Our 16 Most Anticipated New Reads of July 2020

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June 30 2020
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Our July most anticipated list has something for every reader. For genre, we cover horror, intimate essay collections, rom-com, memoir, and historical fantasy, to name a few. For characters, they run the gamut as well, from supernatural assassins to dysfunctional family members to forensic psychologists, and more! For even more recommendations, check out Simon & Schuster’s summer reading guide to keep your BookCation game going strong.

This post was originally published on GetLiterary.com.

One Year of Ugly
by Caroline Mackenzie

Leila’s Pick

If you think your family is driving you crazy right now, meet the Palacios. Yola Palacio and her family are in isolation, not because of a pandemic, but because they are being blackmailed by a local gangster named Ugly, who was owed a great debt from Yola’s beloved deceased Aunt Celia. In order to pay her debts, they must take in and shelter Venezuelan refugees, just like themselves, and try not to lose their minds with each other while they’re at it. Trinidad-based author Caroline Mackenzie brings us an uproarious tale about how quickly familial ties can deepen during the unlikeliest of circumstances. Through her biting, witty narration, Mackenzie also shines a light on the oft-underreported Venezuelan refugee crisis affecting the West Indies today. With the romance of Crazy Rich Asians and the humor of Where’d You Go, Bernadette, One Year of Ugly is a poignant reminder that no matter what form of ugly crosses your path, there’s always a way to laugh through it.

Publication date: July 7

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One Year of Ugly
Caroline Mackenzie

A fun, fresh, timely debut novel about the uproarious adventures that befall the Palacio family during their disastrous illegal residence in Trinidad that poignantly captures the complexities of dysfunctional families and passionate (but sometimes messy) romance.

After fleeing crumbling, volatile Venezuela, Yola Palacio wants nothing more than to settle into a peaceful new life in Trinidad with her family. And who cares if they’re there illegally—aren’t most of the people on the island? But life for the Palacios is far from quiet—and when Yola’s Aunt Celia dies, the family once again find their lives turned upside down. For Celia had been keeping a very big secret—she owed a LOT of money to a local criminal called Ugly. And without the funds to pay him off, Ugly has the entire family do his bidding until Celia’s debt is settled. What Ugly says, the Palacios do, otherwise the circumstances are too dreadful to imagine.

To say that the year that follows is tumultuous for the Palacios is an understatement. But in the midst of the turmoil appears Roman—Ugly’s distractingly gorgeous right-hand man. And although she knows it’s terrible and quite possibly dangerous, Yola just can’t help but give in to the attraction. Where, though, do Roman’s loyalties lie? And could this wildly inappropriate romance just be the antidote to a terrible year of Ugly?

Combining the spark of Junot Diaz with the irresistible wit of Maria Semple, One Year of Ugly brilliantly explores cross-cultural struggles and assimilation from a unique immigrant perspective and introduces us to an extraordinary new voice in contemporary fiction.

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Craigslist Confessional
by Helena Dea Bala

Justin’s Pick

Helena Dea Bala’s odyssey into the deep, dark, and concealed corners of other people’s lives began after she put an ad on Craigslist with the subject line, "Tell me about yourself." More than half a decade later, the former Washington lobbyist and attorney is making a living by lending a compassionate ear to complete strangers through her blog. For Craigslist Confessional, the author has compiled 40 intimate, heart-wrenching, and acutely human confessions for her collection, on topics such as loss, love, and identity. While not always an easy read (you’ll likely need to take a breather between stories), this book is an engaging call for empathy. It confronts us with the struggles and truths that strangers reveal about their day-to-day lives and, in so doing, asks us to be a little bit kinder to—and more understanding of—everyone we encounter.

Publication date: July 7

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Craigslist Confessional
Helena Dea Bala

For fans of Humans of New York and PostSecret, a collection of raw, urgent, and heartfelt stories, shared anonymously.

What would you confess if you knew it would never get back to your spouse, your colleagues, or your family? What story would you tell about your life if a stranger was willing to listen with no judgement, no stigma, and no consequences—just an unburdening and the relief of confession?

