Genre: Not Genre-Specific

As anyone who's been through an MFA program can tell you, translating peer critiques is an art in itself. For the workshop novice, here's a brief guide.

The American Booksellers Association recently compiled Best Books: The Best of Book Sense From the First Five Years, a list of titles that U.S. independent booksellers most enjoyed selling during the past five years. Booksellers voted from a ballot that included 371 titles culled from Book Sense 76 lists. The final list consists of 25 books in the categories of Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, and Children's.

Thanks to muscular marketing and persistent promoting—notable traits of the Academy of American Poets—April has been established as the month to appreciate poetry. But there are other designated days and months during which everyone can celebrate creative writing, both as an art form and as yet another way to turn an average day into a holiday. 

Page One features a sample of titles we think you'll want to explore. With this installment, we offer excerpts from Vanishing Point by David Markson and Sky Girl by Rosemary Griggs.