Your Guide to Summer Reading

JOHN OF JOHN
BY DOUGLAS STUART

From the Booker Prize-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo, John of John is the moving story of a young man returning to his Scottish home in the Hebridean islands after art school, where he clashes with his devout, sheep-farming father, John, over secrets, duty, and his own hidden desires. Tensions rise as lambing season approaches.

THE CALAMITY CLUB
BY KATHERINE STOCKETT

The author of the best-selling novel The Help returns with a big-hearted story set in 1933 Oxford, Mississippi, about a group of unbreakable women, fighting for what’s rightfully theirs – and the power of friendship to change everything. The New York Times calls is “A heart-wrenching, often hilarious story of economic hardship, moral posturing, and the particular yearnings of childless women and motherless girls.”

WHISTLER
BY ANN PATCHETT

The latest book by popular author Ann Patchett (Bel Canto, The Dutch House, The Magician’s Assistant, etc.) will be released this month: Whistler, the story of a chance reunion at the Metropolitan Museum of Art between a woman and her former stepfather, who she hasn’t seen since she was nine. The book explores their brief but impactful past relationship and how it shaped their lives and the choices that define us.

COUNTRY PEOPLE
BY DANIEL MASON

Daniel Mason, the Pulitzer Prize finalist author of North Woods, crafts this tale of a Russian folktale scholar who moves his family to Vermont. There he becomes fascinated by a local legend and a cast of quirky characters, including a ghostly tree surgeon and a snowflake photographer. Penguin Random House calls it “a rollicking, lyrical novel [from] one of America’s greatest living writers.” Released next month.

BEGINNING MIDDLE END
BY VALERIA LUISELLI

A mother and her teenage daughter travel across Sicily after the mother’s divorce, exploring family history and archaeological sites. Amidst a backdrop of volcanic landscapes and migration, the journey becomes a quest for origins, confronting questions about home, identity, and the stories that shape us. A tender, inventive, and expansive novel that blends a road trip story with a mystery.

LAND
BY MAGGIE O’FARRELL

This historical novel by the author of Hamnet is set in 19th-century Ireland after the Great Famine, following a father and son working to map the land for the British Ordnance Survey. The story is inspired by O’Farrell’s own family history and delves into the psychological and physical impact of the famine and colonization, featuring a mysterious, life-altering event. Penguin Random House calls it a story of “survival…for our times.”

THE THINGS WE NEVER SAY
BY ELIZABETH STROUT

By the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (Olive Kitteridge in 2009) and the best-selling Lucy Barton series, this new novel by Elizabeth Strout focuses on a high school history teacher who grapples with loneliness and isolation despite his seemingly normal life. A shocking revelation from his son forces him to confront hidden family secrets. Set in small-town New England with a backdrop of the 2024 election.

THE MIDNIGHT TRAIN
BY MATT HAIG

The Midnight Train, a new novel by Matt Haig (part of “The Midnight World” series, including “The Midnight Library”), is about a recently deceased man who gets to relive his life’s most important moments on a magical train. The train takes him back through his life to revisit key moments, particularly what went wrong with the love of his life. It’s a time-traveling love story about regret, second chances, and choices.

OUR PERFECT STORM
BY CARLEY FORTUNE

From the New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After and One Golden Summer comes the story of Frankie and George, best friends who clash right before Frankie’s wedding – which is dashed when Frankie’s fiancé dumps her. Now the friends decide to go on the planned honeymoon together, to heal Frankie’s broken heart. Penguin Random House calls it “heart-stopping, utterly romantic…”

A PARADE OF HORRIBLES
BY MATT DINNIMAN

This is the eighth book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, another fantasy/sci-fi tale featuring Carl and Donut, this time on the dungeon’s tenth floor competing in races while dealing with chaos and whispers about the mysterious eleventh floor. The title refers to the eleventh floor, which the AI calls a “coming-out party for the ages.” The book involves Carl planning a dangerous, secret party of his own as the series builds towards its conclusion.

