Sign in with Facebook
Hot Ones: Readers' 80 Most Anticipated New Summer Books
The daylight is plentiful. The temperatures are agreeable. The bookstore shelves are packed with new releases. Is there anything better than summertime reading? We submit that there is not.
In honor of the beloved season, we have once again assembled our annual Big Books of Summer collection. As always, titles are sorted by genre and largely determined by you, the loyal reader. Books are selected by tracking early reviews and Goodreads members’ Want to Read shelves. All books here are set to be released between mid-May and late August.
There’s a lot to look forward to this year, including highly anticipated new novels from Taylor Jenkins Reid, Leila Mottley, Fredrik Backman, and Susan Choi. In the mystery aisle, look for new fiction from S.A. Cosby, Lisa Jewell, Riley Sager, and Ruth Ware.
SFF fans should appreciate this year’s spread, which includes new riffs on traditional topics such as ghosts, faeries, interdimensional portals, and time travel. But you’ll also find undercover witches in World War II, graduate students in hell, and the long-awaited new novel from V.E. Schwab.
Plus the latest in horror (demons in Mexico!), romance (villas in Italy!), romantasy (assassins in love!), and YA fiction (teenagers in trouble!). Look for some great nonfiction coming this summer, too, including new biographies on James Baldwin and Mark Twain.
Use the Want to Read button to add any interesting leads to your digital shelf. Enjoy the summer, everyone! Happy reading!
Swedish superstar writer Fredrik Backman has won over a huge global readership with thoughtful, lyrical, often very funny novels like Anxious People and A Man Called Ove. His new book tells the story of a remarkable painting, four teenage friends, and the enduring powers of love and art.
Release date: May 20
Release date: May 20
Author Sara Hamdan’s debut novel is a coming-of-age story featuring wallflower office worker Mia Almas, who blooms by night at New York City’s underground comedy clubs. The tricky part is keeping her career aspirations secret from her deeply conservative Palestinian American family. Oh, and Mia is having an affair with her boss. That’s a secret, too.
Release date: May 20
Release date: May 20
Thirty-year-old trans woman Max is disappointed with her career as an attorney, her sex life, her poetry…everything, really. So when she meets the decidedly upright Vincent—good corporate job, nice Chinese family—Max decides to make a go at the heteronormative life. Author Nicola Dinan (Bellies) explores the treacherous allure of domesticity.
Release date: May 27
Release date: May 27
With novels like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six, author Taylor Jenkins Reid has demonstrated a knack for complex stories in interesting settings. Her new book, set in the heady days of the 1980s space shuttle program, promises adventure, romance, and intrigue in the halls of Houston’s Johnson Space Center.
Read our interview with Jenkins Reid here.
Release date: June 3
Read our interview with Jenkins Reid here.
Release date: June 3
Louisa was just 10 years old when her father disappeared into the ocean. Only shards of memory remain: a nighttime walk on the beach, waking up in the sand, and the dizzying beam of a flashlight. Susan Choi (Trust Exercise) deploys multiple family POVs to tell a story about Japan, Korea, America, and one family’s complicated history.
Release date: June 3
Release date: June 3
In the early days of World War II, local girl June Hudson manages a West Virginia resort where Allied bosses are stashing captured Axis diplomats. When the FBI sends an agent to suss out Nazi secrets, the game is afoot! Known for her YA fantasy books, author Maggie Stiefvater (Shiver) folds romance, class conflict, and Appalachian magic into a new kind of spy story.
Release date: June 3
Release date: June 3
Massachusetts author Allison King’s debut novel introduces Monica Tsai, a shy computer coder who discovers that she’s heir to a very specific kind of ancestral magic. Subsequent revelations feature an old pencil factory, Monica’s grandma, and Chinese espionage in World War II. Recommended for those who like a little magical realism in their historical fiction.
