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The Independent
06-08-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Best summer books that are perfect for your 2025 holidays
When packing your summer holiday suitcase, a good beach read is essential – alongside your passport, swimwear and SPF, of course. Helping you unwind and relax, there's no better feeling than escaping into the pages of a book while stretched out on a sun lounger (Hugo Spritz, optional). But what makes a good summer book? For some, it's revisiting the comforting reads that they associate with a certain place and time, while for others it's indulging in romantasy, diving into exciting debuts, page-turning thrillers or classics set in the destination you're sojourning in. Above all, you want to enjoy yourself – and you don't want to waste valuable sun lounging time on a bad book. Luckily, the IndyBest team is on hand with their literary recommendations for this summer. From a century-spanning William Boyd tome to a classic Patricia Highsmith thriller and Sarah J Maas's TikTok-viral A Court of Thorns and Roses series, these are the best summer books that deserve a special spot in your suitcase. This is one of the best novels I've ever read. I'm certain that this forgotten classic will make its way onto best lists and university curricula over the coming decades. Set just after the First World War, it follows an ex-serviceman as he restores a medieval fresco in a Yorkshire village. Taking place over just a month in 1920, it's full of perfect portrayals of the English countryside. Anyone who has spent time in rural Yorkshire will love Carr's tight, neat descriptions of its fields and woods in summertime. This quiet novel is a surprising page-turner; as Tom Birkin chips away at the wall painting, he confronts his damage from the war, and draws you further and further into his relationship with the villagers and the painting he uncovers. It's a short book – you can read it in an afternoon by the pool – but it's one of those novels that stays with you for months after you read it. The book is available in the usual places, but you can also buy a copy from Carr's own Quince Tree Press (£10, Alex Aitcheson-David, Deputy IndyBest Editor A truly great family saga is one that spans generations, cleverly weaves together different plots and intertwines personal stories with historical events – The Covenant of Water is a story that ticked all these boxes for me and more. The novel opens in 1900 in Travancore, in south west India (in what is now part of Kerala), where a young girl is sent by boat to meet her much older husband-to-be for the first time. From that moment we see her grow into the matriarch of her family, affectionately known as Big Ammachi. Over the next seven decades, we witness the lives, deaths, marriages, triumphs and more of her descendants, all touched by a mysterious curse. In every generation, at least one person dies by drowning and yet, their home of Parambil, is surrounded by water. Verghese crafts an epic tale with a cast of beautifully written characters and unexpected twists. The lakes and rivers of southern India are brought vividly to life and I felt completely drawn into the world he so wonderfully creates. With more than 700 pages, it's a chunky read, but the storytelling is so immersive that you won't want it to end. It's ideal for a long summer getaway but if you're travelling light, it's definitely one to download on your e-reader. If you're a fan of Pachinko or Homegoing, I think you'll love this too. Sabrina Sahota, Consumer Editor I envy you if you're yet to devour William Boyd's Any Human Heart. Just as enjoyable on its first read as it is on its second (or even third), the cult novel follows Logan Mountstuart's life that stretches across the 20th Century. Spanning an anything-but-ordinary existence as a writer mingling with Hemingway in Paris, a spy during the Second World War recruited by none other than Ian Fleming, an art dealer in the swinging Sixties and much more, Boyd explores familial, romantic and platonic love his signature warm and witty voice. A modern classic, it's a masterclass in storytelling that's just as joyous as it is emotional (be warned), and the perfect companion on your sun lounger this summer. Daisy Lester, Senior Shopping Writer After seeing so much hype online about Sarah J Maas's romantesy series, A Court of Thorns and Roses, I hesitantly brought the first book with me on a family holiday last summer. It wasn't long before I was hooked and immediately regretted not bringing the entire six-book series with me. In the novel, we meet Feyre, a human huntress who kills a wolf that is not all it appears to be. Feyre is soon taken prisoner in the faerie realm, as revenge for the murder of a fellow faerie. As she discovers more about her captor, the high lord of the spring court Tamlin, Feyre develops feelings for her enemy (in true 'romantasy' style). Meanwhile, a war is brewing, thanks to Amarantha, the evil and vindictive high queen of Prythian. Yes, it all sounds faintly ridiculous, but as a former fantasy literature hater, Sarah J Maas has made me a convert. It's excellent at world building while the enemy-to-lover storyline keeps you hooked until the very last page - the true marker of a good sun lounger read. Daisy Lester Part psychological thriller and part story of disaffected university students, Tartt's tome follows a group of clever misfits at an elite New England college and the chain of events that led to the death of a classmate. Although from a lower-class family, newbie Richard is accepted into the clique of students who are all under the cult-like influence of their charismatic Greek classics professor. When one member of the group threatens to reveal the group's role in the murder, tensions rise and the second half of the novel explores the psychological consequences of hiding such a terrible secret. Offering pure escapism, Tartt both thrills and intrigues the reader. Daisy Lester If you're on the romantasy train then let Quicksilver be your next point of call after the dreaded Fourth Wing slump. Set across several worlds abundant with vampires, fae and wolves, the novel follows the journey of Saeris Fane as she struggles to keep her family safe. Within the first couple of chapters, you'll watch as her life changes overnight and, seemingly, everything she knows to be true turns on its head. Expect enemies-to-lovers arcs, 'chosen family' (as the #booktok community calls it) and plenty of action and mystery. The male protagonist, Kingfisher, will prove an ultimate summer holiday romance – even if he is fictional – and there's even a bit of spice to keep things interesting. Don't balk at those 600+ pages, you'll be cover-to-cover before you know it. Lucy Smith, Beauty Writer I read this book last summer on holiday in Croatia after falling in love with Dolly's now infamous 2018 memoir, ' Everything I Know about Love '. It's a collection of entries from her Sunday Times Style agony aunt column, which covers everything from friendship to careers and, of course, love lives. An easy and insightful read, the book's plotless nature makes it a great one to dip in and out of in between fun-filled vacation excursions. You'll naturally find yourself relating to the queries of both those writing in and Dolly's comforting, non-judgemental big sister advice. It doesn't try too hard to be all-knowing or too existential, instead walking the line between self-help and having a chat with a friend. Additionally, the scenarios that readers write in make for great conversation topics over evening cocktails. Ella Duggan I have yet to read this one but can't wait to pick it up this summer. It sounds like the perfect mix of crime thriller, twisted feminist fantasy and gourmet cooking – what more could you want? The plot follows a chef as she sits in a Japanese detention centre, accused of murdering lonely businessmen after seducing them with her cooking. Once a scrappy journalist begins to break down her walls through a, seemingly, shared love of food we begin to learn more about obsession, romance, misogyny and the layered relationship between Japan and food. Ella Duggan 'Big Swiss' by Jen Beagin, published by Faber & Faber: £7.87, I'm only halfway through this book, but I'm completely hooked. The story follows a woman who transcribes sex and relationship therapy sessions in a quirky small town. As she listens to her neighbours' most intimate confessions, their secrets start to seep hilariously, and often cringe-inducingly, into her own life. One voice inparticular captures her attention: the enigmatic 'Big Swiss.' As fate (and small-town dynamics) would have it, she meets this woman in real life, and the story takes off with intrigue, drama, and unexpected connection. The writing is sharp, sexy, and packed with dry humour. It's gossipy in the best way, like eavesdropping on a very juicy secret. A perfect summer read that's both smart and irresistibly entertaining. Even more exciting? It's being adapted into an HBO series starring Jodie Comer. If you love character-driven, offbeat stories with a voyeuristic twist, this one's a must. Ella Duggan, Production Journalist The first book in the epic Neapolitan novels series charts the early years of the relationship between protagonist Elena and her friend Lila. The dark heart