2book multi

RomanceMystery

Some like it smart: seven brainy romances

Feature by Grace Burrowes

Romance readers have always loved blazingly intelligent leads, and Grace Burrowes’ latest historical romance has two—the canny, wordly duchess Matilda Wakefield and bookish, kindhearted Duncan Wentworth. While Matilda hides from her troubles at Duncan’s country estate, they fall in love over transcribing journals and games of chess. In honor of When a Duchess Says I Do (our April Top Pick in romance!) we asked Burrowes to tell us about her favorite love stories starring similarly brainy couples.

Engaging characters come with all kinds of strengths and weaknesses, and—how does this happen?—sometimes what they think is their strongest suit can end up being their downfall, and conversely. When a Duchess Says I Do is the story of Duncan Wentworth and Matilda Wakefield, two very logical, analytical people who find chess erotic and polite society ridiculous. Their romance was a lot of fun to write because those who put their faith in reason can be among the most passionate under the right circumstances. I’ve listed below some other titles featuring characters with a penchant for pondering or an inclination toward intellectualizing. They all find their HEAs, but not by looking in the dictionary!

The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan
Sebastian Malheur and Violet Waterfield, Countess of Cambury, have a relationship built around scientific insights—hers—and social entré—his. Just as we’d expect from somebody named Malheur, Sebastian is a naughty fellow, but being a fellow, he has the creds to propound theories that Violet, a respectable widow, does not. This romance is signature Courtney Milan with its sparkling prose, brilliant repartee and insightful world-building that illuminates both the romance and the fundamental injustice of gender roles (which isn’t exclusive to the historical period). It’s a terrific read.

Midsummer Moon by Laura Kinsale
This book came out in 1987, when scientifically inclined heroines in historical romances were few and far between. Merlin Lambourne has built a flying machine (yes, there is precedent for this), and Ransom Falconer, Duke of Deverell, can see the strategic value of her invention in the battle to defeat Napoleon. They are two very different people, and did we mention he’s afraid of heights while she works literally in a tower? I will never forget the climax of this book, one of the loveliest depictions of what it means to truly, truly fall in love.

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
This series opener is not strictly a romance, but the chemistry between widowed Lady Julia Gray and enigmatic sleuth Nicholas Brisbane is as intriguing as the mystery they set out to solve. Both are passionate, intrepid characters, but they also bring tons of deductive skill and technical expertise to their stories. When Julia would be impulsive, Brisbane is the rational partner. When Brisbane is in a temper, Julia can puncture his conceits with a few pithy insights based on evidence and observation. Never did cool logic and sweet reason have such delightfully romantic results!

Not Quite a Husband by Sherry Thomas
Leo Marsden and Bryony Asquith are another historical couple grappling with the social mores that penalize a woman for developing gifts in a traditionally male preserve. In this case, Bryony becomes a physician, and Leo, her former spouse (their brief marriage was annulled), is tasked with escorting her home from India. The journey home, fraught with perils that require them to rely upon each other, is a metaphor for the journey toward a relationship that allows both partners to thrive—to heck with society’s narrow-mindedness. Beautiful prose, phenomenal world-building, scrumptious reading!

Not Quite a Lady by Loretta Chase
This my favorite Loretta Chase (so far) for so many reasons. The heroine, Lady Charlotte Hayward, has been maneuvering and plotting for years to remain unmarried. She is much shrewder and more insightful than she seems (by design), while Darius Carsington is a biologist who views reproductive physiology as nothing to get emotional about, no matter how energetically he undertakes his raking. Charlotte provides the insufferably scientific Mr. Carsington quite an education about the limitations of book-learning, while Darius shows Charlotte that the world yet holds many unexpected wonders . . . so to speak.