Release date: June 3
Release date: June 3
In 1982, a young mother in conservative Britain finds love and connection with another woman, changing her life forever. In 2022, an old man named Heron must tell his only child about a devastating diagnosis—and some other secrets. Toggling between these two stories, author Claire Lynch delivers a richly layered novel about family, custody, and public policy.
Release date: June 3
Release date: June 3
Raised in a tiny Montana cabin by her secretive father, teenager Jane uncovers a terrible family secret and busts out for the bright lights of 1990s San Francisco. What has her dad been hiding? What really happened to her mom? And what’s this thing called the internet? Janelle Brown (Pretty Things) returns to explore rich themes of family dysfunction and California horizons.
Release date: June 10
Release date: June 10
In 2022, author Leila Mottley was nominated for the Booker Prize for her debut novel, Nightcrawling, the book everyone was telling everyone else to read. Her second novel profiles four teenage mothers in small-town Florida, cast out but sticking together through it all. With this book, Mottley brings new perspectives to the literary fiction aisle, full of insight and empathy.
Release date: June 24
Release date: June 24
This buzzy debut from London-born author Loretta Rothschild turns on a tragic event that plays out in the early chapters. So be careful with online spoilers. But it’s safe to say that author Rothschild has delivered a heartbreaking and complex family drama featuring dual timelines, multiple POVs, and a devastating moral dilemma. Seriously—avoid spoilers!
Release date: July 8
Release date: July 8
Villagers in the spooky hamlet of Little Nettlebed are used to strange occurrences. But this latest development is particularly unsettling: It seems that the Mansfield family girls are transforming into hounds. Set in 18th-century England, Xenobe Purvis’ debut blends horror, mystery, and allegory into a thoughtful meditation on convention and conformity.
Release date: August 5
Release date: August 5
The new thriller from Julie Clark (The Last Flight) follows the fate of an out-of-work ghostwriter who reluctantly agrees to help with her father’s memoirs. The tricky part is that dad is a famous horror novelist, his memory is shot, and he kinda-sorta-maybe killed all of his siblings this one time. Things, as you might suspect, get weird.
Release date: June 3
Release date: June 3
The reigning king of Southern noir (All the Sinners Bleed) is back with a hardcore crime thriller that also serves as an epic family drama. In fact, S.A. Cosby’s new book is inspired by The Godfather but with the action moved to a family crematorium business in rural Virginia. Look for prodigal sons, deadly gangsters, sibling dynamics, and plenty of family, you know, business.
Read our interview with Cosby here.
Release date: June 10
Read our interview with Cosby here.
Release date: June 10
Category professional Riley Sager is known for doing interesting things with the thriller format. His latest story fits the bill: Set in 1954, With a Vengeance features an elaborately planned sting scenario played out on a luxury passenger train speeding toward Chicago. But when a separate murder mystery breaks out, the potential body count starts to spike.
Release date: June 10
Release date: June 10
A clever variation on the cozy mystery, Karen Dukess’ novel follows lonely Cath Little, a grieving American woman who travels to a small English village for a staged murder mystery event. While making friends with her cottage-mates—and making time with a handsome local craftsman—Cath discovers a new kind of happiness. And no one has to die!
Release date: June 10
Release date: June 10
Annabelle, otherwise a content wife and mom, has a problem: She’s plagued by dreams of her daughters in deadly peril. What’s worse, oddly specific details in her dreams are starting to come true, one by one. Is her husband involved? Her daughter’s new online acquaintance? Her own past? Bonus trivia: Author Liv Constantine is actually two authors. Nothing is as it seems!
Release date: June 17
Release date: June 17
British thriller specialist Lisa Jewell (None of This Is True) has been cheerfully blowing readers’ minds with her plot twists for more than 25 years now. Her latest features three women, two men who are not who they say they are, and one mysterious death. (By train, actually, come to think of it.) Good times for fans of psychological suspense.