of their neighborhood is exposed after the murder of crime boss Don Achille, a sinister figure whose death rearranges the power dynamics of the intertwined families. Against the backdrop of an impoverished Naples and woven into a complex and claustrophobic community, the two girls navigate love, class, education and betrayal. But through books and writing, Elena is given glimpses of life outside her neighbourhood. Each character is flawed and complicated, and we experience the sometimes catastrophic consequences of their decisions along with them. Will Elena's education, always measured against her intelligent but sometimes cruel friend Lila, allow her to transcend her oppressive situation? Samuel Mathewson, Audience Editor With the critically acclaimed Netflix series Ripley causing a stir earlier in the year, American novelist Patricia Highsmith's wily anti-hero Tom Ripley has captured a new generation of fans. The first book in the series, which was originally published in 1955, tells the story of Tom Ripley, a young, aimless man from New York who is offered a lot of money by the wealthy father of Dickie Greenleaf to go to Italy and persuade him to return to America. Tom integrates himself with Dickie and his girlfriend Marge on the sunny Italian coast, and becomes enamoured with the Mediterranean lifestyle. But when Tom's relationship with Dickie becomes more and more unsettling, Marge begins to suspect that Tom isn't everything he claims to be. Things turn deadly and Tom has to go on the run from the Italian police. The book's vivid portrayal of towns and cities across Italy coupled with a nail-biting narrative will draw you into Tom Ripley's twisted universe. Samuel Mathewson, Audience Editor If you find yourself sweltering by a pool this summer, forget dipping in the water to cool off. Instead, dive into this captivating memoir, which follows painter Christiane Ritter as she decides to join her hunter-trapper husband in the Arctic Circle, where the mercury falls as low as -35C. Just reading about the icy, sub-zero conditions is enough to make your temperature drop. Spending a year living in an isolated hut in Spitsbergen – an island in the Svalbard archipelago – Ritter endures everything from dwindling supplies to the threat of polar bears. From unblinking daylight and glittering glaciers in summer to never-ending nights and severe storms in winter, Ritter marvels at her surroundings and discovers what it takes to survive so far north. What makes the author's Arctic adventure even more awe-inspiring is the fact it took place in the 1930s, without any of the hi-tech gear used by polar explorers today. Like all the best travel writers, Ritter transports readers to the otherworldly landscape she encounters. Even if your own travels are more likely to involve swimwear and sangria than snow boots and sea ice, you can't help but be drawn in by Ritter's grit and good humour. The 'unimaginable world of splendour and beauty' she describes is enough to make you want to say goodbye to sun loungers in Saint-Tropez, in favour of eking out an existence in a frozen shack in Svalbard. Well, almost – on second thought, perhaps it's better to stick to reading about it by the pool. Angharad Moran, Senior Production Journalist Everyone was reading or talking about this book at one point, and it's still a strong contender for your summer reading pile. The main character uses sleep as a form of extreme 'rest and relaxation' – the goal being to sleep for a year to escape feelings of disillusionment and emerge anew, which she attempts by getting sleep-inducing medications from a bizarre, very questionable psychiatrist. It mostly unfolds in her New York apartment, and socialising is more of less limited to one dysfunctional friendship, so it's a claustrophobic read. Dark, but very funny, it covers themes of isolation, grief, and privilege. If you like a book with lots of twists and turns then this may bore you (it can be quite repetitive), but it's an interesting take on something like self care, and quite addicting. I'm about halfway through Maud Ventura's My Husband, translated from French by Emma Ramadan, on Audible, and I can't wait to get back to it. Consumed with thoughts of her husband, even after years of marriage, the protagonist of the novel is, to put it plainly, obsessed with him. She ruminates on her husband's behaviour, second-guesses his feelings for her, and, in pursuit of a perfect relationship, takes things to the extreme. It's unnerving and, at points, quietly hilarious. A dark, compelling novel, this reads as easily as a hot knife glides through butter, making it (so far) the perfect psychological thriller to pick up and rip through by the pool this summer. Lois Borny, Production Journalist and Writer I knew from the start that Tiny Beautiful Things was going to be something special. As an anonymous advice column turned book, this read is for the deep and introspective – for those who see a holiday as a time to slow down and reconnect with themselves. I found pieces of myself in stories that weren't mine, reminding me how deeply connected we all are. It's a book that nudges you to spend more time with your thoughts, along with the quiet, everyday moments that make up your life. It's raw, honest, and comforting in the way a conversation with someone who truly sees you would be. A perfect companion for long, reflective summer days. Niki Cottrell, In seven short stories, Haruki Murakami leads the reader through the lives and stories of men who have loved and lost women in some way in their lives, and the lasting impact that each of these relationships hold. Although translated from Japanese, so I'm not reading it in its original form, Murakami has a unique way of storytelling that makes all of his books so easy to read. This one felt especially impactful in the way that it examined completely different relationships with completely different types of people and, while remaining fully their own stories, brought together an overall message of appreciation for women and their impact on men. I took Men without Women with me on a beach holiday this year and it was a perfect holiday read in it being a short, easily digestible book with vivid imagery and depth. There was a sense of calm that I had while reading this book, as I've experienced with other Murakami books, that keep the author at the top of my list in stories to reach for. Niki Cottrell,
The Guardian
02-07-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Choose comfort, ditch boring and prioritise pleasure – how to find the perfect beach read
Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina is a masterpiece. It has never been out of print. Luminaries from William Faulkner to Jilly Cooper have remarked on its brilliance. It is usually within the top 10 of any list of the '100 books you simply must read before you die'. However, I would argue that it's a singularly poor choice of a book to bring with you for 10 days on the beach in Tenerife. Especially in hardback. I really tried. Every day, I'd read two or three pages before realising I'd read the same pages the day before, and it simply hadn't stuck. I kept drifting off during the more complex descriptions of 19th-century property law. I simply couldn't see what Anna saw in Vronsky; he seemed dreadful, just a slightly different kind of dreadful from her husband, Karenin. My arms ached, the sand seemed unusually gritty, and on day four, as children shrieked and splashed around me, their parents read Jack Reacher books while I failed to understand the significance of Levin scything his fields, I thought, 'No more!' My luggage allowance was about 20kg. Tolstoy had taken up more than a tenth of it, and 100% of my headspace. I couldn't relax. I wasn't enjoying myself. When I found a Sophie Kinsella novel in the hotel gift shop, I almost wept with relief. It didn't matter that I'd already read The Undomestic Goddess – my aching brain craved comfort and joy, and it simply wasn't finding it on Russian railway lines. As an author and a reader, it makes me sad that 'beach read' has become a pejorative term. In my book Read Yourself Happy, I investigate the enormous positive impact that reading has on our wellbeing – and I discover that we can only experience the benefits of books if we're enjoying what we're reading. I believe that any reading we do is good for us, if it captures our attention and stimulates our imagination. The results of a 2016 Yale University study demonstrated that readers of books tend to live longer; another, published by the National Library of Medicine in 2020, showed that reading wards off cognitive decline. But studies also show that fewer children and adults are reading for pleasure. A 2024 survey from the Reading Agency found that 35% of us used to read for fun, but we've let the habit lapse. It's understandable, because it's incredibly difficult to cultivate a reading habit in the 21st century. We all think we 'should' read, in the way we think we 'should' do more exercise. We put it off. We pick up our phones and wish we could put them down again. It's very hard for books to compete with our phones, because books don't tend to light up, or vibrate, or flash with notifications. Books haven't been designed to be addictive. We plan to read when we have some free time. Eventually we go on holiday and promise