The Best New Books Coming Out Summer 2018
Itās shaping up to be another great summer for books, which is why the number one item on our spring cleaning to-do list isāyou guessed itāclearing space on our bookshelves. Our bookmarks are at the ready in anticipation of a whole host of exciting summer releases. There are new books from Lauren Groff, Rachel Cusk, Ottessa Moshfegh, Kevin Wilson, and Anne Tyler on the horizon, as well as highly anticipated debut novels from Tommy Orange and R.O. Kwon preparing to hit bookstores in June, July, and August. There are plenty of new releases slated for summer that you just canāt miss (Sweet & Low: Stories by Nick White, The Third Hotel by Laura van den Berg, and The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon among them), and weāre expanding our reading lists accordingly.
Looking for books set in the South? Check out Florida by Lauren Groff, Treeborne by Caleb Johnson, and The New Inheritors by Kent Wascom. Excited to dive into some compelling new short stories? Pick up Baby, Youāre Gonna Be Mine: Stories by Kevin Wilson and Certain American States: Stories by Catherine Lacey. Whether youāre reading on the porch, in the park, or by the sea (or in an air-conditioned coffee shop while seeking respite from the summer heat), we have plenty of summer book recs for you. Also, if youāre looking for new spring releases and beach reads, we have you covered there too.
1 of 31
Florida by Lauren Groff
This highly anticipated collection of short stories from Lauren Groffāwhose previous work includes the novels Fates and Furies, The Monsters of Templeton, and Arcadia and the story collection Delicate Edible Birdsādelves into the state of Florida and assembles a cast of characters as memorable as they are well wrought. (June 5)
To buy: $27, amazon.com; indiebound.org
2 of 31
Half Gods by Akil Kumarasamy
Ten connected stories form Half Gods, the beautiful debut collection from Akil Kumarasamy that explores the depths that exist within and between peopleābrothers, families, strangers, friends, refugeesāin changing landscapes across the world. (June 5)
To buy: $25, amazon.com; indiebound.org
Ā
3 of 31
In the Distance with You by Carla Guelfenbein
This novel by Chilean writer Carla Guelfenbein probes the mysteries of the life of an enigmatic novelist named Vera Sigall and the curiosity she sparks in the people around her, including a student, a poet, and a neighbor. (June 5)
To buy: $17.95, amazon.com; indiebound.org
4 of 31
Kudos by Rachel Cusk
The final installation in Rachel Cuskās Outline trilogy, which also includes the novels Outline and Transit, focuses on a writer, Faye, who finds herself in Europe recalibrating the ways she understands the people she encounters in the world around her. (June 5)
To buy: $26, amazon.com; indiebound.org
5 of 31
Rough Animals by Rae DelBianco
In this haunting new novel by Rae DelBianco, a child with a gun interrupts the lives of twins Wyatt and Lucy at their ranch in Utah, prompting Wyatt to set out on a harrowing journey across both interior and exterior landscapesāboth of which prove equally complex to navigate. (June 5)
To buy: $24.99, amazon.com; indiebound.org
6 of 31
Southernmost by Silas House
The latest novel from Silas House explores the relationship between a father and his son as they flee to Key West, leaving behind the life theyāve known and, along the way, grappling with hard-won new understandings of family, tolerance, and love. (June 5)
To buy: $26.95, amazon.com; indiebound.org
7 of 31
Sweet & Low: Stories by Nick White
The alchemy in this collection is anything but ordinary. These fantastic short stories from Nick White introduce surprising, memorable, and ultimately human characters whose journeys play out on familiar Southern landscapes and in Whiteās thrillingly executed prose. (June 5)
To buy: $25, amazon.com; indiebound.org
8 of 31
Treeborne by Caleb Johnson
Elberta, Alabamaāits people, its past, and its uncertain futureāis the focus of Treeborne, a story about complicated legacies and the people who bring to life the places we call home. (June 5)
To buy: $25.48, amazon.com; indiebound.org
9 of 31
There There by Tommy Orange
When Marlon James says that a book ādrops on us like a thunderclap; the big, booming, explosive sound of 21st century literature finally announcing itself,ā you know you have something to look forward to. This is Tommy Orangeās stunning debut novel, a powerful story about twelve characters assembling at the Big Oakland Powwow seeking tradition and grappling with their histories. (June 5)
To buy: $25.95, amazon.com; indiebound.org
10 of 31
Upstate by James Wood
A familyāa professor and his two daughtersāreunite in upstate New York and, over the course of a week, struggle with the pain of their past while asking essential questions about their present. (June 5)
To buy: $26, amazon.com; indiebound.org
11 of 31
Visible Empire by Hannah Pittard
A disaster has deep effects on the city of Atlanta, its citizens, and the progression of the Civil Rights movement in this novel based on the aftermath of a true event, the 1962 Air France Flight 007 crash of the Chateau de Sully. (June 5)
To buy: $25, amazon.com; indiebound.org
12 of 31
The Shades by Evgenia Citkowitz
If youāre looking for a mystery to keep you on the edge of your seat, add this electrifying new novel by Evgenia Citkowitz to your reading list. In it, an unexpected visitor interrupts the grief-stricken aftermath of a family tragedy. (June 19)
To buy: $25.95, amazon.com; indiebound.org
13 of 31
We Begin Our Ascent by Joe Mungo Reed
Joe Mungo Reed explores ambition, family drama, and the unknowability of the future in his first novel, a story about a professional cyclist and a geneticist, also a married couple, whose lives begin to change as their dreams for the future begin to warp. (June 19)
To buy: $26, amazon.com; indiebound.org
14 of 31
The World Is a Narrow Bridge by Aaron Thier
Take to the open road alongside Murphy and Eva, a couple from Miami whose journey is soon sidetracked by the incomprehensibility of the worldāand a visitation from a figure from the Old Testament, who sends them into ever more absurd, funny, and poignant scenarios in their trip across the country. (July 3)
