20 Books to Read This Summer

There’s something for everyone this season: a gripping true-crime mystery, juicy family dramas, a New York City cop novel, even a swashbuckling 18th-century adventure.

Living in Australia, Sarah Schmidt had never heard of Lizzie Borden until a pamphlet about the ax murderer literally dropped onto her feet at a used-book store. She wasn’t interested, but Lizzie was interested in her: “That night, I had a dream Lizzie was sitting [on] my bed, poking me in the legs. She said, ‘I have something to tell you about my father. He has a lot to answer for.'” The resulting novel is compelling, scary—and gruesomely visceral. “I want people to feel uncomfortable,” Schmidt says. “Murder is an uncomfortable subject.” (Aug. 1; order it here)

Twenty years after the publication of The God of Small Things, Roy finally returns with another novel, the gorgeously wrought tale of two women living on the fringes of New Delhi: Anjum, who was born with both male and female genitalia, and Tilottama. (June 6; order it here)

Maria and Khalil, both mixed-race, are engaged and participating in a documentary about golden-skinned “new people” like them. But as Maria works on her dissertation, she becomes infatuated with a stranger. You’ll gulp Senna’s novel in a single sitting—but then mull it over for days. (Aug. 1; order it here)

Cartoonist Tamaki (This One Summer) dazzles with her impressive range in this collection, marrying each short story to a different artistic style. Whether she’s writing and drawing about the pitfalls of technology or ruminating on nostalgia, her work is lush, vibrant, and packed with emotion. (June 1; order it here)

With The Silent Corner, Koontz launches a new series starring widow Jane Hawk, who embarks on an investigation into a phenomenon of happy, successful people spontaneously committing suicide (like her late husband). But Jane’s questioning makes her the target of a powerful group. (June 20; order it here)

Sherman Alexie has written extensively about his family and life growing up as a reservation Indian. But he could never bring himself to write about his fiery mother, Lillian, until after her death. “I was scared of her!” he says. “The size of her anger, the size of her love, the size of her lies, the size of her magic. All of it.” The resulting memoir blends poetry and prose, and varies widely in tone as he explores old memories and new grief: “I tried to make the book feel like I felt—mixed and confused and hilarious and grotesque and meditative and theological.” (June 13; order it here)

Every parent’s nightmare comes true in Meloy’s literary page-turner as two families on a cruise get separated from their children during an offshore excursion in Central America. As panic sets in, the novel alternates between the kids’ and adults’ perspectives. (June 6; order it here)

Ullman, a computer programmer since the ’70s, expands on the themes she covered in 1997’s Close to the Machine with pieces about what it was like on the forefront of the tech revolution, being a woman in a male-dominated industry, and how the tech landscape has (and hasn’t) changed. (Aug. 8; order it here)

The author of The Cartel pours years of NYPD research into this thriller about Denny Malone, a detective sergeant who wants desperately to be good—but has a corrupt past of his own. As tensions between police and citizens simmer, Malone’s secrets threaten to emerge too. (June 20; order it here)

In her powerful debut, Ali introduces readers to Janna Yusuf, a plucky hijab-wearing Muslim-American teen who’s grappling with a terrible secret: She’s been sexually assaulted by a popular boy who’s revered in the Muslim community. (June 13; order it here)

People inflicted all kinds of cruelties on cultural critic Gay (Bad Feminist) because she was overweight, so she decided to write a memoir about body image, telling EW last year, “I’m gonna take control of the narrative—and of my body.” (June 13; order it here)

Over a five-month period in rural Accomack County, Va., local officials were stumped by close to a hundred cases of arson. But after the culprits—a couple—were arrested, Washington Post reporter Hesse was only more intrigued: “I was completely enamored,” she says. “Were they doing it out of spite? Was it two people in love who had a beef against the town? The driving force was to figure out what had gone wrong.” (July 11 )

You know the cold dread that washes over you while you’re watching a slasher flick? That’s how you’ll feel reading this blood-spattered mystery about a group of women sharing a terrible bond: Each was the sole survivor of a massacre. (July 11; order it here)

In the vein of Mad Men and Hidden Figures, Scott’s novel follows women working humdrum clerical jobs during the building of the World Trade Center: Maggie, an Ohio transplant with big dreams; Pauline, a single mother hiding a scandalous past; and their volatile boss, Mrs. J. (July 25; order it here)

Set in the near future, D.O.D.O. imagines a world in which magic once existed but mysteriously disappeared during the Great Exhibition at London’s Crystal Palace in 1851, leading a group to go back in time to try to resurrect it. (June 13; order it here)

Whiffs of Patricia Highsmith course through this literary thriller about a kid named Ian who’s been cut out of his father’s will. Looking for a job or at least a place to stay, he shows up at a rich pal’s house on the Greek island of Patmos—but first a bomb goes off, and then his friend vanishes. (June 27; order it here)

This 18th-century European road trip—equal parts rollicking adventure, sweet love story, and tender coming-of-age tale—stars an endearing trio of characters: Monty, a bisexual British lord; his sister Felicity; and his best friend and crush, Percy. (June 27; order it here)

In Ginder’s glitzy beach read, things spiral out of control in the days leading up to a wedding as a charmingly dysfunctional family—brimming with oddball stepsiblings—does everything it can to sabotage the nuptials. (June 6; order it here)

Greed, financial intrigue, and family drama roil the pages of Baker’s debut, which is centered on a Bernie Madoff-like investment banker. When his firm implodes, the women in his life—including his teenage daughter, his wife, and the nanny—narrate the story of his downfall. (June 20; order it here)

Marion Palm is a Brooklyn mom who’s been embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the tony private school where she works, splurging on vacations and renovations—not that her dim-bulb husband has noticed. But with the school facing an audit, Marion grabs some hastily bundled cash and strikes out. “I’m a Brooklyn mom myself,” says the book’s editor, Jennifer Jackson, remembering when she first saw the manuscript. “And reading about this Brooklyn mom who does the unimaginable felt completely subversive, totally thrilling, and wildly fun.” (Aug. 8; order it here)