ourselves that we'll tackle some serious Russian literature, or we bring the Booker winner with us. And we struggle to concentrate and connect with the story because we're not used to using our reading muscles. We long to pick up our phones and scroll instead. We feel angry with ourselves, and we resent the books. Reading feels like a chore, and we don't feel as though we're having the relaxing, reviving, nourishing holiday that we need. After my failed attempt to read Anna Karenina, I vowed to prioritise pleasure when choosing my holiday reading, jettisoning anything that felt too much like holiday homework. And I started to notice some surprising changes. First, I started to relax much more quickly. I didn't waste the first two days in a state of anxious agitation, struggling to switch off. In the past, I'd felt fidgety and restless when I was lying by the pool. However, when I found a book I loved, I lay with purpose. My sleep seemed to improve. I felt calmer and more grounded. It changed my focus, too. When I wasn't reading, I felt more present – I was better at listening to conversations and paying attention. During day trips, I didn't have the urge to scroll through my phone seeking out recommendations for better restaurant options or nicer beaches. I didn't have the same irritable holiday squabbles with my husband. This was partly because I felt happy and relaxed, and partly because most of those squabbles are about missing phone chargers and power adaptors. Reading was reducing my screen time, and I wasn't draining my phone battery. Most importantly, reading for pleasure made me feel that I'd benefited from the holiday. We go away because we need to relax and recharge. A holiday is supposed to have health benefits. And reading might be the magical secret that ensures we feel those benefits. It's one way to truly get away from it all. It's easy to dismiss 'fun' summer books: because they are so easy to read, critics (wrongly) assume that they must be easy to write. But in a world where everything can feel very difficult, easy books are more valid and valuable than ever. They bring us lasting, nourishing pleasure. Sarah Maxwell, the founder of England's first romance-only bookstore, Saucy Books, says that this summer the shop will be celebrating and focusing on beach reads. She says: 'A so-called 'beach read' can often reach places a serious book can't – especially when we're craving ease, escape or a dose of delight. Summer is a time to recharge, and reading for pleasure is one of the simplest, most nourishing ways to reconnect with yourself.' So when you're packing for your holiday, and fretting about reading the books that will impress your friends and intimidate your enemies, why not try to give yourself 'a dose of delight'? If you'd like to get the most from your time away, and read yourself happy, here are some suggestions. It sounds counterintuitive, but it might be worth bringing a book that you've already read. When I'm especially stressed, or struggling with anxiety, I bring one that I know I love. I find rereading very comforting, and sometimes I need to warm up with something familiar and remind myself that sitting down with a book feels good. It takes the pressure off the reading experience – and it feels like being reunited with old, beloved friends. If the idea of rereading an old book doesn't appeal, look for a book by a writer you've enjoyed before, or something from a series of books. (You can't go wrong with Poirot or Miss Marple.) Sometimes I start my holiday reading before I go on holiday. In the run-up to a trip, it feels as though there's never enough time to pack, clear my desk and do my laundry – but if I try to read a few pages every day, I feel the benefits as soon as I arrive. It can take a couple of chapters to get into a book, and it's difficult to focus in a new environment, even if it's supposed to be a relaxing space. But if I'm already invested in the narrative, I'm excited about picking it up as soon as I arrive. (And if I have been reading on the plane or train, I find the arrival process – waiting for luggage and going through passport control – a lot less stressful.) If I'm going on holiday with friends or family, I'll suggest we share and swap our books. That way, we can maximise our luggage allowance, and avoid a situation in which we have eight copies of We Solve Murders and All Fours between us. One of my favourite holidays was a trip to France with my sisters, where we all took it in turns to read The Disaster Artist – Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell's wild account of working with Tommy Wiseau on The Room ('the greatest bad movie ever made'). Of course, remember not to bring a prized first edition. Take a book that can be replaced if the worst happens. When books are being read and thoroughly enjoyed on holiday, they risk being dropped in the pool or covered in sun cream. Perhaps the most important piece of holiday advice is this: if you don't like the book you're reading, you don't have to finish it. Be fair to yourself, and fair to the book. Holidays are supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable. For example, if you work for Nasa and you're taking a break from a stressful workplace, you might feel tense and triggered after three chapters of Atmosphere, Taylor Jenkins Reid's new astronaut novel. Reading is a subjective experience. I will rarely give up on a book – but I often pick up a book and put it down again, realising I need to be in a better mood to get the best from it. And sometimes, changing to a more fun book is all it takes to put me in that better mood. I returned to Anna Karenina eventually. It took me a few years to do so – and I spent that time building up my reading muscles. I read it for pleasure, and by the time I was ready, my appetite for pleasure had become much broader. I didn't need to learn how to read; I needed to learn to love to read again. It was that Sophie Kinsella book that reminded me of the power of brilliant storytelling. The experience of losing myself in the novel was delicious, and it made me greedy for more. Reading for the sheer fun of it fills up my emotional tank and gives me the strength to attempt 'challenging' books. Maybe even more importantly, they also give me the strength to deal with challenging real-life situations. When I'm cheerfully immersing myself in a series of happily-ever-afters, I feel more optimistic and positive. I see the best in people, and I'm kinder and more patient. Life starts to imitate art. Reading always leaves me feeling better and calmer. I never regret picking up a book, and I'm so grateful to have discovered a hobby that makes me happy, as well as making me feel as though I'm on holiday. It's good to keep the holiday vibes alive and kicking on a dark, rainy Saturday afternoon in November. And I'm confident that reading for pleasure this summer will ensure you have a better time on the beach. But I suspect the benefits will outlast the trip, too. My holiday reading romance has been going on for years, and rediscovering my passion for romcoms made me realise that books had been my true love all along. Book Boyfriend by Lucy VineSimon & SchusterJenna is a reader, and a dreamer. When a secret admirer starts leaving her letters in her favourite book, she's reluctant to take the relationship off the page. But her chaotic twin, Clara, is determined to solve the mystery. This classic romcom is utterly charming – a gorgeous dollop of escapist fun. Tiny Daggers by Caroline CorcoranThomas & MercerBritish expat Holly has built herself a perfect life in Miami – but when her old schoolfriend, also called Holly, turns up, she might have the power to pull the thread and destroy it all. But which one is Good Holly, and which one is Bad Holly? This twisty thriller is a perfect poolside read. How To Make A Killing by Kate WestonHeadlineWhen Bella, the star agent at Harrington Estates, is murdered, people start to ask just how far her colleagues will go to make a sale. It's a riotous comedy with a body count. If you've ever harboured murderous thoughts about estate agents, this is the book for you. Say You'll Remember Me by Abby JimenezLittle, BrownSamantha falls for the hot and improbably named vet Xavier Rush almost instantly – and so do we. But, of course, they can't be together. Can they? Completely captivating and instantly addictive, if you want to remember the sheer, giddy fun of falling in love, this is the one to read. Can't Get Enough by Kennedy RyanPiatkusHendrix Barry is glamorous, fabulous and successful – but behind the scenes, life isn't so easy, as she has to take care of her ageing mother. She certainly doesn't have time for love. Until tech mogul Maverick Bell shows up. Ryan is Jackie Collins for the BookTok crowd – her romcoms are smartly written, laced with spice and so much fun to read. Read Yourself Happy by Daisy Buchanan (DK Red, £16.99). To support the Guardian, order your copy at Delivery charges may apply. The new series of Daisy Buchanan's podcast, You're Booked, will be recommending summer reads for every different mood, destination and suitcase. This article was amended on 2 July 2025 to describe Saucy Books as England's first romance-only bookstore; owing to an error introduced during editing, an earlier version had described it as the UK's first such store.