After graduating from law school, Helena Dea Bala was a lobbyist in Washington, DC, struggling to pay off her student loans. She felt lonely and unfulfilled but, after a chance conversation with a homeless man she often saw on her commute, she felt…better. Talking with a stranger, listening to his problems, and sharing her own made her feel connected and engaged in a way she hadn’t in a long time. Inspired, she posted an ad on Craigslist promising to listen, anonymously and for free, to whatever the speaker felt he or she couldn’t tell anyone else. The response was huge—thousands of emails flooded her inbox. People were desperate for the opportunity to speak without being judged, to tell a story without worrying it would get back to friends, family, or coworkers—and so Craigslist Confessional was born.

The forty confessions in Craigslist Confessional are vivid, intimate, and real. Each story is told in the confessor’s voice; they range from devastating secrets (like addiction, depression, and trauma), to musings on lost love and reflections on a lifetime of hard choices. Some confessions are shocking, like the husband who is hiding his crippling sex addiction from his wife. Others are painful, like the man who is so depressed he rarely leaves his hoarder apartment. Some give us a glimpse into a brief chapter of someone’s life—like the girl who discovered that her boyfriend was cheating on her with a mutual friend, or the college student who became a high-end call girl. Others are inspiring, such as the woman who lost her son too young, but sees his memory live on through the people who received his donated organs.

Every confession presents a point of view not often seen, not often talked about. Craigslist Confessional challenges us to explore the depth of our empathy and it’s a call to listen to one another.

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Trouble the Saints
by Alaya Dawn Johnson

Sara’s Pick #1

Exploring systemic racism through the lens of fantasy is nothing new—shake the fantasy section of your local bookstore and you'll find your fair share of books that fit that description. But what Trouble the Saints brings to the literary table is a nuanced story of characters who experience that racism at different levels. Phyllis, a supernaturally gifted knife-wielding mob assassin in alternate-WWII Harlem, is an African American woman whose skin is light enough that she can pass for white. It's through her perspective that we see the stark divide in how people are treated. Half-Indian cop Dev also feels this divide as he is kept at arm's length by the department and people he serves as he takes on an undercover assignment. As fates and lives intertwine amid the backdrop of racial injustices and a looming war, Alaya Dawn Johnson builds a world of curses and confinement—complexities of both the magical and human variety—to challenge her charismatic characters. A great read for those looking to blend history and fantasy.

Publication date: July 21

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Trouble the Saints
Alaya Dawn Johnson

Sara’s Pick #1 Exploring systemic racism through the lens of fantasy is nothing new—shake the fantasy section of your local bookstore and you'll find your fair share of books that fit that description. But what Trouble the Saints brings to the literary table is a nuanced story of characters who experience that racism at different levels. Phyllis, a supernaturally gifted knife-wielding mob assassin in alternate-WWII Harlem, is an African American woman whose skin is light enough that she can pass for white. It's through her perspective that we see the stark divide in how people are treated. Half-Indian cop Dev also feels this divide as he is kept at arm's length by the department and people he serves as he takes on an undercover assignment. As fates and lives intertwine amid the backdrop of racial injustices and a looming war, Alaya Dawn Johnson builds a world of curses and confinement—complexities of both the magical and human variety—to challenge her charismatic characters. A great read for those looking to blend history and fantasy. Publication date: July 21

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Dear Emmie Blue
by Lia Louis

Courtney’s Pick

There are so many amazing books coming out this summer, but Dear Emmie Blue is the one I am recommending to all my friends to read first. I read this story pre-publication last October, and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since. It’s one of those books I wish I could read for the first time again. Author Lia Louis is a beautiful writer, and I was swept up in Emmie Blue’s journey. Her story begins with putting a secret and her email address inside a balloon and sending it across the English Channel—only for it to be found by a boy in France, named Lucas Moreau. Fast-forward fourteen years and Emmie is in love with Lucas, convinced the big question he has to ask her will reveal his love for her. But when things don’t go as planned, Emmie realizes she has neglected other aspects of her life (from her relationship with her mother to her career) in favor of Lucas, and that it’s time to make a change. I love all these characters, and by the end, I felt like I knew them personally. The novel is such a perfect hope-filled rom-com, I’d honestly be disappointed if it wasn’t adapted into a Netflix movie. This is one book you don’t want to miss.