The Spymaster’s Lady by Joanna Bourne
I could have chosen anything by Joanna Bourne, because her protagonists are all bright, self-reliant, resourceful, articulate and possessed of arcane talents (Hawker and his knives, Doyle and just about everything). I went with Annique Villiers and Robert Grey, because in the course of this series opener, they both engineer twists—note the plural—that leave me with such a case of plot-envy that the only cure is to re-read this book regularly and often. When reviewers talk about a brilliant debut, this is exactly the kind of book they’re referring to.

A Duke in the Night by Kelly Bowen
Not all smarty-pants protagonists are scientific! Some boast a broad love of learning, like Clara Hayward, headmistress of Haverhall School for Young Ladies, while others have a mind for business brilliance, like August Faulkner, duke and Bond Street buccaneer. How they come to appreciate each other’s different kinds of smarts is part of the fun of this witty, warm-hearted Regency.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our review of When a Duchess Says I Do.

When a Duchess Says I Do author Grace Burrowes lists her seven favorite brainy romance couples.

Children's & YAPicture Book

New picture books help youngsters cultivate confidence

Feature by Julie Hale

Full of sunshine and cheer, these four picture books focus on helping children gain courage, confidence and self-esteem. These spirit-lifting stories will awaken young readers to the wonders of nature, and they just may become emboldened to embrace their unique qualities and step outside to make a mark on the world.

Written by Jeanne Willis, Stardust is a perspective-changing story about the importance of self-worth. The book’s young female narrator longs for attention, but she can’t compete with her overachieving older sister—the star who excels at everything. Her big sis is a better knitter, the winner of the big costume contest, and she was also the one who found mom’s wedding ring after it goes missing. Yep, definitely star material. The narrator feels overlooked and underappreciated until Granddad tells her a story about the universe and the way stars are created. He assures her that she’s as bright as her sister. “You just shine in different ways,” he explains. Briony May Smith adds dazzle to Willis’ prose through lively illustrations of the narrator—a spunky figure with red hair—on imaginary travels with Granddad in outer space. As Willis demonstrates in this winning story, establishing a sense of self-esteem in children is critical from the get-go. Stardust can help get the conversation started.

In Pat Zietlow Miller’s heartening story Remarkably You, the author pays tribute to the traits that make people unique and emphasizes themes of acceptance. A skillful poet, she packs nuggets of wisdom into nimble rhymes: “No matter your volume, your age, or your size, / YOU have the power to be a surprise. / You have the know-how. / You’re savvy and smart. / You could change the world. / Are you willing to start?” Illustrated with nuance by Patrice Barton, Remarkably You features a diverse lineup of youngsters, each with myriad talents and strengths, who come together to forge friendships. Through beautiful scenes of the kids at work and at play, Barton depicts the different ways children can contribute and enhances the story’s uplifting mood. It’s never too early to encourage children to own who they are. A book that can serve as a confidence-booster in the classroom, Remarkably You reminds readers to appreciate and cultivate the qualities that make us all special.

Sure to ignite a sense of possibility in readers, Shelley Thomas’ poetic new offering, From Tree to Sea, celebrates the pleasures of getting outside and the lessons that children can glean from their surroundings. Touching down in a variety of locations including the desert, the ocean and the rocky heights of a steep mountainside, this appealing picture book follows adventurous girls and boys as they make exciting discoveries about their environments. Throughout the book, Thomas plays up the aspects of nature that can provide comfort and assurance to young readers. Her accessible text makes the title a perfect read-along: “Trees show me how to stand tall. / Even when the wind / tries to blow me down, / I dance with the breeze. / I do not fall.” Filled with creative rhymes and arresting imagery, her verses capture the multifaceted quality of the great outdoors. The book’s colorful, vibrant illustrations, contributed by artist Christopher Silas Neal, will intrigue young explorers. Simple on the surface, this sweet story imparts important truisms about the planet we call home.