The Guardian
02-07-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Choose comfort, ditch boring and prioritise pleasure – how to find the perfect beach read
Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina is a masterpiece. It has never been out of print. Luminaries from William Faulkner to Jilly Cooper have remarked on its brilliance. It is usually within the top 10 of any list of the '100 books you simply must read before you die'. However, I would argue that it's a singularly poor choice of a book to bring with you for 10 days on the beach in Tenerife. Especially in hardback. I really tried. Every day, I'd read two or three pages before realising I'd read the same pages the day before, and it simply hadn't stuck. I kept drifting off during the more complex descriptions of 19th-century property law. I simply couldn't see what Anna saw in Vronsky; he seemed dreadful, just a slightly different kind of dreadful from her husband, Karenin. My arms ached, the sand seemed unusually gritty, and on day four, as children shrieked and splashed around me, their parents read Jack Reacher books while I failed to understand the significance of Levin scything his fields, I thought, 'No more!' My luggage allowance was about 20kg. Tolstoy had taken up more than a tenth of it, and 100% of my headspace. I couldn't relax. I wasn't enjoying myself. When I found a Sophie Kinsella novel in the hotel gift shop, I almost wept with relief. It didn't matter that I'd already read The Undomestic Goddess – my aching brain craved comfort and joy, and it simply wasn't finding it on Russian railway lines. As an author and a reader, it makes me sad that 'beach read' has become a pejorative term. In my book Read Yourself Happy, I investigate the enormous positive impact that reading has on our wellbeing – and I discover that we can only experience the benefits of books if we're enjoying what we're reading. I believe that any reading we do is good for us, if it captures our attention and stimulates our imagination. The results of a 2016 Yale University study demonstrated that readers of books tend to live longer; another, published by the National Library of Medicine in 2020, showed that reading wards off cognitive decline. But studies also show that fewer children and adults are reading for pleasure. A 2024 survey from the Reading Agency found that 35% of us used to read for fun, but we've let the habit lapse. It's understandable, because it's incredibly difficult to cultivate a reading habit in the 21st century. We all think we 'should' read, in the way we think we 'should' do more exercise. We put it off. We pick up our phones and wish we could put them down again. It's very hard for books to compete with our phones, because books don't tend to light up, or vibrate, or flash with notifications. Books haven't been designed to be addictive. We plan to read when we have some free time. Eventually we go on holiday and promise ourselves that we'll tackle some serious Russian literature, or we bring the Booker winner with us. And we struggle to concentrate and connect with the story because we're not used to using our reading muscles. We long to pick up our phones and scroll instead. We feel angry with ourselves, and we resent the books. Reading feels like a chore, and we don't feel as though we're having the relaxing, reviving, nourishing holiday that we need. After my failed attempt to read Anna Karenina, I vowed to prioritise pleasure when choosing my holiday reading, jettisoning anything that felt too much like holiday homework. And I started to notice some surprising changes. First, I started to relax much more quickly. I didn't waste the first two days in a state of anxious agitation, struggling to switch off. In the past, I'd felt fidgety and restless when I was lying by the pool. However, when I found a book I loved, I lay with purpose. My sleep seemed to improve. I felt calmer and more grounded. It changed my focus, too. When I wasn't reading, I felt more present – I was better at listening to conversations and paying attention. During day trips, I didn't have the urge to scroll through my phone seeking out recommendations for better restaurant options or nicer beaches. I didn't have the same irritable holiday squabbles with my husband. This was partly because I felt happy and relaxed, and partly because most of those squabbles are about missing phone chargers and power adaptors. Reading was reducing my screen time, and I wasn't draining my phone battery. Most importantly, reading for pleasure made me feel that I'd benefited from the holiday. We go away because we need to relax and recharge. A holiday is supposed to have health benefits. And reading might be the magical secret that ensures we feel those benefits. It's one way to truly get away from it all. It's easy to dismiss 'fun' summer books: because they are so easy to read, critics (wrongly) assume that they must be easy to write. But in a world where everything can feel very difficult, easy books are more valid and valuable than ever. They bring us lasting, nourishing pleasure. Sarah Maxwell, the founder of the UK's first romance-only bookstore, Saucy Books, says that this summer the shop will be celebrating and focusing on beach reads. She says: 'A so-called 'beach read' can often reach places a serious book can't – especially when we're craving ease, escape or a dose of delight. Summer is a time to recharge, and reading for pleasure is one of the simplest, most nourishing ways to reconnect with yourself.' So when you're packing for your holiday, and fretting about reading the books that will impress your friends and intimidate your enemies, why not try to give yourself 'a dose of delight'? If you'd like to get the most from your time away, and read yourself happy, here are some suggestions. It sounds counterintuitive, but it might be worth bringing a book that you've already read. When I'm especially stressed, or struggling with anxiety, I bring one that I know I love. I find rereading very comforting, and sometimes I need to warm up with something familiar and remind myself that sitting down with a book feels good. It takes the pressure off the reading experience – and it feels like being reunited with old, beloved friends. If the idea of rereading an old book doesn't appeal, look for a book by a writer you've enjoyed before, or something from a series of books. (You can't go wrong with Poirot or Miss Marple.) Sometimes I start my holiday reading before I go on holiday. In the run-up to a trip, it feels as though there's never enough time to pack, clear my desk and do my laundry – but if I try to read a few pages every day, I feel the benefits as soon as I arrive. It can take a couple of chapters to get into a book, and it's difficult to focus in a new environment, even if it's supposed to be a relaxing space. But if I'm already invested in the narrative, I'm excited about picking it up as soon as I arrive. (And if I have been reading on the plane or train, I find the arrival process – waiting for luggage and going through passport control – a lot less stressful.) If I'm going on holiday with friends or family, I'll suggest we share and swap our books. That way, we can maximise our luggage allowance, and avoid a situation in which we have eight copies of We Solve Murders and All Fours between us. One of my favourite holidays was a trip to France with my sisters, where we all took it in turns to read The Disaster Artist – Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell's wild account of working with Tommy Wiseau on The Room ('the greatest bad movie ever made'). Of course, remember not to bring a prized first edition. Take a book that can be replaced if the worst happens. When books are being read and thoroughly enjoyed on holiday, they risk being dropped in the pool or covered in sun cream. Perhaps the most important piece of holiday advice is this: if you don't like the book you're reading, you don't have to finish it. Be fair to yourself, and fair to the book. Holidays are supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable. For example, if you work for Nasa and you're taking a break from a stressful workplace, you might feel tense and triggered after three chapters of Atmosphere, Taylor Jenkins Reid's new astronaut novel. Reading is a subjective experience. I will rarely give up on a book – but I often pick up a book and put it down again, realising I need to be in a better mood to get the best from it. And