Publication date: July 14

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Dear Emmie Blue
Lia Louis

“A delightful story about how the things we imagine to be best for us usually aren’t. The reason you will love Dear Emmie Blue is because you’ve probably *lived* Dear Emmie Blue, in some small part of your own journey to adulthood.” Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author

In this charming and poignant novel, teenager Emmie Blue releases a balloon with her email address and a big secret into the sky, only to fall head-over-heels for the boy who finds it; now, fourteen years later, the one thing Emmie has been counting on is gone for good, and everything she planned is up in the air.

At sixteen, Emmie Blue stood in the fields of her school and released a red balloon into the sky. Attached was her name, her email address…and a secret she desperately wanted to be free of. Weeks later, on a beach in France, Lucas Moreau discovered the balloon and immediately emailed the attached addressed, sparking an intense friendship between the two teens.

Now, fourteen years later, Emmie is hiding the fact that she’s desperately in love with Lucas. She has pinned all her hopes on him and waits patiently for him to finally admit that she’s the one for him. So dedicated to her love for Lucas, Emmie has all but neglected her life outside of this relationship—she’s given up the search for her absentee father, no longer tries to build bridges with her distant mother, and lives as a lodger to an old lady she barely knows after being laid off from her job. And when Lucas tells Emmie he has a big question to ask her, she’s convinced this is the moment he’ll reveal his feelings for her. But nothing in life ever quite goes as planned, does it?

Emmie Blue is about to learn everything she thinks she knows about life (and love) is just that: what she thinks she knows. Is there such thing as meant to be? Or is it true when they say that life is what happens when you are busy making other plans? A story filled with heart and humor, Dear Emmie Blue is perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Evvie Drake Starts Over.

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When She Was Good
by Michael Robotham

Heather’s Pick #1

This summer may not involve as much traveling as I’d planned, but you couldn’t tell by my TBR pile! I’m loading up on absorbing, fast-paced reads that I know will be just as riveting from my couch as on a plane, train, or automobile. In Michael Robotham’s thriller When She Was Good, forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven works to uncover the true identity of the girl he knows as Evie Cormac. He’s sure that the troubled teen, who was the sole surviving witness to a horrific crime seven years ago and possesses a sixth sense for when people are lying, won’t be able to move on until she faces her past. But what if the answers Cyrus seeks could land them both in even more danger?

Publication date: July 28

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When She Was Good
Michael Robotham

From the bestselling author of The Secrets She Keeps and Good Girl, Bad Girl comes a new thriller featuring the brilliant forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven as he becomes embroiled in an explosive murder case with disturbing origins.

Criminal psychologist Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac return in this mesmerizing new thriller from internationally bestselling author Michael Robotham, a writer Stephen King calls “an absolute master...with heart and soul.”

Who is Evie, the girl with no past, running from? She was discovered hiding in a secret room in the aftermath of a terrible crime. Her ability to tell when someone is lying helped Cyrus crack an impenetrable case in Good Girl, Bad Girl. Now, the closer Cyrus gets to uncovering answers about Evie’s dark history, the more he exposes Evie to danger, giving her no choice but to run. Ultimately, both will have to decide if some secrets are better left buried and some monsters should never be named...

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Big Friendship
by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman

Emily’s Pick #1

Call Your Girlfriend is the podcast I turn on when I miss my friends and need a mood lift. Long-distance besties Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow have such great chemistry—which only truly enduring friends can have—that they make me feel like my own bffs are whispering sweet words of wisdom into my ear. In each episode they dish out everything from professional victories to advice on relationships, all with quick wit and a feminist angle. I can’t wait to read the first book the two hosts have written together, Big Friendship, for its deep dive into the ups and downs of their impressively long-lasting friendship, and a necessary reminder that your true friends will always be there to help you through heartbreaks, and cheer the loudest at your success.

Publication date: July 14

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Big Friendship
Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman

A close friendship is one of the most influential and important relationships a human life can contain. Anyone will tell you that! But for all the rosy sentiments surrounding friendship, most people don’t talk much about what it really takes to stay close for the long haul.

Now two friends, Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman, tell the story of their equally messy and life-affirming Big Friendship in this honest and hilarious book that chronicles their first decade in one another’s lives. As the hosts of the hit podcast Call Your Girlfriend, they’ve become known for frank and intimate conversations. In this book, they bring that energy to their own friendshipits joys and its pitfalls.

