summer reading guide 2021

One Summer, 73 Books

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One summer, 73 books. No matter what you like — thrillers, audiobooks, cookbooks, historical fiction, music books, sci-fi, romance, horror, true crime, sports books, Hollywood tell-alls — we have recommendations for the perfect literary escape.

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The Ultimate Summer Reading List 2021

Are you ready to fill your to-read list with good summer reads? The Summer Reading List 2021 will help you find all the best books to read this summer.

I recently sat down to plan out my annual summer bucket list.

Although my list isn’t quite to pre-pandemic levels, compared to last year, my calendar is looking rather full. Beach days, hikes, vacations, camping, bike rides are all happily added to my list.

Along with my summer activities, I’ve penciled in plenty of time to get through my summer reading list for 2021.

Of course, you only want the best summer reads to appear on your summer book list. No one has time to waste reading overrated bestsellers.

That’s where I step in. I’ve already read dozens of new and upcoming releases, and I’ve compiled suggestions for summer reading for adults.

I’ve got books becoming movies , the hottest new releases , 2020 bestsellers , and some older reads you might have missed. 

Don’t Miss a Thing

Best Books to Read This Summer

Malibu Rising

Taylor jenkins reid.

In 1983, four famous siblings throw an epic summer party at their Malibu mansion. Secrets come out, the party gets out of control, and a fire will burn it all down by dawn. Malibu Rising is a gorgeous family drama that surpasses a simple beach read. The story of the Riva children abandoned by their famous rockstar father is heartbreakingly sad and yet still hopeful. The characters come alive as each sibling ponders if they can escape their parents’ fates. An all-around brilliant read that belongs among the best books for summer 2021.

Publication Date: 01 June 2021 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Klara and the Sun

Kazuo ishiguro.

In his first novel since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, Kazuo Ishiguro uses an unusual narrator to ponder the meaning of love. Klara is a robot, an Artificial Friend, waiting to be bought and taken home to be a companion to a lonely child. Ishiguro’s brilliant writing brings Klara to life, with her keen observations about the world around her, forcing you to piece together complex situations as perceived through the lens of innocence.

Publication Date: 2 March 2021 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Lost Apothecary

Sarah penner.

In 1791, Nella uses her London apothecary shop to sell poisons for women to use against abusive men. The only rules are that the poisons cannot be used against another woman and that you must leave a record in the apothecary’s register. When she befriends a 12-year-old girl, the consequences will last generations. A beautifully rich novel that would be a great one for a summer book club discussion.

Survive the Night

Riley sager.

After her roommate is murdered on campus, Charlie is desperate to get away. She posts a notice on her college rideshare board and snags a ride back to Ohio from a handsome stranger. However, Charlie quickly realizes that Josh is not whom he seems. A fun cat-and-mouse with plenty of twists and turns and a little over-the-top theatricality, Survive the Night is among the best read this summer for those who love thriller books.

Publication Date: 29 June 2021 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

All the Children are Home

Patry francis.

In a small town in Massachusetts in the 1960s, Dahlia and Louie Moscatell have finally found a rhythm as long-term foster parents. Then a social worker begs them to take on one more foster child – a six-year-old indigenous girl who will change their family dynamics forever. Perfect for your summer reading list in 2021, Patry Francis hits the emotions hard in this powerful story of love and family and the struggles of the foster care system.

Publication Date: 13 April 2021 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island

Colleen oakley.

Just in time for summer comes one of the best beach reads of 2021. On the remote Frick Island in the middle of Chesapeake Bay, Piper Parrish had a perfect life – until her husband died. But Piper kept carrying on, acting as if he was still alive, and the townsfolk decided to play along with the grieving widow. When an ambitious podcaster arrives in town, he feels like he has the story of a lifetime, until he starts to fall in love with Piper. With quirky characters, a cute love story, and thoughtful plot twists, The Invisible Husband of Frick Island is a poignant story about grief and the things we’ll do for those we love.

Publication Date: 25 May 2021 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Save for Later

Books Becoming Movies in 2021

Two Kisses for Maddy

Matthew logelin.

Fatherhood . April 2, 2021 – Matthew Logelin had a perfect life  – married to his high school sweetheart Liz with a baby girl on the way. After a difficult pregnancy, Liz gave birth to a beautiful baby girl before dying suddenly of a pulmonary embolism. Matthew Logelin chronicles the first year of his daughter Maddy’s life as he navigates the joy and struggle of being a new father while grieving the death of his beloved wife. Probably one of the most emotional stories on the summer book list of 2021, Fatherhood stars Kevin Hart as Matthew.

Publication Date: 14 April 2011 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Knife of Never Letting Go

Patrick ness.

Chaos Walking . January 22, 2021 – If you are a sci fi lover, you know the genre has a strong track record of amazing movies based on books. In the first book of the Chaos Walking series, we meet Todd Hewitt, the sole boy living in a town of men. In a society where everyone can hear each other’s thoughts, Todd can tell that the men of the town are holding something back. Then one day, he discovers something inexplicable in the woods: a girl. Starring Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley, the film, titled Chaos Walking , underwent massive reshoots but has finally seen the light of day.

Publication Date: 5 May 2008 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Woman in the Window

May 14, 2021 – Peek into the life of Anna Fox, a New York City recluse who, spying on the family across the street, witnesses a shocking event. With its unreliable narrator and layers of secrets, The Woman in the Window will keep you guessing to the end. The Woman in the Window has been among my summer book recommendations for the last few years waiting for the film adaptation. After numerous delays, the movie finally released on Netflix.

Publication Date: 2 January 2018 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Nine Perfect Strangers

Liane moriarty.

Marketed as the perfect spot to turn over a new leaf, Tranquilium House is a luxurious and remote health resort. Ready for a change, nine strangers gather together for their life-changing stay. Could these ten days of pampering, relaxation, and mindfulness have all the answers they are seeking? Or would it be better to leave this resort and never look back? Or is it already too late? The miniseries is due to release on Hulu in 2021, meaning you’ll want to add it to your summer reading list for 2021.

Publication Date: 18 September 2018 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Summer Reads of 2020

The Vanishing Half

Brit bennett.

Growing up in a Southern black community obsessed with skin color, the Vignes sisters run away at age sixteen. Though identical twins, their lives end in completely different paths. One returns to live in their hometown while the other secretly passes as white. A fascinating story from beginning to end, Bennett explores more than race, as she contemplates how the past affects future generations when their daughters’ lives intersect. Nuanced and complicated, this thought-provoking book is just what you want out of literary fiction and every bit deserving of its spot on any summer book list.

Publication Date: 2 June 2020 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Code Name Hélène

Ariel lawhon.

Nancy Wake, a New Zealander living in Paris, becomes a spy for the British and rises to one of the top leaders of the French Resistance and one of the most decorated women of the war. The story is split into two narratives – the first starting with Nancy parachuting into France in 1944 and the second telling of her courtship with her husband, Henri Fiocca, before the war. You’ll fall in love with Henri and cheer on Nancy as she transforms into a fierce fighter and respected commander. As the earlier timeline catches up with the later one, you’ll feel all the emotions of a woman caught up in a terrible war.

Publication Date: 31 March 2020 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Isabel Wilkerson

When you think of castes, India’s strict caste system likely comes to mind. In Caste , Wilkerson argues that America has its own hidden caste system, a hierarchy that has influenced the United States both historically and currently. Using fascinating stories, Wilkerson points out that, on top of race and class, our understanding of caste systems must also change if we are to better ourselves as a nation. With almost a year on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list , you should seriously consider adding Caste to your summer reading list in 2021.

Publication Date: 4 August 2020 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Fifty Words for Rain

Asha lemmie.

In post-World War II Japan, Nori, the illegitimate daughter of a Japanese aristocrat and a Black American GI, is hidden away on her grandmother’s estate to conceal the family shame. All Nori knows is the attic she is confined to until she meets her legitimate half-brother, Akira, a boy who shows her the world contains so much more. A clear winner among the best summer books, this complicated story about shame and the need for acceptance would be a perfect choice for your book club.

Publication Date: 1 September 2020 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Guest List

On a remote island, the perfect wedding turns deadly in this thrilling mystery. The high-profile wedding between a television star and a magazine publisher is supposed to be the perfect event. Set off the coast of Ireland, all the stops have been pulled out. Yet once the guests arrive, past conflicts come into play and someone turns up dead. Was it the bride? The best man? The wedding planner? Foley keeps you guessing until the end, giving each suspect a firm motive to want to commit murder. Looking for something gripping to distract you, The Guest List is the perfect page-turner to read this summer.

Books for Your Summer Reading List 2021

A Woman is No Man

Following three generations of Palestinian women, Rum’s powerful story highlights the dangers of beliefs that view women as inferior. The tale begins with the arranged marriage of Isra, forced to move to America where she knows no one. Years later, Isra’s daughter Deya herself faces an arranged marriage in Brooklyn. This raw account of the oppression of women in an extremely strict family is depressing and at the same time beautifully written, making it a great addition to your summer reading list in 2021.

Publication Date: 8 February 2019 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Talking to Strangers

Malcolm gladwell.

It’s been six years since Malcolm Gladwell last published a book, and while he has interesting podcasts, you’ll want to dive into his take on a new topic. In Talking to Strangers , Gladwell focuses on what happens when we encounter new people and why those encounters so often turn out poorly. With his mix of statistics, scientific research, and interesting anecdotes, Gladwell is the ultimate storyteller. Be prepared for lots of debate as many of his viewpoints will probably be quite controversial with some people.

Publication Date: 10 September 2019 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Mother-In-Law

Sally hepworth.

The first time Lucy met Diana, she disappointedly finds her future mother-in-law is cold and distant. Not at all the best friend and replacement mother Lucy was hoping to find. Now ten years later, Diana is dead, and all eyes automatically turn to Lucy. Much more of a character study than a murder mystery, The Mother-in-Law shines by highlighting how two different people can view the same event differently and by navigating the history of a complicated relationship. If you’re looking for summer reads about family relationships, you don’t want to miss this one.

Publication Date: 29 January 2019 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Wife Between Us

Greer hendricks and sarah pekkanen.

Just days away from her wedding to her charmingly attentive rich fiance, Nellie feels like someone might be following her. Meanwhile, his ex-wife Vanessa is obsessed with her replacement and desperate to stop the wedding. You might think you know how this domestic thriller will end, but appearances can be deceiving. In their first collab, Hendricks and Pekkanen have plenty of tricks up their sleeve, keeping the plot twisting and you second-guessing how it’s all going to end.

The Night Tiger

Yangsze choo.

Eleven-year-old Ren is given one final task when his master dies: to find his master’s severed finger and return it, in the next 49 days, or his master’s soul will be doomed to wander the earth. From there, his story will mingle with that of dance hall girl Ji Lin who has found the finger, all while a tiger stalks the town. Mixing Chinese folklore and superstition with historical fiction, Choo brings the time period to life in this beautifully written and imaginative story.

Publication Date: 12 February 2019 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Backlist Summer Reads 2021

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry

Gabrielle zevin.

Crotchety old A. J. Fikry is struggling in life. He is now a widow. His bookstore is failing. To top it off, his rare edition of Edgar Allan Poe has been stolen. On the verge of becoming a complete recluse, a plot twist occurs that will gives Fikry a second chance at life. A heartwarming tale perfect for any 2021 summer reading list.

Publication Date: March 2014 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Dark Matter

Blake crouch.

Walking home one night, Jason Dessen is kidnapped and forced into an alternate reality. He’s been thrust into the multiverse, a world where instead of marrying his wife when she got pregnant with their child, he single-mindedly persevered on with his research. Although the middle was a bit slow, Crouch’s premise will boggle your mind and the story concludes with a thrilling finale.

Publication Date: 26 July 2016 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Tom Rob Smith

In 1950s Communist Russia, MGB officer Leo Demidov never wavers from the Party Line. Until his confidence is shaken by when he investigates the brutal murder of a young boy. After watching an innocent neighbor tortured, Demidov is then asked the impossible: to arrest his own wife. Now he must choose where his loyalties lie as the child killings continue. A fun historical mystery that you won’t regret adding to your summer reading list in 2021.

Publication Date: 3 March 2008 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

The Time Traveler’s Wife

Audrey niffenegger.

In this classic love story, art student Clare and librarian Henry try for a sense of normalcy as Henry time shifts through their life. Henry has Chrono-Displacement Disorder; he unexpectedly gets pulled to important emotional moments in his past and future life. A mind-bending romance that is a perfect choice if you are looking for books to read for summer 2021.

Publication Date: 2003 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

A Prayer for Owen Meany

John irving.

During a Little League baseball game, Owen Meany hits a foul ball that kills his best friend’s mother. Believing himself to be God’s instrument, Owen seeks to fulfill his own prophecy. Narrated by Owen’s best friend John Wheelwright, A Prayer for Owen Meany is one of the best books about friendship and a beloved modern classic.

Publication Date: March 1989 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

What’s on Your Summer Reading List in 2021?

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with my Summer Reading List 2021? What’s on your list? As always, let me know in the comments!

More Summer Reading Lists:

• The Best Beach Reads of 2021
• The Best Summer Reads to Beat the Heat
• 29 Summer Books to Satisfy Any Mood
• The 2020 Summer Reading List

Recommended

Reader Interactions

May 11, 2021 at 12:09 pm

Yay! My copy of Klara and the Sun is ready at my local library, after being on a wait list. Perfect timing. I’ll consider it my first summer read (even though it is not quite summer!).

I am stuck on Home by Marilynne Robinson. It is part of the Gilead series, book 2 actually. I like it, but I am reading it way too slowly, because real life is getting in the way. These are books the Oprah Book Club is reading.

Spent a day with my youngest daughter yesterday, checking out college housing possibilities. She will be going to a new campus for the first time after doing online courses at home. Big move.

Does real life interrupt y’all’s reading? It is a predicament.

I was also reading People We Meet On Vacation. Probably an appropriate summer or beach reach, but quite frankly I am finding it to be one I may not want to waste my precious reading time on.

Excited to check out some of the others on this list!!!!! I need to remember to go for a good long walk too, when the heat of the day subsided. I saw fireflies the other evening.

Summer is my favorite time of the year.

Rachael says

May 17, 2021 at 11:27 am

Yes, my real-life oftentimes interrupts my reading life. Late Spring/Early Summer and Fall are often the hardest for me because the weather is nice, so my family tends to get out and about much more. I will admit, I am jealous you saw fireflies. It’s one aspect of my childhood I truly miss since we don’t have them in Utah.

May 25, 2021 at 11:46 am

Follow up: Klara and the Sun did not do it for me. Sadly it became a DNF for me.

People We Meet On Vacation had the same fate and is sitting on a shelf. So I was in a bit of a reading rut.

I did however finish Home & then Lila. I really liked Lila. We’ve been under a flash flood watch in TX, so the rainy days have been perfect for reading!! I’ve picked up Black Buck, which I am late getting around to. Also reading Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri. And I need to look for Jack, to finish up the Gilead series.

I’m on wait lists for The Invisible Husband of Frick Island, Olympus, Texas (sounds like a good Texas family drama!) &The Last Thing He Told Me. The last one has a lot of hype as a page turner, so we shall see.

And Margeete’s Island and We Begin At The End are ready for pick up! So I think I am all set for the start of Summer!!

I don’t mean to bore with my details. I love hearing what everyone’s reading & hope by listing these books, I can help someone else out.

I have to say your Summer Reading List is definitely one of the best out there!!! I love all your lists actually. Just received the list of all the books you read in May & the reviews. Always good info.

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!

May 27, 2021 at 4:20 pm

You are definitely not boring me with details. I love hearing what books people are reading!

Jasmine says

May 11, 2021 at 1:00 pm

This is a phenomenal summer book list!! Many of your choices are already on my TBR so i am looking forward to reading many of these. Thanks for the recommendations. I have been following you since the end of 2020 and i can say, you never disappoint but this is by far by favorite list. I am also completing your 2021 Reading Challenge.

May 17, 2021 at 11:29 am

I’m so glad you like the summer reading list. I’m not going to lie, I’m always a bit nervous when I put lists like this together!

Deanna says

May 12, 2021 at 1:10 am

I recently finished (on audiobook), “The Silent Patient”. Good book and didn’t figure it out till the end.

I also just finished, “The Four Winds” by Kristin Hannah. All I can is WOW! Definitely not an uplifting story, especially during these time, but I still loved it, tears and all! Another one of hers that will be at the top of my favorites of all times list!

Now, I’m reading “Later”, by Stephen King before I move onto my next book club book!

My favorite book I’ve read already from your list is “The Storied Life of A.J. Fikery”. What a wonderful book and I always pass that one on to others! Thanks for this list of books, some I already have on my to read list and some I definitely needed to add! You haven’t steered me wrong yet 🙂

May 17, 2021 at 11:30 am

Yes, The Storied Life of AJ Fikry is such a good one. I know people usually expect just recent releases for summer reading lists, but I love to throw in some older favorites people might have missed.

Sheree @ Keeping Up With The Penguins says

May 12, 2021 at 6:52 pm

Oh, The Invisible Husband of Frick Island sounds SO cute!! I’d not heard about it before, but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for it now.

May 17, 2021 at 11:32 am

Yes, it’s a cute one. I haven’t really seen much hype about it, which surprises me. That’s just how it goes sometimes, though.

Andrea C says

May 18, 2021 at 8:56 am

Ooooo! I haven’t heard of Survive the Night! Always stoked to discover a new read (thank you!) My favorite thriller read of the year has been “Cyclops Conspiracy” by William McGinnis. It’s a part of a thriller series so you don’t have to feel as sad when one book is over! I tend to look for books that feel believable and keep me entertained from start to finish and this book definitely delivered. I really got invested in the characters and found myself really rooting for them more-so than I have with recent reads. The author did a wonderful job of humanizing them and really getting to the root of their motivations…and seeing the fallout of some of the decisions made throughout the book really had me on the edge of my seat. Essentially terrorists are trying to smuggle in nuclear bombs to America and Europe and ex Navy Seal Adam Weldon and his girlfriend (who is a FBI sharpshooter – yaaaaas strong female lead!) has to join forces with an Interpol drone expert to stop them. It really left me with so many thoughts and questions about how things really are in the world of anti-terrorism. How safe are we really? Perhaps it could be added to a future list! Thanks again. Happy Summer and Happy Reading!

Adrienne says

May 26, 2021 at 8:07 pm

Awesome list!

Donna arnold says

June 22, 2021 at 2:25 pm

I love your lists and especially good descriptions. Thanks

The Books Briefing: The Best Books to Get Lost in This Summer

Memoirs and novels that satisfy the urge for high drama: Your weekly guide to the best in books

Whether you’re in the mood to read outdoors or curl up on a couch this summer, The Atlantic ’s writers and editors have reading recommendations to match. In today’s newsletter, you’ll find a selection of books filled with excitement, wherever you find yourself. ( You can browse the Culture team’s full summer reading list here. )

​ Every Friday in the Books Briefing , we thread together Atlantic stories on books that share similar ideas. Know other book lovers who might like this guide? Forward them this email. When you buy a book using a link in this newsletter, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic.