sometimes, changing to a more fun book is all it takes to put me in that better mood. I returned to Anna Karenina eventually. It took me a few years to do so – and I spent that time building up my reading muscles. I read it for pleasure, and by the time I was ready, my appetite for pleasure had become much broader. I didn't need to learn how to read; I needed to learn to love to read again. It was that Sophie Kinsella book that reminded me of the power of brilliant storytelling. The experience of losing myself in the novel was delicious, and it made me greedy for more. Reading for the sheer fun of it fills up my emotional tank and gives me the strength to attempt 'challenging' books. Maybe even more importantly, they also give me the strength to deal with challenging real-life situations. When I'm cheerfully immersing myself in a series of happily-ever-afters, I feel more optimistic and positive. I see the best in people, and I'm kinder and more patient. Life starts to imitate art. Reading always leaves me feeling better and calmer. I never regret picking up a book, and I'm so grateful to have discovered a hobby that makes me happy, as well as making me feel as though I'm on holiday. It's good to keep the holiday vibes alive and kicking on a dark, rainy Saturday afternoon in November. And I'm confident that reading for pleasure this summer will ensure you have a better time on the beach. But I suspect the benefits will outlast the trip, too. My holiday reading romance has been going on for years, and rediscovering my passion for romcoms made me realise that books had been my true love all along. Book Boyfriend by Lucy VineSimon & SchusterJenna is a reader, and a dreamer. When a secret admirer starts leaving her letters in her favourite book, she's reluctant to take the relationship off the page. But her chaotic twin, Clara, is determined to solve the mystery. This classic romcom is utterly charming – a gorgeous dollop of escapist fun. Tiny Daggers by Caroline CorcoranThomas & MercerBritish expat Holly has built herself a perfect life in Miami – but when her old schoolfriend, also called Holly, turns up, she might have the power to pull the thread and destroy it all. But which one is Good Holly, and which one is Bad Holly? This twisty thriller is a perfect poolside read. How To Make A Killing by Kate WestonHeadlineWhen Bella, the star agent at Harrington Estates, is murdered, people start to ask just how far her colleagues will go to make a sale. It's a riotous comedy with a body count. If you've ever harboured murderous thoughts about estate agents, this is the book for you. Say You'll Remember Me by Abby JimenezLittle, BrownSamantha falls for the hot and improbably named vet Xavier Rush almost instantly – and so do we. But, of course, they can't be together. Can they? Completely captivating and instantly addictive, if you want to remember the sheer, giddy fun of falling in love, this is the one to read. Can't Get Enough by Kennedy RyanPiatkusHendrix Barry is glamorous, fabulous and successful – but behind the scenes, life isn't so easy, as she has to take care of her ageing mother. She certainly doesn't have time for love. Until tech mogul Maverick Bell shows up. Ryan is Jackie Collins for the BookTok crowd – her romcoms are smartly written, laced with spice and so much fun to read. Read Yourself Happy by Daisy Buchanan (DK Red, £16.99). To support the Guardian, order your copy at Delivery charges may apply. The new series of Daisy Buchanan's podcast, You're Booked, will be recommending summer reads for every different mood, destination and suitcase.
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Books You Should Actually Be Reading This Summer, According to ELLE Editors
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." For those of us who believe a packed bag is never complete without two (or ten) books, summer is our time. Nothing compares to the euphoria of a wide-open weekend, warm weather, a good book, a good view, and a sweating glass of something close at hand. If you're craving such synergy, perhaps the trickiest question isn't even where to go; it's what to bring with you. Still, the very definition of 'beach read' is fluid, subject to your taste. With that in mind, ELLE editors have compiled a list of new summer books that run the gamut between realism and fantasy, romance and horror, literary and breezy—with the hopes you'll find a read to fit your itinerary. Without further ado, below are our picks for the best books of summer 2025, as defined by the months of June, July, and August. Don't forget your sunscreen. With contributions from Kayla Webley Adler, Sara Austin, Moriel Mizrahi Finder, Adrienne Gaffney, and Kathleen now. 'In S.A. Cosby's riveting crime thriller King of Ashes, investment manager Roman Carruthers wakes from a dream of his mother—who went missing when he and his siblings were teenagers—only to discover his father has been in a terrible accident. Roman returns home to the former manufacturing epicenter known as Jefferson Run, Virginia, where his sister, Neveah, is struggling to keep the family crematorium running. But it's their brother, Dante, who's in the worst trouble of their trio. As Roman and Neveah discover that their father's accident was no accident at all, they learn Dante is in debt to a dangerous local gang, and Roman's deep pockets might not be enough to placate them. The criminals want Roman's skills, and soon he's embedded with them, fighting for his family while wrestling with the morality—or lack thereof—of his choices. Cosby drives his readers through the story at full-throttle, and yet little ends up rushed: His characters are deeply crafted, and the issues at the heart of his epic are rightfully complex. This is yet another smash hit from the author of All the Sinners Bleed.'—Lauren Puckett-Pope, culture writer $23.85 at now. ''I grew up fully aware that my father was a brilliant man whose expertise I should never ever question. Did I believe that he was a good man? That's another question entirely,' writes Janelle Brown—from the perspective of her protagonist, Jane—in What Kind of Paradise, a perfect sort of immersive, tantalizing, thought-provoking summer read. The novel centers Jane, who grew up idolizing her father and adhering to his isolationism during her off-the-grid upbringing in mid-'90s rural Montana. But when he decides to publish an anti-tech manifesto and she becomes his inadvertent accomplice-in-crime, Jane ultimately makes a run for it. She lands in the tech mecca of San Francisco, where she hopes to learn the truth about her mother's long-ago death whilst immersing herself in the very technology her father condemns. A thriller and a coming-of-age saga, What Kind of Paradise is a gripping reckoning with family, AI, and what we do in the pursuit of progress.'—LPP $17.76 at now.'Early in Susan Choi's latest book, 10-year-old Louisa and her father disappear on a beach. Only one of them will eventually be found. What begins as a standard thriller veers in an unexpected direction as Louisa's parents' histories—her mother's estrangement from her American family and her father's from his in North Korea—become an inescapable factor in this story from the National Book Award-winning author of Trust Exercise. '—Adrienne Gaffney, features editor $26.44 at now. 'I'll Tell You When I'm Home is not a straightforward story, but neither is Hala Alyan's. Told in hundreds of bite-sized segments that give her memoir the rhythm of her poetry, Alyan threads together 11 chapters, each organized by a month in the growth cycle of a fetus. (For example, 'Month Three: Your baby has fingers and toes,' and 'Month Seven: Your baby is the size of a coconut.') These passages provide entry points for Alyan to organize—and attempt to make sense of—her ancestral history; her frequent displacement throughout childhood; her relationships; her struggles with addiction, disordered eating, and sobriety; and, after multiple miscarriages, her journey to have a child via surrogate. 'I have never not been Palestinian,' she writes in one section. 'That has never not been written upon my body.' And it is in the writing about her body—its history, its travel, its desires, its pains, its othering, its future, its continuation in the tiny form of her child—that Alyan triumphs. This is a beautiful, soul-bearing book.'