Release date: June 24
Release date: June 24
In this carefully titled follow-up to her 2016 blockbuster, The Woman in Cabin 10, mystery ace Ruth Ware moves the action from a North Sea cruise to a Lake Geneva chateau. Travel writer Lo Blacklock is back on assignment to write up a luxury Swiss hotel. But when her billionaire host goes missing, the job turns into an extended chase scene across Europe.
Release date: July 8
Release date: July 8
YA thriller boss Holly Jackson (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder) delivers her first adult mystery-thriller, wrapped around an intriguing story premise: When wealthy twentysomething Jet Davis is attacked by an unknown assailant, she’s left with a head injury that will trigger a lethal aneurysm in seven days. Jet’s last mission in life: Solve her own murder.
Release date: July 22
Release date: July 22
Fans of creepy psychological suspense will want to check out the latest from author Sarah Pekkanen (House of Glass), which centers on a truly hellish psychiatric institution. After a brutal murder, adopted daughter Georgia Cartwright has been locked away by her wealthy but shady Southern family. Georgia is going to lose her mind for real unless her estranged twin sister can crack the case.
Release date: August 5
Release date: August 5
Jeopardy style: An old and very much retired female serial killer reluctantly returns to her previous profession after a nosy investigative reporter starts poking around small-town Oregon. Answer in the form of a question: What is the plot setup for the latest book from Samantha Downing (My Lovely Wife)? Daily Double points for the dark and funny book cover art.
Release date: August 12
Release date: August 12
The latest from mystery-thriller pro Stacy Willingham (A Flicker in the Dark) introduces Claire Campbell, an erstwhile journalist who takes a summer job at a muscadine vineyard in coastal South Carolina. Claire’s reverie is interrupted, however, when she becomes obsessed with an old diary. Recommended for fans of Southern thrillers and scuppernongs.
Release date: August 26
Release date: August 26
Fantasy Novels
Debut author Daria Lavelle offers up a new kind of urban fantasy ghost story with this profile of an aspiring New York City chef who can taste the presence of restless spirits. Aftertaste promises a synesthetic reading experience with its blend of mystery, romance, magical realism, and street-level reportage from the New York City culinary scene.
Release date: May 20
Release date: May 20
Meet Me at the Crossroads starts with a compelling spec-fic premise: Seven interdimensional doors appear at various points around the globe. From there, the story tracks inward as two Black teenage sisters try to navigate a heartbreaking disappearance, a subsequent family implosion, and a parade of ghosts both literal and figurative. Author Megan Giddings (Lakewood) has the details.
Release date: June 3
Release date: June 3
Among the year’s most anticipated books in any genre, the new novel from veteran author V.E. Schwab (The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue) promises an interesting reading adventure. The storyline begins in 16th-century Spain, swerves through London circa 1827, and arrives in contemporary Boston. Gird your loins for social criticism, existential angst, sapphic romance, and immortal vampires. Early readers are loving it.
Release date: June 10
Release date: June 10
Readers who like their fantasy grounded in real history should appreciate this narrative from New Zealand author H.G. Parry. The story toggles between London and Paris during the French Revolution, when a mortal servant of the fae returns to take vengeance on the changeling who replaced him. Tonally, the new book is said to be a mix of Charles Dickens and Susanna Clarke. Can’t argue with that.
Release date: June 17
Release date: June 17
How’s this for a compelling setup: In the darkest days of World War II, a mild-mannered British witch is tasked with retrieving a powerful magical grimoire before the Germans find it. Also in play: a handsome Haitian American art historian, a deadly coven of Nazi witches, and magical espionage in the heart of occupied France. Pretty good, right? Debut author Morgan Ryan comes out swinging.
Release date: July 15
Release date: July 15
The debut from author and artist Michelle Wong is a dark fantasy in the spirit of those original European fairy tales—before they cleaned them up for kids. The gist: A renegade bastard child makes a pact with a magical entity to take revenge on her aristocratic family. Bonus content: Illustrations by the author are featured throughout.
