The best new books to read in June 2020

If you enjoy your talking-animal stories mournful, witty, and heartbreakingly honest, look to the latest from Bertino, about a young woman — we call her the Bride — who, days before her wedding, is told by her grandmother that she should not get married. The catch: The Bride's grandmother is dead, and has assumed the form of… well, the book cover kinda gives it away. (June 2) 

A family flees war-torn Liberia on foot. They hide in a neighboring village, cross the border into Sierra Leone with the help of a rebel soldier, and eventually make their way to Texas in this harrowing memoir about the search for home. (June 2)

Spanning four generations of women through the 20th century, Martha McPhee's fifth novel is a rich exploration of legacy and memory. It untangles the sacred myths of an American family, as a woman pieces together the story of her extraordinary — and highly elegant —  grandmother. (June 2)

If you're missing summer convention season because of the coronavirus, escape into this road trip romance. Conrad Stewart is the popular kid who seems to have it all, while the driven Alden Roth possesses an introverted perfectionism. When these two mortal enemies end up stuck together on a cross-country road trip to attend a fan convention, they forge a connection — forcing them to question everything they've worked so hard to achieve. It's road romance bathed in Comic-Con goodness. (June 2)

Already a huge hit in the U.K., where Hilary Mantel was among those to sing its praises, Exciting Times introduces a, yes, exciting new voice in millennial literature. Dolan untangles a modern love triangle, exploring queer identity and Irish culture in the process. The author has generated comparisons to Sally Rooney; they're not entirely unfounded, but she's got style (and promise) that's all her own. (June 2)

Majumdar's panoramic portrait of contemporary India depicts three characters' attempts to move on and move up, whether to financial security or political power or global fame, in the wake of catastrophe. (June 2)

The long-awaited sophomore novel from Bennett, whose debut The Mothers was a best-selling sensation, follows the lives of two sisters who grew up in a small Southern black community, only to forge very different paths in adulthood. (June 2)

The prolific author behind such beloved titles as A Monster Calls and the Chaos Walking trilogy goes typically wild in his latest, a provocative Cold War-set tale of dragon worshippers, parenthood, and the apocalypse. (June 2)

We were huge fans of van den Berg's spooky, surreal novel The Third Hotel, and her short fiction never ceases to wow. Except much trippy greatness to come from her new collection. (June 9)

Farron Rochon launches a new series with this John Tucker Must Die redux dipped in rom-com goodness. When Samiah Brooks learns she's been catfished by her jerk of a boyfriend after the live-tweet of a horrific date, she makes a pact with his other two "girlfriends" to invest in themselves. Things get complicated when she meets dreamy Daniel Collins at work, but could he be too good to be true? (June 9)

A debut novel that sounds very much like it could be a memoir, Broken People follows a young writer in L.A. who follows a shaman he meets at a dinner party. (June 9)

A plot that's one part The Girls, one part The Secret History, with a little bit of levitation thrown in for good measure: Temple's teenage protagonist enrolls at a Buddhist retreat in an attempt to track down her missing father but finds herself in a cult-like clique. (June 16)

A transporting historical novel of endless war and young love, in which a couple circa 1898 are lured from Puerto Rico to Hawaii — and are promised riches that do not await them. (June 16)

You'd be forgiven for thinking the mind behind World War Z might not be the most comforting to dive into at this particular moment in time. But the best-selling author's spin on the Bigfoot legend offers plenty of (hopefully) escapist thrills. (June 16)

The novel, translated into English by Morgan Giles, uses the story of laborer who leaves his family to help the titular city prepare for the 1964 Olympics to highlight the staunch inequality bubbling under Japan's surface image. It's a lightning-quick read that will stay with you far longer than its 192 pages. (June 23)

A murder mystery (maybe) imagined by its narrator, Death follows Vesta, a 70-ish widow isolated in a New England cabin, discovering a note on her property that seems to be a murder confession, despite no evidence or body. She launches her own investigation and spirals deeper and deeper into insanity. (June 23)

Two women decide to swap places (and, essentially, identities) before their respective flights to Puerto Rico and Oakland — except the Puerto Rico-bound plane crashes en route. A premise that sounds highly thrilling takes its share of poignant turns, too. (June 23)

What do you get when you combine the best elements of Rebecca, Gone Girl, and author Silvia Moreno-Garcia? Mexican Gothic, a period thriller as rich in suspense as it is in lush '50s atmosphere. (June 30)

Quickly establishing herself as a major voice in the subgenre of literary feminist dystopia, Mackintosh (whose The Water Cure was nominated for the Booker Prize) offers another chilling portrait of women and society that feels far more realistic than its alt-reality premise ought to. (June 30)

This intergenerational novel follows a new mother who recently left New York City for a small town upstate, and her babysitter, a college senior desperate to fast-forward through her youth, as they navigate their own life changes and a friendship that pushes boundaries. (June 30)