There’s a lot to look forward to this summer, including a new crop of books that will take you a long way, regardless of your vacation plans. The best books coming in the coming months take place in coastal Maine, an isolated part of Alaska, East Africa, and even a post-apocalyptic world, among other fascinating destinations.
Some of the season’s biggest hits are from beloved authors like Tom Perrotta, Taylor Jenkins Reid, David Yoon and Mohsin Hamid. Others are satisfying introductions to first-time writers like Joseph Han and Rebecca Rukeyser.
You are reading: New books to read
here, the 27 best books to read this summer.
orange city, david yoon (May 24)
David Yoon’s haunting new novel begins with a man lying on his back in a desert, not knowing what happened to him or where he is. the world has ended. the apocalypse has happened. as the pieces of his memory slowly come back, it becomes clear that he had a wife and a daughter who are now lost forever. As the man discovers how to survive in this barren new land, he moves from isolation to fear and finally to acceptance. city of orange is yoon’s second book for adults, after version zero; He has also written the young adult novels Frankly in Love and Super Fake Love Song.
buy now: orange cityin bookstore | Amazon
or/or, elif batuman (May 24)
in elif batuman’s second novel, a racy sequel to her 2017 pulitzer prize-nominated debut novel the idiot, protagonist selin karadag, a harvard student with relentless curiosity, ponders the courage of love and lust as he mines his life for his burgeoning semi-autobiographical creative writing. Drawing its title from Kierkegaard’s seminal work, with which Selin is obsessed, the narrative is a hypercerebral romp that’s as clever as it is charming.
buy now: either/or in bookstore | Amazon
you have made a fool of death with your beauty, akwaeke emezi (May 24)
akwaeke emezi delivers a fresh summer romance with her latest novel, cheated death with her beauty. After the devastating loss of her partner, artist Feyi Adekola has all but rebuilt her life, tentatively returning to the dating scene. As Ella Feyi begins dating a man who checks all the boxes, an unexpected spark with someone who is off limits to her makes her reconsider everything she thought she knew about love.
shop now: you have made a fool of death with your beauty in bookstore | Amazon
carefree, david sedaris (May 31)
david sedaris’s trademark wit has always thrived on the macabre, so perhaps it should come as no surprise that his latest collection of essays, carefree, written in the wake of pandemic panic and unrest social and political novel of 2020, is one of his darkest and most cunning writings yet. From the death of his 98-year-old father to masking the drama of the mandate, no topic is off limits to Sedaris’s biting humor and sharp observations.
buy now: carefreein bookstore | amazon
Yerba Buena, Nina Lacour (May 31)
nina lacour is well known for her ya books, including cuídame and estamos bien. In Yerba Buena, her first adult novel, she introduces two women, Sara and Emilie, who cross paths while trying to discover who they really are. both are flawed, with family trauma to resolve, and are instantly attracted to each other. their pasts, however, could interfere with her new love in this slow moving story.
buy now: yerbabuenain bookstore | Amazon
forgery, kirstin chen (June 7)
If you appreciate good hijinks, you’ll want to read Kirstin Chen’s novel about two Asian-American women who turn a counterfeit handbag scheme into a big business. The book is written as a confession, helping readers get to know the protagonists, Ava and Winnie, and how their lives deviated into crime. fake is fast and fun, with clever commentary on the cultural differences between asia and america.
buy now: counterfeit in bookstore | Amazon
cult classic, sloane crosley (June 7)
Magical realism meets romance in downtown New York in Sloane Crosley’s witty second novel, cult classic. Protagonist Lola is forced to confront her romantic past after running into a series of ex-boyfriends, all within the same five-mile radius in Manhattan’s Chinatown. But these events are hardly a coincidence, leading Lola on a mysterious and mystical chase to discover what exactly is happening to her.
shop now: cult classic in bookstore | amazon
nuclear family, joseph han (june 7)
Migration, family secrets, and memory collide in Joseph Han’s magnificent debut novel, Nuclear Family. For the Chos, a Korean-American couple living in Hawaii, life has finally settled into comfort—that is, until their son, Jacob, who is teaching English in Seoul, goes viral for attempting to cross the DMZ. to north korea. Little does his family know that Jacob has been possessed by the ghost of his late grandfather, who still has unfinished business on earth.
buy now: nuclear family in bookstore | Amazon
The Seaplane on Final Approach, Rebecca Rukeyser (June 7)
See Also: 5 Books That Help Students Manage Disappointment | Education World
Mira heads to remote Alaska to spend the summer working at a wilderness lodge. while she’s there, she becomes obsessed with her stepbrother and watches as the hostel owners’ dysfunctional marriage implodes. The seaplane on final approach is a snappy character study and meditation on sleaze.
