the perfect reads for lounging by the pool
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It’s official: Summer, with its gloriously long days, warm weather, and blue skies, is upon us. While the season promises days spent soaking up the sunshine and taking part in outdoor activities, it’s also important to enjoy the quieter moments. For us, that means grabbing one of the new books we’ve been itching to read, turning up the air conditioning, and lounging on our couch for a couple of hours until we’re called to check another item off our summer bucket list.
The books below are highly recommended by millions of readers on Goodreads (plus a few from my personal most-anticipated list), a place where book lovers rate and review what they read, create lists of their favorites (and not-so-favorites), and share their love of reading with people just like them.
Riley Sager With a Vengeance
Under false pretenses, Anna has lured those responsible for her family’s downfall onto a train from Philadelphia to Chicago. Her goal? Confront the people who’ve wronged her, get them to confess their crimes, and deliver them to the authorities at the end of the line. But Anna’s plan is quickly derailed by the murder of one of the passengers. As the train barrels through the night, it becomes clear that someone else on board is enacting their own revenge plot—and that they won’t stop until everyone is dead.
Publishing June 10th.
Joyce Carol Oates Fox
Who is Francis Fox? A charming English teacher new to the idyllic Langhorne Academy, Fox beguiles many of his students, their parents, and his colleagues at the elite boarding school, while leaving others wondering where he came from and why his biography is so enigmatic. When two brothers discover Fox’s car submerged in a pond and parts of an unidentified body near the woods, the entire community begins to ask disturbing questions about Francis Fox and who he might really be.
Publishing June 17th.
Ashley Poston Sounds Like Love
Joni Lark is one of the most coveted songwriters in LA, and yet she can’t write. When she returns to her hometown of Vienna Shores, she is sure it will spark inspiration. But when Joni gets there, nothing is how she left it. Her best friend is hiding something, her mother’s memories are fading, and her family’s music venue is closing. Then, she hears it. A melody in her head, tying her to a wry musician who must surely be imagined. Until, that very real man attached to the voice shows up. Maybe that song connecting them is there for a reason?
Publishing June 17th.
Nikki Erlick The Poppy Fields
In a remote stretch of the California desert lies an experimental treatment center that allows those suffering from the heartache of loss to sleep through their pain. After patients awaken from this prolonged state of slumber, they will finally be healed. But only if they’re willing to accept the potential shadowy side effects. On a journey to this mystical destination are four very different strangers and one little dog. As they all attempt to make their way to the Poppy Fields, each of their past secrets and mysterious motivations threaten to derail their voyage.
Publishing June 17th.
Lisa Jewell Don’t Let Him In
When Nina receives a condolence card from Nick, an old friend of her late husband, she’s intrigued by his charm and warmth. But to Nina’s adult daughter, Ash, Nick seems too slick, too polished, too good to be true. Without telling her mother, Ash begins digging into Nick’s past. In a neighboring town, Martha’s husband, Alistair, is disappearing for days at a time, offering only vague explanations that leave her uneasy. As the lives of Nina, Ash, and Martha collide, they’re forced to confront a chilling truth darker than any of them could have imagined.
Publishing June 24th.
Leila Mottley The Girls Who Grew Big
Sixteen years old and pregnant, Adela Woods is banished by her parents to her grandmother’s home in Padua Beach, Florida. When she arrives, Adela meets a group of outcast young moms who raise their growing brood in the back of one of their red trucks. The town thinks these girls have lost their way, but really they are finding it: looking for love, making and breaking friendships, and navigating the miracle of motherhood and the paradox of girlhood.
Publishing June 24th.
Sophie Elmhirst A Marriage at Sea
Maurice and Maralyn are an odd couple. Yet they share a horror of wasting their lives, and dream of running away from it all. Most of us begin and end with the daydream. But in June 1972, they quit their jobs, sold their house, bought a boat, and sailed away. For nearly a year all was well, until a breaching whale knocked their boat and it sank beneath the waves. Alone together for months in a tiny rubber raft, starving and exhausted, Maurice and Maralyn have to find not only ways to stay alive but ways to get along, and their marriage is put to the greatest of tests.
Publishing July 8th.
