The 20 Best Books to Read This Summer
Travel back in time, investigate a crime, or head for Nantucket — even if you can't leave home
1 of 20
Friends and Strangers by J. Courtney Sullivan
Feeling unmoored after a move from Brooklyn to the suburbs, new mom Elisabeth embraces an unlikely friendship with the college girl caring for her son. What could go wrong? (June) FICTION
Buy It! $27.99; target.com
1 of 20
2 of 20
28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand
Summer on Hilderbrand’s Nantucket is never dull. This time she focuses on former lovers who now lead separate lives but share an island idyll once a year. Captivating and bittersweet. (June) FICTION
Buy It! $19.69; target.com
2 of 20
3 of 20
A Star Is Bored by Byron Lane
Carrie Fisher’s spirit animates this funny, dishy and deeply affectionate roman à clef by her former personal assistant. The force is with him. (July) FICTION
Buy It! $26.99; target.com
3 of 20
4 of 20
The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
A heart-stopping tale of survival and heroism centered on a female forger who risks everything to help Jewish children escape Nazi-occupied France. (July) FICTION
Buy It! $28; target.com
4 of 20
5 of 20
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Inseparable twins Stella and Desiree are black but could pass for white. Then Stella actually does pass — and it tears them apart. A breathtaking plot tracks her secret into the next generation. (June) FICTION
Buy It! $23.49; target.com
5 of 20
6 of 20
Notes on a Silencing by Lacy Crawford
A shocking, anguished, beautifully written account of Crawford’s sexual assault at the elite St. Paul’s School in the days before #MeToo — and her belated understanding, after attacks at the school decades later, of just how badly the adults had failed her. (July) NONFICTION
Buy It! $28; barnesandnoble.com
6 of 20
7 of 20
Humankind by Rutger Bregman
It’s the pick-me-up we all need right now: a historian’s reasoned (and riveting) argument that people are more kind than cruel. (June) NONFICTION
Buy It! $30; target.com
7 of 20
8 of 20
The New One by Mike Birbiglia
Expanded from his one-man show of the same name (and including poetry by his wife), comedian Birbiglia’s rueful, hilarious take on new parenthood is a treat. (June) NONFICTION
Buy It! $24.49; target.com
8 of 20
9 of 20
Big Friendship by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman
The hosts of the podcast Call Your Girlfriend chronicle their decade-plus bond, providing a loving how-to on burnishing your own friendships. (July) NONFICTION
Buy It! $26; target.com
9 of 20
10 of 20
The Book of Rosy by Rosayra Pablo Cruz and Julie Schwietert Collazo
The inspiring true story of a desperate mother fleeing Guatemala and the volunteers working to help her seek asylum. (June) NONFICTION
Buy It! $26.99; target.com
10 of 20
11 of 20
Nothing Can Hurt You by Nicola Maye Goldberg
The killing of a college student connects 12 characters: the stranger who found her; the kid she babysat; the boy who killed her; the woman he marries ... Haunting. (June) MYSTERY/THRILLER
Buy It! $26; barnesandnoble.com
11 of 20
12 of 20
The Distant Dead by Heather Young
A sixth grader’s discovery of his murdered teacher’s body uncovers chilling, heartbreaking family secrets in a Nevada community of outcasts. Powerful and poignant. (June) MYSTERY/THRILLER
Buy It! $27.99; target.com
12 of 20
13 of 20
Take Me Apart by Sara Sligar
Secrets people leave behind propel this literary thriller about a troubled archivist who tries to reassemble an artist’s legacy after her mysterious death. (April) MYSTERY/THRILLER
Buy It! $17.79; target.com
13 of 20
14 of 20
These Women by Ivy Pochoda
Serial killers usually steal the show, but in Pochoda’s riveting, nuanced novel it’s five marginalized L.A. women linked by one murderer’s ignored crimes who take center stage. (May) MYSTERY/THRILLER
Buy It! $25.49; target.com
14 of 20
15 of 20
A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight
As an attorney builds a defense case for her client, she begins to suspect he’s guilty. A murder mystery filled with dirty secrets and moneyed mayhem. (May) MYSTERY/THRILLER
Buy It! $27.99; target.com
15 of 20
16 of 20
The Kinder Poison by Natalie Mae
In this delicious high-stakes adventure, a girl fights for her life after she is chosen to be a sacrificial tribute in a contest to determine who’ll succeed the ailing ruler. (June) YOUNG ADULT
Buy It! $18.99; target.com
16 of 20
17 of 20
A Peculiar Peril by Jeff VanderMeer
An eccentric odyssey about a teen who will inherit his grandpa’s estate if he can catalogue its contents. Not a good sign that he learns this in a letter he’s instructed to destroy. (July) YOUNG ADULT
Buy It! $17.59; target.com
17 of 20
18 of 20
I Killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick
Hired as a summer nanny, Anna winds up confessing that she killed Zoe, a local who looks just like her. Wrinkle: Zoe went missing six months before Anna took the job. A shivery delight. (June) YOUNG ADULT
Buy It! $18.99; target.com
18 of 20
19 of 20
Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams
The oldest daughter in a fundamentalist cult must choose between obedience to the Prophet and love for her brother, who needs outside medical help in order to live. (June) YOUNG ADULT
Buy It! $17.99; target.com
19 of 20
20 of 20
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
Johnson grew up in a loving middle-class home in New Jersey but knew from age 5 that he was “different.” This is his moving “memoir-manifesto” about being black and queer in America. (April) YOUNG ADULT
Buy It! $16.49; barnesandnoble.com