What We’re Reading

Chicago Review Press

I’m With the Band , by Pamela Des Barres

Pamela Des Barres’s breathlessly lewd memoir of her years as a groupie should come with a cover-up when taken to the beach. As far as chronicling the heady ’60s and ’70s goes, Des Barres is no Didion, but she has an excellent sense of humor, a vivid memory, and a predilection for skin- and soul-baring honesty about her backstage conquests. In the final chapters, Des Barres, who likely helped inspire Kate Hudson’s Penny Lane in Almost Famous , sounds bemused as she concludes that love (or was it just LSD?) shared with the likes of Jim Morrison, Mick Jagger, and Don Johnson could never last in an era of unhindered promiscuity. And yet, she writes, “something came over me in the presence of rock idols, something vile and despicable, something wondrous and holy.” For all its ribaldry, I’m With the Band stirs a sensation the pandemic has denied, of standing in a crowd, gazing up at a superstar, and wondering if you might just catch their eye.   — Shirley Li

Random House

How Beautiful We Were , by Imbolo Mbue

In her second novel, Imbolo Mbue spins a multigenerational tale of the destruction an oil company brought on a fictional African village. How Beautiful We Were opens with a momentous, yet almost accidental, act: The villagers clumsily decide to take several of the company’s representatives as prisoners. After years of almost biblical devastation of their community (acid falling from the sky, shriveled crops, a string of deaths), this haphazard, practically polite kidnapping spurs the beginnings of change—or something that feels a lot like it. While Mbue resists any sense that the characters are powerless to stop their village’s demise, she also avoids simple solutions or one-note optimism. The story instead shows how complex resistance can be, exploring the role of violence in activism and how to balance desires for individual self-realization with a duty to the community. What’s perhaps most remarkable about this work, however, is how fully realized the characters are. Rather than disappearing into the busy plot, they animate it.   — Kate Cray

Burn the Place , by Iliana Regan

Reading the chef Iliana Regan’s memoir, Burn the Place , is like enjoying a meal at your favorite restaurant with the best dinner guest imaginable (an experience I cannot wait to have again soon). Regan writes about her life with such vivid imagery that I lost myself in the description of a young Iliana and her father preparing freshly foraged chanterelles. Similarly, her account of how her mother came to love cooking, spending long afternoons baking bread as a child, transported me to the moment when food becomes someone’s “comfort ... companion ... [and] best friend,” as Regan writes. But the chef’s recollections of growing up on her family’s farm are tempered by the struggles she encounters at a relatively young age: alcoholism, grief, pressure to understand her sexuality, the toxicity of restaurant kitchens. That’s a lot of ground to cover in a breezy 250-odd pages, but Regan is a compelling narrator, serving up her life story with the same ease, deftness, and creativity she seems to apply to her cooking.   — Tori Latham

Red Pill , by Hari Kunzru

I suppose all novels are novels of ideas, whether they know it or not—but some novels contain more ideas than others. Red Pill had the most extraordinary effect on me: I was precisely as horrified by its prophetic insight as I was exhilarated by its imaginative audacity. A writer on a fellowship goes to a creepy institute in Berlin and swiftly falls to pieces. Procrastinating wildly, panicking, he binges helplessly on an ultraviolent cop show called Blue Lives , whose characters will occasionally turn to the camera and break into a kind of exalted brutalist rhetoric: “The whole earth, perpetually steeped in blood, is nothing but a vast altar on which all living things must be sacrificed without end.” History, including the immediate past of Germany, seethes around him; it won’t go away. Meanwhile, it’s 2016, and a certain rough beast is slouching toward the White House. Unforgettable.   — James Parker

About us: This week’s newsletter is written by the Atlantic’s Culture desk. Comments, questions, typos? Reply to this email to reach the Books Briefing team. Did you get this newsletter from a friend? Sign yourself up .

2021 Summer Reading List for Adults

Emily Martin

Emily has a PhD in English from the University of Southern Mississippi, MS, and she has an MFA in Creative Writing from GCSU in Milledgeville, GA, home of Flannery O’Connor. She spends her free time reading, watching horror movies and musicals, cuddling cats, Instagramming pictures of cats, and blogging/podcasting about books with the ladies over at #BookSquadGoals (www.booksquadgoals.com). She can be reached at [email protected].

View All posts by Emily Martin

Summer is officially in full swing, and for a lot us, that means more time for reading. And sure, you do want to have a few easy, fun reads: books you can bring with you to the beach or while you sip lemonade on your porch. Still, it’s nice to read thought-provoking books that continue to challenge you as you get through these warmer months. So if you’re looking for that book that’s going to stick with you longer than your average beach read, then you’ll be happy to hear 2021 has been a great year for must-read, stimulating, conversation-starting books.

How will the books on this list challenge you? Some cover difficult topics that will have you reexamining your own feelings about various issues. Others deal with complicated moral issues. Some of these books will have you itching to share with your friends so you can discuss what it all means. Warning: the books on this list might even leave you with a serious book hangover for days. So consume with caution.

Remember that summer reading list your English teacher would give you before you left for break every year? Think of this as the adult version of that list. Here are your 2021 must-read books (both fiction and nonfiction) to keep the brain wheels turning this summer.

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

Looking for a compelling and well-written takedown of racism in the workplace (specifically the publishing industry)? You’re going to want to pick up The Other Black Girl. Twenty-six-year-old Nella Rogers is the only Black person working at Wagner Books. So when Harlem-born and bred Hazel starts working in the cubicle next to hers, at first Nella is thrilled. But there’s something…off about Hazel. Sometimes she seems like a friend, and other times she’s highly competitive. And when Nella starts receiving threatening notes telling her to leave Wagner, she can’t help but wonder if Hazel is behind them. This page-turning thriller will also have you reflecting on racism, code-switching, and all the ways that people of color are forced to compromise their sense of self in predominantly white spaces.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

My personal favorite sci-fi stories all center around one question: what does it mean to be human? This is the question at the heart of Nobel Prize–winning author Kazuo Ishiguro’s latest novel, Klara and the Sun. Klara is an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities. From her place in the store, Klara watches and learns from the people she sees browsing. All the while, she remains hopeful that a shopper will see her and choose to bring her home.

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Everything is Fine by Vince Granata

This is a moving memoir that explores complex issues like grief, mental illness, and the role of family in one’s life and identity. In Everything is Fine, Vince Granata explores the traumatic death of his mother. Vince was a thousand miles away from home when he received the news that his mother has been brutally murdered at the hands of his younger brother Tim, who was dealing with paranoid schizophrenia. Vince’s personal story of grief and learning to find love for his family again in the fast of devastating tragedy will stick with you long after this book’s final pages.

Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia

Of Women and Salt is a portrait of the United States of America from the immigrant perspective, and so much more. This sweeping story takes readers from 19th century Cuba to present day Miami, following the lives of an immigrant family through multiple generations. And when Carmen, living in Miami in 2019, travels back to Cuba to meet with her grandmother and reckon with the secrets from her family’s pasts, generations of betrayals — both personal and political — come to the forefront.

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

Torrey Peters’s Detransition, Baby is the first novel by an openly trans woman to be nominated for the Women’s Prize for Fiction . For that alone, this novel is worth a read. But more importantly, Detransition, Baby tells a story featuring beautifully rendered characters you won’t soon forget. This book explores issues of motherhood, womanhood, and found family as three women — cisgender and trans — consider the possibility of raising a baby together.

Dear Senthuran by Akwaeke Emezi

After crying my eyes out over The Death of Vivek Oji last year, Akwaeke Emezi’s memoir Dear Senthuran quickly became one of my most-anticipated books of 2021. And it’s finally here! This is a memoir in letters. Through examining intimate correspondence with friends, lovers, and family, Emezi explores their own personal journey with their gender, their body, and their creative process.

Animal by Lisa Taddeo

Here’s another thriller that’s got a lot more bite to it than your average beach read. Joan has spent most of her life enduring the cruel acts of men. But when she witnesses a particularly shocking act of violence, Joan leaves New York City and heads out to Los Angeles. There, she seeks out Alice, and with her help, Joan is able to work through the traumatic and haunting violence of her past. And eventually find the strength to fight back.

Seek You by Kristen Radtke

This graphic novel is a striking blend of cultural history, memoir, journalism, and sociology. And after a year of living in quarantine, the subject matter seems more relevant than ever. In Seek You, Kristen Radtke explores the devastating effects of loneliness throughout the history of America. This books covers a wide range of topics, from the sexist portrayals of women in romantic comedies to the epidemic of mass shootings, and pretty much everything in between.

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

Read Sorrowland if you’re looking for a novel unlike anything else you’ve ever read. This novel is a mixture of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror that still reflects on the very real hate and violence of American history. Sorrowland tells the story of Vern, who is desperately trying to escape the strict religious compound where she was raised. She flees to the forest, where she plans to raise her twins far away from the outside world. But the community won’t let her go so easily, and some strange metamorphosis is happening to her.

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Michelle Zauner, the lead singer of indie-rock band Japanese Breakfast, first wrote a version of “Crying in H Mart” in 2018 as an essay for The New Yorker . For her 2021 memoir of the same name, Zauner has expanded on these ideas and stories. Following the death of her mother, Zauner found herself asking, “Am I even Korean anymore if there’s no one left in my life to call and ask which brand of seaweed we used to buy?” This book is an exploration of grief, what it means to be Korean American, and more.

Appleseed by Matt Bell

Matt Bell’s latest novel has been compared to the works of Jeff VanderMeer and Neal Stephenson. Part climate fiction, part tech thriller, and part fairytale, Appleseed spans thousands of years, starting with apple orchards in 18th century Ohio and going a thousand years in the future, when North America is covered in ice. With Bell’s inventive incorporation of myths and legends, this is an unparalleled and unforgettable examination of the effects of climate change.

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

Rachel Yoder’s debut novel Nightbitch is a fabulist satirical novel that looks at art, power, and womanhood in a truly unexpected way. In this book, an artist puts her career on hold to stay at home with her newborn son, but motherhood is nothing like what she thought it would be. And she becomes convinced she’s slowly turning into a dog. As her symptoms increase, she looks for a cure and instead discovers a mysterious book called  A Field Guide to Magical Women: A Mythical Ethnography . Then she starts hanging out with a group of mothers involved in a suspicious multi-level marketing scheme.

Girlhood by Melissa Febos

Girlhood is a collection of essays from bestselling author Melissa Febos that blends investigative reporting, memoir, and scholarship. In these essays, Febos looks at the things she’s been told throughout her life about what it means to be a woman. Furthermore, this book explores the harmful narratives that that teach women from a young age to not prioritize their own health, safety, freedom, or happiness. How do we unlearn these lessons, and how do we reclaim the power, pleasure, and anger that we’ve been conditioned to ignore?

Intimacies by Katie Kitamura

A Separation author Katie Kitamura’s latest is a literary novel that reads like a psychological thriller. This is the story of an interpreter who comes to Hague’s International Court and becomes entangled in personal drama and political controversies. When faced with dilemmas in both her personal life and at work, the interpreter is forced to confront what kind of person she truly is and what it is that she wants from life.

Women and Other Monsters by Jess Zimmerman

Of course, you probably read about Greek mythology when you were in school. But have you ever considered the portrayals of female monsters in those stories? These stories taught us that women who are too greedy, too ambitious, too sexual, or not sexy enough are not natural. In fact, they’re monstrous. In Women and Other Monsters, Jess Zimmerman questions the sexist narratives we grew up learning and reclaims the monsters of Greek mythology. After all, is being monstrous all that bad?

Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge

Libertie is a stunningly beautiful historical fiction novel that explores the true meaning of freedom. Inspired by one of the first Black female doctors in the United States, this novel tells the story of Libertie Sampson, a free-born Black girl in Reconstruction-era Brooklyn whose mother is a practicing physician. Libertie’s mother would love for her to follow in her footsteps and study to become a doctor, but Libertie feels pulled in a different direction. So when a young man from Haiti proposes to Libertie, she accepts. But life on the island is not what Libertie expected, and she has to question what it means to be free when you’re Black and a woman.

Aftershocks by Nadia Owusu

Aftershocks is a beautifully intimate and heartbreaking memoir in which Whiting Award–winning author Nadia Owusu grapples with issues of identity, the meaning of home, and Black womanhood. Nadia lived a nomadic childhood. She lived everywhere from Rome to London, Dar-es-Salaam to Kampala. Her mother abandoned her when she was 2 years old, leaving Nadia with unanswerable questions about her identity. Even when she moved to America to go to school, Nadia still felt like there were so many warring personalities within herself. Through poetic prose, Nadia Owusu begins to piece together the answers of her identity by reexamining her past.

A Little Devil in America by Hanif Abdurraqib

In Hanif Abdurraqib’s brilliant follow-up to his critically acclaimed 2017 essay collection They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us , the poet and essayist celebrates the significance of Black performance throughout American history. As he looks at all kinds of Black performance — from dance marathons to a game of spades — Abdurraqib unravels issues of racism in America and his own personal experiences with love, grief, and performance.

The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade

Kirstin Valdez Quade’s debut novel The Five Wounds is a year in the life of five generations of a New Mexican family. Thirty-three-year-old Amadeo Padilla is preparing for his part as Jesus in the Good Friday procession when his life is completely flipped upside down. Angel, his 15-year-old daughter, shows up nine months pregnant on his doorstep, having fled her mother’s home before the birth of her child. What follows is the story of the first year of this baby’s life, and all of the love and sacrifice it take to raise a child and be a family.

The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright

Richard Wright’s The Man Who Lived Underground is a previously unpublished novel from the author of Native Son and Black Boy . This is a story about racism and police violence written nearly 80 years ago that still unfortunately feels extremely timely. Now the novel has finally been published after Julia Wright — Wright’s daughter and literary executor — reached out to the Library of America about the significance of the story’s perspective on police brutality. This is a significant work of literary fiction from a legendary author that’s absolutely not to be missed.

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The Ultimate Summer 2021 Reading List

All the big books from all the big lists.

It’s June, the summer reading lists are out in full force, and so are our newly vaccinated knees (and chins), which can only mean that it’s that time of year again.

If you’re new, here’s how it works:

1. I read all of the Most Anticipated and Best Summer Reading lists that flood the internet this time of year. 2. I count how many times each book is included. 3. I collate them for you in this handy list.

This year, I read 38 lists, which recommended a grand total of 522 individual books. As always, I avoided narrowly themed or genre-specific lists (like “thrillers” or “business books” or “Hallmark novels”); when publications had multiple lists, I made sure to include them all. (The full list of lists is at the end of this post.) I have included those books recommended at least three times below, in descending order of frequency.

So if you want to Read the Book That Everyone is Reading (or at least recommending) this summer, here’s where you should start:

Zakiya Dalila Harris, The Other Black Girl

Ashley C. Ford, Somebody’s Daughter

Taylor Jenkins Reid, Malibu Rising

Casey McQuiston, One Last Stop Alex Michaelides, The Maidens

Brandon Taylor, Filthy Animals

Anthony Veasna So, Afterparties: Stories

Kristen Radtke, Seek You

Kristen Arnett, With Teeth Elin Hilderbrand, Golden Girl

Megan Abbott, The Turnout Rivka Galchen, Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch Jasmine Guillory, While We Were Dating Paula Hawkins, A Slow Fire Burning Lisa Taddeo , Animal Nghi Vo, The Chosen and the Beautiful

Katie Kitamura, Intimacies Jean Hanff Korelitz, The Plot Riley Sager, Survive the Night Clint Smith, How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America Tia Williams, Seven Days in June

Akwaeke Emezi, Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir Pik-Shuen Fung, Ghost Forest Alexandra Kleeman, Something New Under the Sun Sylvia Moreno-Garcia, Velvet Was the Night

Emily Henry, People We Meet on Vacation Stephen King, Billy Summers Beth Morgan, A Touch of Jen Catherine Raven, Fox & I: An Uncommon Friendship Leila Slimani, In the Country of Others Azareen van der Vliet Oloomi, Savage Tongues Jennifer Weiner, That Summer

Chandler Baker, The Husbands Bill Clinton and James Patterson, The President’s Daughter Marianne Cronin, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot Ash Davidson, Damnation Spring Katherine Dykstra, What Happened to Paula: On the Death of an American Girl Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois Helen Hoang, The Heart Principle Hermione Hoby,  Virtue Jonathan Lee, The Great Mistake Nana Nkweti, Walking on Cowrie Shells Steven Rowley, The Guncle Clare Sestanovich, Objects of Desire: Stories Katherine St. John, The Siren Lawrence Wright, The Plague Year: America in the Time of Covid Kathy Wang, Impostor Syndrome Rachel Yoder,  Nightbitch Nicola Yoon, Instructions for Dancing

Sara Nisha Adams, The Reading List Mona Awad, All’s Well Matt Bell,  Appleseed Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell, The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion Anna Caritj,  Leda and the Swan P. Djèlí Clark, A Master of Djinn Chanel Cleeton, The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba Laura Dave, The Last Thing He Told Me Lizzy Dent, The Summer Job Jamie Ducharme, Big Vape: The Incendiary Rise of Juul Carolyn Ferrell,  Dear Miss Metropolitan Dorieann Ní Ghríofa, A Ghost in the Throat Laura Hankin, A Special Place for Women Grady Hendrix, The Final Girl Support Group Sunny Hostin, Summer on the Bluffs Natsuko Imamura, tr. Lucy North, The Woman in the Purple Skirt Elizabeth Gonzales James,  Mona at Sea Dean Jobb, The Case of The Murderous Dr. Cream: The Hunt for a Victorian Era Serial Killer Sandie Jones, The Guilt Trip Alka Joshi, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur Joss Lake, Future Feeling Claire Luchette, Agatha of Little Neon Brian Moylan,  The Housewives: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewives Sinead O’Connor,  Rememberings Shelley Parker-Chan,  She Who Became the Sun Michael Pollan,  This Is Your Mind on Plants Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley, Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine Christine Mangan, Palace of the Drowned Charlotte McConaghy, Once There Were Wolves Amanda Montell,  Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism Sara Flannery Murphy, Girl One T.J. Newman,  Falling Anna Qu, Made in China: A Memoir of Love and Labor Maurice Carlos Ruffin, The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You: Stories Sunjeev Sahota, China Room Jonathan Santlofer, The Last Mona Lisa Helen Scales, The Brilliant Abyss: Exploring the Majestic Hidden Life of the Deep Ocean, and the Looming Threat That Imperils It Edward St. Aubyn, Double Blind Danny Trejo, Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood P.J. Vernon, Bath Haus Monica West, Revival Season Beatriz Williams, Our Woman in Moscow

_______________________________

The full list of lists surveyed:

Vulture’s 35 Books We Can’t Wait to Read This Summer • TIME’s 36 New Books You Need to Read This Summer • The New York Times’ Summer Is Coming. Bring a Book. • Publishers Weekly’s Summer Reads 2021 • Newsweek’s 21 Enticing Books to Take Along This Summer • BuzzFeed’s 28 New Books To Add To Your Summer Reading List ASAP • The Week’s 9 beach reads for your 2021 summer vaxcation • Alma’s Favorite Books for Summer 2021 • WIRED’s Picks for the 9 Books You Need to Read This Summer • Vogue’s Best Books to Read This Summer • New York Post’s 30 best books on our summer reading list in 2021 • People’s 20 Best Books to Read This Summer • Literary Hub’s 38 Novels You Need to Read This Summer and 75 Nonfiction Books You Should Read This Summer and 10 Short Story Collections to Read This Summer • Good Housekeeping’s 20 Best Beach Reads to Add to Your Summer Reading List • Travel + Leisure’s 20 Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2021 • Cosmopolitan’s These Are the 20 Books You’re Going To Want To Read This Summer • Parade’s 25 Books You’ll Want to Read This Sizzling Season • Bustle’s 20 Best Beach Reads Of 2021 • Palm Beach Daily News’ 2021 summer reading list • Forbes’ These Are The Books You’ll See All Over The Beach This Summer • BookRiot’s 24 Must-Read Books of Spring and Summer 2021 • Refinery29’s 38 Books You’ll Want To Read This Summer • St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s 25 upcoming summer books to help you escape • Scary Mommy’s The Most Anticipated Books Of Summer 2021 • SheReads’ Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2021 • StyleBlueprint’s Your 2021 Summer Reading List • Kirkus’ Summer Books 2021 and Hottest Summer Reads of 2021 • Southern Living’s Beach Reads Perfect for Summer 2021 • The Daily Beast’s Best Summer Reads of 2021 • PopSugar’s 45 Best Summer Reads of 2021 • The Observer’s Best New Summer Reads • The New York Times Book Review’s 73 Books to Put On Your Summer Reading List • Harper’s Bazaar’s Best Summer Books to Read in 2021 • Esquire’s 20 Best Books of Summer 2021 • Thrillist’s 24 Books We Can’t Wait to Take to the Beach This Summer

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The Ultimate 2021 Summer Reading List: Minimalist Edition

Our Minimalist Reads list has eight titles that we highly recommend.

