Entertainment Books The 20 Best Books to Read This Summer Ravishing on the outside and riveting on the inside, these books are made to be devoured. Edited by Kim Hubbard By People Staff Published on June 1, 2022 08:00 AM Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos 01 of 20 Jackie & Me by Louis Bayard Algonquin Books What did Jacqueline Bouvier know about JFK's womanizing, and when did she know it? Bayard imagines their courtship and the role played by Jack's best pal Lem Billings. Absolutely irresistible. — reviewed by Kim Hubbard (June) FICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 02 of 20 The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz Celadon Books Wealth, long-buried secrets and deep resentments converge in this captivating family saga about the Oppenheimer triplets, born in Brooklyn in the early days of IVF. — reviewed by Emma Dries (May) FICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 03 of 20 The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand Little, Brown and Company After a bad breakup, Lizbet Keaton leads the relaunch of an old hotel, where staff, guests — and a ghost? — all have things to hide. Stylish, witty and guaranteed to make you feel like a local. — reviewed by Robin Micheli (June) FICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 04 of 20 You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi Atria Books Artist Feyi wrestles with loss as she starts dating five years after her husband's death. By embracing grief, she unexpectedly finds love — with an inconvenient person. — reviewed by Marissa Charles (May) FICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 05 of 20 Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen William Morrow College roommates Ava Wong and Winnie Fang were never close — but now they are literally partners in crime, with a designer handbag scam as brazen as it is foolproof. Clever, catty fun. — reviewed by Marion Winik (June) FICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 06 of 20 The Office BFFs by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey Dey Street Books Who didn't binge-watch The Office to get through the pandemic? Hilarious and heartwarming behind-the-scenes tales from pals Fischer (Pam) and Kinsey (Angela) are just what we need now. — reviewed by Kim Hubbard (May) NONFICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 07 of 20 Normal Family by Chrysta Bilton Little, Brown and Company In her 20s, Bilton learned the identity of her sperm donor dad and set out to meet the hundreds of other kids he fathered. An ebullient debut that proves it's love, not DNA, that makes a family. — reviewed by Caroline Leavitt (July) NONFICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 08 of 20 George Michael by James Gavin Abrams Press The late pop star, who did not reveal he was gay until 1998, set "a dangerous trap," writes Gavin. "He wanted to titillate with sex and keep his secrets untouched." A fascinating, heartbreaking bio. — reviewed by Kim Hubbard (June) NONFICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 09 of 20 His Name Is George Floyd by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa Viking Two Washington Post reporters interviewed hundreds of Floyd's family members and friends to create a full, nuanced picture of the man whose murder sparked a movement. — reviewed by Kim Hubbard (May) NONFICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 10 of 20 Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris Little, Brown and Company The deaths of his father and sister, along with the privations of pandemic living, give a darker-than-usual edge to Sedaris's new collection, but his humor and wisdom shine through. — reviewed by Kim Hubbard (May) NONFICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 11 of 20 The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager Dutton A widowed actress goes to her family's lake house to battle her demons. She rescues a woman from drowning, suspects the worst of her neighbors and encounters Sager's best plot twist yet. — reviewed by Rennie Dyball (June) MYSTERY/THRILLER Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 12 of 20 Harlem Sunset by Nekesa Afia Berkley In 1927 Harlem Louise Lloyd wants only to party and bury her past — until she gets caught up in a bewildering murder case. Jazz Age vibes and fascinating women make this whodunit hum. — reviewed by Ellen Shapiro (June) MYSTERY/THRILLER Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 13 of 20 Aurora by David Koepp Harper After a solar storm plunges the world into darkness, citizens create their own agrarian utopia — and a tech billionaire races to save his sister. A cinematic, terrifying yet oddly hopeful thriller. — reviewed by Andy Abrahams (June) MYSTERY/THRILLER Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 14 of 20 The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths Quercus This 14th installment in the beloved series finds forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway contending with a medieval skeleton, a family secret — and the encroaching COVID pandemic. — reviewed by Ellen Shapiro (June) MYSTERY/THRILLER Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 15 of 20 The Island by Adrian McKinty Little, Brown and Company The locals aren't always friendly in vacation hot spots, but on the closed-to-the-public island Tom sneaks his family in to for fun, they're out to kill. Maybe Disney World next time? — reviewed by Kim Hubbard (May) MYSTERY/THRILLER Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 16 of 20 The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson Delacorte Press Two teens team up to solve a murder using tips gleaned from Agatha Christie novels in this twisty whodunit set on the California coast. — reviewed by Sue Corbett (May) KIDS/TEENS, 14-17 Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 17 of 20 Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle Simon & Schuster Books for Young Reader A 17-year-old deejay who offers relationship advice on his Detroit radio show thinks he can get hardworking classmate Dani to fall in love with him in three dates. Challenge accepted. — reviewed by Sue Corbett (May) KIDS/TEENS, 12 and up Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 18 of 20 I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston Wednesday Books At an evangelical prep school in Alabama, the principal's daughter kisses classmate Chloe during prom — and disappears. Chloe's search for Shara uncovers a lot more than one missing girl. — reviewed by Sue Corbett (May) KIDS/TEENS, 13-18 Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 19 of 20 A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin Feiwel & Friends A tea maker hopes to wow the palace with her homemade blends and win the means to save her dying sister. An intoxicating blend of fantasy, folklore and competitive tea-brewing. — reviewed by Sue Corbett (March) KIDS/TEENS, 13-18 Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 20 of 20 The Golden Swift by Lev Grossman Little, Brown Books for Young Readers This sequel to The Silver Arrow offers another charming eco-adventure featuring two magical steam trains and a daring plot to rescue endangered animals. — reviewed by Sue Corbett (May) KIDS/TEENS, 8-12 Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org