Release date: August 5
Release date: August 5
Louis Sachar, author of the YA classic Holes, returns with his first adult novel, a cozy fantasy about a good-hearted princess desperate to dodge an arranged marriage. Princess Tullia has some allies, at least: a lowborn scribe and a laughingstock sorcerer, who serves as our narrator. Early readers are digging the historical details, lovable characters, and sustained whimsy.
Release date: August 5
Release date: August 5
In London, three members of a secret society pledge to protect the world from Unknowable Objects—everyday items that secretly contain untold powers. When they discover that a new artifact has surfaced in Hong Kong, things get very complicated, very quickly. Bonus trivia: This new standalone novel from author Gareth Brown is set in the same universe as his 2024 adventure, The Book of Doors.
Release date: August 12
Release date: August 12
Acclaimed author T. Kingfisher (also known as Ursula Vernon) takes a new angle of approach to the Snow White story in this innovative retelling. Our heroine is the healer Anja, a brilliant herbalist with an admirably rational and hands-on approach to potions and poisons. When the King’s daughter Snow falls ill, Anja discovers the perils of magic mirrors—and the limits of the scientific method. In fantasy stories, anyway.
Release date: August 19
Release date: August 19
Graduate students and recovering academics will definitely want to check out this one, the latest from impossibly prolific author R.F. Kuang (Babel). Two Cambridge PhD students descend into hell to rescue their shady-ass advisor. Instead, they find some depressingly spot-on allegories concerning higher education and eternal damnation. Bonus trivia: Katabasis is the Greek term for the classic descent-into-the-underworld narrative.
Release date: August 26
Release date: August 26
In the latest from author Dete Meserve (the Kate Bradley Mystery series), a maverick tech company offers clients the chance to travel back in time to a critical moment in their own past—but just for an hour, and just as an observer. Unfortunately, as four strangers soon discover, there are still a few bugs in the system.
Release date: May 20
Release date: May 20
A kind of gonzo meditation on the concept of monsters, this kinetic mashup of pulp horror and classic sci-fi from author Barbara Truelove features a sentient spaceship facing off against history’s greatest baddie: Dracula. Truelove also riffs on werewolves, mummies, reanimated corpses, Lovecraftian fish-people, and various other tropes from classic pulp and weird fiction. Recommended for fans of Gideon and Murderbot.
Release date: June 3
Release date: June 3
Author Nikki Erlick made a splash in 2022 with her existential what-if story, The Measure. She’s back this summer with her second novel, which concerns a remote California research facility that offers an easy cure for grief and loss. When a group of strangers makes the pilgrimage, they discover the perils of technological shortcuts. Devotees of high-concept speculative fiction should dig this one.
Release date: June 17
Release date: June 17
UnWorld is the first novel from Brooklyn writer Jayson Greene, author of the devastating 2019 memoir Once More We Saw Stars. The new book imagines a world where hyper-accelerated technology has blurred the lines between man and machine. But Greene’s real topics here are older and heavier: memory, consciousness, grief, and the power of love.
Release date: June 17
Release date: June 17
A sci-fi adventure wrapped in a future-tense queer love story, Australian author Seth Haddon’s novella follows the fate of tech hunter Wylla, whose latest acquisition is nothing but trouble. Good trouble, maybe. Haddon’s story blends high technology with compelling observations about personhood, identity, artificial intelligence, and the masks we wear. Especially the masks part.
Release date: July 22
Release date: July 22
Memory appears to be a theme this summer: Yiming Ma’s debut sci-fi thriller imagines a future where all citizens are fitted with a skull implant that allows for monitoring, recording, and transferring memories. When one man inherits his mother’s device, he learns some rather upsetting details regarding the new economy known as Memory Capitalism.
