The 15 Most Anticipated Books Of The Summer, According To Goodreads Members

Publishing June 2

Having read an advance copy of Whistler, I can assure you it’s everything you love about Ann Patchett. We follow Daphne Fuller, who is out at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the day with her husband, Johnathan. She notices an older man following them, only to realize it’s Eddie Triplett, the man her mother was married to for only a short time but who felt like a true father. As the two reconnect, we learn about the choices and secrets that drive families together and apart, and the power of being truly loved and seen by even just one other person in our lives.

Publishing June 2

This is one of the books we here at Scary Mommy are most excited to pick up this year too. It’s set in 1865, where we meet Tomás and his son, Liam, who work for the great Ordnance Survey project that is mapping Ireland in its entirety. An unsettling encounter derails the man’s work, and 10-year-old Liam rushes in to complete the survey before British soldiers arrive to retrieve it.

Publishing June 2

This book sounds absolutely ri-vet-ting. Edith Sharpe’s world-famous Ninth City books follow the magical adventures of two children, Ennis and Guinevere, the names of her two very real children. But in reality, the siblings are largely neglected and left to their own devices, playing in the woods around their isolated Vermont home. That home goes up in flames and takes their mother with it.

As adults, Guinevere is a mid-tier writer coasting on her mother’s legacy, while Ennis is an artist who rejects the family name entirely. But then she sees an announcement for his upcoming show, titled Mother. For the first time since the fire, Guinevere will finally revisit what really happened.

Publishing June 9

In this collection of essays, Zinzi Clemmons explores the concept of freedom through her own personal experiences and analysis.

“As the daughter of a South African mother and a Trinidadian American father, she recounts growing up in the largely white, affluent town of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania — and her frequent travels to Johannesburg, where the lofty promise of freedom was all around her,” the synopsis reads. “Coming of age amidst the euphoria of South Africa's first all-race elections, she grapples with the legacy of Nelson Mandela and the shattered hope in the wake of the Obama era. Clemmons critiques the entrenched inequalities that haunt both countries, from the tragic loss of a childhood friend to the violence that often befalls women who have the audacity to be free.”

Publishing June 2

Could anything else go wrong? Marion has stolen a large sum from the New York City ad agency where she works, a last-ditch effort to help her sister get out of an abusive marriage. Now the bus has broken down en route, and the only place with lodging is an eerie set of old cabins at the edge of town. The handsome innkeeper Norm gets her situated, and not long after, he’s yanking back her shower curtain and holding up a knife.

Marion is an alternate retelling of Psycho, in which Marion turns the knife on Norman and slays him in that bathroom. Now she’s a thief and a killer — what next?

Publishing June 9

Casting agent Sasha Cruz is literally always working; that’s just how you become known for always finding the perfect person for the role. Naturally, this leaves little time in her life for relationships. So when she meets a handsome stranger on a flight to Paris but doesn’t get his contact info, she’ll do anything to find him and feel their spark again. So begins an international manhunt to find Seat F.

Publishing June 30

“The Shampoo Effect is a story of late-night parties, early mornings with small children, the dawn of midlife, and a group of old friends finally growing up despite all their best efforts to the contrary.” OK, sign me up.

In this novel we meet Caroline Lash, who is madly in love with Van Whittaker, her nature-loving boyfriend from Greenhead, Massachusetts. He’s still friends with all his high school pals, including an ex, Bailey. Caroline spends the summer with Van & Co. in their coastal hometown, until Bailey discovers she’s pregnant with Van’s baby, and the group unravels from there.

Publishing June 30

Jodie’s only dream in life was to be a housewife, and it came true when she married well-to-do psychologist Dr. Roy Davies. The reality of her new life isn’t what she expects, though — Roy’s friends think she’s a gold-digger, and his perfect house is still a shrine to his late wife, Deborah. When she begins to suspect Roy might have something to do with his first wife’s death, Jodie will have to figure out how to save herself from the same fate without revealing her own secrets.

Publishing July 7

Joey seems to have it all, from owning her home in LA to being a successful lawyer. But when she shows up single to a very couple-y dinner party at Elijah Aarons’ house — the best friend she has pined after for years — she isn’t pleased to also be reunited with the very annoying Alex Aquino. Just when she thinks it couldn’t get worse, she dies.

When she gets a second chance at life, Joey returns to being 18, the year she met both men. She sees it as her chance to convince Elijah they should’ve been together all along, but as they say, life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.

Publishing July 7

Who knew Death was a guy named Travis? In Reeves’ work, he is anyway. Travis’s job is to comfort people in their final hours, and he does it well, never offering any judgment or complaints. He knows all lives must eventually end, and he honors that balance — until he meets radiant midwife Dalia and her vibrant daughter Layla, who live across the hall. He quickly realizes just how much can be lost when a life draws to a close.

Publishing July 14

It’s Mexico in the 1940s, and con artist Ulises is many years into charming lonely women out of their money via his love letters. He thinks he may finally score a fortune from Perla, but when he meets her in person, his observant and stubborn niece Inés presents a real challenge. When Inés discovers his scheme, Ulises thinks he’s toast, but really, Inés just wants in.

Publishing July 28

If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if a foreign government released a biological warfare agent, well, here’s your guidebook. Jacobsen interviewed dozens of experts “with high-level political, governmental, medical, and military responsibility,” and puts forth a timeline in hours, days, and weeks of just how quickly a global infection could crumple society as we know it. No, this is not a light beach read at all.

Publishing August 4

“Struggling actress Marin Keane is shocked when she lands a role in a major motion picture about the unsolved mystery of New Avalon, an island on sprawling Lake Faraday in Vermont. She’s even more surprised when she learns that the role requires a weeklong research trip to that very spot. Because New Avalon isn’t your ordinary island. A century ago, it was a commune for spiritual mediums — until they all vanished in 1926. The only trace of them was five dresses hanging from the branches of an old oak tree in the middle of the island, one for each missing woman,” the synopsis reads.

Some locals believe the women just left; others think they were killed. It might have been a séance gone wrong. Whatever it was, it won’t take long before Marin realizes she might learn what happened to those women the hard way.

Publishing August 4

“On a bustling road in Sydney, Australia, lies a nondescript storefront known simply as the Time Travel Agency. Inside, you’ll be welcomed by the smell of fresh-brewed coffee, a selection of baked goods… and the question, Where in time do you wish to go?”

In Jaclyn Moriarty’s new fantastical novel, the rules are simple: You can visit whenever you wish in the past, and it won’t alter the present. When single mom Anna gets hired to the Agency, she thinks it may finally open the door to happier days. But when she meets two customers, Teddy and Jade, the three of them will tumble through time and learn so much about each other and how choices shape our destinies.

Publishing August 25

The highly anticipated sequel to Big Little Lies is almost here, y’all! When last we saw Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Renata, and Bonnie, their kids were only 5. The sequel picks up 10 years later, their children now navigating high school drama, first times, parties, and more. The women all have their own troubles, too. Celeste’s mother-in-law is acting strangely, Jane’s marriage is at a crossroads, Madeline is going through it. So when a stranger shows up to school asking questions, what will unfold this time?