shop now: the seaplane on final approach in bookstore | Amazon
tracy flick can’t win, tom perrotta (June 7)
Twenty-four years after publishing Elections, Tom Perrotta revisits his cult classic antihero Tracy Flick in Tracy Flick Can’t Win. picking up decades after the election ended, the ever-ambitious tracy once again navigates the choppy waters of high school politics, but this time, across the divide between students and teachers. As an assistant principal at a suburban New Jersey high school, Tracy is balancing a new relationship, single motherhood, and the demands of her own job when an unexpected career opportunity appears that promises to change life as she knows it.
buy now: tracy flick can’t win at the bookstore | amazon
horse, geraldine brooks (June 14)
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks turns her attention to the true story of a 19th-century racehorse named Lexington, one of the greatest in history. The story leaps between centuries: in 1850 Kentucky, an enslaved man is joined by a colt who promises to ride to victory. In 1954 New York City, a gallery owner becomes obsessed with a mysterious oil painting of a horse. And finally, in Washington, D.C., in 2019, an art historian and scientist make discoveries that lead them back to Lexington. horse is not just an animal story, it is a moving narrative about race and art.
buy now: horsein bookstore | Amazon
Just Flying, Linda Holmes (June 14)
When Laurie returns home to Maine to clean up her beloved great-aunt’s estate, she’s recently called off her wedding and is coming to terms with the idea that a conventional relationship might not be in the cards. When she finds a mysterious wooden duck buried in her aunt’s belongings, she embarks on a wild goose chase to discover her origins, reuniting with her first love along the way. The novel, which follows Holmes’ 2019 summer hit Evvie Drake Begins Again, is a refreshing reminder that “happily ever after” doesn’t have to be viewed one specific way.
buy now: fly alonein bookstore | Amazon
Learn to speak, Hilary Mantel (June 21)
hilary mantel is a literary legend, winning the booker award twice and gaining wide acclaim for her wolf hall trilogy, which concluded in 2020 and was adapted for television. in learn to speak, mantel dispenses a series of semi-autobiographical stories. the collection, a 2003 relaunch, features a new preface. Many of the stories focus on childhood, and Mantel brings England to life, writing with detail and intellect.
buy now: learn to speak in bookstore | Amazon
lapvone, ottessa moshfegh (June 21)
ottessa moshfegh transports readers to a medieval fiefdom in her new novel, which follows 2020’s death at her hands. the book is about little marek, who was abused by his father, the village shepherd, and never knew his mother. it ends in a power struggle that exposes the depravity of human nature and juxtaposes the difference between religion and manipulation. lapvona is violent and provocative, and a departure from moshfegh’s previous work.
buy now: lapvona in bookstore | Amazon
push, lidia yuknavitch (June 28)
the protagonist of lidia yuknavitch’s new novel is laisv, who is a “porter”, meaning that certain objects can help her travel through time to connect with interesting people from past eras. laisv’s ultimate goal is to save these people, including a dictator’s daughter and an accused murderer. As in her previous work, including Joan’s Book and Dora: A Head Case, Yuknavitch’s writing is poignant and incisive.
buy now: pushat the bookstore | Amazon
Ceremony of Life: Stories, Sayaka Murata (July 5)
sayaka murata, a Japanese writer whose previous novels include the woman from the convenience store, presents her first collection of short stories translated into English. the ceremony of life consists of 12 fascinating entrances that test intimacy and individuality while upending the norm. in one, for example, a curtain in a girl’s room turns to jealousy as she watches, and tries to stop, her owner’s first kiss. the stories are strange and bold.
buy now: life ceremony in bookstore | Amazon
crying in the bathroom, erika l. sanchez (July 12)
poet and juvenile novelist erika l. Sanchez draws on the struggles and triumphs she has experienced over the years as material for her latest book, the memoir Crying in the Bathroom. Touching on a wide range of topics from the deeply personal, like Sanchez’s bouts of depression, to the political, like immigration policy, each essay feels like a conversation with a good friend, thanks to the warm and vulnerable writing. de sanchez.
shop now: crying in the bathroom in bookstore | Amazon
The man who could move clouds, Ingrid Rojas Contreras (July 12)
Magic is not only a multigenerational fact in the family of Ingrid Rojas Contreras, it is her legacy, something that she details with amazement and care in her memoirs The Man Who Could Move the Clouds. Growing up in Colombia, Rojas Contreras witnessed her mother divine the future and her grandfather, a renowned curandero (or healer), predict the future, heal the sick, and move clouds. Rojas Contreras was unsure of her place in this world until a head injury caused amnesia, an experience her family believes may be the key to accessing her own magic.