Nature’s many valuable messages are also at the center of The Amazing Idea of You. Featuring poetic text by Charlotte Sullivan Wild, this book looks at the cycles of nature through the eyes of a young girl. From a bird’s egg to a caterpillar’s cocoon, the story demonstrates how life abounds with transformation, potential and mystery. Apple in hand, the girl thinks about the secret inside the fruit—“the idea of a tree” contained within its seeds. When she starts an orchard of her own, she bears witness to the results: “Where you once planted seeds, now an orchard teems with creatures singing, springing, fluttering, winging.” Artist Mary Lundquist provides warm, wonderful depictions of earth’s busy inhabitants such as leaping frogs, a colorful butterfly and a waddling goose with her goslings. Wild’s accessible verses reveal important connections between birth, growth and renewal. From start to finish, this is a first-rate introduction to the workings of the world and the magic of sprouting things.

Full of sunshine and cheer, these four picture books focus on helping children gain courage, confidence and self-esteem. These spirit-lifting stories will awaken young readers to the wonders of nature, and they just may become emboldened to embrace their unique qualities and step outside to make a mark on the world.

NonfictionFictionComing of Age

Book Clubs: April 2019

Feature by Julie Hale

Top Pick
Rachel Cusk concludes her acclaimed Outline Trilogy with Kudos, which finds the narrator, a British writer named Faye, in a new marriage. During a literary festival and travels in Europe, Faye encounters people in various stages of disillusionment about their lives and domestic affairs. As ever, she proves a willing listener while acquaintances pour out their stories. From the self–centered journalist who comes to interview Faye and hardly stops talking, to publicists, writers and others of literary ilk, Faye crosses paths with a jaded cast of characters who tell all. Meanwhile, she keeps in contact with her two sons via phone, conversations that bring tenderness to the book. Like its predecessors Outline and Transit, this novel is understated yet fierce—a beautiful and melancholy exploration of the female experience, precisely rendered by its author. Followers of the series will find this final installment deeply satisfying.

Look Alive Out There
by Sloane Crosley
A smart, companionable presence on the page, Crosley cements her reputation as one of today’s leading nonfiction writers with this collection of shrewdly observed pieces that touch on topics as wide-ranging as fertility, volcanoes and life as a single woman in New York City. 

Varina
by Charles Frazier
Varina, wife of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, leaves her home as the Civil War ends and fends for herself and her children. Frazier chronicles her remarkable life in this richly detailed novel.

The Overstory
by Richard Powers
Powers works on a grand scale to tell a grand story about the interconnectedness of humankind and nature as nine disparate characters come together to preserve an area of virgin forest.

Tin Man
by Sarah Winman
Winman has crafted a heartbreaking narrative about love and redemption in her powerful third novel, which explores the relationships and disparate paths of three young people.

Top Pick
Rachel Cusk concludes her acclaimed Outline Trilogy with Kudos, which finds the narrator, a British writer named Faye, in a new marriage. During a literary festival and travels in Europe, Faye encounters people in various stages of disillusionment about their lives…

Children's & YAPicture Book

Silly stories to inspire a love of language

Feature by Alice Cary

There’s great fun to be had in messing around with letters and words, and these four new picture books balance hilarity and education.

After his first day of kindergarten, author Tony Johnston’s grandson asked him, “We’re learning the letters, but what do they do?” Johnston was then inspired to write The Magic of Letters, an exhilarating answer whose cover shows letters tumbling out of a magic hat in front of a rabbit. Inside, the rabbit explains that “Letters hold magic. When you know their secrets, they open worlds.” The text shows how letters form words, proclaiming “Letters hold POWER. You can shuffle them around to make loads of mighty words.” On this poster-worthy spread, the rabbit drives a bright orange dump truck filled with words like “diversity,” “libraries,” “art” and “science.” Subsequent pages are playful, toying with words like “flibbertigibbet” and “quesadilla.” Wendell Minor’s childlike illustrations set a variety of moods, ranging from scenes of moonlit enchantment to the excitement felt by a boy and girl who hop on the back of a colorful toucan and soar into a sky filled with letters. Johnston urges readers to roll words “in your mouth like lollipops.” Yup, there’s a mighty sweet reason for learning those ABCs, and The Magic of Letters is proof.