Release date: August 12
Release date: August 12
Horror Novels
If you’re in the market for dark medieval horror with debauched revels, sapphic lust, and maybe a little cannibalism…well, you’re in luck. Caitlin Starling’s fever-dream vision takes place in a castle under siege. Three main POV characters—a serving girl, a nun turned sorceress, and a lady knight—will need a miracle to simply survive. But when their prayers are answered, the real horror begins.
Release date: May 20
Release date: May 20
Maine’s resident madman Stephen King is back this summer with Never Flinch, which is actually two stories in one. Kind of. Fan-favorite Holly Gibney navigates the darkness in separate threads concerning a psycho killer out for revenge and a women’s rights activist out on a speaking tour. Devoted King readers can also expect the usual array of intriguing supporting characters.
Release date: May 27
Release date: May 27
With her 2020 triumph, Mexican Gothic, author Silvia Moreno-Garcia found interesting new variations on the creepy-old-house story. Now she’s back with a multigenerational horror story that starts with witches in 19th-century Mexico and ends with a haunted graduate student in 1990s Massachusetts. In between, a Depression-era scholar investigates a relevant disappearance.
Release date: July 15
Release date: July 15
Winner of this summer’s Most Alarming Cover Art award, Black Flame tells the story of a closeted film archivist who is tasked with restoring an old German exploitation film that was long believed to be both fictional and lost. Assumptions, they’ll kill ya. Meanwhile, author Gretchen Felker-Martin makes some grim observations about the real dangers of repressed sexuality.
Release date: August 5
Release date: August 5
The author and provocateur known as Chuck Tingle specializes in a sideways kind of horror that tackles the essential absurdity of the human condition. To wit, his latest scary story, which concerns a mysterious federal agent, a malfunctioning Vegas casino, and a terrifying catastrophe now referred to as the Low Probability Event. Statistical anomalies! Cosmic horror! Good times!
Release date: August 12
Release date: August 12
Catherine Dang (Nice Girls) returns with a coming-of-age horror story that mixes teenage angst, generational trauma, and female rage. When a high school party encounter goes awry, teenage Ronny Nyugen finds herself overcome with a primal hunger for raw meat. Dang’s harrowing novel is a thoughtful scary story, the sort that turns emotional violence into metaphysical horror.
Release date: August 12
Release date: August 12
Fans of Stephen King’s immortal apocalypse story The Stand will want to check out this Extremely Good Idea—an authorized anthology of short fiction set during and after the events of the novel. Among the featured authors: Poppy Z. Brite, S.A. Cosby, Tananarive Due, Alma Katsu, Joe R. Lansdale, Premee Mohamed, Alex Segura, Paul Tremblay, and Catriona Ward. Plus an introduction from Mr. King himself.
Release date: August 19
Release date: August 19
Mexican American author Isabel Cañas (The Hacienda) specializes in rigorously researched speculative fiction inspired by her work as a historian and linguist. Her latest story invites readers to a remote silver mine in northern Mexico, circa 1765, where a demonic force has targeted an innocent young woman. Admirers of the literary gothic mode will appreciate Cañas’ blend of horror and historical fiction.
Release date: August 19
Release date: August 19
In the festive sunshine of Key West, Florida, cynical video producer Katie Vaughn takes an assignment to film Coast Guard rescue swimmer Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson. The weather is gorgeous—and Hutch is gorgeous—but Katie still doesn’t trust the institution of romance. Katherine Center (The Bodyguard) presents a story of two lonely people and one pleasant surprise.
Release date: May 20
Release date: May 20
The estimable Ali Hazelwood is back in circulation this summer with a new love story about a potential summer fling on the beautiful Ionian coast of Italy. It seems that 23-year-old grad student Maya Kilgore has developed a dangerous crush on 38-year-old biotech executive Conor Harkness. The age difference suggests a problematic power imbalance. On the other hand: Italian summer! Romantic villa! Life is short!