—LPP $24.12 at now.'A recent college graduate, David Smith is torn between two identities—that of a wealthy Stanford grad and of a Black, queer man. When he's arrested for drug possession, he realizes that the world of elite misbehavior that his friends live in is one that he cannot fully join. Author Rob Franklin beautifully illustrates the bubbly excesses of youth coming up against the sobering realities of racism, addiction, and violence.'—AG $25.99 at now. 'A quick read—the kind you can definitely finish in a couple summer afternoons—Jess Walter's latest crackles with the author's wit, even whilst immersing itself in the thick of modern American woes. So Far Gone's protagonist is Rhys Kinnick, a former environmental journalist who opts for an off-the-grid lifestyle after a seismic clash with his son-in-law, a conspiracy theorist whose repeated tirades about 'secular globalists' and the 'lame-stream media' ultimately push Kinnick over the edge. But when, years later, his grandchildren show up outside Kinnick's door, their mother inexplicably missing, Kinnick is pulled into a zany adventure (with an equally entertaining ensemble cast) as he attempts to bring his family back together.'—LPP $14.87 at now. 'In this superb speculative tale from the author of Lakewood, seven strange and inexplicable portals appear in random locations around the planet. These portals inspire fear and awe and, in some, faith. Years after the doors' appearance, twin daughters Ayanna and Olivia live separately, each with a different parent: Ayanna with their father, who grew up in a religious group devoted to one of the portals, and Olivia with their mother, a traditional Roman Catholic. When Ayanna comes of age and is called to step through the portal, Olivia decides to join her—but then Olivia goes missing. Meet Me at the Crossroads is a stirring, meditative story of spirituality, family, and the desire to love deeply in a difficult world.'—LPP $23.19 at now. ''How do we not lose ourselves in love? How do we hold on to our beliefs and our ethics in the face of great feeling?' Melissa Febos proposed these questions to me during our ELLE interview last October, during which she announced her next book: The Dry Season, a memoir about her year abstaining from sex. As Febos put it, she spent that year 'trying to let go of this lineage that I think I had belonged to, involuntarily, of these overemotional, romantic people who were thrown around by love and romance and very obsessive and out of control. I spent this time looking for people who had big, self-actualized, beautiful, art-oriented lives that didn't necessarily exclude love, but weren't ruled by it—or at least by this romantic fantasy of it.' Her resulting memoir is indeed 'self-actualized, beautiful, and art-oriented,' weaving literary, cultural, and historical touchstones with her own experience. As Febos showed us with her previous books, including Girlhood and Body Work, it is always a privilege to ponder the big questions through her distinct lens.'—LPP $24.45 at now. 'After V. E. Schwab's 2020 bestseller The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue blew up during the pandemic, fans have eagerly awaited the next stand-alone adult novel from the author known for her grounded fantasy stories. In Bury Our Bones, which Schwab calls her 'toxic lesbian vampires' book, three women navigate centuries of blood lust in this portrait of queer identity, feminine resilience, and unrelenting thirst. This is without a doubt one of my favorite fantasies of the year.'—LPP $20.98 at now.''Few things have I been surer of: the woman at the front at the top row of my double decker is my mother.' And so Yrsa Daley-Ward introduces us to the central conceit at the heart of her debut novel, in which Clara, a high-profile author, sees her long-missing mother in the middle of London—and she looks far younger than her would-be 60-odd years. Who, then, is this woman? Clara's twin sister, Dempsey, thinks she is a con artist. Clara is less convinced. But the story only grows stranger when we learn this version of their mother is childless; she never gave birth to Clara or Dempsey. On top of that, Daley-Ward incorporates a book-within-a-book approach that plants pieces of Clara's blockbuster novel, Evidence, alongside her mother's writing. The results are strange, kaleidoscopic, smart—difficult to describe but hypnotic in their pull. The Catch is a mind-bending feat.'—LPP $25.99 at now.'I'll devour just about anything written by or about Toni Morrison, whose incomparable works of literature—including Beloved, The Bluest Eye, Sula, and so many others—continue to inspire readers decades after their publication. But I, along with many others, have understood Morrison mainly in this context: as an author. So it's a gift to peek behind the curtain of Morrison's indeed 'legendary' editorship at Random House (from 1965 through 1983) in Dana A. Williams's Toni at Random. This biography, of course, is intriguing for those of us obsessed with the ins and outs of publishing, but even readers less inclined to weigh the industry's merits will find material to appreciate in Williams's account. Although the book skews occasionally academic, Toni at Random is also a balanced and fascinatingly well-researched account of Morrison's editorial vision—and how it still impacts what we read today.'—LPP $24.53 at now. 'Despite having no sisters, I love and crave stories of sisterhood. And Kakigori Summer is a tale of sisterhood as delicious and finely textured as the shaved-ice dessert its protagonists relish in, and from which the book draws its title. Bittersweet, nostalgic, and easy to envision, Emily Itami's novel introduces us to three sisters: Rei, a driven finance worker in London; Kiki, a Tokyo-based single mother and retirement home employee; and Ali, a J-pop star whose scandalous kiss with a married man draws the paparazzi a little too close. Rei and Kiki rush in to offer Ali some much-needed insulation, and the three escape to the coastal Japanese town where their grandmother still resides. Over the course of the summer, they reckon with their relationship to one another, as well as the loss of their mother years prior. The coastal setting is itself a character in this book, and perhaps one of the book's biggest selling points—Itami makes the landscape feel as real as the bond between the sisters. A lovely, tender-hearted tale.'—LPP $24.56 at now. 'In this whimsical beach read from Ashley Poston, known for her magical love stories, songwriter Joni Lark is suffering from a bout of writer's block. She heads home to North Carolina, where her parents want to close the family-owned music venue. But then Joni realizes she has a telepathic connection with a has-been musician. Can they use their link to write the perfect song—and save the summer?'—LPP $21.70 at now. 'Taylor Jenkins Reid's latest heroine is going to space. In 1980, astrophysics professor Joan's unexpected selection for NASA's Space Shuttle program puts her in line to be one of the first female astronauts. Atmosphere tells Joan's gripping, sensitive, and romantic story of finding love in a career where disaster is a constant threat.'—AG $21.00 at now. 'A gorgeous queer literary romance, Marie Rutkoski's Ordinary Love depicts the second-chance romance between former teenage girlfriends Emily and Gen. Years have passed since their relationship ended, and Emily is now married with two children, an Upper East Side townhouse, and an abusive hedge-fund-manager husband she met at Harvard. Gen, meanwhile, is a world-renowned Olympic athlete. When Emily and Gen reunite, much has changed about them both—but the chemistry between them remains. As Emily wrestles with a separation from her husband and all that it portends, she must also contend with Gen's reappearance in her life. There is still anger and hurt between them, and Emily isn't sure she can handle any more emotional damage after years of her husband's abuse. But the connection Gen and Emily share is maybe, just maybe, worth fighting to keep.'—LPP $24.68 at June 24. 