A girl and her younger brother spend a glorious summer day camping near the sea, going to an amusement park, and swimming in author-illustrator Fiona Woodcock’s effervescent Hello. The story is cleverly told with only one or two words on each page, each and every one containing the paired letters “ll.” It’s a nifty follow-up to Look, in which the same siblings visit a zoo, “oo” words. Once again, Woodcock makes her amusing premise work well, starting out with the words “hello” and “yellow” as the sun rises over the family’s tent site. The siblings collide on bumper cars, yell their way down a giant slide and gallop aboard a carousel. Adding to the charm, Woodcock often incorporates those double letters into her illustrations, as the poles of each carousel horse or the boy’s long legs as he views himself in a hall of mirrors. Woodcock’s cheerful art accentuates the joy of every moment in a wonderful graphic style, often using the spatter of blow pens to mix her muted colors. Hello is a book readers will be eager to greet again and again.

As a green lion repeatedly approaches a stoplight, instead of the expected green light, a series of new surprises await, each beginning with the letters “li.” Sometimes the resulting events are “startling” (lightning and rain), sometimes “alarming” (a flood), sometimes “timely” (a passing rowboat), and so on. Occasionally, a picture book can strike a deep chord, and Candace Ryan’s Red Light, Green Lion does just that, serving as the perfect parable for its epigraph from Dutch theologian Henri Nouwen, part of which says, “Let’s not be afraid to receive each day’s surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy.” Never fear―this book is anything but heavy. With wonderfully spare text, Ryan builds anticipation with repetitions that prompt young readers to guess what might be next. Illustrator Jennifer Yerke’s simple line drawings in a limited palette of primary colors serve as the perfect counterpoint to the text, keeping the story light and lively. Red Light, Green Lion is a squeal-worthy preschool read-aloud that contains an invaluable lesson for all ages.

Sometimes the wrong word can be a lot more fun than the right one, and that’s certainly the case in Lambslide, the first picture book from award-winning adult author Ann Patchett. On a bucolic farm owned by none other than the Farmer family, young Nicolette is running for class president. When her mom says, “You’ll win by a landslide,” a group of rambunctious, self-centered lambs hear her prediction as “lambslide.” The lambs conclude that this wonderful sounding malaprop is exactly what they need, and through a series of negotiations with their mom, the other farmyard animals and the Farmers, they are forced to consider the needs and wants of others. Finally, after a farm-wide vote, these wooly crusaders get what they’re after, sharing the fun with everyone. This lively tale of teamwork―along with a playful peek at politics―features bestselling illustrator Robin Preiss Glasser, of Fancy Nancy fame, whose appealing art has something of an old-fashioned feel. The result is a book full of visual and verbal delights, brimming with joy, energy and humor.

There’s great fun to be had in messing around with letters and words, and these four new picture books balance hilarity and education.

Mystery

Whodunit: May 2019

Feature by Bruce Tierney

TOP PICK
It’s Christmastime in the U.K., and all the cops are hoping that maybe this will be the year they’ll get to spend the holidays with their families. It is not to be. “Everything is slack, unurgent. It all smacks of too late,” one of the detectives muses as they pull up to the crime scene. Someone at the scene comments, “She’s been more than killed. She’s more than dead.” And it was then, a scant 17 pages in, when I realized that I would not be putting this book down until I had reached the end. The detectives at the center of Patrick McGuinness’ Throw Me to the Wolves, narrator Ander and his partner Gary, could scarcely be more unalike. Ander is sensitive and introspective, while Gary is a throwback to an earlier time, when beating a suspect or drinking on the job, while not publicly condoned, was not privately condemned either. The suspect is a retired boarding school teacher, someone Ander knew from his school days a lifetime ago, a man seemingly incapable of such a heinous killing. Thus, two parallel narratives emerge, one about the investigation of the murder and a second about events of times long past. McGuinness delves into current events (Brexit, et al.) and lobs numerous digs at the tabloid media, all while delivering a first-rate whodunit. It’s only May, but Throw Me to the Wolves looks like a strong candidate for mystery of the year. Or any year.