Brigitte Knightley The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy
When Osric Mordaunt, an assassin from the Fyren Order, falls ill, he seeks the help of a healer from their enemy, the Haelan Order. With the Haelan Order’s struggle to fund a vaccination program for a sudden Pox outbreak, healer Aurienne Fairhrim is forced to accept Osric’s cry for help when he breaks into their headquarters and bribes her for help. Working together, they find themselves battling not only the disease but also a growing, undeniable attraction between them.
Publishing July 8th.
Adriana Trigiani The View From Lake Como
In blue-collar Lake Como, New Jersey, Jess moves into her parents’ basement after divorcing her “perfect” husband. When a sudden loss shakes her family, long-buried secrets force Jess to question her loyalty and take fate into her own hands. Fueled by her lost dreams, Jess escapes to her ancestral home, Carrara, Italy where she meets Angelo Strazza, a passionate artist who helps Jess discover that her own skills are priceless. In love and work, in art and soul, Jess will need every tool she has mastered to reinvent her life.
Publishing July 8th.
Loretta Rothschild Finding Grace
Honor seems to have everything: she adores her bright, beautiful daughter, Chloe, and her charming husband, Tom. Yet Honor’s longing for another baby threatens to eclipse all of it. Until a shocking event changes their lives forever. Years later, Tom makes a decision that ripples through their families’ lives in ways he could never have foreseen. As consequences unfold, two women’s paths become irrevocably intertwined. But when old love clashes with new, who will be left standing? And what happens when secrets come back to haunt you?
Publishing July 8th.
Silvia Moreno-Garcia The Bewitching
“Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches”: That was how Nana Alba always began the stories told to her great-granddaughter, Minerva. Perhaps that’s why Minerva is now a graduate student in horror literature and researching Beatrice Tremblay’s horror novel, The Vanishing. As Minerva descends ever deeper into Tremblay’s manuscript, she begins to sense that the malign force that stalked Tremblay and the missing girl might still walk the halls of the campus. An academic pursuit can be punishing, but when witchcraft is involved, it might be outright deadly.
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Publishing July 15th.
Sangu Mandanna A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping
Sera Swan, once one of Britain’s most powerful witches, has lost her magic, and been exiled from her Guild. Now, she is helping her great-aunt Jasmine run an enchanted inn in Lancashire. Between quirky guests and a talking fox, she longs to reclaim her magic. And when she learns of an old spell that might restore her power, she turns to a handsome magical historian guest who might know how to help her. As Sera juggles the inn, the spell, and the watchful Guild, she is about to discover that she doesn’t have to do it all alone…
Publishing July 15th.
Morgan Ryan A Resistance of Witches
Lydia Polk never thought she’d join the Royal Academy of Witches, but with Hitler’s army advancing, she’s become key to the cause—tasked with finding magical relics before the Nazis can. And with the discovery of the Grimorium Bellum, an ancient book that leaves a trail of death and destruction wherever it goes, Lydia knows her mission has never been more urgent. But, as Lydia soon discovers, finding the book is only half the battle. Alone and woefully outnumbered, Lydia must confide in her allies, and subdue the Grimorium Bellum‘s dark agenda the best she can.
Publishing July 15th.
Danica Nava Love Is a War Song
Pop singer Avery Fox becomes a national joke after posing for Rolling Stones in a feather warbonnet. What was meant to be a statement of her success as a Native American singer turned her into a social pariah. Seeking refuge, she heads to her grandmother’s ranch where she must face Lucas Iron Eyes, the caretaker who despises what she represents. But when the ranch faces closure, Avery and Lucas strike a deal: she’ll help raise funds, and he’ll teach her what it truly means to be Native American. It’s purely transactional, absolutely no horsing around…but where’s the fun in that?
Publishing July 22nd.
Holly Jackson Not Quite Dead Yet
In seven days Jet Mason, the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Woodstock, Vermont, will be dead. Twenty-seven years old, she’s still waiting for her life to begin. I’ll do it later, she always says. She has time. Until Halloween night, when Jet is violently attacked by an unseen intruder and suffers a catastrophic head injury. Jet has never thought of herself as having enemies. But as her condition deteriorates, and she only has her childhood friend Billy for help, she’s determined to finally finish something: solve her own murder.