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The blog is where I share reading tips, lifestyle how-to's, book lists, reading guides, share conversations with authors, offer free mini-trainings, plus all the things I'm currently obsessed with and find inspiring.

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Last Updated on March 25, 2024 by BiblioLifestyle

The 2021 Summer Reading Guide  is here, and I’m super excited for it to be out in the world!  Summer is a time for sunny days, vacations, and some much-needed downtime.  Plus the long summer days are the perfect time to spend reading some great books!

About The 2021 Summer Reading Guide

The Summer Reading Guide is our biggest guide yet!  We have fifty new releases organized across eight categories, so you can head straight to your favorite section if you prefer.  Because we’re all about lifestyle here, you’ll also find some fun things to do at home this season, along with some recipes and practical tips to help you improve your reading life.

MORE SUMMER READING:

• Get our latest Summer Reading Guide here .
• See all the books from The 2021 Summer Reading Guide: The Ultimate List!
• If you’re keen on picking up a classic novel, check out our list of classic novels to read in the summer .

About The 2021 Summer Reading Guide Minimalist List

In the guide, we have dedicated one category to the “minimalist reader.”  Our Minimalist Reads List has eight titles that we highly recommend if you’re only planning to pick up a few reads this Summer!  

It’s super hard narrowing an initial list of over two hundred books down to a quarter of the size and then narrowing them down to our top eight.  You can expect these books to be across genres, beautifully written, compelling, thought-provoking, enjoyable, and great for discussions.

The 2021 Summer Reading Guide Minimalist List

The books I’m recommending you add to your summer reading list are:

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers

Light perpetual by francis spufford, olympus, texas by stacey swann.

• Leaving Breezy Street by Brenda Myers-Powell, April Reynolds
• The Stranger Behind You by Carol Goodman

The Library of the Dead by T. L. Huchu

Seven days in june by tia williams, the passing playbook by isaac fitzsimons.

Ailey is the descendant of enslaved Georgians and tenant farmers. She follows in her parents’ footsteps by attending an HBCU. We see her reckon with ancestral trauma while growing up in the 1980s and ’90s and her family history from the centuries of the colonial slave trade through the Civil War to the present day.

BUY FROM AMAZON OR BOOKSHOP

Opening in 1944, five young children are killed in a rocket attack in southeast London during Hitler’s “Vengeance Campaign” against Great Britain. The novel then pivots and spins alternate narratives, imagining the life arcs of these five souls, had they not been killed, as they live through the extraordinary, unimaginable changes of 20th-century London.

With hints of classical mythology, we follow a family that has been at the center of most of the drama in their sleepy small-town of Olympus, Texas. When March returns home two and a half years after his affair with his sister-in-law, we see the family secrets, scandals, and betrayals.

Leaving Breezy Street by Brenda Myers-Powell, April Reynolds

Raised by an alcoholic grandmother, Powell was sexually abused at a young age by her uncle and friends. At fourteen, she was addicted to crack and working as a prostitute to support her two infants. The book shares how she got out of prostitution and drug use and how she used her experiences to get others off the street.

The Stranger Behind You by Carol Goodman

The night a journalist’s article exposing newspaper tycoon Caspar Osgood as a sexual predator goes live, she’s brutally attacked outside her Manhattan apartment. She moves into a highly secure apartment where she should be safe, but cryptic incidents start to occur that she can’t explain.

A contemporary fantasy set in modern Edinburgh following high school dropout Ropa, who works as a ghostalker, ferrying messages between the worlds of the dead and the living for the right price. When she learns that something is sucking the souls out of the bodies of the city’s children, she goes on a hunt to discover who or what is behind these sinister attacks.

When Eva Mercy and Shane Hall met as teenagers, they were instantly attracted to each other, and they spent one crazy week madly in love. Fifteen years later, Eva is a bestselling author, and she meets Shane unexpectedly at a literary event in New York City. But will they be able to make their relationship work as adults, or will their pasts get in the way?

A contemporary romance about a biracial transgender soccer star starting over at a new school: he must decide between fighting for his right to play, blending in, and keep his identity private. All while juggling his crush on a boy whose Christian extremist family doesn’t know he’s gay.

What do you think about the books on the 2021 Summer Reading Guide Minimalist list?

Have you read any of these books? Are any of them on your TBR?  What books are you adding to your 2021 summer reading list?  Let’s talk all about summer reading in the comments below.

MORE READING:

• The 2023 Summer Reading List: Minimalist Edition
• The 2022 Summer Reading Minimalist List
• Minimalist Reading Edition: The Best 2020 Summer Reading List

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So hot right now, free guide.

Summer is a time for relaxation, adventure, and exploration.  So if you're looking for the best new books of the season, this guide is just for you. The 2024 Summer Reading Guide has forty-five new releases organized across eight categories. You’ll also find some fun things to do at home, summer-themed recipes, plus more.

Download The 2024 Summer Reading Guide

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Best Books: 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 Summer Reads: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012

The Anatomy of Desire

L.r dorn (morrow).

Told in the form of a true crime docuseries, this immensely clever updating of Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy focuses on the trial of fitness coach Cleo Ray, who’s been charged with the drowning murder of her female companion while they were canoeing on a California lake. Cleo claims it was an accident, and there were no witnesses.

How to Survive a Scandal

Samara parish (forever).

Escape to the English countryside with Parish’s refreshing Regency debut. Lady Amelia Crofton is poised to become a duchess, until an accident leaves her reputation compromised. To save her good name, she must marry titleless stranger Benedict Asterly. Both halves of this unlikely duo bring a heavy load of preconceptions about the other to their union, and it’s a delight to watch them work through their differences and lower their guards as love takes flight.

Big Vape: The Incendiary Rise of Juul

Jamie ducharme (holt).

When Ducharme’s 2019 Time article on Juul came out, it was pretty tough to walk around New York without seeing the vape device. I was excited when I found out that article was to grow into a book, and the story Ducharme offers is a bizarre, somewhat frightening page-turner (and is set to become a docuseries, to boot). —Carliann Rittman, reviews editor

The Chosen and the Beautiful

Nghi vo (tordotcom).

Vo’s gorgeous full-length debut infuses The Great Gatsby with subtle, intoxicating magic: Gatsby’s decadent parties see the hedonists of the Jazz Age consuming demon blood along with alcohol; Daisy Buchanan uses a charm to float listlessly around her house; and queer, Asian American adoptee Jordan Baker—the novel’s narrator—can create magic from cut paper. Vo’s lyrical prose captures the spirit of Fitzgerald’s original while brilliantly reframing the narrative and subverting expectations at every turn.

Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon (Quill Tree)

Six Black stars of the YA world join forces in this interwoven contemporary novel, which features six Black teen couples amid a summer blackout in New York City.

American Cult: A Graphic History of Religious Cults in America from the Colonial Era to Today

Edited by robyn chapman (silver sprocket).

Take a tour through fanatical groups and their bizarre (and occasionally murderous) gurus in this artistically varied comics anthology, which supplies capsule histories of such fascinating movements and the people they attract, including the creepy contemporary sex cult NXIVM, the Manson family, and the utopian sect that swept up Louisa May Alcott.

Nic Stone (Crown)

Stone returns to middle grade with this engaging bildungsroman about a softball captain who learns of a career-ending injustice in her family’s past.

The Atmospherians

Alex mcelroy (atria).

A woman named Sasha Marcus is harassed and canceled by men’s rights activists after speaking her mind in response to an internet troll in McElroy’s engrossing novel. Sasha then accepts a new gig helping her failed actor friend start a cult designed for men to purge themselves of toxic masculinity. McElroy’s conceit works on multiple levels, with incisive satire, earnest explorations of male identity, and a gripping plot.

A Boy Named Isamu: A Story of Isamu Noguchi

James yang (viking).

In this sensory-focused, richly illustrated picture book, Geisel Medalist Yang conjures a day from Japanese American artist Isamu Noguchi’s childhood.

All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days: The True Story of the American Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler

Rebecca donner (little, brown).

This espionage tale has an intriguing personal connection. Novelist Donner recreates the exploits of her great-great-aunt Mildred Harnack, the only American resistance leader in Nazi Germany. Enrolled as a PhD student in 1930s Berlin, the Milwaukee native helped Jews escape, distributed anti-fascist propaganda, and ferried secret intelligence to the Allies until she was discovered and arrested by the Gestapo in 1942.

Auntie Poldi and the Lost Madonna: An Auntie Poldi Mystery

Mario giordano (mariner).

When a nun jumps off a Vatican palace roof following an exorcism, Auntie Poldi, a Bavarian émigré who has retired to Italy, gets implicated in the nun’s death and must try to clear her name. Meanwhile, Auntie Poldi freely shares her views on a variety of subjects, from the Italian mentality to sex. Be prepared for a wild, amusing ride in her company.

The Mixtape

Brittainy cherry (montlake).

Single mother Emery Taylor is rock star Oliver Smith’s biggest fan—so imagine her surprise when the grieving Oliver wanders into her bar and picks a drunken brawl. When she saves him from the crowd, it sparks an undeniable connection. Cherry handles the pair’s slow evolution from friends to lovers with impressive skill and emotional nuance, expertly tugging readers’ heartstrings as both Emery and Oliver reckon with their painful pasts in hopes of a brighter future.

The Jasmine Throne

Tasha suri (orbit).

A princess imprisoned for her defiance, a maidservant who possesses forbidden magic, and the unexpected bond that develops between them drive the lush, exhilarating epic that launches Suri’s Burning Kingdoms trilogy. Readers will come for the complex, India-inspired worldbuilding and shifting political intrigue, and stay for the fierce critique of empire and powerful story of a love that blossoms amid danger and desperation.

Catch the Rabbit

Lana bastašić (restless).

References to Alice in Wonderland lure the reader into this immersive and dreamlike road story about a Bosnian woman’s return home from Dublin. Lejla’s childhood memories surface as she reacquaints with her old friend Sara, who seeks Lejla’s help in finding her older brother. As their journey progresses, the psychological drama between the two friends intensifies, building to a surprising twist.

Jordan Morris, Sarah Morgan, and Tony Cliff (First Second)

Morgan battles Imps as a side hustle in the climate-controlled dome of a future world where the rich hire out their monster killing. This adaptation of a sci-fi podcast combines satire of capitalist elitism and the gig economy with wacky personalities, snarky one-liners, and madcap adventures.

The Brilliant Abyss: Exploring the Majestic Hidden Life of the Deep Ocean and the Looming Threat That Imperils It

Helen scales (atlantic monthly).

Fans of BBC Earth will relish this resonant paean to the depths of the ocean—and its eccentric inhabitants. Marine biologist Scales spotlights creatures that lurk far below the sea where light doesn’t reach, including jellyfish, whales, rare snails, and more, all while making a moving case that the ocean ought be protected.

It Began with Lemonade

Gideon sterer, illus. by lian cho (dial).

Sprightly art, filled with invention and wit, offers plenty to regard in this make-lemonade story with a twist.

How to Become a Planet

Nicole melleby (algonquin).

Under her mother’s concerned watch at the family’s Jersey Shore pizzeria, 12-year-old Pluto begins a tentative journey navigating her mental health in this compassionate novel with a strong sense of place.

The Girl from the Sea

Molly knox ostertag (graphix).

The author of the Witch Boy trilogy combines queer teen romance, realism, and fantasy in an endearing graphic novel about a teen who’s ready to leave the close-knit island on which she lives.

The Coldest Case

Martin walker (knopf).

With my passport looking like it’s going to be collecting dust for another summer, I’m setting my sights on a bit of escapism in the form of Walker’s latest Bruno, Chief of Police novel. It’s part of a wonderful mystery series set in southwest France, and the plots are as much about foie gras as foul play. Line up a chilly bottle of Bergerac sec and I’ll be set. —Jonathan Segura, executive editor

Factory Summers

Guy delisle, trans. from the french by helge dascher and rob aspinall (drawn & quarterly).

Delisle, noted for his comics travelogues to Pyongyang and Jerusalem, recalls his own hometown, Quebec City, and the summers he spent alongside “old-timers” working the pulp mill machines at the same factory where his distant father served as an engineer, in a subtle and meditative observation of labor, class issues, and coming of age.

Can’t Knock the Hustle: Inside the Season of Protest, Pandemic, and Progress with the Brooklyn Nets’ Superstars of Tomorrow

Matt sullivan (dey street).

Sportswriter Sullivan brilliantly recounts the historic NBA season he spent courtside with the Brooklyn Nets, and the team’s rise during a global pandemic from being players on the court to activists in the streets. This propulsive story paints a nuanced portrait of what social justice looks like today.

The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess

Tom gauld (holiday house/porter).

Graphic novelist Gauld makes his picture book debut with a bedtime-oriented fairy tale inspired by a story he made up for his children.

The Confession of Copeland Cane

Keenan norris (unnamed).

Norris unfurls the vivid dystopian coming-of-age tale of Copeland Cane, an 18-year-old Black man navigating the absurdities of a racist police state in East Oakland, Calif. Copeland, a fugitive from law enforcement after his involvement in a protest, lays down his freewheeling “confession” to a journalist. His voice is strong and infectious, and Norris’s credible vision of a media-security empire, founded by xenophobic Trump minion Stephen Miller, brilliantly scales up the narrative tension.

My Heart Is a Chainsaw

Stephen graham jones (saga).

Jones’s virtuosic latest is many things: a loving celebration of slasher movie tropes; a funny and moving coming-of-age tale; an incisive critique of American identity, gentrification, and colonialism; and a terrifying, no-holds-barred gore fest. It’s also distinctly summery—set on a (seemingly) idyllic lakeshore and culminating in the Fourth of July. This should be in every horror fiend’s beach bag.

Nidhi Chanani (First Second)

Pashmina creator Chanani's magical graphic novel features a time travel-enabling jukebox, which changes Shaheen's life when it sends her and a cousin to different eras of music history in search of Shaheen's missing father.

Katee Robert (Sourcebooks Casablanca)

Ancient Greek gods get down and dirty in Robert’s sizzling Dark Olympus series launch. Socialite Persephone Dimitriou runs away from a proposed political marriage to the tyrannical Zeus—and straight into the arms of brooding bad boy Hades. They agree to a winter’s long torrid affair that’s sure to drive Zeus crazy—but neither expects to fall in love. Just as swoon-worthy as it is kinky, this page-turning romance will have readers hooked.

The Box in the Woods

Maureen johnson (harper/tegen).

Following the boarding school saga of the Truly Devious series, true crime aficionado Stevie Bell investigates her first post-Ellingham mystery, a cold case from the 1970s, at a summer camp in this atmospheric standalone.

The Day the Klan Came to Town

Bill campbell and bizhan khodabandeh (pm press).

Campbell’s graphic novel is a fictionalized version of a real event in 1923 in which 30,000 Klansmen converged on Carnegie, Pa., in an ominous display of white supremacy. But the residents of Carnegie—Catholics, Jews, and a growing population of immigrants—had other ideas. Campbell returned to his hometown to research the event and celebrate the inspirational story of a ragtag group of proto-Americans who united to battle the Klan in the streets. —Calvin Reid, senior news editor

The Hunting Wives

May cobb (berkley).

In an East Texas town, four bored well-to-do wives meet every Friday evening to go barhopping with the understanding it’s first names only and they don’t go all the way. But rules are meant to be broken, and one of them winds up a murder suspect after their booze-fueled antics lead to the death of a teenage cheerleader. This is the epitome of a guilty pleasure.

The Divorce

César aira, trans. from the spanish by chris andrews (new directions).

Here's one for a single beach outing, which, clocking in at just under 100 pages, will leave the reader transformed. Longtime Aira fan Patti Smith reports in her forward that she was "drawn from the pandemic emptiness into a world filled to the brim." In its series of puzzles and coincidences, all revolving around a Providence man’s visit to Buenos Aires and the stories picked up from strangers, Aira achieves perfection.

The Photographer

Mary dixie carter (minotaur).

Delta Dawn has risen from humble roots to become a successful photographer of upscale children’s parties in New York City. After one job, Dawn can’t resist insinuating herself into the lives of a couple with an 11-year-old daughter and seizes the chance to move into their Brooklyn townhouse. Trouble follows in this suspenseful psychological thriller.

Double Blind

Edward st. aubyn (fsg).

In the semi-autobiographical Patrick Melrose novels, St. Aubyn turned his harrowing childhood, drug-addled young adulthood, and hard-won recovery into one of most dazzling literary achievements of the past 30 years. His new novel promises to bring St. Aubyn’s expansive intellect and acerbic wit to bear on a more universal set of issues, including mankind’s relationship to nature and the mechanics of biological inheritance. I can’t wait to go along for the ride. —David Adams, reviews editor

Instructions for Dancing

Nicola yoon (delacorte).

Yoon’s highly anticipated third novel, about ballroom dancing and matters of the heart, follows 17-year-old Evie Thomas, who, having sworn off love, is given the power to see the fate of any kissing couple’s romance.