Aminatou and Ann define Big Friendship as a strong, significant bond that transcends life phases, geographical locations, and emotional shifts. And they should know: the two have had moments of charmed bliss and deep frustration, of profound connection and gut-wrenching alienation. They have weathered life-threatening health scares, getting fired from their dream jobs, and one unfortunate Thanksgiving dinner eaten in a car in a parking lot in Rancho Cucamonga. Through interviews with friends and experts, they have come to understand that their struggles are not unique. And that the most important part of a Big Friendship is making the decision to invest in one another again and again.

An inspiring and entertaining testament to the power of society’s most underappreciated relationship, Big Friendship will invite you to think about how your own bonds are formed, challenged, and preserved. It is a call to value your friendships in all of their complexity. Actively choose them. And, sometimes, fight for them.

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Florence Adler Swims Forever
by Rachel Beanland

Sharon’s Pick

Florence Adler Swims Forever has all the trappings of unforgettable historical fiction. Rachel Beanland sets her absorbing story in Atlantic City, “America’s Playground,” during the summer of 1934. Her memorable characters—including a woman who is training to swim the English Channel; her bedridden, pregnant sister; and a mysterious young woman recently emigrated from Nazi Germany—are all cramped together in an apartment above a bakery. To top it off, tragedy strikes, and the characters become embroiled in a series of secrets and lies. Did I mention that the book is based on a true story, and that it’s Beanland’s debut novel?

Publication date: July 7

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Florence Adler Swims Forever
Rachel Beanland

“The perfect summer read” (USA TODAY) begins with a shocking tragedy that results in three generations of the Adler family grappling with heartbreak, romance, and the weight of family secrets across the course of one summer.

“Rachel Beanland is a writer of uncommon wit and wisdom, with a sharp and empathetic eye for character. She’ll win you over in the most old fashioned of ways: She simply tells a hell of a story.” —Rebecca Makkai, Pulitzer Finalist for The Great Believers

Atlantic City, 1934. Every summer, Esther and Joseph Adler rent their house out to vacationers escaping to “America’s Playground” and move into the small apartment above their bakery. Despite the cramped quarters, this is the apartment where they raised their two daughters, Fannie and Florence, and it always feels like home.

Now Florence has returned from college, determined to spend the summer training to swim the English Channel, and Fannie, pregnant again after recently losing a baby, is on bedrest for the duration of her pregnancy. After Joseph insists they take in a mysterious young woman whom he recently helped emigrate from Nazi Germany, the apartment is bursting at the seams.

Esther only wants to keep her daughters close and safe but some matters are beyond her control: there’s Fannie’s risky pregnancy—not to mention her always-scheming husband, Isaac—and the fact that the handsome heir of a hotel notorious for its anti-Semitic policies, seems to be in love with Florence.

When tragedy strikes, Esther makes the shocking decision to hide the truth—at least until Fannie’s baby is born—and pulls the family into an elaborate web of secret-keeping and lies, bringing long-buried tensions to the surface that reveal how quickly the act of protecting those we love can turn into betrayal.

Based on a true story and told in the vein of J. Courtney Sullivan’s Saints for All Occasions and Anita Diamant’s The Boston Girl, Beanland’s family saga is a breathtaking portrait of just how far we will go to in order to protect our loved ones and an uplifting portrayal of how the human spirit can endure—and even thrive—after tragedy.

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The Only Good Indians
by Stephen Graham Jones

Sara’s Pick #2

What does it mean to bear responsibility? That sounds like an easy question, but what you owe to others might end up being more than you bargained for. When four American Indian teens kill a pregnant deer, they set themselves and their loved ones on a dark and deadly path. Stephen Graham Jones is known for surreal horror that shakes you to your core, usually in more ways than one. The Only Good Indians is not only filled with terrifying imagery and heart-stopping twists, it’s also laden with social commentary on masculinity, the trauma of systematic oppression, and the ongoing negotiation between identity and culture. If you need a read that'll send chills down your spine in the summer heat, this story should be in your beach bag (virtual or otherwise).