THE INTRIGUE
BY SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA

Avarice, lust, deception, and unexpected romance take center stage in this noir novel about a con man who targets a boardinghouse owner in 1940s Veracruz, only to find his scheme complicated by her sharp niece who discovers his plan and tries to get in on it, complicating things as he finds himself drawn to her. From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night.

VILLA COCO
BY ANDREW SEAN GREER

A new coming-of-age novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Andrew Sean Greer (Less), Villa Coco is about a young American man who becomes an assistant to a flamboyant, 92-year-old Baronessa named Coco at her crumbling villa in Tuscany. There he catalogs art and deals with a parade of eccentric guests – and gets entangled in her quest to find her lost love.

COOL MACHINE
BY COLSON WHITEHEAD

It won’t be released until July, but Cool Machine is worth the wait. The third and final book in Whitehead’s Harlem Trilogy (following Harlem Shuffle and Crook Manifesto), it’s set in 1980s New York City. The story returns to the world of Ray Carney, pulled back into a life of crime for one last heist to save his cousin’s son. Described as “a crime novel with metaphysical and social depth.”

CONTRAPPOSTO
BY DAVE EGGERS

The first adult novel in five years by Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) Contrapposto is a moving and funny novel about what it means to be an artist. The story spans six decades, focusing on the artistic, professional, and romantic relationship between Cricket Dib and Olympia Argyros, exploring the pursuit of art, the impact of market forces, and lifelong friendship. The book is illustrated by Eggers himself.

CAGES
BY CHANTEL ACEVEDO

Cages is the story of a zookeeper in Cuba during the time of the missile crisis, an exile in swinging sixties London, and finally a dying man in 1980s AIDS-era Miami. This daring novel by Acevedo (The Distant Marvels, Our Shadows Have Claws) is his most personal and heartfelt to date, is a sweeping portrait of a man as seen through the eyes of those who loved him, feared him, and were betrayed by him.

DAUGHTERS OF THE SUN AND MOON
BY LISA SEE

From beloved New York Times bestselling author Lisa See, this is the story of three Chinese women whose unexpected friendship helps them survive and, despite the odds, thrive in the turmoil of post-Civil War Los Angeles. Arriving in the violent pueblo of Los Angeles in 1870. One is the bound-footed daughter of an imperial scholar, another the big-footed daughter of peasants, the last married to a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine.

THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE
BY DAVID SEDARIS

Beloved satirist David Sedaris (Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Santaland Diaries) is back with a new series of essays. In this new collection, which Publisher Weekly says are “among the best of his career,” Sedaris reflects on what it means to be a foreigner, a brother, and a lifelong friend, with his quirky, clever and always amusing observations about life in the modern world.

AMERICAN RAMBLER
BY ISAAC FITZGERALD

New York Times best-seller Isaac Fitzgerald is back with this blend of memoir,

travelogue and history that follows him on a year-long journey to retrace the path of legendary Johnny Appleseed as he travelled westward. Walking, driving, and even floating downstream from Massachusetts to Indiana, Fitzgerald turns a childhood fascination into a profound look at loss, the American heartland, and the generosity of strangers at every turn.

THE BOOK OF BIRDS
BY ROBERT MACFARLANE

This lovely book with over 300 new watercolor and gold-leaf paintings by Jackie Morris is a celebration of 49 declining or endangered bird species, from avocet to yellowhammer, with essays on their lives, myths, and threats. Macfarlane and Morris, creators of The Lost Words, reimagine the classic field guide by blending lyrical essays with detailed illustrations to foster connection and awareness of avian loss and the urgent need for conservation.

TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER
BY NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON

An entertaining and appealing book by America’s favorite astrophysicist: a practical guide for dealing with Alien visitors, how it might happen, and a history of our fascination with extraterrestrials. Take Me to Your Leader is the culmination of a lifetime of fascination and amassing of scientific data about the possibility of Aliens visiting Earth: what they might look and act like, and useful etiquette tips for your first close encounter.