Last Gate of the Emperor (Last Gate of the Emperor #1)

Kwame mbalia and joel makonnen (scholastic press).

Inspired by the history and lore of Ethiopia, Mbalia and Ethiopian prince Makonnen craft a cinematic, Afrofuturist tale about a boy who finds community and glory in an augmented-reality game.

My Two Border Towns

David bowles, illus. by erika meza (kokila).

Living on the U.S.-Mexico border, a boy and his father traverse from one side to the other on weekends in Bowles’s heartwarming picture book debut.

Chasing the Thrill: Obsession, Death, and Glory in America’s Most Extraordinary Treasure Hunt

Daniel barbarisi (knopf).

Sports journalist Barbarisi’s rollicking account interweaves his own efforts to find a chest of gold and jewels buried by New Mexico art dealer Forrest Fenn somewhere in the Rocky Mountains with colorful profiles of fellow treasure hunters, ruminations on the nature of obsession, and insights into how social media and conspiracy thinking turned a “lark” into a “community hazard” in which at least five people died.

The Secret to Superhuman Strength

Alison bechdel (houghton mifflin harcourt).

The celebrated cartoonist takes on the symbiotic relationship between body and mind in a memoir of her lifelong obsessions with exercise and fitness trends, from feminist karate classes to finding Zen on ski slopes and bike trails. Here, she places herself in the literary lineage of enlightenment-seeking writers, from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Adrienne Rich and Jack Kerouac.

Great Circle

Maggie shipstead (knopf).

Shipstead makes the most of parallel narratives in this epic page-turner about a pioneering female aviator and the present-day movie star preparing to play her. Marian Graves learns to fly as a young woman during Prohibition, then joins the RAF during WWII and disappears after a circumnavigation of the globe in 1949. As actor Hadley Baxter learns about Marian’s life, details of her own tragic connection to an ill-fated flight come to light.

Project Hail Mary

Andy weir (ballantine).

Scientist Ryland Grace wakes up alone on an abandoned spaceship with no memory of who he is or how he got there—and to save humanity from a fast approaching catastrophe he’ll have to piece together his past. Weir combines dizzyingly high stakes, thought-provoking science, and a series of shocking twists to create an un-put-downable page-turner. Add in the wry humor of Grace’s narration, and the result is must-read science fiction.

One Last Stop

Casey mcquiston (griffin).

McQuiston follows smash hit Red, White & Royal Blue with another incandescent queer rom-com—with a time-travel twist. Brooklynite August Landry has a crush on Jane Su, a punk lesbian she sees on her daily Subway ride. But Jane’s no ordinary commuter—she’s displaced in time from the 1970s and doomed to ride the Q train in a never-ending loop. The ensuing romance is just as clever, quirky, and cute as McQuiston’s fans would expect.

The View Was Exhausting

Mikaella clements and onjuli datta (grand central).

Clements and Datta offer readers a peak at the truth behind the tabloids in this sparkling fake relationship romance set on the French Riviera. British Indian movie star Win Tagore relies on white playboy Leo Milanowski, her longtime on-again, off-again publicity boyfriend, to help control her image in the eyes of the racist media. The staged summer fling they’re orchestrating now shouldn’t be any different—but as real feelings bubble up, so do devastating secrets.

Negative Cat

Sophie blackall (penguin/paulsen).

Caldecott Medalist Blackall follows a recalcitrant feline named Max and his loving owner in this sweet tale.

Sisters of the Neversea

Cynthia leitich smith (heartdrum).

Smith’s Peter Pan reboot centers stepsisters in a Creek and British family, offering an intelligent, thoroughly modern-lensed examination of the classic.

The Confidence Men: How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History

Margalit fox (random house).

This marvelous history recounts how two British army POWs in WWI orchestrated “the most singular prison break ever recorded.” The scheme involved a jury-rigged Ouija board and a fraudulent treasure hunt, and required the POWs to spend six months feigning madness at an insane asylum in Constantinople. Fox dives deep into the psychology of brainwashing and the ins and outs of confidence games to create a truly mesmerizing tale.

Filthy Animals

Brandon taylor (riverhead).

Taylor’s linked stories train a keen eye on academic ambition, the slippery nature of lust, and how small misunderstandings can lead to fraught personal fallouts. A man’s connection to two dancers in an open relationship provides the collection its structure and allows Taylor to investigate how those in control can manipulate and cajole others under their spell. In these marvelous stories, Taylor demonstrates a seemingly inexhaustible ability to render feelings precisely: “The calm that comes with the edge of pleasure after pain has given way to something sweeter.” —Seth Satterlee, reviews editor

Jean Hanff Korelitz (Celadon)

Failed writer Jake Bonner, who teaches in a third-rate MFA program, steals a plot for a novel from one of his students, who conveniently dies soon after leaving the program. The book Jake subsequently publishes is a huge success, but then he receives a threatening email from someone who knows he’s a thief. Readers will agree: Korelitz has devised her own perfect plot.

The Ones We’re Meant to Find

Joan he (roaring brook).

He traces an expansive near-future narrative that centers Asian sisterhood and family while ruminating on human nature, choice, and consequence.

Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices

Edited by swapna krishna and jenn northington (vintage).

In this delightful and wide-ranging anthology, Krishna and Northington collect 16 diverse, masterful takes on Arthurian legend from genre heavy hitters. By turns funny, light, and hauntingly emotional, these strong, inventive tales offer gender- and race-bent adaptations of favorite characters and recast familiar stories in fresh, creative contexts. Lovers of Arthurian legends will be wowed, and the skill and innovation at play here make this a sure bet for any sci-fi/fantasy fan.

How to Kidnap the Rich

Rahul raina (harperperennial).

Delhi street vendor–turned–college prep consultant and con artist Ramesh Kumar gets in over his head after one of his clients becomes famous for breaking the record on a standardized test score (a test Ramesh took on behalf of the student, Rudi Saxena). Ramesh and Rudi tour the country and wind up kidnapped, which gives Ramesh an idea for a new, even more lucrative scam. Raina’s satire cuts especially deep with its commentary on the Indian caste system.

The Final Girl Support Group

Grady hendrix (berkley).

Last year, it seemed as though everybody was raving about Hendrix’s The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. I liked his Horrorstör, so I put Vampires on my to-read list. However, I might leapfrog over it to read The Final Girl Support Group first. I love the final girl trope, so any media that tackles it in a fresh way has my attention. —Drucilla Shultz, bookroom editor

The Killing Hills

Chris offutt (grove).

An Army CID agent helps his sheriff sister with a murder investigation in their rural Kentucky holler in this hardboiled country noir. It crackles with unforgiving violence and colorful characters possessing names such as Murvil Knox, Charley Flowers, and Fuckin’ Barney, but it also has endless depth, detailing PTSD and the region’s rampant opioid addiction problem. The prose and scope make this reminiscent not only of Winter’s Bone but of Faulkner.

A Ghost in the Throat

Doireann ní ghríofa (biblioasis).

When I lived in Ireland, “summer holidays” meant shivering in some drafty old house in the country, haunted by ghosts of the past. Spend enough time in such places (and drink enough whiskey) and you not only come to believe in ghosts, but find yourself talking with them. This book is about just that sort of experience: the poet Doireann Ní Ghríofa survives a near tragedy and then finds herself in a dialogue with Eibhlín Dubh, an 18th-century widow whose grief over the murder of her husband was immortalized in a poem. She then writes a book about it. —Ed Nawotka, bookselling and international editor

The King of Infinite Space

Lyndsay faye (putnam).

Faye pulls off a delicious reimagining of Hamlet set in the present-day New York City theater world. After theater owner Jackson Dane dies, his son Benjamin finds a video from Jackson, in which he expresses his fears that his brother is trying to kill him. Faye adds magic to the intrigue by blending fantastical conceits from other Shakespeare plays, and adds a romance between Benjamin and his best friend, Horatio.

Great Pretender, vol. 1

Ryouta furusawa, illus. by daichi marui (seven seas).

This is a manga adaptation of the Netflix original anime Great Pretender that’s already been released in Japan and will make its North American debut this summer. If you’ve seen the show, you can imagine my excitement at having the physical copy! It follows two con artists—one of Japan’s youngest and best and another from France—who are trying to make it big in America and get tangled up in some rather entertaining circumstances. —Gilcy Aquino, children’s editorial freelancer

Second Place

Rachel cusk (farrar, straus and giroux).

A series of power plays ensues on an English coastal property in Cusk’s insightful latest. A writer named M is drawn to L, a painter, and invites him to stay in a cabin next to her family’s house. After L arrives from New York City, a cascading set of circumstances make M feel increasingly isolated from her family and snubbed by L. Cusk’s breezy erudition is on full display in this tense and compressed story.

The Last Mona Lisa

Jonathan santlofer (sourcebooks).

Since we’ve mostly lost all concept of reality, let’s mix fact and fiction and have some fun. Santlofer, a painter and veteran thriller writer, takes us back to August 1911, when the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre and went missing for two years. The truth about what happened is elusive, the chase nail-biting, the women beautiful—and can you imagine better places to armchair travel than Florence and Paris? —Louisa Ermelino, editor-at-large

Something New Under the Sun

Alexandra kleeman (hogarth).

Kleeman’s propulsive story of climate change and Hollywood unscrupulousness follows writer Patrick Hamlin’s ill-fated journey to Tinseltown to help with the adaptation of his novel. There, the synthetic WAT-R has replaced water, and a new type of dementia plagues the populace. As a personal indignity, Patrick is made a production assistant and given the task of ferrying an unpredictable former child star cast in the film. As always, Kleeman is imaginative and her work compulsively readable.

The Maidens

Alex michaelides (celadon).

I much enjoyed this author’s bestselling 2019 debut, The Silent Patient , a cleverly plotted psychological thriller about a therapist with his own emotional problems. Will Michaelides be able to repeat his success with another thriller centered on an obsessed therapist, which again mixes murder, psychotherapy, and Greek myth? It augurs well that Tennyson’s poetry, per our starred review, figures in this follow-up. —Peter Cannon, senior editor

The Rescuer of Tiny Creatures

Curtis manley, illus. by lucy ruth cummins (roaring brook).

A child named Roberta shows compassion for the smallest invertebrates—including insects, earthworms, and spiders—in this gentle, wonder-filled narrative.

A Master of Djinn

P. djèlí clark (tordotcom).

The alternate 1912 Cairo of Clark’s first novel is an irresistible-sounding combo of steampunk airships and mystical djinn. He introduces his central character, Fatma—an agent with the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities—in a hookah joint where clients puff magic-spiked tobacco. Our starred review called the book a “fantastic feat of postcolonial imagination.” The only question, really, is whether to read Clark’s novellas set in this world first, or dive right in. —Carolyn Juris, features editor

Silver Tears

Camilla läckberg (knopf).

Vengeful Stockholm housewife Faye Adelheim, who sacrificed her career for her feckless, unfaithful husband and framed him for their daughter’s apparent murder in The Golden Cage , has since been living in hiding with her daughter and her mother, who survived an abusive husband. Now, in this high-stakes sequel, Faye faces the consequences of her secrets being exposed.

Stamped (For Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You

Jason reynolds and ibram x. kendi, adapted by sonja cherry-paul, illus. by rachelle baker (little, brown).

National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Reynolds first offered an edifying YA remix of Kendi’s National Book Award–winning adult title; this adaptation makes their engaging American history of racism and anti-racism accessible for the middle grade crowd.

Golden Boy: A Murder Among the Manhattan Elite

John glatt (st. martin’s).

In 2015, Thomas Gilbert Jr., the Princeton graduate son of a wealthy hedge fund manager, shot his father dead in his parents’ Upper East Side apartment over a decrease in his allowance. In 2019, a jury rejected the 35-year-old Gilbert’s insanity defense, and he was sentenced to 30 years to life. Journalist Glatt examines what led Gilbert, who the prosecution argued was a sociopath, to commit a crime that rocked New York high society.

Francine Prose (Harper)

Simon Putnam, a young Jewish book editor, is tasked with working on a bodice ripper inspired by the Rosenberg trial in Prose’s canny look at Cold War society and sexual predation in the workplace. The plot thickens as the mystery unfolds as to why Simon’s boss, a WWII psyops veteran, is so intent on publishing the book, which is off brand compared to the house’s usual literary fare.

Tokyo Ever After

Emiko jean (flatiron).

A Japanese American teen in California discovers that her absent father is the crown prince of Japan and gets more than she bargained for when visiting his home country in this fast-paced, comedic novel for fans of The Princess Diaries .

We Are the Brennans

Tracey lange (celadon).

After Sunday Brennan wrecks her car in a drunk driving accident, she returns from Los Angeles to her hometown in Westchester County, N.Y., where she has not set foot for six years. Her arrival, along with lingering tensions between her and her brothers, forces the Irish Catholic family to confront long-buried secrets. Lange portrays the Brennans with compassion and gritty realism, winning over readers from the beginning.

My Begging Chart

Keiler roberts (drawn & quarterly).

I adore being dropped inside Roberts’s askew gaze at domesticity, which in this archly funny and often breathtakingly poignant series of snapshots of life as a mother and artist also acts as a diary of the progression of her living with MS, a quietly radical realization of illness as daily life. There’s such a satisfying sense of recognition in how she documents oddities alongside sweeter moments, as if in attempt to hold on to time passing. —Meg Lemke, comics and graphic novels reviews editor

The Other Black Girl

Zakiya dalila harris (atria).

When I read The Other Black Girl was an even edgier The Devil Wears Prada, I wondered, “Does it get any better?” It did. Harris’s debut is set in the New York City offices of the publishing industry. Who among us can resist that juicy morsel? While you may be able to leave your house come June 1, you might not want to until you’ve read the last page of this timely, insightful social critique. —Stacey Gill, marketing manager

Other People’s Comfort Keeps Me Up at Night

Morgan parker (tin house).

Parker is a poetic superstar, and this, her debut collection, is one book I’ve long been hoping to find wedged in the overpacked shelf of a frowsty used bookshop in some small college town where no one reads poetry anymore. I’m fairly certain that would have been the only place to find it; it’s been out-of-print for some time. When last I dug around the web for a used copy, the price for even a poor one was running in the hundreds—and I can’t ever seem to get off the library’s waiting list for it. I’m thrilled to see Tin House bring it back into print—and with an introduction by Danez Smith, to boot! —John Maher, news and digital editor

The Perfume Thief

Timothy schaffert (doubleday).

A new Timothy Schaffert novel about a 72-year-old, queer American expat perfumer with a criminal past, who, with her 20-year-old roommate and a French singer, outmaneuvers the Nazis in WWII Paris—need I say more? I’ve been a fan of Schaffert’s for many years and was thrilled when he moved from contemporary into historical fiction. As always with Schaffert’s tales, the characters and their backstories are delicious and the story line is over-the-top. —Claire Kirch, Midwest correspondent

Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake

Alexis hall (forever).

Covid continues to put a damper on any plans for a summer fling, but falling in love with this charming rom-com is the next best thing. A bisexual single mother meets a gentle giant electrician on the set of a Great British Bake Off –style reality show—and Hall’s subversive, queer sensibilities and trademark wit make their romance a scrummy treat. I was whisked away. —Phoebe Cramer, reviews editor

Katherine St. John (Grand Central)

A Hollywood megastar hires his ex-wife, who’s looking to revive her flagging screen career, to play opposite him in a movie being directed by his recent film school graduate son on a Caribbean island. Everyone involved in the production has a secret agenda. This is intelligently told escapist fare wrapped around a kernel of #MeToo sisterhood.

Islands of Abandonment: Nature Rebounding in the Post-Human Landscape

Cal flyn (viking).

Flyn takes readers on a globe-trotting journey, introducing them to ecosystems that are recovering from disasters. All of the sites have been abandoned by humans and are flourishing in the wake. Flyn writes in stunning, hope-filled prose of slag heaps and volcano-ravished towns, and her tour feels especially crucial in a year when travel has been so hard to come by.

Keith Ridgway (New Directions)

I was on a beach when I read Ridgway’s anti-novel Hawthorn & Child in 2013, a noirish phantasmagoria of two detectives going about their days in London. It wasn’t exactly a page-turner, but I couldn’t look away from it. He’s back with A Shock, after previously declaring he was done with writing. He told PW he wrote it while thinking about “how we use fiction to negotiate the world.” I can’t wait to dig in. —David Varno, reviews editor

Somebody’s Daughter: A Memoir

Ashley c. ford (flatiron).

I’ve been a fan of Ford’s sharp writing since her early days at BuzzFeed. She’s profiled everyone from Missy Elliott to Anne Hathaway, and now, with her debut memoir, she turns the pen on herself, giving readers a glimpse into her own beginnings—as a young girl navigating love and the void left behind by her incarcerated father. Those starved to feel something post-pandemic are sure to be jolted back to life by this brilliant memoir. —Steph Buschardt, reviews editor

Pop Song: Adventures in Art and Intimacy

Larissa pham (catapult).

Equal parts memoir-in-essays and incisive criticism, Pham’s luminous debut meditates on sex, love, trauma, and heartbreak, reflecting the author’s own personal experiences against that of contemporary art. Offering searing takes on everything from Frank Ocean’s Blonde to Agnes Martin’s minimalist paintings, this is a thrilling cerebral trip into the mind and heart, guided by an exciting literary voice.

Brandon Webb & John David Mann (Bantam)

Navy SEAL sniper Finn, who has hitched a ride home from the Persian Gulf aboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln , turns investigator when several apparent suicides on the massive warship turn out to be the work of a serial killer. Readers will be eager to check out this highly original update on a classic mystery trope.

Test Gods: Virgin Galactic and the Making of a Modern Astronaut

Nicholas schmidle (holt).

New Yorker writer Schmidle offers a brisk, page-turning account of Virgin Galactic’s space travel efforts, brilliantly capturing the company’s tumults and breakthroughs and bringing the passionate cast of characters to life. Good luck putting down this tense tale of daredevilry.

Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood

Danny trejo with donal logue (atria).

Hollywood’s legendary “bad guy” tells his story in an intimate memoir that’s as unforgettable as the cult movies that made him famous. Trejo, who’s served time in Folsom and San Quentin State Prison, looks back at how he overcame his struggles with crime and addiction and turned them into inspiration for iconic roles alongside actors such as Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. The result is a suspenseful, true account that will have readers riveted.

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Dive into the season’s buzziest books — from beach reads to thrillers, contemporary fiction to memoirs, historical tomes and more.

“ That Summer “

Jennifer Weiner (fiction, Atria Books) Daisy Shoemaker is a married suburban mom with a rebellious daughter and a husband who provides for them — but never lets her forget it. When she starts receiving messages meant for another woman with a nearly identical email address, the two begin talking. The woman is everything Daisy isn’t: unmarried, unattached, with a thriving corporate job. As Daisy soon finds out, the women are connected in ways she never could have imagined, in this page turner about lost opportunities and decades-old secrets. 

