People.com Entertainment Books The 20 Best Books to Read This Summer Don't let the "I'm vaccinated!" socializing keep you from quiet time with these winners. Edited by Kim Hubbard By People Staff Published on May 28, 2021 04:47 PM Share Tweet Pin Email We independently research, test, review, and recommend the best products—learn more about our process. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission. Photo: amazon 01 of 20 Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann A gorgeous debut that conjures one small town and the big emotions of its wealthiest family, the Briscoes, whose saga plays out over six days of pain, rage and love. — reviewed by Robin Micheli (May) FICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 02 of 20 Lorna Mott Comes Home by Diane Johnson After leaving her French husband, Lorna Mott is eager to return to the vibrant San Francisco life she remembers. But things have changed. Can this woman of a certain age change too? — reviewed by Anne Leslie (June) FICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 03 of 20 Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid High drama at the beach, starring four sexy, surfing siblings and their deadbeat, famous-crooner dad. It's like the 1983 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue came to life, but with a plot. Irresistible. — reviewed by Mary Pols (June) FICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 04 of 20 The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers Raised in the North, Ailey spends summers in Georgia, unearthing stories of her Black, white and Indigenous ancestors that will profoundly shape the course of her life. Stunning. — reviewed by Emma Dries (July) FICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 05 of 20 Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand Nantucket's summer shatters when local darling Vivian Howe is killed. Will her murderer be found? Will her deepest secret be exposed? This is beach-book-queen Hilderbrand at her best. — reviewed by Claire Martin (June) FICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 06 of 20 This Is Your Mind on Plants by Michael Pollan The author of How to Change Your Mind turns his attentions to three consciousness-altering drugs — opium, mescaline and caffeine (yes, it's a drug) — in this eye-opening exploration. — reviewed by Caroline Leavitt (July) NONFICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 07 of 20 Punch Me Up to the Gods By Brian Broome Growing up poor, Black and gay in small-town Ohio, Broome was despised by whites, some Blacks and even his father, who thought there was only one way to be a man. His memoir is a triumph. — reviewed by Benilde Little (May) NONFICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 08 of 20 Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner A daughter's poignant memoir about losing her mother, filtered through the prisms of their Korean American heritage and the love they shared for the cuisine of home. — reviewed by Kim Hubbard (April) NONFICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 09 of 20 Fox & I by Catherine Raven A woman accustomed to solitude forms something that feels like friendship with a mangy fox who keeps showing up outside her Montana home. And this was pre-pandemic! Quirky and moving. — reviewed by Kim Hubbard (July) NONFICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 10 of 20 What Happened to Paula by Katherine Dykstra Investigating the never-solved murder of a young woman in 1970, the author uncovers intriguing truths about her family, her segregated community and the limits on female autonomy. — reviewed by Kim Hubbard (June) NONFICTION Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 11 of 20 The Photographer by Mary Dixie Carter Photographer Delta Dawn is one disturbing woman, especially when she inserts herself into a wealthy Manhattan family. A breathless psychological thriller about epic mind games. — reviewed by Ellen Shapiro (May) MYSTERY/THRILLER Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 12 of 20 The Last Mona Lisa by Jonathan Santlofer After a journal surfaces in Florence, a professor obsessed with his great-grandfather's 1911 heist of the Mona Lisa is in hot pursuit — along with assassins and ruthless art dealers. — reviewed by Ellen Shapiro (August) MYSTERY/THRILLER Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 13 of 20 The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris Funny and subversive, this debut about the trials of a Black assistant at a mostly white publishing house uses suspense, horror and satire to bring home the toll of workplace racism. — reviewed by Ellen Shapiro (June) MYSTERY/THRILLER Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 14 of 20 The Siren by Katherine St. John A star bankrolls a film on a hurricane-prone island with his fractured family and some shady characters. Good idea? A sudsy, savvy takedown of the Hollywood dream machine. — reviewed by Ellen Shapiro (May) MYSTERY/THRILLER Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 15 of 20 A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins The Girl on the Train author returns with a dark, intricate tale of three women tied to a bloody murder on a London houseboat. You'll be gobsmacked by the end. — reviewed by Ellen Shapiro (August) MYSTERY/THRILLER Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 16 of 20 Misfit in Love by S.K. Ali An elaborate Muslim wedding — katb el-kitab — is the elegant backdrop for a teen's soul-searching about love, sexism and racism within her own community. — reviewed by Sue Corbett (May) KIDS/TEENS, 14 and up Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 17 of 20 How to Be an Art Rebel by Ben Street and Jay Daniel Wright A hip cat narrates this playful, irreverent guide to all types of fine art — sculpture, surrealism, selfies (formally called portraiture). Museums, here we come! — reviewed by Sue Corbett (May) KIDS/TEENS, 6-8 Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 18 of 20 The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson Teen sleuth Stevie Bell is hired to solve a gruesome, decades-old murder mystery at summer camp. Bugs, romance and near misses with death follow. — reviewed by Sue Corbett (June) KIDS/TEENS, 14-17 Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 19 of 20 From Little Tokyo, with Love by Sarah Kuhn A contemporary fairy tale starring a Japanese American teen raised in L.A. by bossy relatives who becomes convinced that a Hollywood starlet is her long-lost mother. — reviewed by Sue Corbett (May) KIDS/TEENS, 14-17 Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org 20 of 20 Amber & Clay by Laura Amy Schlitz Two powerless kids in ancient Greece — the daughter of an aristocrat and the son of a slave — transcend their circumstances in this masterful blend of history and mythology. — reviewed by Sue Corbett (March) KIDS/TEENS, 10-14 Buy It: Amazon, Bookshop.org