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shop now: the man who could move the clouds in bookstore | Amazon
improve, blake crouch (July 12)
Blake Crouch’s witty new novel, equal parts thriller and sci-fi, examines how far our humanity can go. It’s about Logan, a scientist whose genome has been hacked, disturbing him in disturbing ways. To prevent these supposed updates from rolling out to the rest of the world, Logan has to take action. Readers who enjoyed Crouch’s previous novels, such as Dark Matter and Recursion, will find Upgrade just as exciting. Steven Spielberg’s production company, Amblin Partners, has picked up the rights to the film, and Crouch joins the project as executive producer.
buy now: upgrade in the bookstore | Amazon
dirt, massachusetts: a confessional, isaac fitzgerald (July 19)
Isaac Fitzgerald’s life has zigzagged: he worked in a biker bar and is the author of the children’s book how to be a pirate. he has been an altar boy and a “fat kid”. he has also had stints as a firefighter and smuggler. In his memoir Dirtbag, Massachusetts, Fitzgerald reflects on his origins and comes to terms with shyness, anger and strained family relationships. his writing is gritty but vulnerable.
shop now: dirtbag, massachusetts in bookstore | Amazon
the last white man, mohsin hamid (August 2)
what is the value of whiteness, if it ceases to exist as we know it? That is the central question of Mohsin Hamid’s The Last White Man, where Anders, a white man, wakes up one morning to find that his skin has turned dark. As other similar cases occur across the country, Hamid raises broader questions about how we really see each other and ourselves.
shop now: the last white manin bookstore | Amazon
mika in real life, emiko jean (August 2)
in mika in real life by emiko jean, mika suzuki sees an opportunity not only to reinvent herself, but also to reimagine what her life would be like outside of her boring reality. At 35, Mika’s situation is bleak: her love life is in shambles, her family is perpetually disappointed in her, and her living arrangement is less than ideal. But after receiving a phone call from the daughter she gave up for adoption, a little white lie turns into an opportunity for a second act, as long as her secret doesn’t get out.
shop now: mika in real life in bookstore | Amazon
self-portrait, jesse ball (August 9)
in his early memoir, jesse ball, whose previous work includes march book and the divers’ game, helps readers understand who he is and what shaped him . he reveals personal details, such as one of his shoulders being higher than the other and his left hand being faster but weaker than his right. he too reflects on love and loss. self-portrait was inspired by the memoirs that French writer Édouard Levé wrote shortly before he died in 2007.
buy now: self-portrait in bookstore | Amazon
women could fly, megan giddings (August 9)
In Megan Giddings’ dystopian novel, Women Could Fly, the mystical collides with the familiar when it comes to women’s autonomy. Josephine Thomas lives in a world where women are forced to marry before the age of 30 or are forced to register with a registry that monitors them; With her 30th birthday just around the corner, Jo finds hope for her freedom in the extraordinary last request of her long-lost mother, rumored to be a witch, who mysteriously disappeared when Jo was a child.
shop now: women could flyin bookstore | Amazon
later lives, abdulrazak gurnah (August 23)
The brutal German colonization of East Africa (what is now Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda) provides the backdrop for Abdulrazak Gurnah’s riveting novel, Beyond. Centered at the intersection of the lives of Ilyas, Afiya and Hamza, three young men who return home after being separated by war and slavery, the novel explores what is gained and what is lost in the name of survival. Gurnah, who won the 2021 Nobel Prize for her “uncompromising and compassionate insight into the effects of colonialism,” employs sensitivity and tenderness in each story.
buy now: later lives in bookstore | Amazon
babel, or the necessity of violence: an arcane history of the oxford translators’ revolution, r.f. kuang (August 23)
the war of the poppies author r. F. Kuang tackles the dark academy and imperialism with his latest novel, Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators Revolution. Focusing on a brave unnamed protagonist, a student of babel, the royal oxford translation institute, and his motley cohort, the book uses lessons in magic and agatokakology to make the case for a post-colonial future.
buy now: babel, or the necessity of violence: an arcane history of the oxford translators’ revolution in bookstore | Amazon
carrie soto is back, taylor jenkins reid (August 30)
taylor jenkins reid has gained a devoted following for her made-for-summer books like malibu rise and daisy jones & the six. He returns with a novel about tennis star Carrie Soto, who won 20 Grand Slam titles with her father, Javier, as coach. Six years after his retirement, a player named Nicki breaks Carrie’s record, so she returns to the court for one last season to reclaim what’s hers. he doesn’t worry if she doesn’t like sports stories very much; this is ultimately a novel full of heart about an iconic and persevering father and daughter.
buy now: carrie soto is backin bookstore | Amazon
write to cady lang at cady.lang@timemagazine.com.