Manda picks:The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons edited by Jerry Beck

Really, how can you not want this book? Just one look at the table of contents, which is a list of stills from the cartoons discussed in the book, will shoot you back to Saturday mornings in your pajamas in front of the TV. With the turn of every page you'll be saying, "I remember that one! I used to love that one!" You'll then continue to scour the book looking for your all time favorite cartoons. 100 Greatest lists some of the better-known ones like Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 Century and What's Opera, Doc (who didn't sing "Kill the Wabbit" along with Elmer every time it was on?) and some of the ones you may not remember so well like The Dover Boys at Pimento University and High Note (unless you're like me and have an insane love for Looney Tunes). Plot and commentary is given for each cartoon to help further your appreciation of the shorts. Great fun and scarily hypnotic.

Lynne picks:This is Just Exactly Like You by Drew Perry

Did you ever know someone who consistently made a complete mess of his life but you just couldn't help loving him anyway? Meet Jack Lang, the central character in Drew Perry's This is Just Exactly Like You. His wife has left him to move in with his best friend, his best friend's ex-girlfriend is putting the moves on him and his mute six year old son with autism has started speaking in complete sentences - in perfect Spanish.

Jack buys real estate on impulse, starts home improvement projects he can't finish and generally makes so many ill-advised decisions it's hard to keep up. But through it all you find yourself rooting for him and you slowly realize that Jack may not be as messed up as he first appears.

Ostensibly a novel about suburban ennui and modern marriage, the story is much, much more. It's a well-drawn portrait of the ways men and women think differently, how some people need to control while others can just BE. As the parent of a child with autism, I also felt Perry's depiction of raising a child with challenges was spot on, from enduring touchy-feely therapists to rebuffing rude stares, we see Jack learning to love his son just as he is without expecting more, which is not a bad thing for any of us to learn. The book also provides plenty of laughs along the way and it may just leave you with a desire to live as impetuously as Jack does - just to see what happens next.

Suzanne picks: Small Wonder by Barbara Kingsolver

While I was receiving books at Bear Pond recently, I was curious about the influx of Barbara Kingsolver books: Bean Trees, Animal Dreams, Poisonwood Bible, Prodigal Summer and Small Wonder. What was spurring this resurgence? The reason for these arrivals is The Lacuna is about to be released early in paperback.

I've read most of Kingsolver's books. I've observed the evolution of her realistic prose over the years culminating in my favorite, The Poisonwood Bible. I thought this would be a good time to read one of her books I hadn't. I chose Small Wonder which is a collection of essays published in 2002 with topics ranging from making sense of the 9/11 aftermath, to the fragility of nature and onto the intimate bonds of daughter and mother.

It's poignant and wonderful to be reconnected with her writing. Each essay opens with a stunningly muted illustration by Paul Mirocha all offering a sense of wonder. An essay, entitled "Lily's Chickens" presents a universal lesson on the impact of over consumption on the environment.

Laura Ciolkowski of the New York Times criticized Kingsolver's "heavy-handed wisdom as unfulfilling." But I found her overall requisite, easy going voice comforting and easily understood.

If you have read Kingsolver but not Small Wonder, try it. If you have not read Kingsolver now is a good time to start. With the early paperback release of The Lacuna you will find a nice selection of her books at Bear Pond.

July's book is Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra, a thousand-page speed-read set in India. To celebrate, we'll be meeting, probably at someone's house, and bringing Indian food. Mmm...Garlic Naan...Mmmm.

Oh, and read The Passage, the new novel by Justin Cronin. It's scary and splendid and great [and it's why I'm so behind on reading everything else].

SIGNING: SATURDAY, JULY 3, 11AM-1PM
STEPHEN KIERNAN / AUTHENTIC PATRIOTISM

Patriotism has become a loaded word: one that is wielded against people with whom we might disagree, or whose cultural origins don't match our own. But our founding fathers--Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and others--saw patriotism as a dynamic force: an act of service, in an evolving nation that defined its purpose by offering all people a better way of life.

In Authentic Patriotism, author and award-winning journalist Stephen P. Kiernan explores the original ideals that have been lost in our current climate, where war and economic turmoil have eroded our sense of civic obligation.

Norman, widely regarded as one of this country's finest novelists, returns to the mesmerizing fictional terrain of his major books-The Bird Artist, The Museum Guard,and The Haunting of L--in this erotically charged and morally complex story. Set on the Atlantic coast of Canada during WWII, Norman's latest book is an expertly crafted tale of love during wartime.

Howard Norman(and family) are frequent customers at Bear Pond Books when they are in Montpelier and Howard's events here are always popular. He lives with his wife poet Jane Shore in Washington, DC and Vermont.