Publication date: July 14

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The Only Good Indians
Stephen Graham Jones

“One of 2020’s buzziest horror novels.” —Entertainment Weekly

The Only Good Indians is a masterpiece. Intimate, devastating, brutal, terrifying, yet warm and heartbreaking in the best way, Stephen Graham Jones has written a horror novel about injustice and, ultimately, about hope….And it gives me hope that this book exists and is now in your hands.” —Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World

“Bloody and brutal at times, but also intimate, heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful.” —Rebecca Roanhorse, New York Times bestselling author of Trail of Lightning

The creeping horror of Paul Tremblay meets Tommy Orange’s There There in a dark novel of revenge, cultural identity, and the cost of breaking from tradition in this latest novel from the Jordan Peele of horror literature, Stephen Graham Jones.

Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with sharp social commentary, The Only Good Indians follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives. Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these childhood friends are helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.

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Lady Romeo
by Tana Wojczuk

Heather’s Pick #2

We twenty-first-century women owe a massive debt to the many “radical” ladies who came before us. By breaking the mold of what constituted “acceptable” behavior in their times, they created a more equitable existence for all of us. Charlotte Cushman, the subject of Tana Wojczuk’s biography, Lady Romeo, is one such admirable historical figure, and I can’t wait to read her story. A nineteenth-century queer actress who became one of America’s first celebrities, Charlotte rose to fame with her scene-stealing portrayal of Lady Macbeth, then took her show on the road and made headlines all across the country. I’m already a fan.

Publication date: July 7

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Lady Romeo
Tana Wojczuk

For fans of Book of Ages and American Eve, this illuminating and enthralling biography of 19th-century queer actress Charlotte Cushman portrays her radical lifestyle that riveted New York City and made headlines across America.

From the very beginning, she was a radical. At age nineteen, Charlotte Cushman, America’s beloved actress and the country’s first true celebrity, left her life—and countless suitors—behind to make it as a Shakespearean actress. After revolutionizing the role of Lady Macbeth in front of many adoring fans, she went on the road, performing in cities across a dividing America and building her fame. She was everywhere. And yet, her name has faded in the shadows of history.

Now, for the first time in decades, Cushman’s story comes to full and brilliant life in this definitive, exhilarating, and enlightening biography of the 19th-century icon. With rarely seen letters, Wojczuk reconstructs the formative years of Cushman’s life, set against the excitement and drama of New York City in the 1800s, featuring a cast of luminaries and revolutionaries that changed the cultural landscape of America forever.

A vivid portrait of an astonishing and uniquely American life, Lady Romeo reveals one of the most remarkable women in United States history, and restores her to the center stage where she belongs.

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Utopia Avenue
by David Mitchell

Sara’s Pick #3

As a big David Mitchell fan (I absolutely adored Slade House), I was wondering just what kind of story he'd be putting out next. While I certainly wasn't expecting it to be about a rock band, the story has that familiar enchanting quality of the author’s that can't help but draw you in. Utopia Avenue is a very strange rock band—comprised of band members from eclectic music backgrounds—who release two LPs before their blaze of glory is snuffed out in 1968. The story follows the band members as they climb the charts and then watches as it all comes crashing back to earth. Filled with references to, and appearances by, the rock legends of the era, it's a great read for music fans. Mitchell's all-consuming prose is just as strong as in his other works, and each member of the band provides their own perspective on the world of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll in a kind of mini-character study. This might not be what Mitchell fans were expecting, but it's a groove I can get behind.

Publication date: July 14

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Utopia Avenue
David Mitchell

Sara’s Pick #3 As a big David Mitchell fan (I absolutely adored Slade House), I was wondering just what kind of story he'd be putting out next. While I certainly wasn't expecting it to be about a rock band, the story has that familiar enchanting quality of the author’s that can't help but draw you in. Utopia Avenue is a very strange rock band—comprised of band members from eclectic music backgrounds—who release two LPs before their blaze of glory is snuffed out in 1968. The story follows the band members as they climb the charts and then watches as it all comes crashing back to earth. Filled with references to, and appearances by, the rock legends of the era, it's a great read for music fans. Mitchell's all-consuming prose is just as strong as in his other works, and each member of the band provides their own perspective on the world of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll in a kind of mini-character study. This might not be what Mitchell fans were expecting, but it's a groove I can get behind. Publication date: July 14

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Bonnie
by Christina Schwarz

Emily’s Pick #2

I love any fast-paced story that also manages to slip in a bit of history too—and Bonnie by Christina Schwarz does just that! If you haven’t already guessed from the title and book cover, the novel tells a fictional version of the infamous love affair between Bonnie and Clyde, from Bonnie’s POV. It describes her Dallas upbringing of limited opportunities and details how the pull of young love led her and Clyde down their spiral of lawbreaking and recklessness. Most people think they know the story of Bonnie and her infamous death (from the 1967 Bonnie and Clyde movie), but this fictionalized retelling of her life reveals a girl with sky-high ambitions and the heartbreakingly desperate decisions she made in an attempt to reach them.

