When I reached out to our dear friend Frank Reiss, owner of A Cappella Books in Atlanta, he was busy being the best dad ever, touring colleges with his youngest daughter. In his usual friendly fashion, Frank made time for us and answered my questions from afar. A Cappella Books, an Atlanta institution, has been around for 25 years.

Frank, tell us, what are your big books for summer 2014?

Since we think A Cappella's secret to survival has been staying small, what generally goes along with that is that the books that are big most places don't do a lot for us. That being said, there is occasional confluence. Like probably every other bookstore out there, we're having a hard time keeping Thomas Piketty's book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century in stock. We're also excited about two local authors who have mysteries set in Atlanta coming out this summer: Karin Slaughter's Cop Town is set in Atlanta in the '70s, which I anticipate will be a ripe era for a lot of great fiction and nonfiction for years to come. My manager Glen Thrasher beat me to our advance reading copy, and gives it a rave review.

Also, Amanda Kyle Williams' Don't Talk to Strangers, her third Keye Street mystery. She really nails current-day Atlanta and North Georgia in her novels. She's also got a great personal story and is a lovely person.

What are the notables in non-fiction?

We just had a block party with about 200 people picking up the new paperback of David Sedaris' latest, Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls so it will be hard for any non-fiction to top that anytime soon. Two memoirs that I wish I were selling more of, since they were two of my favorites from the spring and will make for great summer reading: singer-songwriter Todd Snider's I Never Met a Story I Didn't Like and Frances Mayes' Under Magnolia.

Business books — any big sellers this summer?

Generally, we're not the go-to place for business books, but earlier this year, Atlanta business legend Herman Russell published his memoir: Building Atlanta. It's an amazing Horatio Alger story, made all the more amazing that Russell is black, grew up in the Jim Crow South and continues to be involved in almost every significant construction project in town, as well as all over the country. We've gotten to know Mr. Russell and his wife through working with him on a number of events we've done with the book, and he is, hands-down, the nicest billionaire I've ever met.

Southern literature. Anything you see happening?

In mid-July we host a debut novelist from New Orleans, Laura Lane McNeal. Her book is Dollbaby. Guaranteed to strike a chord with readers who loved Kathryn Stockett's The Help. And that's, statistically speaking, just about everybody. It's an admirable piece of fiction that tells an emotionally gripping coming-of-age story, gives readers an insider's view of New Orleans, particularly during the era of rapid racial changes during the '60s, and touches on universal themes of family and love.

A completely different kind of debut novel, Young God, by Katherine Faw Morris, kept me up all night reading it. It's rough stuff, and I can't exactly say why I couldn't put it down, but I couldn't, and that doesn't happen often. Like Denis Johnson's Angels or Jesus' Son, it's life at its darkest, but somehow through the power of the writing, there's some sort of light.

One of our bookseller Chris Buxbaum's favorites is a Texas novelist's debut: Ruby by Cynthia Bond. He compares it to the work of William Gay. High praise indeed.

A recent favorite of another A Cappella staffer Courtney Conroy's was Further Joy by Florida writer John Brandon. We hosted John in conversation with Josh Russell, one of Atlanta's most talented authors. Between Josh's being a kindred spirit and a reviewer calling Brandon a cross between Elmore Leonard and Charles Portis, I've added it my stack.

Do people come in and stock up before they go on trips?

That's a phenomenon that is, as far as we can tell, a bit on the wane.

Audiobooks on long car trips, do people still do this?

We don't do audiobooks. I know my wife and I enjoy them, though. Unless, like last year, I chose Al Gore's The Future. She was worried I would fall asleep driving because it put her to sleep. I loved it though.

Do you read on a device?

I don't. I know a lot of voracious readers who do though, including the man who taught me the antiquarian book business over 30 years ago. And we do sell the Kobo e-reader, which allows those folks who like to read books that way to avoid having to buy from Amazon.

Travel. What do you take?

I still always bring a big stack. And I usually come back with a bigger stack.

Looking back at your life of reading, do you have one book in particular associated with a certain summer?

I can remember getting funny looks when I brought Woody Allen's books Without Feathers and Getting Even with me to wrestling camp one summer. I laughed so much I kept waking up my roommate. Otherwise, I associate summer reading with my wife's family's annual beach trip. I usually have one of the big, juicy books of the year with me, like Jonathan Franzen or Richard Ford, and my brother-in-law is always prodding me to finish because it's usually the book he's been waiting to read next. Last summer's favorite read was a book that went almost completely unnoticed, which is a shame. It was a great true story, The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking by Brendan I. Koerner. It's now out in paperback. I hope more readers will discover it.