11 Best Summer Reads

Kicking things off with an obvious choice, Beach Read by Emily Henry offers a unique spin on familiar rom-com tropes. Two authors, bestselling romance novelist January Andrews and acclaimed author of literary fiction, Augustus Everett, just so happen to have beach houses next to each other for the summer. Both are experiencing writer’s block, so they decide to swap genres. Only time will tell whether these two polar opposites will attract or repel. Real talk though, if you need a dose of serotonin right now, this pick is fun and funny. It does get a little Hallmark cheesy at times, but the witty banter and personality of these dynamic, understandable characters is a great escape.

Gifted storyteller Brit Bennett is known for her poignant essays on race and privilege in America. The New York Times best-selling novelist follows up her debut, 2016’s The Mothers, with this immersive, provocative page-turner about the different experiences of twin sisters. All that bookish Stella and headstrong Desiree have in common is their DNA and desire to leave small-town life. When they escape to New Orleans in the 1950s, their paths diverge as one sister starts secretly passing herself off as a white woman. Vulture calls this Good Morning America Book Club pick a “timely testament to the redemptive powers of community, connection, and looking beyond the self.”

Jennifer Weiner’s new novel is yet another obvious choice for summertime skimming. Who cares what it’s about? When the queen of beach reads puts out a title with “summer” in it, you add it to your cart.

Hillary fans get to see how her life would’ve played out had she never married Bill in this political fantasy by Curtis Sittenfeld, the New York Times bestselling author of American Wife and Eligible.

Why are we recommending this gothic horror story set in 1950s Mexico as a summer read? Because it’s too scary to read alone in the dark. Acclaimed author Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s modern feminist spin on Gothic fantasy is more suspenseful than horrific. Young socialite Noemí Taboada investigates her cousin’s claims that she is reportedly being poisoned by her new husband in their creepy-ass mansion in the remote Mexican countryside.

Nicole Byers is giving us all the body confidence we need to don a two-piece this summer. The funny AF actress, comedian, podcaster, and host of Nailed It on Netflix brings us this hilarious guide to being #brave enough to love our bodies as they are. She’s serving 100 bikini lewks as inspiration while doling out hilarious tips and tricks—from how to find the perfect bikini to how to handle the haters—so you too can become #verybrave.

If you’ve ever fallen in love with a feline, Leah Goren’s beautifully illustrated “love letter to women and their cats” is for you. With contributors by New York Times best-selling author Emma Straub (who’s new novel All Adults Here is out now), SNL and Shrill star Aidy Bryant, ban.do founder, podcaster, and author of The Upside of Being Down Jen Gotch, and Jungalow designer Justina Blakeney, this book was written for cat-lovers, by cat-lovers.

“When you can see anyone at any hour, it collapses perspective and time” our 36-year-old ethnically ambiguous bride-to-be explains to her grandmother, who has come back to life as a parakeet. Award-winning author Marie-Helene Bertino’s highly anticipated follow up to 2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas may have a WTF premise, but the challenges that the protagonist faces are all too familiar.

WTF is Parakeet about? I’ll let the NY Times answer. “It’s about an ambivalent bride. It’s about PTSD, grief, forgiveness, bad mothers, womanhood, monogamy and the nature of time itself. It’s about being a woman trapped by her subconscious and social conventions. It’s a Homeric quest to reclaim control over the heroine’s own life and sanity.”

Leigh Stein takes a page from her own past as a non-profit exec to write her fourth book, a dark satire about female co-founders of a wellness startup that any millennial will enjoy. The novel doesn’t come out until the end of June, but in the meantime, you can read about Stein’s abusive ex-boyfriend and how he stabbed someone before dying in a motorcycle crash.

Just like one of the guests at a fancy wedding off the coast of Ireland, I am dying…to read this Agatha Christie-esque gothic psychological thriller.

Fiction writer and book critic Ilana Masad’s exciting debut novel has been called a “queer tour-de-force”. Told over the course of a funeral and shiva, the story follows 27-year-old Maggie as she carries out her mother’s final wishes. Whether you’re LGBTQ, have lost a loved one, or are a mom, this book will speak to you.