Publication date: July 7

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Bonnie
Christina Schwarz

“Absorbing...poignant, often heartbreaking...Schwarz is a vivid storyteller.” –The New York Times Book Review

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Drowning Ruth vividly evokes the perennially fascinating true crime love affair of Bonnie and Clyde in this suspenseful, gorgeously detailed fictional portrait of Bonnie Parker, one of America’s most enigmatic women.

Born in a small town in the desolate reaches of western Texas and shaped by her girlhood in an industrial wasteland on the outskirts of Dallas, Bonnie Parker was a natural performer and a star student. She dreamed of being a movie star or a singer or a poet. But her dramatic nature, contorted by her limited opportunities and her overwhelming love for Clyde Barrow, pushed her into a course from which there was no escape but death.

Infusing the psychological acuity of literary fiction with the relentless pacing of a thriller, Bonnie follows Bonnie from her bright, promising youth to her final month of shoot-outs, kidnappings, and desperate car chases through America’s hinterland in the grip of the Great Depression, as the noose of the law tightened around her. Enriched by Christina Schwarz’s extensive research in the footsteps of Bonnie and Clyde and written with her powerful sense of place and time, Bonnie is a plaintive and page-turning account of a woman destroyed by a lethal combination of longing and love.

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Kings County
by David Goodwillie

Morgan’s Pick #1

If you’re missing the hustle and bustle of NYC, I feel you. I am as well. To help with this nostalgia, I highly suggest you pick up a copy of Kings County. Why? This incredibly immersive story will throw you onto the streets of NYC in the 2000s, from the protests of Occupy Wall Street to the parties of Bushwick, Brooklyn. Audrey Benton arrives in New York City on a bus from nowhere, but she soon finds a home for herself amid the burgeoning indie rock scene. She also finds an unlikely match in Theo Gorski, a shy but idealistic mill-town kid who’s struggling to establish himself in the world of publishing. But when a secret emerges from Audrey’s past, it threatens to tear down everything she and Theo have created together. This love story is at once gritty and hopeful. You won’t want to put it down!

Publication date: July 28

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Kings County
David Goodwillie

A Brooklyn love story, set to music.

Kings County crystallizes how it feels to be young and in love in New York City.” —Stephanie Danler

“A true and continual delight...Goodwillie captures the rapturous soul of a bygone Brooklyn.” —Joshua Ferris

It’s the early 2000s and like generations of ambitious young people before her, Audrey Benton arrives in New York City on a bus from nowhere. Broke but resourceful, she soon finds a home for herself amid the burgeoning music scene in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. But the city’s freedom comes with risks, and Audrey makes compromises to survive. As she becomes a minor celebrity in indie rock circles, she finds an unlikely match in Theo Gorski, a shy but idealistic mill-town kid who’s struggling to establish himself in the still-patrician world of books. But then an old acquaintance of Audrey’s disappears under mysterious circumstances, sparking a series of escalating crises that force the couple to confront a dangerous secret from her past.

From the raucous heights of Occupy Wall Street to the comical lows of the publishing industry, from million-dollar art auctions to Bushwick drug dens, Kings County captures New York City at a moment of cultural reckoning. Grappling with the resonant issues and themes of our time—sex and violence, art and commerce, friendship and family—it is an epic coming-of-age tale about love, consequences, bravery, and fighting for one’s place in an ever-changing world.