Release date: May 27
Release date: May 27
What happens when the former child star of a second-rate sitcom becomes a mid-level studio executive? Nothing good, according to Jane Jackson. But when a little white lie turns into a big potential catastrophe, Jane discovers she might have a chance at true love. Early readers are saying nice things about this new story from Annabel Monaghan (Nora Goes Off Script).
Release date: May 27
Release date: May 27
This latest installment in the popular Meant to Be series—modernized retellings of classic Disney stories—follows the same story arc as Mulan, but with the action set among Bay Area high finance types. Author Jesse Q. Sutanto (the delightful Vera Wong cozy mystery series) delivers a contemporary romance featuring mistaken identities and unexpected love. The best kind of love, really.
Release date: June 3
Release date: June 3
Connoisseurs of dark and kinky romance will want to check out the new book from Navessa Allen, author of the BookTok sensation Lights Out. It seems that former shy girl Lauren Marchetti is now an online entrepreneur at an OnlyFans-style operation. When an old high school admirer enters the picture, this second-chance romance branches out to include voyeurism, play clubs, and mafia connections.
Release date: June 10
Release date: June 10
If you like your contemporary romance with a dash of magical realism, check out this latest love story from Ashley Poston (The Seven Year Slip). The setup: L.A. songwriter Joni Lark returns to her North Carolina hometown to get what’s left of her groove back. Her writer’s block magically disappears when a sexy voice starts humming melodies in her head—a voice that appears to belong to a handsome local musician.
Release date: June 17
Release date: June 17
Elissa Sussman (Funny You Should Ask) takes a dual-timeline approach to this story of a headstrong single mom, recently widowed, who enjoys an inspiring bedroom encounter with a very famous actor. But in small-town Montana, people talk. Bonus trivia: Author Sussman has two dogs with the excellent names of Basil and Mozzarella.
Release date: July 8
Release date: July 8
Journalist Eva Kitt has just gone viral after calling out her problematic college ex-boyfriend, now making bank as an influencer fighting toxic masculinity. From what Eva remembers, Rylie was plenty toxic himself. When the two agree to a series of publicly documented dates, things take a strange turn. Mazey Eddings (A Brush with Love) delivers a modernized kind of second-chance love story.
Release date: August 5
Release date: August 5
The latest in the Lakefront Billionaires series from Lauren Asher finds small business owner Lily Muñoz pressured into a fake relationship situation with the one guy she absolutely would never choose. Granted, he does have a great name: Lorenzo Vittori. Also in play: a dating app, a public image campaign, and a mayoral election.
Release date: August 19
Release date: August 19
Author Rachel Gillig (The Shepherd King) takes a gothic approach to the romantasy genre with the story of Sybil Delling, a prophetess who receives visions from otherworldly entities known as Omens. When her fellow Diviners start to vanish mysteriously, Sybil is forced to team up with the boorish knight Rodrick—a heretic, but an uncommonly handsome one. So that’s something.
Release date: May 20
Release date: May 20
The land of Tir Teine, formerly a peaceful and matriarchal society, is now oppressed by a cruel theocracy. Enter the humble blacksmith Aemyra, destined for the throne but opposed by corrupt aristocrats and an arrogant prince. Scottish author Hazel McBride presents a Celtic-inspired romantasy adventure with dragon-riding drama—the first in a planned duology.
Release date: May 27
Release date: May 27
The first installment in a new trilogy from romance author Julie Soto (Forget Me Not), the romantasy Rose in Chains starts in a pretty grim place. Just like it says on the tin, princess Briony Rosewood has been imprisoned after her castle is overrun by the forces of darkness. In fact, she’s been auctioned off to a rival house and its disreputable scion Toven Hearst. Uh-oh.
Release date: July 3
Release date: July 3
A deathly ill assassin falls for a morally upright healer in this intriguing debut story from author Brigitte Knightley, said to be the first in a planned duology. (You’ll want to check out the name of the new series.) Knightely promises a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers vibe, along with rival orders of magicians and cool names like Aurienne Fairhrim and Osric Mordaunt.