'Within the first few pages of Hal Ebbott's debut novel Among Friends, I knew I needed to go scrounge up a highlighter. There are so many of Ebbott's lines that sing, each of them elegant and insightful in their clarity. (Here's one favorite: 'They were like scars, these talents, like things learned in war: even when they were of use, part of her wished not to know.') The book depicts the seemingly effortless friendship between two families—and particularly between their two patriarchs, Amos and Emerson, who first met in college. Although their backgrounds couldn't be more different, they are drawn together, their trust implicit and undeniable. Decades later, they remain close friends, as are their wives and daughters, and the families reunite for a weekend upstate—a yearly tradition amongst their group. But when one of them chooses to wield their power in a shocking act of abuse, they each are given a choice: Continue as if nothing's happened, or reckon with the rot that's always been present in their lives. Among Friends is utterly engrossing; I'm already begging my friends to read it so we can discuss the ending.'—LPP $26.48 at June 24. 'By now Lisa Jewell is well-beloved for the addicting quality of her thrillers, and her latest, Don't Let Him In, is no exception. From the first page, the book feels taut with danger, its characters tangled in a web they can't yet recognize. The plot is shaped like a classic domestic suspense: A man is not who he says he is. (He is, in fact, utterly awful!) But the identity of that man is not initially known to the women in his life, including a widow named Nina, her daughter, Ash, and a local florist named Martha, whose lives unexpectedly intersect when this man's charm proves a horrible facade. I can't reveal much more without spoiling Jewell's twists, but suffice to say, this is one of those gripping beach reads sure to keep you flipping the pages on your next flight.'—LPP $20.99 at June 24. 'Adela's parents are furious when she becomes pregnant at 16, and they quickly send her to live with her grandmother in Florida. But what was intended as a punishment turns into something beautiful. What she finds in her new home is an incredible community of teenage moms, girls who have been looked down on by their community but who have created a family together. Mottley shows that while young mothers face incredible challenges, their lives can still be full of extraordinary love and joy.'—AG $28.00 at June 24.'Leesa Cross-Smith—the author behind Half-Blown Rose and This Close to Okay, among others—turns her eye for intimate connection toward three Americans adrift in Seoul in As You Wish. Lydia, Jenny, and Selene have arrived as au pairs hoping to rewrite their own scripts: Lydia longs for a main-character life, Jenny is determined to put romance firmly in the rear view, and Selene believes South Korea holds the key to finding the birth mother she's never met. Their paths—and secret wishes—intertwine on a weekend trip to a mythic waterfall said to grant desires. When one of them circles back for a do-over, the ripple effect forces all three to reckon with what they truly want and what they're willing to risk for it, turning a fizzy drama into something richer: a meditation on friendship as the greatest magic of all. The result is a cozy escape that reminds us every wish carries its own shadow—and that sometimes the happiest ending is finding the people who understand yours.'—Moriel Mizrahi Finder, editorial assistant $17.67 at June 24. 'Pitched as Love Island meets Lord of the Flies—which, woof, that's enough of a heady concoction to draw in readers already—Aisling Rawle's debut is an intoxicating literary suspense. It takes place on the set of a reality dating competition—filmed in a desert compound sometime in a dystopian future—in which an uneven number of male and female contestants must compete to spend each night with someone of the opposite sex. Along the way, they must complete tasks and competitions for rewards. Some are relatively harmless ('Wear another girl's clothes without asking'), while others ('Banish a couple from the compound') veer darker. At the center of this game is Lily, who is young, beautiful, and content to do whatever it takes to win. A slow-burning but scathing assessment of consumerism, vanity, and our deep-rooted desires to perform.'—LPP $20.30 at July 1. 'I'm a long-time reader of Maris Kreizman's work at Literary Hub and beyond, so it was a pleasure to get her takes on issues that have less to do with publishing in particular and more to do with America writ large. I zipped through I Want to Burn This Place Down, her new book of essays, impressed by how much ground Kreizman manages to cover in such a slim volume. Although these pieces are far from comprehensive—nor do they claim to be—they effectively critique many of the liberal beliefs she once accepted without challenge. (These beliefs included, among others, that labor organizing is 'impractical' and that cops are uniformly heroic.) Kreizman chronicles her own identity shift from 'good Democrat' to a more enlightened one, doing so with humor and a righteous anger that feels present on the page. Charged yet earnest, I Want to Burn This Place Down makes the reader feel Kreizman's rightful frustrations as their own.'—LPP $25.10 at July 1. 'A mixed-media satire told with style and verve, Hot Girls with Balls has a lot going for it beyond its instantly iconic title. The narrative will inevitably draw comparisons to Luca Guadagnino's Challengers, but with volleyballs instead of tennis rackets, a much heavier dose of internet culture, and two Asian American trans women at its heart. Six and Green are twenty-something volleyball players and influencers; they're also dating. Their social media fame grows with every Instagraph Live they broadcast during the COVIS pandemic, and as they compete in an indoor men's volleyball competition (thanks to transphobia), they're keen to capitalize on the attention. But when they speak up on behalf of the trans community, the results online are fickle at best—and hateful at worst. Benedict Nguyễn's sharp, funny-yet-serious debut explores the constant pressure to present identity 'correctly,' especially when that identity is under equally constant threat.'—LPP $25.11 at July 8. 'When I read Library Journal describe Sarah MacLean's These Summer Storms as 'the steamy love-child of Succession and Elin Hilderbrand,' I knew I needed to bump it to the top of my pile of beach reads. And, indeed, These Summer Storms fits that description well, particularly as the Storm family reunites on a private island off the coast of Rhode Island in the wake of their patriarch's death. There, they discover technology tycoon Franklin Storm has left his widow and children 'a game, of sorts': Remain on the island together for a full week, complete the challenges he has assigned to them, or forfeit their inheritance. This conundrum is further exacerbated by the presence of Jack Dean, Franklin's right-hand man, with whom protagonist Alice Storm has recently shared a one-night stand. Simmering tensions, sibling rivalries, and undeniable attraction fuel McLean's excellent foray into contemporary romance-slash-drama. This one's a treat.'—LPP $30.00 at July 8. 'A Marriage at Sea was such an emotionally vivid portrait of a couple in isolation that I was shocked it wasn't fiction. How could a writer get so deeply into the minds of two real people in such extraordinary circumstances? Elmhirst's incredible account traces the story of Maurice and Maralyn Bailey, a 1960s couple who set off from Britain for an around-the-world sail to New Zealand but become stranded after a whale hits their boat. Their harrowing period lost at sea is so brilliantly depicted that it's almost too painful to read.'—AG $28.00 at July 8.'When Sophie, a newspaper writer, goes to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for work, she sees it as a nice break from the tedium of parenthood and home. Instead, she gets a front-row seat to her celebrated male colleague's complete implosion. After he gives a scathing review to the show of a woman he had just slept with, he inspires a wildly popular one-woman show that exposes years of terrible behavior and drags Sophie into the middle of the mayhem. Bring the House Down considers what role theater can have in a community with more humor that you'd think was possible.'—AG $28.00 at July 8. 'This romantasy-comedy made me laugh out loud on almost every single page. A deadly assassin is forced to seek help from a brilliant female healer, and, of course—in a classic enemies-to-lovers story—they hate each other at first glance. The humor is delightfully ridiculous, and the banter is so good, it will have you whipping your head back and forth between the two main characters as if you're watching a tennis match. Technically, Brigitte Knightley is a first-time author. (But fanfiction readers will recognize, 'Tell your cat I said pspspspsps.') I can't wait to read more of her books.'