quick and easy reference for booklovers, this first volume of Book Sense Best Books features these titles and more than 100 others, organized as follows:

• The Top Picks: 15 adult and 10 children's titles, annotated by individual booksellers
• Top Reading Group Recommendations: 50 more adult titles, organized by category
• Top Classics for Children and Young Adults: 50 more titles, organized by age and reading level
• Appendix listing of 371 Top Ten Book Sense picks from past five years
• Index by title and author

"This volume celebrates the fifth anniversary of Book Sense, a subsidiary of the American Booksellers Association composed of more than 1,200 independent booksellers in 50 states This work offers the members' list of 15 favorite adult titles and 10 children's favorites, all published in the last five years (several of the children's selections are new editions of older classics). It's clear that independent booksellers are passionate about reading, and their comments embellish their picks. Ranging from hugely successful titles like The Da Vinci Code (bookseller Jeff Azbill calls it 'one of those rare books that...makes you question everything you thought you knew about religion, art, and what you were taught in school') to the literary memoir Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller ('a mixture of joy, tragedy, and reality,' says bookseller Connie Heppner), the choices will intrigue and attract serious readers especially, but perhaps also casual readers looking for something good to dip into. There is also an extremely useful compilation of 50 recommendations for reading groups and 50 children's and young adult classic selections. Kingsolver's heartfelt tribute to independent booksellers is alone worth the price of this guide. She credits the 'guardian angels' of the now defunct Book Mark in her hometown, Tucson, Ariz., with helping to launch her first novel, and eloquently argues for the survival of the independents." Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Celebrating five years of the successful Book Sense program, the first compilation of "must-read" adult and children's titles selected and annotated by trusted and experienced booksellers.

Book Sense, the successful national brand representing more than 1,200 independent booksellers throughout the U.S., celebrates its fifth birthday in 2004. The Book Sense name — which embodies the passion, personality, knowledge, community, and character of its members — is the reason independent booksellers are once again being recognized for the vital role they play in connecting great books with passionate readers.

As part of its birthday celebration, Book Sense (a subsidiary of the American Booksellers Association) circulated a ballot with 371 titles--all of the top-10-ranked books on the Book Sense Best Books lists over the last five years. Over 1,000 members voted for the books they most enjoyed hand-selling, resulting in a "Best of the First Five Years" list of 15 adult and 10 children's titles. As a quick and easy reference for booklovers, this first volume of Book Sense Best Books features these titles and more than 100 others, organized as follows:

- The Top Picks: 15 adult and 10 children's titles, annotated by individual booksellers

- Top Reading Group Recommendations: 50 more adult titles, organized by category

- Top Classics for Children and Young Adults: 50 more titles, organized by age and reading level

- Appendix listing of 371 Top Ten Book Sense picks from past five years

- Index by title and author

Book Sense, founded in 1999, is a subsidiary of the American Booksellers Association.

Barbara Kingsolver is the author of The Poisonwood Bible, Bean Trees, and other novels.

Avin Mark Domnitz, an independent bookseller for 18 years, is now CEO of the American Booksellers Association.