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The Book of Lost Names
by Kristin Harmel

Molly’s Pick 

I have been looking forward to the publication of Kristin Harmel’s newest book, The Book of Lost Names, ever since I read The Winemaker’s Wife. I love Kristin’s writing—it’s smart, evocative, and utterly engrossing. These qualities will no doubt extend to The Book of Lost Names, which is based on a true story from World War II about a young woman who helped hundreds of Jewish children flee the Nazis with her knack for forgery. I’m always interested in reading true stories about WWII, because inevitably the hero of the story was once a regular citizen who does extraordinary, courageous things; it reminds us all of what we can do in the face of such unfathomable circumstances. If you enjoyed The Light Over London, The Alice Network, or The Nightingale, be sure to read The Book of Lost Names.

Publication date: July 21

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The Book of Lost Names
Kristin Harmel

Inspired by an astonishing true story from World War II, a young woman with a talent for forgery helps hundreds of Jewish children flee the Nazis in this unforgettable historical novel from the international bestselling author of the “epic and heart-wrenching World War II tale” (Alyson Noel, #1 New York Times bestselling author) The Winemaker’s Wife.

Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books one morning when her eyes lock on a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. She freezes; it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in sixty-five years—a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names.

The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer—but will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?

As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and Rémy disappears.

An engaging and evocative novel reminiscent of The Lost Girls of Paris and The Alice Network, The Book of Lost Names is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of bravery and love in the face of evil.

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Filthy Beasts
by Kirkland Hamill

Morgan’s Pick #2

Are you as obsessed with memoirs as I am? Then you must add Filthy Beasts to your TBR. Kirk is eight years old when his family moves from New York’s upper-class society to his mom’s native Bermuda after his parents divorce. He and his brothers are left to fend for themselves as their mother succumbs to alcoholism. After eventually leaving his mother’s dysfunctional orbit for college in New Orleans, Kirk begins to realize just how different his family was—and how his upbringing has been—from those of his friends and peers. Filthy Beasts is both a gripping riches-to-rags story and the unforgettable journey of a man coming to terms with his family’s flaws and his own buried truths.

Publication date: July 14

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Filthy Beasts
Kirkland Hamill

Running with Scissors meets Grey Gardens in this gripping, true riches-to-rags tale of a wealthy family who lost it all and the unforgettable journey of a man coming to terms with his family’s deep flaws and his own long-buried truths.

“Wake up, you filthy beasts!” Wendy Hamill would shout to her children in the mornings before school. Startled from their dreams, Kirk and his two brothers couldn’t help but wonder—would they find enough food in the house for breakfast?

Following a rancorous split from New York’s upper-class society, newly divorced Wendy and her three sons are exiled from the East Coast elite circle. Wendy’s middle son, Kirk, is eight when she moves the family to her native Bermuda, leaving the three young boys to fend for themselves as she chases after the highs of her old life: alcohol, a wealthy new suitor, and other indulgences.

After eventually leaving his mother’s dysfunctional orbit for college in New Orleans, Kirk begins to realize how different his family and upbringing is from that of his friends and peers. Split between extreme privilege—early years living in luxury on his family’s private compound—and bare survival—rationing food and water during the height of his mother’s alcoholism—Kirk is used to keeping up appearances and burying his inconvenient truths from the world, until he’s eighteen and falls in love for the first time.

A fascinating window into the life of extreme privilege and a powerful story of self-acceptance, Filthy Beasts recounts Kirk’s unforgettable journey through luxury hotels and charity stores, private enclaves and public shame as he confronts his family’s many imperfections, accepts his unconventional childhood, and finally comes to terms with his own hidden secrets.

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The Need
by Helen Phillips

Sienna’s Pick

New in paperback this July, The Need is an unsettling, yet captivating story of one woman’s tenuous hold on keeping her head above water as she juggles work, motherhood, and family. Molly is a paleobotanist who spends her days working at a fossil quarry and has recently unearthed a controversial Bible that has attracted media and tourist attention. At night, she struggles to take care of her two children, four-year-old Viv and one-year-old Ben, on her own while her husband is away on a musical tour. One night, she discovers an intruder in her house, wearing an eerie deer mask. After confronting the masked figure, she realizes that the interloper knows everything about her and her family. When Molly learns who the trespasser actually is, she begins questioning her grip on reality.