Publishing July 22nd.
Shari Lapena She Didn’t See It Coming
Bryden and Sam appear to have the perfect life: successful careers, a smart condo, and a cherished daughter. But when Sam gets a call saying Bryden never picked up their daughter from daycare, everything changes. Her car is in the garage, her phone and keys are still at home—yet she’s gone. How can she have disappeared from her own home? And did she even leave the building at all? As each minute passes, Bryden and Sam’s past seems a little less perfect, their condominium less safe, their friends, neighbors and relatives no longer quite so reliable…
Publishing July 29th.
L.K. Steven Silvercloak
Two decades ago, the Bloodmoons murdered Saffron’s parents. Hell-bent on revenge, Saff lies her way into Silvercloak Academy—the training ground for her city’s elite detectives—with one goal: bring the Bloodmoons to justice. But when Saff’s deception is exposed, instead of punishment, she’s offered a chance to go undercover and bring the Bloodmoons down once and for all. To succeed, Saffron must keep her cover while also navigating her feelings for the kingpin’s son, and the curious prophecy foretelling his death at Saffron’s hand.
Publishing July 29th.
Ava Reid A Theory of Dreaming
This sequel to Reid’s A Study in Drowning pulls Effy and Preston on one final adventure. Even though Effy may never know exactly what happened at Hiraeth, she is free of her nightmares and able to pen a thesis that earns her a spot at the literature college. But the entire university—and soon the entire nation—is waiting for her to fail. With Effy under threat, Preston discovers a rage inside him. He begins to dream of a world where he is king—visions that start to follow him even in waking. Effy and Preston find themselves caught in the crossfire: Effy losing her dreams and Preston losing himself in his.
Publishing July 29th.
Aisha Muharrar Loved One
When her first-love-turned-close-friend, Gabe, dies unexpectedly, Julia is launched into a quest to recover his lost possessions. Her journey takes her from Los Angeles to London and into the murky realm of the past. It also sets Julia on a collision course with the last woman he loved, a guarded, self-possessed florist and restaurateur named Elizabeth, who insists on withholding Gabe’s beloved guitar. Both women, it turns out, have something to hide, and soon find themselves engaged in a complex dance of withholding and revelation.
Publishing August 12th.
Caleb Gayle Black Moses
In this paradigm-shattering work of American history, Caleb Gayle brings to life the world of Edward McCabe: the Black people who believed in his dream of a Black state, the white politicians who didn’t, and the larger challenges of confronting the racism and exclusion that bedeviled Black people’s attempts to carve a place in America for themselves. Gayle draws from extraordinary research and reporting to illustrate McCabe’s rising profile that led him to become known as Black Moses, and the America that almost was.
Publishing August 12th.
Ivy Fairbanks Heart Strings
Cielo “Lo” Valdez doesn’t believe in second chances. Surviving cancer taught her life is too short to spend time on someone who wronged you. But Aidan O’Toole is determined to show her life is best spent together. Years ago, Aidan left Lo behind for a record deal in London. Now, with every love song he’s ever written about her, he’s determined to show her their story isn’t over. Now they’re on a collision course as maid of honor and best man at a weekend-long Irish castle wedding. Are some mistakes worth forgiving? Can Aidan convince Lo their song wasn’t meant to end?
Publishing August 12th.
R. F Kuang Katabasis
Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. And she has sacrificed everything to get there. All to work under the legendary Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge. That is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault. When his spirit descends to Hell, Alice follows, because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands, But her rival Peter Murdoch has the same idea. Hell is not like the storybooks, and there’s something in Alice and Peter’s past that could lead to their doom.
Publishing August 26th.
Stacy Willingham Forget Me Not
Twenty-two years after her sister Natalie’s mysterious disappearance, an unexpected call from investigative journalist Claire Campbell’s father forces her to come back home and face it all anew. Claire decides on a whim to accept a job at a vineyard near where Natalie vanished. But when she finds an old diary belonging to one of the vineyard’s owners, Claire finds herself becoming more and more secluded as she starts to obsess over the diary’s contents… as well as the lingering feeling that her own sister’s disappearance may be somehow tied to it all.
Publishing August 26th.
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