“ Last Summer at the Golden Hotel “

Elyssa Friedland (fiction, Berkley) The Golden Hotel is the last of its kind: Owned by the Goldman and Weingold families, the place is a classic Borscht Belt summer resort that has been the host of many happy memories. But its heyday is now long past, the bills are piling up, and the guest register is dwindling. When a development firm makes a bid that would involve tearing down the hotel and building a casino, the two families gather to discuss the offer — amidst numerous family scandals and plenty of drama. 

“ Falling “

TJ Newman (fiction, Avid Reader Press) There are 143 passengers on board a plane from Los Angeles to New York City. What they don’t know is that the flight will be anything but routine. Minutes before takeoff, the pilot was contacted by someone who gives him a chilling directive: The pilot’s wife and kids are being held at gunpoint at home, and he must crash the plane or his family will be killed.

“ The Husbands “

Chandler Baker (fiction, Flatiron Books) Nora Spangler is a successful lawyer on the partner track; but she’s also exhausted from overseeing her family’s life at home. When she and her husband go house shopping in Dynasty Ranch, the neighborhood is filled with high-powered women whose husbands do everything for them . Are they Stepford spouses — or the answer to all feminine prayers? 

“ The Summer Job “

Lizzy Dent (fiction, GP Putnam’s Sons) Birdy has kicked off her summer job as sommelier at a remote Scottish hotel with a bit of a fib … well, a whopper. She’s pretending to be her best friend Heather, an actual sommelier, while she herself knows nothing about wine. The newly renovated hotel, meanwhile, is desperate for good ratings from restaurant critics to boost its bottom line. What could possibly go wrong? 

“ Where the Grass is Green and the Girls are Pretty “

Lauren Weisberger (fiction, Random House) Peyton seemingly has it all: a job as a famous TV anchor, a loving husband and a Princeton-bound daughter. But when a college admissions scandal threatens to engulf her family, she flees to her sister’s upscale NY suburb to hide out — and try to rebuild her reputation. 

“ Malibu Rising “

Taylor Jenkins Reid (fiction, Ballantine Books) It’s Malibu in August of 1983, and Nina Riva’s hotly anticipated end-of-summer bash is happening. Everyone wants to be around the Riva siblings — the children of famous singer Mick Riva, they have all carved out their own niches in the area. But the air is filled with tension, old grudges and long-held secrets, and, by morning, the Riva mansion will go up in flames. 

“ The Turnout “

Megan Abbott (fiction, GP Putnam’s Sons) Sisters Dara and Marie Durant have run the prestigious Durant School of Dance together since their parents died in a tragic accident over a decade ago. Marie teaches the younger kids while Dara handles the older pupils; her husband Charlie, once a prized pupil at the dance school, handles the business itself. When a strange accident occurs right at the beginning of the school’s annual Nutcracker performance, it throws everything into chaos. 

“ Hell of a Book “

Jason Mott (fiction, Dutton) A black author embarks on a cross-country book tour to promote his new book, but he’s followed by a (possibly imaginary) child. The author’s story is intertwined with the narrative of Soot, a young black boy living in a rural town. Mott has written a clever meditation on race and violence in America. 

“ Count the Ways “

Joyce Maynard (fiction, William Morrow) Eleanor and Cam meet in Vermont in the early 1970s. Neither has much money, but they have a farmhouse and a family in a few short years. For a while, love is enough to keep them going. But when an accident changes their family dynamic forever, the couple do their best to muddle through a divorce. 

“ The Guncle “

Steven Rowley (fiction, GP Putnam’s Sons) Patrick — “Gay Uncle Patrick,” or “GUP” for short — has always been a loving and fun uncle. But when his niece and nephew lose their mother and their father goes into rehab for the summer, he’s suddenly in charge. Patrick might not know much about parenting, but he’s determined to be the best uncle he can be, inflatable pool toys, house parties and all. 

“ Bath Haus “

PJ Vernon (fiction, Doubleday) Oliver Park is a recovering addict who’s built the perfect life with his partner Nathan, an older surgeon, in their gorgeous Georgetown home. But one weekend when Nathan is away, Oliver finds himself visiting Haus, a gay bathhouse, where he has a terrifying encounter that almost gets him killed. Traumatized, he tries to shake off the encounter and move on without telling Nathan. That’s when he starts seeing his attacker around the neighborhood, and it’s clear the guy’s got Oliver in his sights. Terrifying. 

“ All Together Now “

Matthew Norman (fiction, Ballantine Books) Reclusive billionaire Robbie Malcolm has everything he wants — everything, that is, except time. When a doctor gives him a terminal diagnosis, Robbie invites his core group of high school friends for one final beach weekend they’ll never forget. 

“ Palace of the Drowned “

Christine Mangan (fiction, Flatiron Books) It’s 1966 and Frankie Croy has retreated to her friend’s palazzo in Venice, looking to bounce back from a breakdown triggered by a scathing review of her debut novel. While there, she meets a young woman named Gilly, who describes herself as a huge fan. Something about Gilly seems off, but Frankie can’t quite put her finger on it. Then a flood ravages the city, and the two women will never be the same. 

“ Summer on the Bluffs “

Sunny Hostin (fiction, William Morrow) In the exclusive black community of Oak Bluffs, summer is a chance to relax and enjoy the beach. Seventy-year-old Amelia Vaux Tanner is about to host her last summer in her beloved vacation home before moving to France. She has invited her three goddaughters to spend the season with her; when it ends, one of them will be the owner of Amelia’s house.

“ Mary Jane “

Jessica Anya Blau (fiction, Custom House) In 1970s Baltimore, 14-year-old Mary Jane has conservative parents and sings in the church choir. When a bohemian family in the neighborhood enlists her as a mother’s helper, Mary Jane is introduced to a wild new world unlike anything she’s ever known. 

“ The Plot “

Jean Hanff Korelitz (fiction, Celadon)  Back in the day, Jacob Finch Bonner was a hotshot young novelist with a promising first book. But all that promise amounted to nothing much. Now he’s teaching in a D-list MFA program and hasn’t written a word in years. When an obnoxious student comes in with an amazing idea, Jacob doesn’t think twice about it. But when the student mysteriously dies, the professor starts to think that a good idea shouldn’t go to waste. 

“ A Double Life “

Charlotte Philby (fiction, Harper Collins) From the granddaughter of Britain’s most famous double agent, Kim Philby, comes this page-turning thriller about Gabriela, a senior negotiator coming off of a seven-month stint in Moscow. When the woman returns home to her family, however, something isn’t quite right. 

“ The Other Black Girl “

Zakiya Dalila Harris (fiction, Atria Books) Editorial assistant Nella Rogers is the only black employee at Wagner Books. When another black woman, Hazel, starts working in the cubicle next to hers, she thinks she has found an ally. But as the weeks go by, Nella notices Hazel has become the office favorite — and she herself is getting left out of important projects. Then the notes start appearing on her desk: Leave Wagner now.

“ Ridgeline “

Michael Punke (fiction, Henry Holt) In the aftermath of the Civil War, a new conflict between native tribes and a brash new nation breaks out on the Western frontier. Colonel Henry Carrington has arrived in Wyoming to open a new road for gold miners and settlers, while Red Cloud, a respected Lakota chief, understands exactly what this will mean for his people. From the bestselling author of “The Revenant.” 

“ Golden Girl “

Elin Hilderbrand (fiction, Henry Holt) Vivian Howe, a married mother of three grown children, is killed in a hit-and-run accident while jogging near her Nantucket home. As she’s ushered into the great beyond, she’s given the opportunity to watch one last summer play out on earth — and allowed three “nudges” to change the outcome of things for her children. 

“ Blush “

Jamie Brenner (fiction, GP Putnam’s Sons) The family-run Hollander Estates winery is floundering, and matriarch Vivian fears this summer could be their last season. When her granddaughter uncovers journals from Vivian’s old “trashy novel” book club, they start to realize that the key to saving the vineyard — and to happiness in love and life — just might lie in the over-the-top novels. 

“ Survive the Night “

Riley Sager (fiction, Dutton) Charlie met Josh Baxter through the college ride board: He’s a total stranger but also her ticket home from a school terrorized by a campus killer who has murdered three people so far. As the hours in the car pass, Charlie begins to notice inconsistencies in Josh’s story — and wonders if maybe she didn’t leave the danger behind on campus. 

NON-FICTION

“ Golden Boy: A Murder Among the Manhattan Elite “

John Glatt, nonfiction, (St. Martin’s Press) Thomas Gilbert Jr. grew up with every possible advantage: private schools, a loving family, houses in the Hamptons. Despite all this, OCD and increasing paranoia, combined with an inexplicable hatred of his father, led him to murder the wealthy financier. An in-depth look at an act that shocked the city’s elite. 

“ The Ground Breaking: An American City and its Search for Justice “

Scott Ellsworth (nonfiction, Dutton)  Memorial Day 2021 marked the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, an event as shocking in its violence as for the cover-up that lasted for decades. With thorough reporting, Ellsworth researches the event, the people who kept the story alive and the ongoing search for victims’ unmarked graves. A must-read. 

“ Kennedy’s Avenger: Assassination, Conspiracy and the Forgotten Trial of Jack Ruby “

Dan Abrams, David Fisher (nonfiction, Hanover Square Press) It was the killing seen on live television: Two days after the murder of President John F Kennedy, a nightclub owner named Jack Ruby slipped into the Dallas police station and shot dead alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. The ensuing criminal trial of Ruby, forgotten by most, was in fact a bizarre and fascinating circus: How do you defend a man who pulled the trigger on live television? And how did he die an innocent man? 

“ The Housewives: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewives “

Brian Moylan (nonfiction, Flatiron Books) When it comes to beach reads, what’s better than some good old-fashioned dishing? Moylan, who writes the “Real Housewives” recaps for Vulture.com, takes the reader on a behind-the-scenes tour of this most fantastic franchise. 

“ Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir “

Brian Broome (memoir, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) A powerful debut memoir — sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hysterically funny — about growing up black, poor and gay in Ohio, feeling like an outsider and using drugs to seek comfort in a world where Broome felt unmoored. Poignant and raw. 

“ The Great Peace: A Memoir “

Mena Suvari (memoir, Hachette) Suvari pulls absolutely no punches in this raw exploration of a Hollywood childhood full of sexual abuse, emotional abandonment and drug addiction — and reveals how she built a new life on her own terms. 

“ [Re]born in the USA: An Englishman’s Love Letter to His Chosen Home “

Roger Bennett (memoir, Dey Street Books)  Known as lovable “Rodge” to fans, Roger Bennett is one half of the popular “Men in Blazers” TV series, commenting on soccer and culture. His book is a love letter to the United States, and details his journey from Liverpool to NYC. 

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2021 Summer Reading Guide: Books for the Whole Family

Summer is the best time for reading aloud, whether you’re reading on your back porch or snuggled up on the couch.  And when it comes to bedtime reading, no school wakeup means you can indulge requests for “just one more chapter.”

WAYS to Make Sunshine by Rénee Watson, illustrated by Nina Mata

If you love the world of Ramona Quimby and the other inhabitants of Klickitat Street, you’ll love this book about another ordinary family living in Portland and dealing with the oridinary issues of growing up. The stories of Ryan Hart and her family are sweet and funny and ones that children will relate to – from moving to a new house to hunting for treasures at the Portland Saturday Market with her best friend. The sequel, Ways to Grow Love , just came out in April so it’s the perfect time pick them both up.

The Wishmakers by Tyler Whitesides, illustrated by Jessica Warrick

I don’t even know where this book came from, but when we were looking for a new title for a family read-aloud, the girls picked this one and they were all fans from page 1. The main character opens a jar of peanut butter and discovers a genie inside. But he’s not limited to three wishes – he can have as many wishes as he wants! The only problem is that with every wish granted comes a consequence. Oh, and also? He needs to use wishes to save the world from destruction. If you have readers who love a book that’s a little on the wacky side, this is the book for them! (We read the sequel, The Wishbreakers , which was also very fun).

Ghost by Jason Reynolds

Ghost is a very fast runner – starting with a run from his dangerous father when he was a little boy. Now, he mostly runs away from his problems until an Olympic-runner-turned-coach sees Ghost’s incredible raw talent and wants to help him harness it for the Junior Olympics. But Ghost will have to stop running from his past in order for that to happen and that might be the hardest thing he’s ever done. This is the first book in a four-book series , each of which focuses on a different member of the track team. Jason Reynolds is a big name in the world of children’s literature for good reason – this book is FIRE.

Houdini and Me by Dan Gutman

This was one of our most recent read-alouds and my girls were absolutely transfixed. They didn’t know much about Houdini before this and we all loved the photographs of the real Houdini scattered throughout the book. In this story, Harry is a young boy who lives in the house Houdini once inhabited and loves learning more about the famous magician. But things take a surprising turn when he discovers an old flip phone and it starts receiving texts from someone who claims to be the real Harry Houdini. Could it be possible? And what does Houdini want?

mrs. frisby and the rats OF NIHM by Robert C. O’Brien

Some Newbery winners don’t really stand the test of time. Others, like Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM , REALLY really do. This is one of the books I remembered mostly clearly from my childhood and I worried that my girls wouldn’t be into it, but we were all transfixed by this story of Mrs. Frisby who knows her tiny mouse son will die without help and finds the help she needs in the rats who live behind the rose bush on the farm and don’t interact much with the other animals. It’s such a fun read-aloud for both an adult and a child.

CHECK OUT THE OTHER CATEGORIES ON THE 2021 summer reading Guide:

Absorbing audiobooks, page-turning novels, fantastic non-fiction.

Sarah's Bookshelves

Live Your Best Reading Life

2023 Summer Reading Guide

Summer reading means something a bit different to everyone, but I’ve got you covered in my 2023 Summer Reading Guide. Some of you like to put their brains completely on vacation with fun, easy reads. Some of you like an action-packed page turner. Some of you want something with a bit more substance. And some of you might like to head off the beaten path.

Personally, I like books you can fly through, books you don’t have to work too hard on, and books you can get easily immersed in. This doesn’t mean I avoid hard topics in my summer reading, I just typically avoid books that require lots of concentration.

I’ve read every book that appears on this list and, as always, will continue to add new selections throughout the summer . 

And, this year in particular, do not sleep on the Slow Burn Suspense section…4 out of my 6 Slow Burn Suspense picks are 5 star reads!

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s episode of the Sarah’s Bookshelves Live Podcast…where Susie from Novel Visits and I talk about books that missed last year’s Summer Reading Guide, deep backlist summer picks, and our #1 2023 summer picks!

We have 2 Add-Ons for you this year (one free and one as part of our Superstars Patreon Community ):

• Printable Cheatsheet (FREE) – the Summer Reading Guide in quick recommendations in PDF format for easy printing (great for taking to the bookstore or library!).

Sign up for my email list and get the 2023 Summer Reading Guide Printable Cheatsheet!

The entire guide in very short recommendations...perfect to print and take with you to the bookstore! You'll also receive all new podcast episodes and blog posts in one weekly email. Plus, news of special updates and offers!

Check your email for the cheatsheet (and make sure to check your spam folder)!

• Exclusively available to Superstars patrons ($7 / mo).
• Summer Shelves features BACKLIST summer reading recommendations from 17 former podcast guests, Sarah’s Bookshelves Live Patrons, and our team members.
• Summer Shelves is clean, crisp, and unique and you’ll receive it in a PDF file format via Patreon.
• If you’d like to get the Summer Shelves companion guide, you can sign up to be a Superstars patron here . You’ll also get access to a monthly bonus podcast series called Double Booked (where Catherine or Susie and I share our own book recommendations in the same format as the big show) and my Rock Your Reading Tracker.

Previous Summer Reading Guides: 2013 ,  2014 ,  2015 ,  2016 , 2017 , 2018 , 2019 , 2020 , 2021 , 2022

This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!).

Latest Additions  (July 14, 2022)

Plot Summary: Banyan Moon is a multi-generational family drama centered around the women in a Vietnamese family living on the Gulf Coast of Florida. We get the perspective of 3 generations of the Tran family: Ann, the adult daughter who has left Florida and is building a glitzy, new life with her wealthy professor boyfriend. Huong, Ann’s mother who regrets not having a closer relationship with Ann. And, Minh, Huong’s mother and Ann’s grandmother, whose death brings Ann home at the beginning of the book.

My Thoughts: I almost DNF’d this book during Chapter 1, but Chapter 2 pulled me in and I’m so glad I stuck with it. This is a really atmospheric book. You can feel the heat and humidity of the Florida coast. The Grey Gardens-esqe Banyan House is a central character in the story. This story is a celebration of women and family history. And, secrets of course. It’s also about leaving home, returning home, and figuring out where your home is. 

Plot Summary: Humor writer Key (he’s very dry and uses morbid humor, which I loved) tells the true story of his marriage hitting the skids when his wife has an affair with a neighbor and family friend.

My Thoughts: This story turned out to be far different than I expected. I expected a kind of crazy infidelity story, but I got much more. On the surface, things seem very cut and dried. But, they’re absolutely not. There are a lot of complications and I was pleasantly surprised by that. I do feel like people will have strong opinions about decisions Harrison and Lauren made, which may turn some people off, but this also makes for excellent Book Club conversation. Key does examine himself and his own actions that may have contributed to his wife’s unhappiness in their marriage. He also talks about his faith and experience in the church, specifically his disillusionment with his church. Highly recommend on audio!

Plot Summary: In My Murder , five women who were murdered by a serial killer were brought back to life as clones by a government project called the Replication Commission. The Replication Commission is not a secret, so the clones of the five women get to re-enter their lives. BUT…all is not as it seems.

My Thoughts: I’ve never read Speculative Crime Fiction before and I loved this highly unique genre mash-up. The story is set in a near future world that includes a heavy virtual reality element, clones, and self-driving cars…but, is pretty similar to ours beyond that. The first half of the book is very “WTF is going on” and, beyond that, the story takes a bit to get to the central point of what it’s truly about. But, things do become clear and the pace takes off in the second half. Williams asks interesting questions about motherhood, marriage, and the “right” type of murder victim that gets the general public motivated to fight back. And, the ending completely surprised me – was way out of the realm of anything I would’ve guessed. A perfect pick if you’re sick of run-of-the-mill crime fiction.

Plot Summary: This love story is between Rosie and Will, who meet in high school, despite being from different parts of the high school social hierarchy. They initially form a relationship through late night conversations before they hit some very real and large roadblocks.

My Thoughts: I’ve talked about my love for the Micro Genre of Intense, Sometimes F’d Up Love Stories that Definitely Aren’t Romances…and I’m adding this 5 star debut novel to the list! I read this 400 page character-driven book in 3 days, which is fast for me. I would describe this as an intense, nontraditional love story that’s definitely not a romance. It’s not in the F’d up category. This couple has real obstacles to overcome that go beyond the “he’s a sociopath” obstacle of Tell Me Lies . It’s like Normal People , but with less dark and with less of the millennial angst. I’d also add a comparison to I Could Live Here Forever .