Jeffery Deaver already has two major suspense series to his credit, and now he’s starting another with The Never Game, which features arguably the most unusual protagonist of his career thus far: itinerant reward seeker Colter Shaw. An expert tracker thanks to his survivalist father, Shaw travels the U.S. in a Winnebago in search of missing persons. In Berkeley, California, he undertakes an investigation into the disappearance of a teenage girl, a case the local authorities are treating as a simple runaway. It turns out to be anything but. The search leads Shaw to team up with a young female gamer, and it begins to dawn on them that the disappearance bears a striking resemblance to level one of a popular internet survival game called “The Whispering Man.” When a second disappearance occurs, their suspicions seem to be confirmed, except now the unidentified perpetrator has ramped up the difficulty level with an altogether more dangerous and potentially lethal set of outcomes. I would characterize Deaver’s previous novels as mysteries, but The Never Game occupies thriller territory, and it has film adaptation written all over it.

Young Carline Darcy appeared to have it all. Presumptive heir to Darcy Therapeutics, the largest pharmaceutical company in Ireland, by all rights she should have lived a charmed life. But early on, it all went sideways. First, there was her parents’ vitriolic divorce, fueled largely by her selfish and vindictive mother. Then her father was killed in a skiing accident, forcing her to live out her teen years with the unfeeling mother she had rarely seen over the course of her childhood. This personal history comprises the first chapter of Dervla McTiernan’s The Scholar, setting the stage for what’s to come. Fast-forward eight years, and Carline is a university student and researcher. One evening when Darcy Therapeutics medical researcher Emma Sweeney is returning home, she comes upon the dead body of a young woman, the apparent victim of a hit-and-run. Emma summons her boyfriend, Detective Cormac Reilly, to the scene. They are shocked to discover that the ID card carried by the corpse identifies her as Carline Darcy. And if they are shocked, it doesn’t hold a candle to the media frenzy about to be set loose. As the evidence mounts, it becomes increasingly clear that there is involvement on the part of Darcy Therapeutics and perhaps even Emma, whose “discovery” of the body is entirely too convenient for some people to swallow. Cormac must walk the fine line between loyalty to his lover and loyalty to the force, a path liberally strewn with land mines by the fiendishly clever McTiernan.

“Stone mothers” was a Victorian epithet for mental institutions, implying that within their stone walls help and nurturing could be found for those in need. In reality, of course, the opposite was often true. Stone Mothers is also the title of Erin Kelly’s latest thriller, set in and around a now-closed mental institution in the remote fictional town of Nusstead, England. Marianne Thackeray is no stranger to mental illness–her mother suffers from dementia, and her daughter hovers on the brink of mental instability as well. Marianne grew up in the shadow of Nazareth Mental Hospital, but she left some 30 years ago and made a good life for herself and her family. Now she is being dragged back to the town she escaped, first to assist her mother, then (rather more ominously) as a blackmail victim for a long-ago act that she thought would never again see the light of day. Before long, a former lover will become an enemy, a former enemy will become an unlikely ally, and the reader will be exposed to institutional horrors that make One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest look as inviting as Disneyland. It’s disturbing to the max, but hey, that’s what we read thrillers for, right?