Release date: July 8
Release date: July 8
As you may have intuited from the title and cover art, the new novel from British author Sangu Mandanna falls squarely within the tradition of cozy romantasy—lovable characters, madcap shenanigans, this sort of thing. The story concerns a good-natured witch and a lonely magical historian at an enchanted inn outside Lancashire. Also, keep an eye out for a mischievous talking fox.
Release date: July 15
Release date: July 15
Young Adult Novels
In a small Georgia town with the unfortunate name of Carrion, a local teenager has gone missing. The only clue: a suspicious splash of blood in room four of the run-down motel. Four teenage investigators join forces to solve the mystery, which may have something to do with an old urban legend and a cicada brood hatching. Punjabi American author (and Georgia native) Xan Kaur delivers a new riff on Southern gothic YA horror.
Release date: May 27
Release date: May 27
Charlie has a problem. Several, actually. As the only trans student at the Valentine Academy for Boys, his plan to conceal his identity is in the delicate initial phase. That’s when Charlie discovers that he’s been assigned the worst roommate possible: Jasper Grimes, the boy who broke Charlie’s heart before he transitioned. Brooklyn author Page Powars sorts it out in this second-chance rom-com.
Release date: May 27
Release date: May 27
The first installment in a planned trilogy from debut author Lauryn Hamilton Murray, this YA romantasy introduces a treacherous kingdom where potential heirs must fight for their shot at the throne. Blaze and her twin brother, Flint, soon realize that the combat takes place on several levels and that palace intrigue can be just as deadly as battlefield encounters.
Release date: June 3
Release date: June 3
Winner of this summer’s Most Compelling Book Title award, the new novel from Lyndall Clipstone (Lakesedge) leans heavily into the gothic elements of fantasy, horror, folklore, and queer romance. The setup: Lacrimosa “Lark” Arriscane becomes ensnared in a complex love triangle involving hedonistic rituals, ancient gods, and a pair of aristocratic siblings. Bonus points for that hypnotic cover art.
Release date: July 1
Release date: July 1
Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ sprawling Inheritance Games saga expands once again in Glorious Rivals, the sequel to last year’s expansion, The Grandest Game. Billionaire Avery Grambs and the Hawthorne brothers have engineered a new annual competition on an island filled with puzzles, traps, and secrets. But with millions of dollars at stake, the incentive to play fair is disappearing fast. Just like in the real world!
Release date: July 29
Release date: July 29
If you think your school years were rough, check out the Blackwood Academy, the legendary boarding school situated on the borderlands of death itself. Blackwood pupils are condemned to matriculate forever in the fogs of purgatory unless they win the competition known as the Decennial. Debut author I.V. Marie explores the shadowy intersections of dark academia and existential romantasy.
Release date: July 29
Release date: July 29
This debut fantasy from author Maria Z. Medina invites readers to a world of floating continents, absent gods, flashing rapiers, and swashbuckling adventure. Using flashbacks and multiple POVs, Medina tells the story of Azul del Arroyo, a modest young necromancer who just wants to bring her sister back from the dead. Look for lots of atmospheric tragedy and romance, with a love interest who happens to be the Emissary of the Lord Death.
Release date: August 5
Release date: August 5
As America’s first international celebrity, the man born as Samuel Langhorne Clemens cultivated his public persona with care. So if you want the real story, you have to do some digging. That’s what biographer Ron Chernow found out researching his new book, which involved sorting through thousands of letters, journals, and unpublished manuscripts. The result is a deep-focus portrait of a complex literary legend.
Release date: May 13
Release date: May 13
Surely one of the summer’s most intriguing memoirs, this debut from author Veena Dinavahi comes with a compelling subtitle: How a Girl Like Me Falls for a Cult Like That. Desperate for an escape from teenage depression, Dinavahi fell under the influence of a backwoods Georgia self-help cult. After a long and difficult extraction, Dinavahi looks back with dark humor and hard-won wisdom.
