10 Books We Can't Wait to Read This Summer

Liane Moriarty--author of The Husband’s Secret and Big Little Lies--was basically born to write summer fiction. Her upcoming novel, about a years-long friendship torn apart by one terrible barbecue, is sure to inspire the same compulsive readability as her earlier works. 

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This first novel is getting quite the pre-publication buzz. And it’s easy to see why--it’s a fictional retelling of the Charles Manson murders, from the perspective of one of the young girls who was brought into his circle.

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In the span of four months in 2012, comedian Tig Notaro suffered a debilitating intestinal disease, experienced her mother’s sudden death and was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer. And yet…she somehow turned the whole thing into heart-wrenching comedy. In this upcoming memoir, Notaro details the whirlwind year--and how she emerged even stronger than before. 

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It’s the early 1990s. Combat boots reign supreme, Kurt Cobain is everything and one small Pennsylvania town is torn asunder when a popular athlete turns up dead. (And everyone’s keen to blame the flannel-clad new girl.) This nostalgic romp is already getting pegged as the mystery of the season.

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This is summer’s official heavy-hitter. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain is back with a 700-page novel about 17th-century French Canadian woodcutters--and how their ecological actions affect generations to come.

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And now for something just a hair lighter. This fast-paced novel is a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma--but set in Singapore and starring the most vibrantly flippant heroine since Cher Horowitz. 

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Ever feel like you have absolutely nothing to contribute to a conversation? According to Webber, People magazine’s royals correspondent, you can actually speak to just about any point, provided you bone up on a handful of 32 “cheat sheet” topics, which range from “the credit crunch” to “basic grammar” to “religious holidays.” 

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Astute social chronicler Emma Straub (The Vacationers) is back with a new novel about three college friends who--now in their 50s--are finally forced to address the ways they’ve changed. (Get ready for lots of Brooklyn elite skewering.)

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If you think navigating adolescence and sexuality was tough when you were growing up, you should try talking to today’s teenagers. In this eye-opening non-fiction work, Orenstein takes on the pressures confronting modern girls, from the nuances of hookup culture to the politics of “yes means yes” on college campuses. 

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In need of a good, British psychological thriller? This new novel from the author of In a Dark, Dark Wood follows a young journalist who witnesses a grisly murder while on a press trip for a new luxury cruise line. The only problem? Every passenger on the ship is accounted for.

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