New in paperback: July 7

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The Need
Helen Phillips

***LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION***

“An extraordinary and dazzlingly original work from one of our most gifted and interesting writers” (Emily St. John Mandel, author of The Glass Hotel). The Need, which finds a mother of two young children grappling with the dualities of motherhood after confronting a masked intruder in her home, is “like nothing you’ve ever read before…in a good way” (People).

When Molly, home alone with her two young children, hears footsteps in the living room, she tries to convince herself it’s the sleep deprivation. She’s been hearing things these days. Startling at loud noises. Imagining the worst-case scenario. It’s what mothers do, she knows.

But then the footsteps come again, and she catches a glimpse of movement.

Suddenly Molly finds herself face-to-face with an intruder who knows far too much about her and her family. As she attempts to protect those she loves most, Molly must also acknowledge her own frailty. Molly slips down an existential rabbit hole where she must confront the dualities of motherhood: the ecstasy and the dread; the languor and the ferocity; the banality and the transcendence as the book hurtles toward a mind-bending conclusion.

In The Need, Helen Phillips has created a subversive, speculative thriller that comes to life through blazing, arresting prose and gorgeous, haunting imagery. “Brilliant” (Entertainment Weekly), “grotesque and lovely” (The New York Times Book Review, Editor’s Choice), and “wildly captivating” (O, The Oprah Magazine), The Need is a glorious celebration of the bizarre and beautiful nature of our everyday lives and “showcases an extraordinary writer at her electrifying best” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

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Three Women
by Lisa Taddeo

Morgan’s Pick #3

Yes, it’s true: the book every single person on your Insta feed was talking about last summer is finally coming out in paperback! Three Women tells the story of the sex lives of three real American women: Maggie, Lina, and Sloane. An exploration of female desire that delves into the intimate details documented in journalist Taddeo’s eight years of research, it’s unlike any book I’ve ever read. It’s a blazing reminder that women’s stories are worth telling. This is not just a must-read. This is a MUST-READ RIGHT NOW. And a must-discuss. You will actively need to talk it out with your book club or your best friend or your mom or whomever you most trust. If you have not yet read it, now is the time.

New in paperback: July 7

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Three Women
Lisa Taddeo

The instant #1 New York Times bestseller and one of the most talked-about books of the year, Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women is “the most in-depth look at the female sex drive that’s been published in decades” (New York) and a “groundbreaking...breathtaking…staggeringly intimate” (Entertainment Weekly) look at the sex lives of three real American women—based on nearly a decade of reporting.

Hailed as “a dazzling achievement” (Los Angeles Times) and “riveting page-turner that explores desire, heartbreak, and infatuation in all its messy, complicated nuance” (The Washington Post), Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women has captivated readers, booksellers, and critics—and topped bestseller lists—worldwide.

Declared “the best book of the year” by Elizabeth Gilbert and “a breathtaking and important book” by Cheryl Strayed, Three Women has won praise everywhere from Columbia Journalism Review (“deeply reported, elegantly written, almost uncomfortably intimate”) to Refinery29 (“the hype for Three Women is real; in fact, it’s insufficient”), from Esquire (“a heartbreaking, gripping, astonishing masterpiece”) to Time (“Three Women is a battle cry…For anyone who thinks they know what women want, this book is an alarm, and its volume is turned all the way up.”) In the words of The New Statesman, “This is an unusual, startling, and gripping debut. It feels to me like the kind of bold, timely, once-in-a-generation book that every house should have a copy of, and probably will before too long.”

In suburban Indiana we meet Lina, the homemaker and mother of two whose marriage, after a decade, has lost its passion. Starved for affection, Lina battles daily panic attacks and, after reconnecting with an old flame through social media, embarks on an affair that quickly becomes all-consuming. In North Dakota we meet Maggie, the seventeen-year-old high school student who allegedly has a clandestine physical relationship with her handsome, married English teacher; the ensuing criminal trial will turn their quiet community upside down. Finally, in the northeast we meet Sloane, the successful, refined restaurant owner whose husband enjoys watching her have sex with other men and women.

Based on years of immersive reporting and told with astonishing frankness and immediacy, Three Women is both a feat of journalism and a triumph of storytelling, brimming with nuance and empathy. “A work of deep observation, long conversations, and a kind of journalistic alchemy” (Kate Tuttle, NPR), Three Women introduces us to three unforgettable women—and one remarkable writer—whose experiences remind us that we are not alone.

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