2011 Summer Reading List

Eleanor Henderson’s novel of coming of age in ’80s New York, “Ten Thousand Saints” (6/7), has a literary edge as well as landmark sites (CBGB) and turning points (the emergence of AIDS).

“The Astral” (6/14) is the apartment building in Greenpoint that a middle-aged poet is kicked out of after his wife of 30 years becomes convinced he’s having an affair. Author Kate Christensen serves up a slice of faded bohemian life.

Sapphire’s “The Kid” (7/5) opens with 9-year-old Abdul Jones, Precious’ son, ­attending her funeral. His job is to become a man now.

“Rules of Civility” (7/21), by Amor Towles, is just saturated in the era of speakeasies and war jitters as a lowly secretary is swept into the upper reaches through her acquaintance with an upper East Side blue-blood multimillionaire.

In Helen Schulman’s “This Beautiful Life” (8/2), the Bergamots are enjoying a privileged life after moving to Manhattan until their 15-year-old son forwards a graphic video sent to him by a female student at his private school. Bad move, that.

“The Submission” (8/2), by Amy Waldman, is searing and timely. A 9/11 widow is on a committee that unwittingly selects a Muslim-American to design the memorial to honor the victims. She defends the choice as the grieving families rage.

“City of Promise” (8/9), a novel by ­Beverly Swerling, is set in New York’s Gilded Age when real estate titan Joshua Turner and his from-the-bordello wife, Mollie, make their moves.

“Girls in White Dresses” (8/19), by ­Jennifer Close, is a better-than-chick-lit tale of three bridesmaids summoned to the city for their friend’s big day.

NYC BETWEEN SOFT COVERS

Water bottle. Check. Suntan lotion. Check. A paperback set in the city? Well … “Girl in Translation” (out now) by Jean Kwok tells the story of Chinese immigrant Kimberly Chang, who emerges as a star student at a Brooklyn prep school while slaving in a sweatshop by night.

Martha McPhee’s “Dear Money” (now) covers the heady days of the boom that went bust as a struggling writer cashes in by becoming a bond trader.

“Good Neighbors,” by Ryan David Jahn (Tuesday), calls to mind the infamous Kitty Genovese murder as neighbors do nothing while a dying woman lies screaming after being attacked in her Queens apartment complex.