—Kathleen Hou, beauty director $21.00 at July 8. 'Giuseppina 'Jess' Capodimonte Baratta lives in Lake Como—but probably not the one you're thinking of. Adriana Trigiani's heroine is stuck in Lake Como, New Jersey, her childhood home, where she's fled after a recent divorce. When her uncle unexpectedly dies, she inherits his marble business—Jess herself is a skilled draftswoman—and, along with it, a heap of legal and financial troubles. She flies to Carrara, Italy, to uncover the family secrets and ancestral skills she'll need to face this new, uncertain future. But with each day spent in Carrara, in Milan, and, of course, along Lake Como, Italy pulls Jess deeper into its magic, and she starts to find herself wanting something, wanting more. Effervescent and big-hearted, The View from Lake Como is an ideal vacation read.'—LPP $26.00 at July 15. 'My first Silvia Moreno-Garcia read was 2015's Signal to Noise, and since then I've paid close attention to her genre-mixing body of work. The Mexican Gothic author's latest is the horror-fantasy The Bewitching, a book that's both eerie and entrancing in equal measure. Set across three timelines—1990s Massachusetts, 1930s Massachusetts, and 1900s Mexico—the story joins three women whose lives are touched by sorcery. While studying the work of 20th-century horror novelist Beatrice Tremblay, grad student Minerva starts to experience strange happenings around her college campus. Her great-grandmother, Alba, used to tell tales of witches, and Minerva begins to wonder if witchcraft is responsible for these events. As the three women's stories join together, Moreno-Garcia builds a compellingly rich saga of history, folklore, and hauntings.'—LPP $26.97 at July 15.'Hana's happy life as a Kentucky professor with a loving boyfriend is disturbed when she learns her ex-husband is publishing a fictionalized account of their marriage. If You Love It, Let It Kill You itself seems to be referencing the book that Pittard's own ex-husband wrote about the breakup of their marriage, but you'll sense little anger in what is ultimately a moving and very, very funny story.'—AG $26.09 at July 22. 'In Danica Nava's delightful sophomore romance novel, Love Is a War Song, Muscogee pop star Avery Fox has made an unfortunate stumble: After appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone in a feathered warbonnet (and not much else), she's earned the internet's ire and vitriol. The scandal sends her running to Oklahoma to stay with her estranged grandmother until the noise dies down. There, she meets Lucas Iron Eyes, the man who looks after her grandmother's horse ranch, and despite his disdain for her career, neither he nor Avery can deny their attraction. And as they're forced to work together, that attraction becomes harder and harder to ignore. I was a fan of Nava's The Truth According to Ember last year, and it's a joy to see her next rom-com picking up buzz.'—LPP $17.67 at July 22. 'A lot can be learned from even the smallest fragments of feathers—and we have Roxie Laybourne to thank for that. In 1960, Laybourne, a then unknown bird researcher working at the Smithsonian, was tapped to help investigate an airplane crash caused by a bird strike. With that assignment begins Laybourne's legacy as the world's first forensic ornithologist. She would go on to conduct instrumental work that would advance aircraft safety and help catch murderers, poachers, and even white supremacists, who tarred and feathered a Civil Rights activist. In The Feather Detective, award-winning journalist Chris Sweeney tells Laybourne's story in-depth, and in so doing, gives this tough, pioneering woman the credit and spotlight she deserves.'—Kayla Webley Adler, deputy editor and features director $30.00 at July 22. 'The titular walk into a bar ends badly. The unnamed narrator's husband is leaving her for a woman named Maggie. Only weeks later, she gets a diagnosis of breast cancer. The two heartbreaks are so linked that she names her tumor Maggie. Katie Yee's debut is filled with eerily real accounts of the crazy things we obsess on after a breakup, humor in disaster, and the salvation found in true friendships.'—AG $25.10 at July 29.'Emma Rosenblum has a knack for writing about the rich and catty. Her buzzy debut Bad Summer People is set in an exclusive beach community, while her sophomore novel, Very Bad Company, takes place at an executive retreat. In her third title, Mean Moms, Rosenblum once again takes readers inside a dishy, insular scene—this time, that of Manhattan private school moms. The plot centers on a trio of mothers—Frost, Morgan, and Belle—whose children all attend the same top-ranked private school. There's a gripping mystery that kicks off when a new mom infiltrates their clique, but as with all of Rosenblum's books, my favorite aspect is the smart, biting, and often hilarious, social commentary she weaves in throughout the suspenseful tale. With Mean Moms, Rosenblum once again proves she is a master of skewering the worlds she inhabits.'—KWA $28.99 at August 5.'Another juicy read from the author of Before We Were Innocent, this one is set in the drug-and-bubbly fueled world of Laurel Canyon of the early '70s. When Los Angeles newcomer Lane Warren, a journalist working on her first novel, meets Hollywood native Gala Margolis at a party, they forge a complicated bond. Wild child Gala helps make Lane a social star, while coolheaded Lane urges Gala to pursue her own writing talents—to a point. In a time when few creative women reach the top of their field, friendship perhaps inevitably turns to rivalry. Touching on themes of ambition, ambivalent motherhood, and life in the L.A. fishbowl, Berman's novel is ultimately about the importance of owning your own story—and the possibility of rewriting it.'—Sara Austin, executive editor $30.00 at August 5. 'Be warned: Moderation is far from your typical effortless beach read. Elaine Castillo's novel is as expansive as the VR landscape her protagonist, Girlie Delmundo, must navigate after she's hired for a new content moderator position. As a social media moderator capable of stomaching the alarmingly graphic material thrust in her face each day, Girlie soon adapts to Playground, her company's latest VR acquisition. But her feelings for her new boss, William Cheung, as well as the mysteries surrounding Playground itself, threaten to eat away at Girlie's careful boundaries. A love story for those who love Severance (both Ling Ma's book and the unaffiliated Apple TV+ series), Moderation is ambitious, challenging, and brilliant.'—LPP $29.00 at August 12. 'Neruda on the Park author Cleyvis Natera returns later this summer with the searing The Grand Paloma Resort, a novel set amongst the staff of a luxury hotel in the Dominican Republic. When a looming category-five hurricane, the case of two missing girls, and the ever-present inequalities of race and class collide over the course of one seven-day stay, the guests and the staff—including sisters Laura and Elena—can no longer maintain their unsteady equilibrium. The White Lotus ought to look to Natera's clear-eyed literary thriller for inspiration.'—LPP $30.00 at August 26. 'One of my most-anticipated reads at the start of 2025, Katabasis is R.F. Kuang's triumphant return to fantasy after her 2023 publishing satire Yellowface. The author of The Poppy War trilogy and Babel, Kuang is of course no stranger to fantasy, and Katabasis features perhaps her most unorthodox approach to magic yet. On its surface, the book's setup seems straightforward: A Cambridge student and her rival must journey to the underworld to save their professor. But the challenges they encounter throughout their romp through Hell have as much to do with their feelings for each other, their insecurities about themselves, and their mislaid trust in Cambridge as they do with the dangers of Hell itself. Laced with Kuang's signature critiques of colonialism and academia, Katabasis is also a love story, and an ultimately stunning one at that.'—LPP $24.50 at You Might Also Like The 15 Best Organic And Clean Shampoos For Any And All Hair Types 100 Gifts That Are $50 Or Under (And Look Way More Expensive Than They Actually Are)
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
An Infamous Author Wrote a Novel About His Town. What Do the Neighbors Think?
Best known for the memoir 'A Million Little Pieces' and the ensuing controversy, James Frey now has a sizzling beach read about the misdeeds of the rich