TOP PICK
It’s Christmastime in the U.K., and all the cops are hoping that maybe this will be the year they’ll get to spend the holidays with their families. It is not to be. “Everything is slack, unurgent. It all smacks of…

FictionSpeculative Fiction

Book Clubs: May 2019

Feature by Julie Hale

TOP PICK
Sheila Heti’s brave, unflinching novel Motherhood tells the story of one woman’s indecision about having children. The book’s unnamed narrator, a writer approaching the age of 40, is surrounded by friends who are starting families. She lives in Toronto with Miles, her boyfriend, who has a daughter from another relationship. In the midst of this domesticity, she’s plagued by uncertainty about reproducing. She’s honest about her ambivalence but fearful that she’ll one day regret not having kids of her own. Heti combines poignant first-person storytelling with a compassionate consideration of the traditions and implications of motherhood. The novel is a rich meditation on society’s expectations, personal agency and the evolving roles of women. Selected as a best book of 2018 by the New York Times and NPR, this provocative novel is sure to resonate with female readers, regardless of parental status.

Transcription by Kate Atkinson
Enlisted by England’s MI5 at the age of 18, Juliet Armstrong becomes enmeshed in a web of espionage and betrayal that will haunt her for a lifetime in Atkinson’s thrilling World War II novel.

The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner
When Romy Hall kills her stalker, she gets slapped with two life sentences. The story of her transition to life in a California correctional facility makes for a riveting read in Kushner’s latest novel.

Severance by Ling Ma
In Ma’s haunting, satirical take on the apocalypse, a young Chinese-American woman continues to live and work in Manhattan despite a fever that spreads across the globe and turns victims into zombies.

There There by Tommy Orange
Orange’s impressive debut chronicles the struggles and triumphs of 12 Native American characters in California, offering a complex, compelling look at contemporary Native life.

Sheila Heti’s brave, unflinching novel Motherhood tells the story of one woman’s indecision about having children.
NonfictionEducationCookbooks

Great gifts for grads

Feature by Alice Cary

With plenty of observations on success, love and health, The Algebra of Happiness offers concise, invaluable lessons on how to create a joy-filled life. Author and NYU professor Scott Galloway gives glimpses into his own experiences, like how he was initially rejected from UCLA but later wrote the admissions office, got accepted and then ended up founding nine firms and being named one of the “World’s 50 Best Business School Professors.” But that kind of success isn’t everything: “In the end,” Galloway concludes, “relationships are all that matter.”

For more on living well, you can’t go wrong with The Atlas of Happiness. Expanding on the hygge craze, happiness researcher Helen Russell takes readers on a world tour, presenting “a catalog of cultural customs” on living well. This attractive, intriguing book—chock-full of colorful illustrations and breezy, informative essays—will be enjoyed by all, young or old. 

Those who are college-bound may want to put How to College at the top of their summer reading list. This no-nonsense, comprehensive guide covers everything from term papers to roommates and on-campus health care. Author and professor Andrea Malkin Brenner knows the nitty-gritty, having created American University’s first-year experience course. This book is well-organized and packed with tips, illustrated charts and useful exercises.

The way to a college student’s heart is often through their stomach, and at some point cafeteria food is bound to get tiresome. Katie Sullivan Morford’s Prep is the perfect antidote, filled with plenty of basics and crystal-clear instructions. Recipes include dishes like Spicy Sweet Potato Rounds and Mix-in-the-Pan Applesauce Cake (with frosting!), while other chapters cover topics like “Fix a Killer Plate of Pasta” and “Turn a Pot of Beans Into a Meal.” This is a wonderful crash course in Cooking 101.

Got a graduate in your life? Give the priceless gift of wisdom with one of these four books.
NonfictionParentingMemoir

The fine art of parenting while female

Feature by Julie Hale

The connection we share with our mothers—and/or the state of being a mother ourselves—can range from loving and reverential to difficult and draining. No matter how you feel about motherhood, these books offer insight for all. 