CATCH THE DEVIL
BY PAMELA COLLOFF

A true-crime book about audacious con man Paul Skalnik, who led a decades long career of deception, posing as a fighter pilot, a high-rolling oilman, a criminal defense attorney, an undercover agent, and a terminal cancer patient. In these guises he married nine women – some at the same time. To gain freedom he used his false testimony to send an innocent man to death row.

IN TREES: AN EXPLORATION
BY ROBERT MOOR

The author of On Trails returns with this deep dive into the wisdom of trees through a decade-long, globe-spanning journey, blending science, philosophy, and personal adventure to examine how trees teach us to live, grow, and connect with the world. The book chronicles his adventures, including climbing giant sequoias, visiting Papuan treehouse communities, and sleeping in a chimpanzee nest to understand our evolutionary past.

KEEPER OF MY KIN
BY ADA FERRER

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Cuba: An American History comes this heartbreaking memoir about migration and separation. In 1963, four years after Castro came to power, Ada Ferrer’s mother made the decision to flee Cuba with infant daughter Ada, leaving behind a nine-year old son. Ferrer masterfully shifts between historian and family member, weaving a tale using both government documents and letters found after her parents died.

LONDON FALLING
BY PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE

The fascinating story of the mysterious 2019 death of 19-year-old Zac Brettler, who “jumped” into the Thames from an apartment balcony in London. The bestselling author of Say Nothing and Empire of Pain creates a spellbinding account of the devastated family, who soon discover he had a secret life as the supposed son of a Russian oligarch, which drew him into the dangerous criminal underworld that lies beneath London’s glittering surface.

AMERICAN PATRIARCH
BY H.W. BRANDS

A timely new biography of George Washington by Pulitzer Prize finalist H.W. Brands. Arriving for America’s 250th anniversary, the book follows Washington from his early military years to the Revolution and the presidency, portraying him as the reluctant but essential leader who helped shape the nation’s founding ideals and traditions.

THE WRECK OF THE MENTOR
BY ERIC JAY DOLIN

When the American whaleship Mentor wrecks on a remote Pacific reef in 1832, eleven survivors are stranded far from home with dwindling supplies and little hope of rescue. Eric Jay Dolin reconstructs their ordeal in Palau, where shipwreck, captivity, cultural misunderstanding, tribal conflict, and a dangerous naval rescue unfold into a vivid story of survival in the Age of Sail.

ALL WE SAY
BY BEN RHODES

A compelling history of the United States told through fifteen defining speeches, from the founding era to the present. Former President Obama speechwriter Ben Rhodes explores how language has shaped America’s fiercest arguments over identity, power, democracy, and belonging, showing how speeches can capture moments of crisis, expose competing national stories, and reveal what Americans hoped the country might still become.

YOUNG KING
BY LERONE MARTIN

A fresh look at Martin Luther King Jr. before history knew his name. Stanford scholar Lerone Martin follows King from Auburn Avenue to Morehouse and seminary, capturing the prankster, student, son, and young minister behind the icon – and showing how ordinary doubts, ambitions, and discoveries helped prepare him for extraordinary leadership.

AMERICA, U.S.A.
BY EDDIE S. GLAUDE JR.

Eddie S. Glaude Jr. examines America’s milestone anniversaries as moments when the country celebrates freedom while often avoiding the harder truths of racism, violence, and exclusion. Drawing on history, literature, and voices from W.E.B. Du Bois to Martin Luther King Jr., he challenges the myths that shape the national story and asks what an honest reckoning with America’s past might require.

THE TRAVELER
BY ANDREA WULF

A richly drawn biography of George Forster, the young naturalist who joined Captain Cook’s second voyage and returned with ideas far ahead of his age. Andrea Wulf follows him from Russia and London to the South Pacific and revolutionary Paris, reviving a brilliant, restless thinker who challenged empire, slavery, and prejudice while arguing for freedom, equality, and the shared humanity of all people.