Release date: May 20
Release date: May 20
In 16 wide-ranging essays, author Harron Walker tackles the complex topic of American womanhood in the 21st century. Mixing cultural criticism with investigative journalism, Walker discusses transphobic workplaces, bodily autonomy, labor issues, pop culture, girlboss politics, and some interesting details concerning bath bombs.
Release date: May 20
Release date: May 20
Veteran whitewater rafting guide Bridget Crocker provides a new perspective on growing up with her heartfelt memoir, which explores the notion that nature’s wild things can nurture, too. Rivers, especially. Crocker’s vivid adventure writing ranges from Wyoming’s Snake River to Africa’s Zambezi river, and should appeal to fans of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild or Tara Westover’s Educated.
Release date: June 3
Release date: June 3
In her candid and singular memoir, author Melissa Febos (Girlhood) chronicles the surprising delights of her recent year of deliberate and considered celibacy. After an uninterrupted chain of relationships going back to her teenage years, Febos’ experiment brings new levels of spirituality, creativity, and sensual pleasures. Febos also doubles back to discuss remarkable women in history, from Sappho to Octavio Butler.
Release date: June 3
Release date: June 3
Billed as a nonfiction thriller, this fascinating investigation from Pulitzer Prize–winning author Caroline Fraser (Prairie Fires) examines the history of serial killers in the Pacific Northwest—and the region’s history of violent environmental destruction. Fraser presents compelling evidence that the region’s poisonous copper and arsenic smelters may be connected to the surge of serial killings in the 1970s and ’80s.
Release date: June 10
Release date: June 10
In another admirable exercise of investigative journalism, author Megan Greenwell delves deep into the complex world of private equity in the United States. Over the past few decades, multibillion-dollar companies have executed takeovers everywhere—hospitals, schools, newspapers, municipal utilities. Through the stories of four American workers, Greenwell assesses the ongoing damage to our economy and our communities.
Release date: June 10
Release date: June 10
Music fans of a particular intensity have been waiting on this one for a while. Author Jonathan Gould presents the story of Talking Heads, the New York City art-rock band that changed the very trajectory of popular music in America. Starting with the infamous downtown music scene of 1970s New York City, Gould charts the flash and fade of the era’s boldest and best rock band.
Release date: June 17
Release date: June 17
For a sense of this one, we turn again to the subtitle: A True Story of Learning to Surf and the Search for Common Ground. David Litt’s funny and encouraging book documents his quest to learn about surfing from his brother-in-law. Along the way, the two find a new and better way to reconcile their respective political stances. It’s like a little instructional fable for America, circa 2025.
Release date: June 24
Release date: June 24
You know that one song that changed everything for you? Or maybe it was that one book, or play, or concert, or exhibit? Author and cultural critic Lawrence Burney explores those critical moments of cultural transmission as he writes about the places and art that have transformed him. Burney’s quest takes him on adventures through the global Black diaspora, from the streets of Baltimore to the concert halls of Lagos.
Release date: July 8
Release date: July 8
The incredible true story of Maurice and Maralyn Bailey starts with a young couple dreaming that familiar dream: Let’s quit our jobs, sell our stuff, and sail away from it all. A few months later, they’re adrift in a tiny life raft in the Pacific watching their sailboat sink beneath the waves. Sophie Elmhirst presents an ocean adventure turned dramatic testament to human endurance and marital devotion.
Release date: July 8
Release date: July 8
The first major biography of James Baldwin in more than 30 years, Nicholas Boggs’ new book focuses on Baldwin’s intimate relationships and how they informed his art and activism. An independent writer and scholar based in New York City, Boggs presents plenty of food for thought regarding Black and queer literary history. “But from the very beginning,” he says, “I always knew it was a love story."
Release date: August 19
Release date: August 19