In his compelling memoir, Mama’s Boy: A Story of Our Americas, Dustin Lance Black, writer of the Oscar-winning screenplay Milk, chronicles the life of his brave, determined mother, Anne, and the evolution of their relationship. Anne was born into a family of poor Louisiana sharecroppers and was paralyzed by polio as a child, yet she went on to have a fulfilling career and marry three times. She brought up Black and his two brothers in a Mormon household, which led to friction as Black came of age in the 1980s, grappling with his identity and concealing his sexual orientation from Anne and the rest of his family. But as he entered film school and became involved in the gay marriage movement, he and Anne discovered common ground. The story he tells is one of perseverance, acceptance and, ultimately, hope. “If my mom and I could find the bridges between us, then perhaps our neighbors and those closest to us could too,” he writes. “Perhaps we could live on a higher plane than politics.” 

A group of today’s leading authors explore freighted family bonds in What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break the Silence. Assembled by Michele Filgate, a contributing editor at Literary Hub, this stirring collection of essays offers diverse takes on the ties that bind mother and child. In “Her Body/My Body,” Nayomi Munaweera recalls growing up in a family that, due to her unstable mother, was filled with upheaval and violence. André Aciman shares poignant memories of his deaf mother in “Can You Hear Me?” Filgate, in the book’s powerful title essay, writes about the stepfather who abused her and how his actions affected her mother. Other contributors include Alexander Chee, Carmen Maria Machado and Kiese Laymon. Readers seeking to make sense of their own family histories will find much to savor in these eloquent, insightful essays.

The incomparable Anna Quindlen explores a modified form of motherhood in her delightful new memoir, Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting. With the arrival of little Arthur, the child of her eldest son, Quindlen writes, “I became something different than I’d ever been before.” As a grandmother, she finds fresh use for her maternal skills and works to redefine her place in the family, a process that proves at times to be bittersweet. “We were mother and father, most of us, before we became grandmother and grandfather,” she writes. “And because of that it is sometimes hard to accept that we have been pushed slightly to the perimeter.” Along with sharing episodes from her time as a newly minted nana, she contemplates developments in childrearing and reflects on her own past as a mom. Quindlen puts her stamp on topics that are timeless, and her faithful followers will welcome this revealing, beautifully crafted account of family life.

Journalist Dani McClain delivers an electrifying assessment of contemporary parenting in We Live for the We: The Political Power of Black Motherhood. Given the current social climate, “motherhood is deeply political,” McClain says, as black mothers contend with inadequate healthcare and widespread racial prejudice. A frequent contributor to The Nation and Slate, McClain herself is the mother of a young daughter, and she wrote We Live for the We as an exploration of how best to raise a black girl in today’s world. McClain interviews activist mothers working to bring about social change to find out how they’re handling parenthood. The perspectives of these women—artists and academics, health care workers and teachers—are honest and heartfelt. McClain structures the text around the life of a child, moving from babyhood to the tween years and beyond while looking at parenting issues such as education, religion and sex. Earnest and inspiring, We Live for the We offers invaluable guidance for bringing up the next generation of black Americans.

Providing a weird, wonderful overview of family life in the 19th century, Ungovernable: The Victorian Parent’s Guide to Raising Flawless Children is a catalog of extremely questionable child-rearing techniques collected by brilliant satirist Therese Oneill. She presents this strange-but-true slice of Victorian life in the form of a Q&A between a genial narrator advocating for old-school approaches and a somewhat befuddled modern-day mother. “Here you will learn about discipline, morals, and the devastating repercussions of allowing a child to eat fruit,” Oneill writes. (In Victorian times, fruit was thought to be harmful to youngsters.) Typical disciplinary measures included dunking a child’s head in a water barrel, spankings and, in the classroom, the use of a dunce cap. Mothers who take themselves to task for being imperfect parents need only peruse Ungovernable to feel better about their efforts.

The connection we share with our mothers—and/or the state of being a mother ourselves—can range from loving and reverential to difficult and draining. No matter how you feel about motherhood, these books offer insight for all. 

In his compelling memoir, Mama’s Boy: A…

Fiction

My mother before me

Feature by Barbara Clark

Four compelling stories of mothers and daughters center on secrets revealed and secrets kept, with powerful consequences that reverberate through the years.