VIEW FROM THE EAST WING
BY DR. JILL BIDEN

A personal memoir from Dr. Jill Biden about her four years as First Lady during the Biden presidency. Writing in her own words, she looks back on life in the East Wing, her advocacy for education, military families, cancer research, and women’s health, and the unusual balance of serving in the White House while continuing to teach.

THESE TRUTHS
BY JILL LEPORE

Jill Lepore tells the story of the United States from 1492 to the present, tracing how politics, law, journalism, technology, and protest movements shaped the nation. Centered on America’s founding promises of equality, rights, and self-government, this revised edition asks whether the country has fulfilled those ideals – or repeatedly betrayed them across more than five centuries of conflict and change.

BORED
BY FELICITA SALA

Rita is bored beyond belief, until her restless mind turns a dull afternoon into a wildly funny daydream. She imagines all the bored people in the world boarding a bus, swelling like balloons, and floating through the sky until excitement finally sends their boredom away. Felicita Sala turns a familiar childhood mood into a playful story about imagination, creativity, and unexpected inspiration. (For ages 4-8.)

ELLIE HAS A SECRET
BY AMELIA BOTHE

Ellie finds a strange shell at recess and slips it into her pocket without telling anyone. When a mysterious creature inside begins to grow, her small secret becomes harder and heavier to carry. With magical illustrations and a gentle sense of suspense, Amelia Bothe’s debut picture book explores honesty, courage, and the relief of telling the truth. (For ages 4-8.)

HOGBERT
BY BRIONY MAY SMITH

When Hogbert the boar follows a tempting trail through the forest, he wanders too far from his family and finds himself alone. Along the way, sounds and shadows that seem frightening turn out to be new friends with familiar fairy-tale echoes. Briony May Smith’s warm picture book follows little Hogbert’s first adventure away from home, full of gentle suspense, kindness, and courage. (For ages 3 to 7)

THE PAPER BAG PRINCESS
BY ROBERT MUNSCH

After a dragon destroys Princess Elizabeth’s castle, burns her clothes, and carries off Prince Ronald, she sets out to rescue him, wearing only a paper bag. Using clever tricks instead of force, Elizabeth outsmarts the dragon and saves the prince – only to discover he cares more about appearances than bravery. Robert Munsch’s classic turns the fairy tale rescue story upside down with humor and independence. (For ages 4-8.)

THE SALAMANDER ROOM
BY ANNE MAZER

A young boy discovers a salamander and begins imagining the perfect home for it in his bedroom. As he thinks through everything the creature would need – moss, insects, trees, water, shade, and sky – his room slowly transforms in his mind into a living forest, making this a gentle story about curiosity, care, and seeing nature with wonder. (For ages 3 to 7)

IF YOU MAKE A CALL ON A BANANA PHONE
BY GIDEON STERER

When a shy child picks up a banana phone, a surprising friendship begins with a gorilla on the other end. Their silly conversation opens into questions, secrets, and careful listening, showing how reaching out can lead to unexpected connections. Gideon Sterer and illustrator Emily Hughes turn one wild idea into a warm, playful story about curiosity, courage, and making new friends. (For ages 4-8.)

FIREWORKS
BY MATTHEW BURGESS

On a sweltering Fourth of July in the city, two siblings spend the day waiting for the fireworks show. They splash through fountains, feel the heat rising from the pavement, and listen as the neighborhood hums around them. As evening falls, their excitement builds until the sky finally erupts in color, sound, and wonder. The book won the prestigious 2026 Caldecott Medal for its vibrant illustrations. (For ages 4-8.)

CRANKY, CRABBY CROW (SAVES THE WORLD)
BY COREY R. TABOR

Crow is in no mood for games, loopde- loops, or friendly visits, and everyone thinks he is simply being rude. But while his friends worry he will end up alone, Crow is secretly focused on a much bigger problem: an asteroid headed for Earth. Corey R. Tabor’s funny picture book mixes friendship, science, and a surprising twist. (For ages 4-8.)