Plot Summary: The Art Thief is the true story of the world’s “most prolific art thief.” Frenchman Stephane Breitwieser and his live-in girlfriend (kind of a Bonnie and Clyde style partnership) stole more than 300 works of art from museums, cathedrals, and castles in multiple European countries over 10 years. Unlike most art thieves, Stephane didn’t steal for money, he called himself a “collector with an unorthodox acquisition style “ and “an art liberator.”

My Thoughts: I’m not particularly interested in art or heist stories, but I know Michael Finkel can tell a compelling story…about any topic. And, he did. I was riveted. Finkel covers how museum security (or the lack thereof) works. And, he talked extensively with Breitwieser and shared psychologists’ profiles of him, so we go deep into his psyche and motivations. I highly recommend this on audio, narrated by Edoardo Ballerini.

Plot Summary: When June Heyward’s college friend and literary darling, Athena Liu (who is Chinese American), dies in a freak accident, June (who is white) finds her unpublished novel…and decides to publish it as her own after extensive edits, setting off an unsettling chain of events. 

My Thoughts: Yellowface is one of my favorite books of 2023 so far! I couldn’t put it down and it’s a book that you will immediately need to talk about with someone else who’s read it. The narrative voice is deliciously b*tchy and almost every character in this story is unlikable (take note, if this bothers you in books). Kuang goes behind-the-scenes of the publishing industry, revealing juicy dirt about how books get made. She also addresses cultural appropriation, racism in the publishing industry, social media, and who gets to tell what stories. Perfect for book clubs!

Something Light / Fun

I couldn’t choose between my top two picks in this category, so I’m giving you two #1 picks!

Plot Summary: Isabelle Manning is the daughter of legendary novelist Ward Manning…who is also an egotistical D-bag. She’s always idolized her Dad and wanted to follow in his footsteps as a serious novelist. After her beloved mother passes away, Isabelle discovers her family might not be as it always seemed to her.

My Thoughts: Wealthy people behaving badly has been done many times at this point, but Abramson made her debut feel unique and I think it will be one of my top underrated gems of 2023. The juicy plot and sharp social commentary about the wealthy (mostly from the Nick Carraway-style outsider perspective of Isabelle’s friend, Brian) help this story stand out. I also loved the exploration of what it’s like to be the child of a legend and the behind the scenes of the publishing industry. I thought I knew where this book was going…and I did to a certain extent, but Abramson added layers on top that were totally unexpected.

Plot Summary: A famous person / civilian romance where our main character (Sally) is a comedy writer for The Night Owls , an SNL-like late night comedy sketch show. She’s known for her feminist humor and she’s working on a sketch skewering the trend of hot actresses and models dating very average male comedy writers when legendary singer Noah Brewster arrives to host the show. As Sally works with Noah on his hosting stint, she begins to suspect sparks are flying.

My Thoughts: Curtis Sittenfeld isn’t known for her romance novels, but she’s bringing her more literary style to the romance genre here. I’d heard mixed reviews before I read Romantic Comedy, but I was completely pleasantly surprised! Early on, there’s almost no hint that this is even a romance novel (a plus for me!). I got pulled into Sittenfeld’s world building of the comedy show and comedy writing in general. Sittenfeld did an excellent job with the humor, particularly through Sally’s sketches and jokes. This is also a story about the intensity of creating with someone. Given this novel doesn’t feel like a traditional romance, I’d recommend it for people who are just starting with the genre.

Plot Summary: Chani Horowitz is a journalist specializing in celebrity puff pieces…and she’s assigned to write a piece on her celebrity crush, Gabe Parker, to convince the public that he is, in fact, a good choice to be the next James Bond despite being an unconventional choice for the role. Their interview feels more like a date and is followed by a weekend of going to a premiere with Gabe and other non-interview-like outings. 10 years later, Gabe requests Chani to do another interview…this time to rehabilitate his image after an alcohol addiction.

My Thoughts: I love romances about fame and this one is based on journalist Edith Zimmerman’s real life interview with actor Chris Evans in GQ Magazine. This story explores what happens when sparks fly between a famous actor and the journalist interviewing him…and depicts a romance between people in their 40’s. This didn’t feel like a breathless romance…more like a connection book. 

Plot Summary: This is a “death brings the family together, chaos ensues” book. The funeral is for Gerry, the patriarch of the Williams family, which is one of the “old” families in the small Georgia town where the story is set. The story takes place over the course of 1 week. Gerry’s extended family is in town including his grandchildren (who are in their 20’s). Gerry’s best friend gives his eulogy and drops a bomb on everyone. Gerry’s family and family friends work to process this new information as well as work through some of their individual problems. 

My Thoughts: This debut Brain Candy style family drama made me feel like these characters were people I recognized. Shook’s perspective as someone who grew up in the South, but now lives in New York, is a perfect balance between love and understanding of Southern culture and enough of an outsider view to observe its quirks and faults. I loved the dynamic of the adult cousins (in town for their grandfather’s funeral) and the relatably sarcastic voice and tone. This is a character-driven story that you read because you want to spend time with these people, not for a twisty plot. PS – what a great first line: “Gerry Williams’ funeral was a shit show.”

Plot Summary:  Four women in their 60’s have worked for an elite International organization of assassins called The Museum for decades. They go on a retirement trip only to find out someone from inside The Museum is targeting them.

My Thoughts: This story is FUN! One Goodreads reviewer described this book as “if The Golden Girls were trained assassins” and I can’t say it any better than that. This is very much a girl power book (or should I say “ladies of a certain age” power book?) and includes excellent commentary about how society treats older women. I loved the tongue in cheek tone, the action / adventure feel, and the spycraft (these women are creative in how they kill people!). If you can overlook some plot holes, this one is fresh and fun!

Plot Summary: Pineapple Street f ollows 3 women who are part of the very wealthy Stockton Family of Brooklyn Heights, NY. Oldest daughter, Darley who is married to a successful self-made investment banker, sister-in-law (Sasha) who is married to the son (Cord) and comes from a middle class background, and the youngest daughter (Georgina), who is fairly spoiled and in love with someone unattainable. There’s a family brownstone on Pineapple Street that Cord and Sasha live that’s the family’s center, but also the cause of some tension.

My Thoughts: This debut novel is an easy, breezy beach read with a bit of substance. The Stockton family isn’t particularly likable, but they do have some redeeming moments. This story asks thoughtful questions about money…its impacts on a family and children’s coming of age and the bubble you live in when you have money. It also addresses class differences within a marriage.  

Plot Summary: Same Time Next Summer is a second chance love story featuring Sam, who is engaged to her “perfect on paper” doctor fiance (Jack). When Sam and Jack visit her family’s Long Island beach house to look at wedding venues, Sam’s childhood love who broke her heart (Wyatt) is at his family’s house next door.

My Thoughts: The author of 2022’s hit romance, Nora Goes Off Script , is back with her sophomore novel and it’s NOT a sophomore slump! This story captures the best parts of young love in spades…and some of the warts. I got Joey and Dawson from Dawson’s Creek AND Sweet Home Alabama vibes. The quirky, artsy family beach house is the perfect summer setting…comfortable and nostalgic. There’s a great set of grandparents with no filter and the story doesn’t suffer from overwhelming banter (like Emily Henry’s books do for me).

Plot Summary: Solene , a 39 year old divorced mother of a 13 year old daughter takes her daughter and some friends to a post-concert meet and greet with a super famous boy band (much like One Direction). Solene and Hayes, one of the boy band members (who is 20 years old), feel an immediate and undeniable connection. Despite some reservations, they pursue this relationship, but roadblocks lie ahead.

My Thoughts: On first glance, the premise of this super steamy romance is completely ridiculous. I shocked myself by 100% buying into this story. I flew through it in 1.5 days and it’s unputdownable. I loved that the story broke some romance tropes: the couple gets together right away (rather than going through a long, drawn out “will they or won’t they?”) and one other element that I can’t talk about without getting spoiler-y. It also deals with fame, ageism, and social media culture. If you loved The View Was Exhausting , Red White and Royal Blue or American Royals , you’ll love this romance! 

Plot Summary: In a future USA that is both ahead of our time and harkens back to the past (a rigid caste system, a Royal Family, etc), America Singer is in love with a boy from a lower caste (which is strictly forbidden) when she receives an invitation to enter “The Selection,” a Bachelor -like elimination process to find a wife for the Prince. Once America is in this competition, she has to juggle her feelings for her love at home and her developing feelings for the Prince.

My Thoughts: Young Adult romances are rare books choices for me, but when I heard The Selection (the first in a series) was like a cross between The Hunger Games and The Bachelor , I had to try it! The story is about how the Selection is going to turn out, what’s going to happen to America, and how she’s going to handle these two men in her life. It’s the FLUFFIEST of Brain Candy (think Cotton Candy) and makes an excellent guilty pleasure choice. Note: you do have to read further into the series for a resolution to the story. 

Plot Summary: This is the story of a devious tech startup CEO (Jake Sarnoff) as told by the 3 women he erased from his successful start-up’s history: his ex-wife who helped him build the company, his college girlfriend, and his much younger second wife.

My Thoughts: Dunlop’s previous novel ( We Came Here to Forget ) was an underrated gem for me the year it came out and I think Women are the Fiercest Creatures will be an underrated gem for me in 2023. I loved the backdrop of women in venture capital and how few women-led businesses get VC funding. This story is also about how women cater to men and men move through life subconsciously expecting it. But, despite the depressing issue that Dunlop beautifully addresses, this is a story of hope and overcoming the B.S. surrounding these women. It’s a great light read with substance that feels different from your average Brain Candy.

Something Intense / Fast-Paced

Plot Summary: I didn’t read the publisher’s blurb before reading this book and recommend you don’t either (they reveal the first 1/3 of the plot!). Just know that, a few minutes after taking off from Honolulu airport, a passenger jet crashes into the ocean, but things go horribly wrong with the rescue effort. And, this story is primarily about the rescue effort.

My Thoughts: TJ Newman’s sophomore novel (the follow-up to Falling ) is the fastest-paced novel I’ve read all year. It’s pure adrenalin in a very physical way…to the point where I had to stop reading it right before bed because it kept me awake. Drowning stays in Newman’s lane of aviation action thrillers. I’m fascinated by all the flight procedures and she did such a good job explaining them in a way that made sense and was interesting to a civilian, which makes sense since Newman is a former flight attendant. There’s also a family element to this story, which adds heart. 

Plot Summary: Adam’s longtime girlfriend (Sarah) goes missing. Circumstances are murky and the police think she left voluntarily. Then, Adam receives her passport in the mail along with a note that says “I’m Sorry”. He takes the investigation into his own hands and connects her to a cruise ship called Celebrate.

My Thoughts: Diving into Catherine Ryan Howard’s backlist is an ongoing project of mine and her debut novel, Distress Signals , is now my second favorite of her books (behind The Nothing Man ). I love my thrillers to have “something more” and the “something more” here was the intricacies of maritime law and how it makes crimes on cruise ships super easy to pull off. Howard’s pacing was excellent and the ending brought multiple layers of surprises. 

Plot Summary: In Red Widow , after CIA Agent Lyndsey Duncan was sent home from her post in Beirut under a cloud of scandal, the CIA calls her back to tackle a suspected threat to their Russia Division. Once back in the office, she and the famous “Red Widow” (the widow of a legendary CIA agent who was killed in a botched mission in Russia) are forced to untangle the mystery of what’s threatening the Russia Division in their own ways. 

In Red London , Lyndsey Duncan is sent to London to be the “handler” for a very important new CIA asset (source) and is pulled into a situation involving a Russian oligarch living in London.

My Thoughts: I had no idea that Alma Katsu (author of The Hunger ) had a 35 year career in Intelligence with several different U.S. Agencies, including the CIA and the NSA, prior to writing her first novel. She brings this personal experience as a rare female in a male dominated business to her CIA spy thriller series. I loved the behind the scenes look at the inner workings of the CIA and particularly being a woman at the CIA. 

While Red Widow focuses on life in a CIA home office, Red London is set in a post-Ukraine conflict / Putin era where the result was a disaster for Russia and I loved this “what if” look into the Russian geopolitical situation. I also loved getting a window into how London’s Russian population integrates into the city. You don’t have to read Red Widow before picking up this one, but I do recommend it for a fuller experience.

Plot Summary: I recommend avoiding the publisher’s blurb, as it gives away too many plot details. My more vague version: Katie Shaw’s senior year in high school is shattered when something happens to her younger brother, Chris, who she’s always been protective of. Years later, Katie is married with kids when she finds out her brother has gone missing. Chris’ disappearance unlocks dark secrets involving the legendary serial killer, The Angel Maker. 

My Thoughts: The Angel Maker is one of the more unique thrillers I’ve read lately. In the beginning, there are a couple seemingly disparate pieces of the story that I knew were going to come together, but I had no idea how at the time. North connected these pieces beautifully with excellent pacing. I said “oh shit” twice out loud in the first 20%. In addition to crime fiction, this is a family story in multiple ways. North studied philosophy and there is a pretty big philosophy element in this book, which makes this book stand out, but it also gets overly esoteric at times. Ultimately, I loved the overall message of using agency to do good in the world.

Plot Summary:  A Marshall, TX patent lawyer decides to take on his first ever criminal case when one of his patent clients is accused of murdering the Federal judge who presided over his initial patent eligibility hearing.

My Thoughts:  Patent law might sound boring, but the patent law landscape in Marshall, TX (it’s a hotbed for patent law) is not. The history behind this unlikely phenomenon gives this story the “something more” element I always crave in my thrillers. I also love when my legal thrillers give good insight into legal and trial strategy and Hartstone reminds me of Steve Cavanagh (Thirteen) in that way. A great pick if you’re looking for something fast-paced that will easily keep your attention.

Plot Summary:  Scientists have discovered a gene that pairs every person with their one true soulmate. A company called Match Your DNA has monetized this in a way that resembles Ancestry.com). The One follows 5 people as they navigate finding their Match…playing out all the implications of this new technology.

My Thoughts:  This genre mash-up (Speculative Fiction / Sci-Fi / Romance) was so unexpected, so surprisingly twisty, and thought-provoking at the same time! It felt fresh and unique even though it came out a couple years ago.  The One  has a  Love, Actually  vibe, but these stories can only be called love stories in the most untraditional sense. Every single one of these 5 people’s stories went in directions I never imagined…I said “holy sh*t” out loud multiple times. It also raised fascinating questions about soulmates (Are they good or bad? Would you want to know if you had one?, etc) that make this an excellent book club pick. 5 resounding stars!

Plot Summary:  As McAllister put it in her Author’s Note, Wrong Place, Wrong Time is “a crime novel where you must stop the ending, told backwards.” While waiting up for her teenage son, Todd, his mother (Jen) sees him commit a crime out the front window. The next morning, Jen wakes up and it is the day before the crime…and it happens again and again.

My Thoughts:  Time travel is usually a dicey prospect in my reading, but the time travel element felt like a supremely interesting structure in this mystery / thriller (it also helped that Jen, the main character, is also skeptical of what is happening to her). This is just as much a family story (with lots of commentary on motherhood and marriage) as it is a crime novel. It’s super intricately plotted and the story grew on me with each new layer that was revealed. This story felt like Catherine Ryan Howard at her best and it’s my favorite thriller of 2022!

Slow-Burn Suspense

My #1 Picks

I couldn’t choose between my top two picks in this category, so I’m giving you two #1 picks…again!

Plot Summary: The story of the wife and mother of 3 children (Jane Larkin) who disappears in 1975. Though the police suspected her husband (Dan, a criminal defense attorney), there was no evidence, so he went on to raise the 3 Larkin children. Her remains turn up decades later, focusing new attention on the case.

My Thoughts: 11 years after his mega-hit, Defending Jacob , former prosecutor William Landay is back with another 5 star crime novel. Landay melds crime fiction and family drama so well in this emotional roller coaster of a story. Making Dan (the father and suspect) a legendary defense attorney added a layer of intrigue and I love how this case explored the court of public opinion and what it’s like to have a father who’s a suspected criminal. We hear from 4 points of view: a writer who is a friend of one of the Larkin kids, Jane, Jeff (Larkin brother), and Dan himself. I was surprised by the ending and was dying to get back to this book whenever I wasn’t reading it.

Plot Summary: Bodie, a middle aged podcaster returns to her childhood boarding school to teach a course. While she’s there, she becomes intrigued by her old classmate’s (Thalia) murder and the conviction of the school’s athletic trainer.

My Thoughts: I love when an author known for her “literary” writing takes on a different genre. Makkai, whose literary novel The Great Believers I loved, elevates the crime fiction genre AND the campus novel genre with this 5 star read. The longer I read, the deeper I thought about the issues Makkai addresses beyond the who-dun-its of the crime: society’s obsession with Dead White Girls (and the lack of focus on crime victims of color), the power of gossip and rumor, examining actions from a different time through today’s lens, and the intersection of crime and media. It’s long (450 pages), but I didn’t feel the length! PS – This is THE book of 2023 so far!

Plot Summary: Set in the small town of West Mills, NC (near the Virginia border) in the 1970’s, the story begins with the triple murder of the adult siblings of a prominent, Black family. Law enforcement doesn’t put much effort into investigating the crime, but a West Mills native moves back to town and begins digging into what happened.

My Thoughts: Decent People kicks off with a triple murder, but that’s not really what this story is about. The triple murder here is more of a vehicle to explore race, privilege & homophobia in a small Southern town in the 70’s in this character-driven story. It’s not the focus of the story, though the reader does get resolution to the murders. I loved the small town vibes…the kind of town where everyone knows everyone and has history with each other (including the cops).  

Plot Summary: Every member of Ernest Cunningham’s family has killed someone…and they all meet at a remote Australian ski resort for a family reunion. What could go wrong?

My Thoughts: This mash-up of family drama and murder mystery is one of the more unique murder mysteries I’ve ever read and the publisher says it’s a “reboot” of the Golden Age locked room mystery. The plot is smart and intricate – perfect for puzzle lovers – and made me want to concentrate to put all the pieces together. Jaw dropping revelations about various family members added to the twisty feeling of the murder mystery. But, the two things that made this mystery stand out to me were: 1) Ernest’s sarcastic and salty voice. This is a funny murder mystery. 2) The meta way he pokes fun at the Mystery / Thriller genre…even breaking the fourth wall to talk directly to the reader about particular plot devices he’s using. This is was a 5 star read for me and is one of the best books I’ve read this year!

Plot Summary:  In 1985, an international banker named Delores Rivera married Andres, who she met at a wedding in Mexico City. But, she already has a husband (Fabian) and 2 sons back home in Laredo, TX. After juggling her 2 marriages, she’s exposed and one husband murders the other one. Decades later, a true crime journalist sees a newspaper article about this story and decides to write a book about the woman behind this crime.

