11 Novels that Will Define the Summer

• Release date: May 26
• Read it if you liked: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

June Hur’s new novel was served to me on Instagram as a Pride and Prejudice retelling set in historical Korea. Instead of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy, the reader meets Haewon and Seojun. Haewon is the second-eldest daughter of a poor family who transcribes books on the black market for extra money. Seojun is the only son of a wealthy noble who moonlights as an author. When Haewon’s sister falls for Seojun’s best friend, the two are thrown together as chaperones. Unbeknownst to the pair, translator and writer now meet. Though their personalities clash, they might just discover that their prejudices have gotten ahead of themselves.

• Release date: May 26
• Read if you liked: Maybe In Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The author of the acclaimed The Midnight Library is back with The Midnight Train. Similarly to its predecessor, the Midnight Train offers redemption from the past and the ability to relive your best moments. Wilbur firmly believes that his are with Maggie, during their honeymoon in Venice. But somehow, he’s lost it all—and the Midnight Train is his second chance. The only question is, will Wilbur risk everything just for one more taste of the most cherished time of his life?

• Release date: May 26
• Read if you liked: Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

If you love a gothic tale with magical realism, you’ll want to pick up The Blackthorn Women. The story centers on Katrine Blackthorn, who returns to her family’s Queen Anne mansion in Faith Falls, Minnesota, heartbroken over her husband’s infidelity. There, she reconnects with her grandmother, mother and estranged sister. But Katrine’s homecoming is anything but a relief. Rather, it seems to be a harbinger of the bad omens the women fear. To save her family, Katrine must uncover her family’s dark history and tap into her own magic if they want to survive.

• Release date: June 2
• Read if you liked: Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

It’s been a while since I lost sleep over a book that was not a mystery—and Natasha Lester’s glamorous retelling of Jane Eyre did it for me. Lester’s novel transports us to the sparkling world of Hollywood and the most famous hotel on the Sunset Strip. Aria Jones has spent her entire life being invisible in the Chateau Marmont. But when a brooding rockstar buys the hotel she calls home, Aria quickly finds that what she thought she wanted is anything but.

• Release date: June 2
• Read if you liked: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

Every year on May 1, the May Day Killer goes on a spree, terrorizing a midwestern small town. One night in 1992, Quinn Riley and Jules Delaney, two teens whose worlds couldn’t be more different, are bound for a lifetime. Quinn ends up in juvenile detention; Jules survives an attack by the May Day Killer. The novel traces their lives over the course of a decade as they collide on May 1, racing to uncover the truth.

• Release date: June 9
• Read if you liked: Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

The unnamed protagonist in Pulitzer Prize winner Greer’s newest is broke and directionless, an archivist who takes a job for the eccentric Baronessa, otherwise known as Coco, at her villa in the Italian countryside. The summer then becomes filled with princesses, dashing nephews, an elusive antediluvian septic system and the heist of a funeral urn—plus an affair with a married man. As our hero slowly uncovers the villa’s secrets, it becomes a delightful tale of second chances, the power of friendship and becoming who one is meant to be.

• Release date: June 9
• Read it if you liked: Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan

If you love being pulled into a hyper-specific fictional world, Tia Williams’s forthcoming The Missed Connection is a must-read. Sasha Cruz is a casting agent whose job is to know types—and slot them into the perfect role. She doesn’t do relationships. Until she meets a handsome, mysterious stranger on a flight en route to Paris. They fail to exchange contact information, and an erroneous email sent to the global company sends Sasha and all her colleagues on the hunt for Seat F.

• Release date: June 30
• Read if you liked: Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead

Jenny Jackson, the author behind the 2023 sensation Pineapple Street, is back with The Shampoo Effect, out at the end of June. The novel follows Caroline Lash, a transplant to the small coastal town of Greenhead, Massachusetts. There, she falls in love with casual nice-boy Van Whittaker and into his social circle of eclectic characters, including a beautiful ex-girlfriend and old-money heiress. When Caroline falls pregnant with Van’s baby, the fragile threads tying her to his friend group snap. Heartbroken, Caroline’s next actions will expose secrets not just held by Van and his posse, but the entire town, too.

• Release date: August 4
• Read it if you liked: Little Shop of Horrors

The English translation of South Korean novelist Minyoung Kang’s novel hits shelves in August, and it’s a must for folks who delight in the macabre and have maybe watched Little Shop of Horrors one too many times. (Just me?) By day, Yoohee runs a plant shop that feels like the Garden of Eden. But by night, she is a vigilante who goes after men who torment women. As the bodies begin to pile up, Yoohee must deflect suspicion in this taught novel that examines obsession and misogyny, but with sharp humor at every turn.

• Release date: August 25
• Read if you liked: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty returns with a sequel, and Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Renata and Bonnie are all baaaaack. Set ten years later, the mothers have exchanged the drama of playdates for cunning in-laws, crumbling marriages, midlife crises and revenge. Then, a stranger appears, asking questions threatening to expose the truths they’ve worked so hard to hide. Soon, the five women are scrambling, because the stakes are high—and the repercussions are coming.

• Release date: July 17
• Read if you liked: High school

The Odyssey may have been written thousands of years ago, but Christopher Nolan’s adaptation is coming to the big screen July 17, starring Matt Damon as the titular hero, plus Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway and Zendaya (as Athena, obviously). Want to be truly prepared? Revisit the classic poem that recounts the decade-long journey of the Greek war hero as he ventures over oceans back to Ithaca after the Trojan War. I’m planning to go back to the translation by Emily Wilson, who was the first woman to take on the text. And if you're feeling intimidated, don't. I had apprehensions, too, but Wilson's prose is clear and fresh, while preserving the poetics of the original.