To buy: $26, amazon.com; indiebound.org
15 of 31
The New Inheritors by Kent Wascom
Partly set on the Gulf Coast in the early 1900s, Kent Wascomās poetic and grounded new bookāone in a series of connected novels including The Blood of Heaven and Secessiaātells the story of the Woolsack family, its rivalries, its fractures, and its tumult amid the tides of storms and war. (July 10)
To buy: $26, amazon.com; indiebound.org
16 of 31
Clock Dance by Anne Tyler
In this new novel from Anne Tyler, central character Willa Drakeās life takes an unexpected turn. After playing many roles defined by the choices of others, she agrees to take care of her sonās injured ex-girlfriend and, in the process, becomes part of a new community and begins to re-write her future. (July 10)
To buy: $26.95, amazon.com; indiebound.org
17 of 31
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
What if you could check out of your life for months at a time? A young woman tries to do just that by literally hibernating through her days in early 2000s New York City in Ottessa Moshfeghās propulsive and altogether uncategorizable new novel.Ā (July 10)
To buy: $26, amazon.com; indiebound.org
18 of 31
The Last Cruise by Kate Christensen
A retro-style cruise aboard the 1950s ocean liner Queen Isabella doesnāt go according to plan in this novel of adventure, crisis, and the powerful grip of history. (July 10)
To buy: $26.95, amazon.com; indiebound.org
19 of 31
What We Were Promised by Lucy Tan
This book introduces readers to the Zhen familyāWei, Lina, and Karenāwho move back to Shanghai from the U.S. and find that a whole world of long-quiet anxieties reemerges in their lives amid the changed and changing city. (July 10)
To buy: $26, amazon.com; indiebound.org
20 of 31
From a Low and Quiet Sea by Donal Ryan
Three menāFarouk, Lampy, and Johnāand their lives in a small Irish town are at the heart of this affecting new novel by Irish writer Donal Ryan, whose 2012 novelĀ The Spinning Heart was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. (July 17)
To buy: $16, amazon.com, indiebound.org
21 of 31
America for Beginners by Leah Franqui
Leah Franquiās debut novel follows Pival Sengupta, a widow traveling from India to the U.S. with the First Class India USA Destination Vacation Tour Company, as she sets her sights on California. While she hopes to find her son at the end of the trip, itās the journey that brings her and her two traveling companions new understanding of themselves and of America. (July 24)
To buy: $26.99, amazon.com; indiebound.org
22 of 31
Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Set in BogotĆ”, Colombia, amid permeating violence and with Pablo Escobar at large, this novel tells a story about two young womenāChula, a daughter of a privileged family, and Petrona, the familyās maidāand the connections, betrayals, and difficult choices the two must make as they grow up. (July 31)
To buy: $26.95, amazon.com; indiebound.org
23 of 31
The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon
When Phoebe Lin and Will Kendall meet at Edwards University, they are soon gripped by the thrall of a mysterious cult. While Phoebe disappears into the cultās extremism, Will resists and soon sets out to find herāand the truth behind a crime he canāt believe she's committed. If you only read one book this summer, make it this complex and searing debut novel by R.O. Kwon. (July 31)
To buy: $26, amazon.com; indiebound.org
24 of 31
Baby, Youāre Gonna Be Mine: Stories by Kevin Wilson
Prepare to be captivated by Kevin Wilsonās latest collection of short stories. The author of the collection Tunneling to the Center of the Earth and the novels The Family Fang and Perfect Little World is back with stories that make the strange all at once funny, fractious, and familiar. (August 7)
To buy: $26.99, amazon.com; indiebound.org
25 of 31
Certain American States: Stories by Catherine Lacey
This quietly poignant and utterly moving collection of short storiesāabout characters seeking, struggling, and attempting to come to terms with the world around themāis forthcoming from the author of the novels The Answers and Nobody Is Ever Missing. (August 7)
To buy: $26, amazon.com; indiebound.org
26 of 31
The Distance Home by Paula Saunders
Two siblings are at the heart of this vividly imagined debut novel by Paula Saunders. Itās a story set in rural South Dakota in the 1960s, and it probes questions of family, ambition, and belonging in America. (August 7)
To buy: $27, amazon.com; indiebound.org
27 of 31
The Third Hotel by Laura van den Berg
On a visit to Havana, Cuba, a woman named Clare glimpses her supposedly dead husband and embarks on a journey through the cityāfollowing him, revisiting her past, and encountering metaphysical mystery along the wayāin this otherworldly and unputdownable new novel. (August 7)
To buy: $25, amazon.com; indiebound.org
28 of 31
A River of Stars by Vanessa Hua
Vanessa Huaās debut novelāa story about immigration and motherhood and adventureāfollows an expectant mother named Scarlett Chen from China to Los Angeles, where she has been sent to give birth, and from whence she flees, embarking on a journey toward a future of her own making. (August 14)
To buy: $27, amazon.com; indiebound.org
29 of 31
Severance by Ling Ma
When a fever spreads across New York, Candace Chen finds herself unaffected, left in the deserted city, and blogging about what she sees. She soon encounters a group of survivors who promise to rescue her but perhaps have other plans in this sharp satire about habits, belonging, and the rhythm of modern life. (August 14)
To buy: $26, amazon.com; indiebound.org
30 of 31
French Exit by Patrick DeWitt
When the threat of ruin looms, an Upper East Side widow and her adult son flee to Paris and along the way encounter an unforgettably curious cast of characters in this darkly comic novel of manners by Patrick DeWitt. (August 28)
To buy: $25.99, amazon.com; indiebound.org
-
By Caroline Rogers Caroline Rogers