My Thoughts:  This genre mash-up of a debut novel has been a bit misunderstood, but it’s a 5 star read for me! There’s a crime at the center of this story, but it’s not a thriller (as many readers expected). It’s a character study of the complex and fascinating (if not totally likable) woman behind a highly unusual crime (a woman living a double life that leads to a murder). This story is deeply layered, touching on the public’s fascination with true crime, gender, marriage, motherhood, and Mexican economic history and its interaction with the economies of Texas border towns. The ending is smart and surprising, yet felt 100% earned. This story felt fresh and would make a fantastic book club pick.

Plot Summary: I recommend skipping the publisher’s blurb (it gives away a plot point I would rather not have known in advance) and going in with the fact that this story is about how 3 elements connect: a severed hand that washes up on the Reef Road beach in Palm Beach, FL during the 2020 COVID shutdown, a thriller writer who’s haunted by the unsolved murder of her mother’s best friend when they were 12 back in 1948 Pittsburgh, and a woman living on Reef Road in Palm Beach who is married to and has 2 young children with a man from a wealthy Argentinian family.

My Thoughts: Reef Road is slow burn crime fiction that is much more layered than I expected! There is an actual crime in the author’s family history that loosely inspired this story. Like the writer in this story, the real crime haunted her family for generations…and this story goes into the generational trauma that can result from being close to an unsolved murder. It also gets meta with the crime fiction genre and incorporates some real life people and events (i.e. Dominick Dunne, Michelle McNamara, the Dirty Wars in Argentina). The COVID shutdown setting adds an eerie, desolate feeling and is critical to the plot. Some of the characters went a little over the top at the end, but overall a unique crime story in a genre filled with sameness.

Something with a Bit More Substance

Yet another category where I’m choosing two #1 picks. This time, it’s because one of them is sadder than what many people consider ideal summer reading to be. So, I tacked on a more light-hearted choice as well.

Plot Summary: Set in 1980’s Chicago, a young boy’s (William) older sister died while his mom was in the hospital giving birth to him. William’s sister’s death completely changed the fabric of his family, leaving him feeling neglected and unloved until he finds basketball and a girlfriend whose family (including 3 sisters) he finds solace in.

My Thoughts: This family drama is my Best Book of 2023 So Far and is a great pick for fans of Ask Again, Yes and The Heart’s Invisible Furies . This story completely stole my heart. It’s warm, emotional and full of love, while also being incredibly sad and dealing with serious issues. It’s about trauma, healing, mental health, the important things in life, and the psychology of surviving children. And, I obviously loved the focus on sports as a way to save yourself and the deep dive into sports injuries in particular. Depending on your taste in Summer Reading, this one has the potential to be sadder than Summer Reading usually is. If this is not what you’re looking for, I recommend my second #1 pick…

Plot Summary: An Indian couple (living in Texas) who divorce 36 years into an arranged marriage both venture into the dating world to sometimes funny and sometimes disastrous results while their 2 grown children, a son and daughter, are also going through struggles in their own lives.

My Thoughts: This debut family drama is told in a warm, funny voice that brought me back to many of the books I loved in 2022. This is a story about second acts and pushing out of your comfort zone even when it’s scary. Amid this big change in the family, everyone acts out of character (including the grown children) – and the family has to come to terms with its “new normal.” I loved the commentary about marriage, relationships with adult children, and parenting adult children. It felt like a more light-hearted, less jaded, and less sarcastic version of Fleishman is in Trouble . The mix of humor, sentimentality, nostalgia, and warm-heartedness made this a standout debut for me.

Plot Summary: I recommend avoiding the publisher’s blurb as it reveals the big reason this particular relationship is messed up, which I loved discovering on my own (but, check the blurb if you’re sensitive to triggers). This story features Leah, a grad student in an MFA Program in Madison, WI and Charlie, a guy she meets in the checkout line at the grocery store. That’s all you need to know.

My Thoughts: I love an intense, messed up love story that’s absolutely not a “romance” novel and this one was 5 stars! This is a character-driven story that’s so emotionally intense that it reads like a page turner (I read it in 1.5 days and could NOT put it down). Halperin’s writing made me root so hard for Leah and Charlie, but I was also terrified for them. I loved the dynamics of the MFA experience that made up the background for Leah’s and Charlie’s relationship. It’s a sad, emotional book, but one that will pull you in and not let go.

Plot Summary: Merit, a mother of 2 and not unhappily married to her husband of over a decade, starts to feel stuck in her life and returns to her career as an architect. Her new boss, Jane, is over a decade older than Merit…she’s sophisticated and at home in her own skin. She sees Merit as a woman beyond a wife and mother…making Merit come alive in her own life. Merit has to figure out what Jane is to her and what she wants for her life.

My Thoughts: This love story (but, NOT a romance) was such a pleasant surprise for me. This is a story of intense connection between two complex women (they reminded me of Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach), rather than torrid romance (though there is a bit of that). It’s also about a woman who carries the load for most people around her finally meeting someone who appreciates what she needs, what she wants, and what she’s going through. There’s a lot of gray area here because her husband is just sort of oblivious, but he’s mostly a good Dad and treats her mostly well. McBrayer’s journey writing this book is fascinating, so check out this Vogue article AFTER you’ve finished the book.

Plot Summary: Maddie’s (aka “Maame”), a 25 year old Ghanian living in London, Dad has Parkinson’s disease and Maddie is his primary caretaker while her Mom spends long periods of time back in Ghana. When her Mom returns from her most recent stint in Ghana, Maddie starts to think about living a more independent life.

My Thoughts: I’ve been loving the “voice-y” novels by London-based authors lately (also Someday, Maybe and People Person ) and this debut is exactly that. This is a coming of age story, but for your mid-20’s, a time when people are figuring out who they are and what they want to do with their lives. The story is character-driven and talks a lot about grief, responsibility to your family, and dating in your 20’s. It’s a bit of a mash-up between Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong, Ghosts by Dolly Alderton, and Someday, Maybe by Onyi Nwabineli.

Plot Summary: Set in at an elite New Hampshire boarding school in the 1990’s, a Jewish student (Isabel Rosen) begins an affair with a married professor while she’s in the depths of recovering from a nonconsensual sexual encounter with one of the only other Jewish students at the school.

My Thoughts: The book world is full of campus novels, particularly ones involving #metoo themes (i.e. My Dark Vanessa ), but this debut felt unique and I read it in 2 days. The title is apt because there was a big feeling of loss of innocence, coming to understand that adults don’t know it all or always do the right thing, and how an experience can shape your worldview later in life. My Last Innocent Year stood out from My Dark Vanessa and others for me because there’s a lot of gray area here about consent, but Isabel is also internally conflicted about her own role. There is also a backdrop of Jewish culture and Isabel being an outsider at this college full of wealthy students. Finally, the Clinton / Lewinsky scandal is going on in the background and it’s sprinkled throughout the book. This will be one of my most underrated gems of 2023!

Plot Summary: In an upscale Westchester area town outside of New York City, Angela, an Indian-American high school student and the daughter of an immigrant single father, comes across a fellow student, a popular boy from a wealthy family (and her best friend’s brother), stabbed in the stomach. Suspicion immediately falls on a black girl who is relatively new to their school.

My Thoughts: This debut novel will likely be one of my top underrated gems of 2023. Don’t miss the Author’s Note at the end of the book, where Jain talks about how this story was inspired by some real cases she heard from an Uber driver. This book isn’t about the stabbing itself, it’s about the ripple effects of this crime on the surrounding community, particularly relating to race, class, and privilege. Angela and her father bring an immigrant’s perspective of Black / white race issues in America and about being neither Black nor white. I love how Jain addressed important issues in a propulsive package.

Plot Summary:  People Person  is the story of a father and his 5 children who were conceived with 4 different mothers in a series of one night stands. After having been estranged for years, they finally meet at a park only to become estranged yet again. Years later, when 2 of his daughters are 30, the 5 siblings are brought together again through an unfortunate event.

My Thoughts:  This successful sophomore novel is hard to talk about because so much of what I loved about it was in the surprise of the plot…none of which is mentioned in the publisher’s synopsis. The writing made this book for me. Carty-Williams writes about serious issues in a lighthearted way that’s full of dry humor. The crux of this story is five half siblings who do not know each other, but are thrust into a situation that immediately bonds them. For better or for worse. The story explores questions of obligation to family, especially family you were not previously close to.

Plot Summary: Bern Hendricks, one of the most prominent experts on the music of Frederic Delaney, one of the most celebrated American musicians in history (who is white), is called to New York City to help authenticate a piece of Delaney’s music that’s just been discovered. When he gets there, his research leads him to discover that Delaney’s music may have been stolen from a Black woman named Josephine Reed. This sets up a battle between Bern and his partner (Eboni) and a powerful organization.

My Thoughts: Brendan Slocumb is a Black classically trained violinist and, like his debut The Violin Conspiracy , Symphony of Secrets is a suspenseful novel set in the classical music world (note: you don’t need to be into classical music to love his books). For those that read The Violin Conspiracy , you should know this book is less of a page turner and it’s a bit heavier on the music detail…especially in the first half. It took me a bit to get into it…but, I tore through the second half. I loved the 2 women at the center of this book. Josephine, who is neurodivergent, and Eboni (Bern’s partner – heavily on the tech side) are both fighters in their own ways. I also loved learning the history of this disappointing phenomenon that went on in the music world back in the 1920’s. 

Plot Summary: Grace Turner was a successful movie star who was on the cusp of catapulting her career to the next level when she disappeared from public view for a year. When the story starts, she’s returned to LA to try to reclaim her career and is forced to face her experience with the man who made her career…and she his.

My Thoughts: This story was much darker and character-driven than I expected. Maybe the Hollywood setting led me to think it would be lighter? Berman is thoughtful in her exploration of issues like the dark side of fame, what it’s like to be a child star, a sisters relationship, and the MeToo movement and the feelings that go along with them.

Plot Summary: Former piano prodigy, Saskia, returns home to Milwaukee after her mother dies, leaving the family estate (“Elf House” – based on 2 elf statues at the front door) to a complicated man from her past. Saskia has to decide if pursuing what she sees as her rightful inheritance is worth buried secrets being revealed.

My Thoughts: I loved Kapelke-Dale’s debut novel, The Ballerinas , and she’s done it again with The Ingenue ! The Ingenue was such a pleasant surprise for me: the story went in unexpected directions and was much more layered than I anticipated. There’s a coming of age element, the family drama, and the fact that Saskia is a piano prodigy…and what that does to a young girl’s psyche. Though it’s not a particularly plot-driven book, there is still suspense and Kapelke-Dale generates so much tension through her writing style. This was one of my top underrated gems of 2022!

Plot Summary: Set in Cork, Ireland during the 2010 recession, this story is about the platonic, but somewhat obsessive friendship between Rachel, a University student who works at a bookshop, and her co-worker, James. Rachel develops a crush on her married professor, Dr. Byrne, and very complicated relationships evolve from all of this.

My Thoughts: This novel that’s been compared to Sally Rooney (which I kind of see, but Rooney is much darker) is a singular book that I don’t have a great read-alike for (I actually love when this happens!)…and, it will be one of my favorite books of 2023 (5 stars)! Rachel and James are magnetic together and I could’ve been a fly on the wall of their relationship forever. This book is incredibly voice-y in a low-key quirky, smart, and funny way. There are some character twists that I did not see coming, but once they happened, I thought, “of course, that’s perfect.” The story also deals with quarter life and figuring out your direction amid a recession…plus, a bookstore / publishing backdrop as a cherry on top. One of the rare 2023 books that has felt fresh to me!

Plot Summary: The Woman with the Cure is a novel inspired by Dr. Dorothy Horstmann, the woman who was one of the key scientists responsible for developing a cure for Polio. The race to develop the polio vaccine as portrayed by the media was a 2 horse race between Dr. Albert Sabin and Dr. Jonas Salk. Dr. Horstmann was rarely mentioned.

My Thoughts: A traditional Historical Fiction book I actually really liked…and, bonus that it’s WWII adjacent! This story joins the fast-growing Micro Genre of Historical Fiction novels about women whose vast accomplishments were overlooked at the time they lived, which I love. Academic rivalries and backstabbing add suspense and drama to this story. And, of course, Cullen delves into the struggles of being a woman in Science in the 1940’s and 50’s and a woman’s experience trying to “have it all” (bonus: she reminded me of Elizabeth Zott from Lessons in Chemistry minus the unintentional humor). 

Plot Summary:  Sam and Sadie met as young kids and bonded over video games. Years later, they run into each other in a subway station in Boston, and from that meeting, a legendary collaboration is born.

My Thoughts:  Despite the hype, I was averse to trying this book because it’s about video games, which are the #1 source of arguments in my house. But, I’m eating my words because most of the video game focus is on making the games rather than just playing them. That made it feel a bit more like a story about creating art and running a business than playing video games. Another way Zevin gets around the gaming is that this story is all about the creative process…they could’ve been writing a book together. She captured the group dynamics of working with your friends…the immense love and collaboration that feels like a symphony, but you also get simmering resentment, and jealousy. Like many of my favorite books of 2022, this one felt fresh, creative, and unique.

Plot Summary: I was told to go into this book completely blind and that I highly recommend that! I loved being surprised by the totally unexpected direction this story took, so here’s what I’ll tell you about the plot: this one of the most unique family dramas I’ve ever read. That’s all.

My Thoughts:  This story is about the power and slipperiness of memory, regret, and love of family. I just loved these characters. The voice is chuckle funny and very dry. The first half is a kind of random collection of memories without a huge narrative through-line and it feels meandering. The plot really takes off in the second half. Fowler pulls in some real-life elements that I had fun Googling and I found a documentary about the real life element depicted in this story that was excellent. This is an emotional, heartfelt story that would be great for book clubs.

Something Different

Plot Summary: Lauren Fleshman is a retired elite runner who was sponsored by Nike before moving onto the female-led company, Oiselle. She was the founder of Picky Bars and is now a coach and activist for women’s sports.

My Thoughts: Good for a Girl is SUCH an important and fascinating book that felt ground-breaking to me for women’s sports, though I do think it’s for a niche audience (anyone interested in women’s sports, women’s rights or reimagining various industries). Like Lauren herself, this book is an intersection of sports, business, and advocacy. And, it’s a disruptor for women’s sports. She explores how elite sports are built around men and women are just expected to fit into that structure. She covers the puberty plateau, unhealthy eating habits, unfair sponsorship practices, being an elite athlete as a mother, and how she became a feminist entrepreneur alongside her running career. HIGHLY recommend for anyone with daughters in sports.

Plot Summary:  A young girl in her 20’s overdosed in a fancy LA hotel room…and Dr. Carmen Puliafito, Dean of the USC Medical School, was at the scene. LA Times reporter Paul Pringle received this tip, started digging, and found much more than he’d anticipated…including a cozy relationship between his employer and USC.

My Thoughts:  This mind-blowing story is investigative journalism at its page turning best!  Bad City  is a mash-up of multiple other nonfiction books I’ve loved:  We Keep the Dead Close  by Becky Cooper (the culture of silence and cover-ups at a prestigious academic institution),  Catch & Kill  by Ronan Farrow (behind the scenes of breaking a major news story amid intentional sabotage from your own news organization), and I think it’s the kind of story Dominick Dunne would’ve loved.

Plot Summary:  Author Jamie Fiore Higgins is a former Managing Director for Goldman Sachs and was the highest ranking woman in her department. In Bully Market , she shares her experience in the toxic work environment at Goldman.

My Thoughts:  I was completely engrossed in  Bully Market  on audio! Higgins covers sexual harassment, office politics manipulation, intolerance of family and motherhood, and work / life balance…and this book is sad and maddening. It reminded me of a mash-up of  Smacked  by Eilene Zimmerman,  From the Corner of the Oval  by Beck Dorey-Stein, and  The Boys Club  by Erica Katz. Warning: there is a massive trigger in this book, so please do your research or DM me if you want specifics.

Plot Summary: A young Argentinian girl named Camila (aka “Furia” on the soccer field) fosters her love for soccer by secretly playing on a women’s team in her hometown of Rosario. Her older brother is a soccer phenom, but her parents don’t believe a girl should be playing the sport. When Furia’s team decides to try to qualify for the South American tournament, Furia has to decide what she’s willing to risk to play.

My Thoughts: A badass female athlete YA novel that didn’t annoy me with its YA-ness! Furia is a girl power book about following your dreams. I love the message it sends to young girls and it’s a book I absolutely want my daughter to read when she’s old enough. She uses local language peppered throughout, which really anchored me in the Argentinian setting. It reminded me a bit of Firekeeper’s Daughter without the mystery portion. 

Plot Summary: Passarella is originally from Memphis, TN, but has settled with her family in Manhattan. She’s a columnist at Southern Living Magazine and is the author of her essay collection, Good Apple , which I loved 2 years ago.

My Thoughts: Passarella is sort of like Mary Laura Philpott (author of I Miss You When I Blink and Bomb Shelter ), but with the added layer of a move to New York. I very much identify with the Southern / New York City combination of identities. She covers a family health scare, her start working in magazines and her dream to be a food writer, staying in NYC during the pandemic with 3 children, and a quintessentially New York and multi-chapter story about trying to buy a different apartment in her building. I’ve never been more invested in the outcome of a real estate deal! Passarella is relatable, funny, and someone I’d love to have a glass of wine with! Highly recommend on audio, which includes a bonus interview with a character from the book!

Plot Summary:  This story centers around Two young teenagers, an artist and a writer, who meet in Coalfield, TN. They become romantically and artistically entangled and anonymously create a mysterious poster that takes on a life of its own. Twenty years later, a journalist starts nosing around, which threatens to bring up the past. Wilson noted this book is based on a college friendship of his and is “almost a memoir.”

My Thoughts:  Kevin Wilson is fast becoming a favorite author for me. I loved his last book, Nothing to See Here, and this one was 5 stars for me! It’s full of 1990’s nostalgia, teenage boredom and the intensity of teenage relationships, quirkiness, chuckle funny humor, and most importantly, it’s grounded in heart. It’s weird, but not too weird. Just weird enough. The voice shines here and I flew through it in two days.

Plot Summary: Unnecessary…

My Thoughts: Prince Harry’s memoir is juicy, scandalous, raw, high quality…and, I was riveted! If you’re just in it for the juiciest tidbits, you can get those from media headlines. Read this for a revealing picture of a traumatized young man and views into what makes him tick. His ghostwriter, J.R. Moehringer, is the gold standard (he also ghostwrote  Open by Andre Agassi and Shoe Dog by Phil Knight) and Harry’s audio narration is not to be missed!

Plot Summary:  The 1980’s murders of Tanya Van Cuylenborg and Jay Cook in the Seattle area were solved right after the GSK case in the same way. Detective Jim Sharf teamed up with genetic genealogist CeCe Moore to solve the 30 year old cold case and Humes shares the broader story of how genetic genealogy (using a crime scene’s DNA sample to trace a family tree backwards using online commercial DNA databases) came to be used to solve crimes.

