Harry Potter 7 isn't going to be the only show in town. This summer is loaded with strong books, booksellers say.

"It is a spectacular season for book lovers, and literary fiction in particular will take center stage," says Brad Parsons, Amazon's senior book editor.

Love is in the air with three different kinds of novels.

"I Love You, Beth Cooper" by Larry Doyle tells of a geeky boy who declares his love in his graduation speech. It made Barnes & Noble fiction buyer Sessalee Hensley "laugh-snort through my nose. He so captured the anxiety of the teen years."

At Powell's, the Portland, Ore., independent bookstore, Danielle Marshall says Annie Dillard's story of a marriage, "The Maytrees" (June 12), is "the big 'wow.' Everyone is saying they love this book."

And then there is "On Chesil Beach" by Ian McEwan (June 5). Momentum started building with a December excerpt in The New Yorker.

This novel takes place in 1962 England. It's about two virgins on their wedding night, with flashbacks to their youth and glimpses of their future.

Summer is always big for paperbacks. Buzzworthy ones: "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen (in stores), "Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War" by Nathaniel Philbrick (in stores) and "Thirteen Moons" by Charles Frazier (June 5).

Booksellers are talking up "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini (May 22), second novel from the author of "The Kite Runner" (set for a November movie). "It really slam-dunks sophomore expectations," says Amazon's Parsons.

Sara Hinckley of Hudson Booksellers is embracing "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" by Michael Chabon (in stores). This novel imagines a Jewish settlement in Alaska rather than Israel.

The events of 9/11 resonate in "The Falling Man" by Don DeLillo (May 15). Powell's Marshall cites a co-worker who names it DeLillo's best ever — "and that is saying a lot, because he has a devoted and rabid fan base."

For Borders' Ann Binkley, "The Blood of Flowers" by Anita Amirrezvani (June 5), set in 17th century Iran, is her No. 1 novel — "the most beautiful book, bar none."