My Thoughts:  Genetic genealogy is the new hot topic in solving crimes (especially cold cases). If you were interested in how it was used to solve the Golden State Killer case, this book is for you! This feels different than your average true crime book…there’s more to it. The first part reads like true crime, the second part focuses on the science behind genetic genealogy, and the third part reads like a courtroom drama. Also fascinating were the ethical issues with using genetic genealogy to solve crimes.

Plot Summary: I love Laura Tremaine’s podcast 10 Things to Tell You and her debut book Share Your Stuff, I’ll Go First . She’s back with her sophomore book, which explores adult female friendships alongside memoir-style stories from her own life. She shares 10 specific types of friends and the role they play in a woman’s life. She also covers her friendship philosophy and friendship challenges and break-ups.

My Thoughts: I love the entire concept of a “Life Council” (i.e. a Board of Directors for your life) and the pressure this concept releases of every friend having to serve every role in a woman’s life. Of course, the minute Laura starts getting into the 10 Life Council roles…I started slotting my own friends into spots and noticing areas that were glaringly vacant. Her discussion of friendship breakups in particular was refreshing as I feel like friendship breakups don’t get talked about enough and are often just as emotionally difficult and/or complicated as a romantic relationship breakup. I highly recommend this one on audio and it would be a perfect girls beach trip discussion book.

Plot Summary: This true crime / memoir follows Miles’ investigation into the murders of a female gay couple in the Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia (which is apparently well known in the world of true crime enthusiasts) and explores the general hiking environment for women and LGBTQ women in particular.

My Thoughts: I love it when a true crime story speaks to broader issues beyond the crimes themselves and that’s what most appealed to me about Trailed . The background color made this book for me…about representation in the outdoor / hiking world, the difficulty of processing crime scenes in the wilderness, how cold cases work, and the connection to a broader trend of violence against women in the outdoors. Great pick for fans of Last Call by Elon Green, Unmasked by Paul Holes, or Breathless by Amy McCulloch.

Plot Summary: Michael Finkel was a journalist at the New York Times until he was fired for fabricating an article in 2002. Right after he was fired, he gets a call from a reporter in Oregon saying that Christian Longo, a man accused of killing his wife and 3 children has fled to Mexico and is impersonating Finkel.

My Thoughts: I love memoirs that tell batshit crazy stories and this is absolutely a batshit crazy story. There are similarities to In Cold Blood in that the author gets really close to the murderer. Finkel more or less becomes friends with Longo and feels himself start to like him, but then he’s wrestling with trust and understanding what he most likely did. Finkel also struggles with the fact that he has more benign versions of some of the same traits that Longo has. He’s very forthright about what he’s done and it feels like he’s going through this growth process of taking accountability for his actions throughout this process.

Happy Summer Reading!

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2024 Summer Reading Guide

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This is fantastic! The email signup didn’t work for me – tried 3 times. Is there another way to access the printable? Thank you!

My librarians are pulling their hair out at my growing stack of reserves.Thank you.

This is a fabulous list! I’ve added lots to my TBR list! Thank you for sharing! I also tried about 3 times to get the printable and did not receive it. Please let us know if there is another way to receive it!

If you’re looking for a book recommendation, I’d suggest checking out my book ‘Sound Is Not Enough: The Art of Captioning for Universal Access’. This book is a must-read for business executives, media producers, event organizers, employers, and educators who want to create inclusive experiences for the 466 million deaf people worldwide. As a deaf female B2B accessibility consultant, I provide a unique perspective on the importance of optimal captioning and communication access. ‘Sound Is Not Enough’ offers valuable insights and practical strategies for making content accessible to everyone. You can learn more about it here: https://audio-accessibility.com/book/

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The 2021 Minimalist Summer Reading Guide

• BY Anne Bogel
• IN Books & Reading
• 27 Comments | Comment

Readers, two weeks ago I shared the 2021 Summer Reading Guide with subscribers, kicking off my favorite reading time of the year.

This year’s guide includes 31 titles—or 46 for the Expanded Edition —as well as audiobook recommendations and backlist titles for your TBR. Every year since 2014, I’ve narrowed the choices down to five  total for my fellow minimalists and  decision haters .

It’s never easy to choose just five titles to spotlight, but this year the decision proved impossible. That means for the first time ever, our minimalist guide features six titles. I’m not sad about it.

For each minimalist edition, I strive to select titles that keep you turning the pages but also have  substance. While easy to read, these titles are wonderfully thought-provoking and discussable.

These minimalist titles are featured in the guide (and don’t miss our fun feature called The Minimalist Summer Reading Guide Time Machine where we take a look at past picks!), and we also traditionally share them here on the blog, both so those who’ve read the Guide can take another look, and those who haven’t yet can get a taste of its contents with these featured picks.

Speaking of discussable: it’s no coincidence that three of these titles are Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club selections. We’re reading People We Meet on Vacation in June, Sparks Like Stars in July, and The Whispering House in August. I’m thrilled that each author will be joining us to chat—and we would love for you to join the conversation.

I hope you enjoy this short and sweet summer list, and I’d love to hear more about your own summer selections in the comments.

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The 2021 6-book Summer Reading Guide

The Whispering House

Sparks Like Stars

Crying in H Mart: A Memoir

People We Meet on Vacation

The Other Black Girl

Malibu Rising

What’s on your summer reading list? Have you read any of these titles yet, or do you plan to? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section.

P.S. I’ll be talking about these titles in more detail in our upcoming summer season of One Great Book . Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Click here for this season’s trailer , and subscribe now to get the first episode when it drops on June 14!

27 comments

My favorite summer reads so far have been Lost Manuscript (audiobook – SWOON!), The Last Garden in England (such a wonderful lead cast of interesting female characters), and People We Meet on Vacation!

I’ve already read Sparks Like Stars and People We Meet on Vacation and loved them both! My copy of Malibu Rising arrives tomorrow!

Yesterday I finished two nonfictions, an audiobook of Sapiens and a hardcover of Russians Among Us. Next up, to finish the Andrew Gross WWII novel set in Norway The Saboteur.

I finished my first SRG pick last night – “Olympus Texas.” It was great! Now I am starting “The Last Exiles.” I love the minimalist guide as I always make sure I get to these books. I’ve requested 20 from the library so have my work cut out for me this year! But I looked back and I read 20 from last year’s guide so it’s totally doable!

What a great list. Now, the question. What will I read next?

Thank you so much for this list. I’m already planning to read Malibu Rising, and the other picks look great too!

Such a great list! This is my first year as a listener, so was really excited about the SRG unboxing— I’ve already read three of these since the SRG came out (Malibu Rising, The Other Black Girl, and The People We Meet on Vacation) and loved them all. Will be checking out the other three for sure—plus several more titles from the Guide. So happy to have found this podcast and bookish community!

People We Meet on Vacation is absolutely fantastic–it says so much about long-term friendship and connection. I had such a book hangover after finishing it! The audiobook narrator is incredible. I’ve read a few books since and still can’t stop thinking about it.

Agree! Julia Whelan has once again outdone herself with this audiobook. I greatly enjoyed Beach Read last year but like PWMOV even more!

I’m in a Jane Austen rut this year (which is hardly the right word!!)—let’s say I’m wallowing in Austen this year, having already read 8 fiction and non, Austen related, books. Reading Faults of Understanding by Jennifer Altman right now.

Have you read The Heiress? Fellow Jane Austen lover here and while she certainly would not have written this storyline (saying why would be a spoiler), I appreciated a story about the frail and dull Anne de Bourgh and the challenges of being a female at that time in history.

I’m diving into Beatriz Williams’s blacklist this summer. And I have Malibu Rising, The people we meet on vacation, and Sparks Like Stars on my nightstand.

We are headed to the beach this weekend for family vacation! I have Ordinary Grace and People We Meet on Vacation ready to listen to for the drive. I am bringing Iron Lake (also, by Krueger) and My Brilliant Friend to read there. We are planning to visit the bookstore there, too! I think I’ll get Sparks Like Stars if they have it. All of these sound so good. Thanks.

Loved Ordinary Grace. Might be time for a reread!

Am I the only one who wasn’t wowed by Malibu Rising? Was it all the hype? Call me disappointed…

Me! I just finished it last night and I was disappointed – I thought Daisy Jones was much better. I’m glad I finished it but it wasn’t my favorite.

I adored it. Multigenerational family sagas are my favorite thing!

I’ve read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six also. I thing Daisy was my favorite of Reid’s so far.

They are not brilliantly written, but something about them makes them easily readable and they sort of flow.

A kind of lighter read, but enjoyable.

Daisy Jones & the Six had an Almost Famous vibe to it.

Reid likes to do different decades.

Can’t wait to read Malibu Rising and The Whispering House. They look amazing.

I loved People We Meet On Vacation. It was a nice read after The Push. I’m starting Malibu Rising tonight, followed by Golden Girl. When I finish typing this, I’m ordering The Whispering House. Oh, and I just picked up Good Neighbors and The Invisible Life of Addie Larue at the library today. I was on the wait list for them. 🙂

I want to read every book on this list except Malibu Rising. Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books just aren’t my thing, and my TBR pile is too big to spend time on books I’m “meh” about. The Whispering House, though? The Other Black Girl? Sparks Like Stars? Yes, please!

Just started listening to the podcast and receiving the reading guides after listening to you on Holly Furnick’s YouTube channel! I have gotten The Other Black Girl and can’t wait to read it l!

All of the books you mentioned sounds wonderful. During the summer, I like to read lighter books. I think I would pick The People You Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry.

On my list are a lot of cozy mysteries from several series that I have been following for a while. A SCONE OF CONTENTION (Key West series) by Lucy Burdette, THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK (Bibliophile series) by Kate Carlisle, CAJUN KISS OF DEATH (Cajun Country series) by Ellen Byron, MOCHA, SHE WROTE (Bakeshop series) by Ellie Alexander and several new cozy mysteries like the new Enchanted Bay novel by Esme Addison.

The Stand Alone books that I want to try are the Rooftop Party by Ellen Meister, which is a rom-com, and another Rom-Com by Jenn McKinlay.

I’m fairly certain I’m the only person who hated Beach Read and when my book club saw the new Emily Henry, everyone said “we all know what you WON’T be reading” LOL

True, but I am very excited for Malibu Rising and I’m 31 minutes from the end of Good Company, which I have LOVED.

I hated Beach Read too, but I’m enjoying the new one.

I LOVED “People We Meet on Vacation.” The travels, the dynamic between Alex & Poppy, and the mystery of why they hadn’t spoken in two years were all things I enjoyed, but I just realized after reading your description that my connection with the book was in part due to the pandemic and my personal lack of travel. This book would have been enjoyable to me at any time, but I enjoyed it all the more after enduring the last 15 months.

I loved Early Morning Riser so much!

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summer reading starts May 16th

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Great summer reads: hot takes for hot days from the University Book Store

Posted on June 26, 2024 by Ed Kromer . This entry was posted in Engaging Interests . Bookmark the permalink .

Summer reading is a vibe. An escape. A passage to points unknown but utterly captivating.

It delivers liberation from indoor confines and the limitations of genre. Feel like reading in a park, by a pool, at a beach, atop a mountain? Do it wherever. In the mood for a riveting thriller or steamy romance? As you wish. What about a puzzling mystery or droll comedy? Go for it. Or maybe an enlightening biography or mind-bending sci-fi? Sky’s the limit.

The only real challenge, in this anything-goes season, is where to start? To help, we asked our well-read partners at the University Book Store to share recommendations for transporting titles you may not yet have discovered. Brad Craft , the beloved author, illustrator and veteran bookseller, offers this genre-expansive list of ten great summer reads.

Mona of the Manor

by Armistead Maupin

It’s a new Tales of the City novel! If that doesn’t make your heart leap with joy and anticipation, it probably means you’ve yet to be acquainted with this ongoing and delightful series, set in San Francisco, that has become an American institution. Don’t worry, though, the latest can be read with pleasure by anyone new to the series as well. Introducing the new “Lady” Mona, formerly of 28 Barbary Lane. You’ll love her.

Harper Collins, ISBN: 9780062973597

What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

by Claire Jimenez

When 13-year-old Ruthy Ramirez disappears without a trace, her Staten Island family is left scarred and scrambling. When they think they spot the long-missing Ruthy 12 years later in a reality TV show contestant name Ruby, the Ramirez women go on a mission to bring their sister home. Road trip! Great Puerto Rican family, heartfelt and fun novel.

Hachette, ISBN: 9781538725979

The Other Half

by Charlotte Vassell

You know how they live, this is how they die. It’s a great tag-line. Is there anything more inherently satisfying than filthy rich and usually awful people — the over-entitled young socialites of London’s upper crust — being murdered? Whip-smart detective Caius Beauchamp is on the case. Bitingly funny, full of shocking twists, this debut novel is exactly what you want this mystery to be.

Anchor Books, ISBN: 9780593685945

Ms. Demeanor

by Elinor Lipman

Elinor Lipman is an invariable delight: witty, bright, urbane and always genuine fun. Meet Jane Morgan, scandalized New York attorney who is forced to wear and ankle monitor and confined for six months to her rather fabulous apartment building in New York City. But she soon learns that she is not alone and meets another tenant who wears an ankle monitor. Criminality and comedy abound.

Harper Perennial, ISBN: 9780358677888

Long Island

by Colm Toibin

Irish novelist Toibin introduced the endearing Irish immigrant Eilis Lacey in his bestselling Brooklyn (made into a very good movie starring Saoirse Ronan!). Eilis is back and now a respectable Long Island matron when a strange woman comes to her door with a baby she claims to be the child of Eilis’s husband Tony. Another beauty from the great novelist.

Scribner, ISBN: 9781476785110

You Only Call When You’re in Trouble

by Stephan McCauley

Every family has that one reliable soul who sees to the rest of us. Tom is used to looking after his sister and his niece and generally fixing the messes they make. But now, it seems, he’s getting pretty tired of it. McCauley is a master of the comic novel and he’s never been in better form.

Henry Holt and Co., ISBN: 9781250296795

George: A Magpie Memoir

by Frieda Hughes

You want an animal story? Meet the irascible and beloved bird who decides unilaterally to befriend Frieda, a London exile new to the Welsh countryside. George is a rescued wonder of a bird. You’ll love him, too.

Simon and Schuster, ISBN: 9781668016510

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: An Extraordinary New Journey Through History’s Greatest Treasures

by Bettany Hughes

Exactly the kind of familiar but surprising episodic history that is perfect for picking up and putting down in a hammock. You will both know and not know these stories. A transporting romp through the the most amazing corners of the ancient world.

Vintage Books, ISBN: 9780593686157

Under Alien Skies: A Sightseer’s Guide to the Universe

by Philip Plait

Sometimes, on a clear night, you want to just walk out into the stars. Here’s the perfect book to take with you. Written in engaging and accessible prose that explains without condescension and fires the imagination.

Norton, ISBN: 9781324074717

Hijab Butch Blues: A Memoir

In this inspiring memoir, a queer hijabi Muslim immigrant comes of age and discovers a way to teach us all. The winner of the American Library Association’s Stonewall Book Award will expand your understanding not only of the author’s life—but also of life itself.

The Dial press, ISBN: 9780593448786

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Relaxing and Rejuvenating Summer Reads

June 25, 2024 | victorialynn | Gift Guides , HEP News

Looking to do some quality summer reading? HEP has you covered! We’ve compiled a list of books that are perfect to read as you relax and decompress during your summer break. Also, from 7/1 through 7/31, we’re offering 20% off all our titles when you use code SUMMER24 at checkout!

Educating for Purposeful Life

A New Conception of Schooling for the 21st Century

By S. David Brazer and Michael B. Matsuda

Educating for Purposeful Life is a visionary blueprint for educational reform that envisions school systems as opportunity engines, preparing young citizens for future workplace success, civic engagement, and fulfilling lives.

Dancing in the Rain

Leading with Compassion, Vitality, and Mindfulness in Education

By Jerome T. Murphy

Dancing in the Rain offers a lively and accessible guide aimed at helping education leaders thrive under pressure by developing the inner strengths of mindfulness and self-compassion, expressing emotions wisely, and maintaining a clear focus on the values that matter most.

Teaching from an Ethical Center

Practical Wisdom for Daily Instruction

By Cara E. Furman

In Teaching from an Ethical Center , Cara E. Furman proposes a process for bringing philosophical inquiry into teacher education and adopting it as a centering tool to enrich teaching practice and help teachers act justly.

Deep in Thought

A Practical Guide to Teaching for Intellectual Virtues

By Jason Baehr

Deep in Thought provides an introduction to intellectual virtues—the personal qualities and character strengths of good thinkers and learners—and outlines a pragmatic approach for teachers to reinforce them in the classroom.

The Open System

Redesigning Education and Reigniting Democracy

By Landon Mascareñaz and Donnie Tran

The Open System is a call to action for school and community leaders to reframe educational institutions as open systems that are adaptable and responsive to the needs of students, families, and communities.

America’s Hidden Economic Engines

How Community Colleges Can Drive Shared Prosperity

Edited by Robert B. Schwartz and Rachel Lipton

America’s Hidden Economic Engines presents five in-depth case studies reveal the innovative practices that position U.S. community colleges as pathways to quality employment.

“Whatever It Is, I’m Against It”

Resistance to Change in Higher Education

By Brian Rosenberg

PROSE Award Finalist

In “Whatever It Is, I’m Against It,” president emeritus of Macalester College Brian Rosenberg draws on decades of higher education experience to expose the entrenched structures, practices, and cultures that inhibit meaningful postsecondary reform.

Teach for Climate Justice

A Vision for Transformation Education

By Tom Roderick

In Teach for Climate Justice , accomplished educator and social and emotional learning expert Tom Roderick proposes a visionary interdisciplinary and intersectional approach to PreK–12 climate education.

The Great School Rethink

By Frederick M. Hess

In The Great School Rethink , education policy sentinel Frederick M. Hess offers a pithy and perceptive appraisal of American schooling and finds, in the uncertain period following pandemic disruption, an ideal moment to reimagine US education.

Hope and Healing

Black Colleges and the Future of American Democracy

By John Silvanus Wilson, Jr.

With significant lessons from the history and evolution of HBCUs, Hope and Healing serves a guide to the strategic conversations all higher education institutions must have to prepare students for a complex world.

Jim Crow’s Pink Slip

The Untold Story of Black Principal and Teacher Leadership

By Leslie T. Fenwick

Winner of the 2023 AACTE Gloria J. Ladson-Billings Outstanding Book Award​

Jim Crow’s Pink Slip exposes the decades-long repercussions of a too-little-known result of resistance to the Brown v. Board of Education decision: the systematic dismissal of Black educators from public schools.

Students First

Equity, Access, and Opportunity in Higher Education

By Paul LeBlanc

2022 Phillip E. Frandson Award for Literature, University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA)

In Students First , Paul LeBlanc advocates for an entire higher education ecosystem in which students have the flexibility to gain, assess, and certify their knowledge on their own terms and timelines.

Confessions of a School Reformer

By Larry Cuban

In Confessions of a School Reformer , eminent historian of education Larry Cuban reflects on nearly a century of education reforms and his experiences with them as a student, educator, and administrator.

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