A wealth of history turns Wunderland into a novel that’s both beautiful and devastating. Author Jennifer Cody Epstein (The Painter From Shanghai ) taps into the 1930s prewar era, laying out an unsparing narrative that details tragic events and horrifying legacies.

Renate and Ilse, Jew and Gentile, are best friends in pre-World War II Germany, but they’re driven apart in the terrible buildup to war when Ilse joins Bund Deutscher Mädel, the female division of the Hitler Youth movement. Many years later, in 1989 New York City, Ilse’s estranged daughter, Ava Fischer, receives her mother’s ashes and a trove of letters, addressed to Renate but never sent, that reveal her mother’s terrible secrets. In turn, Ava resists sharing Ilse’s history with her own daughter, Sophie, and Ava realizes that she “has kept Sophie from her own story.” 

The narrative unfolds from several characters’ perspectives, making plain “the things we lie about to make our crimes bearable,” while also opening a new door that may lead to redemption and joy for future generations.

The Daughter’s Tale is a detailed, immersive chronicle of World War II’s tragedy, the power of love and the lengths to which a mother will go to save her children when there are no choices left. With his second novel, Armando Lucas Correa (The German Girl ) depicts the meager options available to Jewish people caught in the vise of war, highlighting two real historical events: the ill-fated voyage of the liner St. Louis, in which Jews were not allowed to debark at their destination of Havana, Cuba; and the 1944 SS massacre of French villagers in the town of Oradour-sur-Glane, where only a few survived.

In the novel, a Jewish woman named Amanda Sternberg flees Germany in 1939 with her two daughters, Lina and Viera, but she makes a fateful decision that separates the children and forever alters their lives. Viera is sent to Cuba, but Correa’s novel follows the youngest daughter, Lina, as she escapes wartime imprisonment to begin a different life in France, where her relative freedom is short-lived. Correa starkly portrays the many horrors that were visited on an innocent citizenry.

In her new novel, Feast Your Eyes, Myla Goldberg, author of the 2001 bestseller Bee Season, has again turned her talent for detail into a powerful story about gifted yet flawed characters who can’t escape tragic missteps.

Lillian Preston is a singularly talented photographer whose early work runs afoul of obscenity laws in the 1950s. Photographs of her seminaked 6-year-old daughter, Samantha, lead to trial, tragedy and a rift between mother and daughter that never quite heals. The book is structured like an exhibition catalog that Samantha has organized for a retrospective of her mother’s work. Through the diaries and letters of Lillian’s loved ones, Samantha uncovers Lillian’s gifts, her struggles and intense ambition, tempered by sorrow and love for her daughter. 

Like a photograph that captures the inner light of its subject, Feast Your Eyes catches such moments on the page, illuminating the power of both beauty and heartbreak. Goldberg unsparingly reveals a driven artist whose propulsive talent is also her Achilles’ heel.

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters, the fourth novel from Balli Kaur Jaswal (Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows), is an absolute delight. It interweaves multiple family stories within the colorful panorama of a journey to India, resulting in a novel that is sad, joyful and exciting all at the same time.

Jaswal’s narrative entwines the stories of three adult sisters whose disparate lives are catapulted on a new and completely different trajectory when their mother makes a request. With her death only hours away, India-born Sita Kaur Shergill, who raised her children in England, says she wants her daughters to undertake a pilgrimage to India—one she was unable to take—and provides detailed instructions for the trip that are daunting, life-changing and often hilarious.

The Shergill sisters—Rajni, Jezmeen and Shirina—live very separate lives, each with its own secrets. The author enfolds readers in deceptively simple stories that reveal the hidden depth, humor and pathos of each sister’s life, as little by little they learn and accept each other’s stories. The teeming, textured setting of India is captured through the author’s evocative scenes, as the sisters navigate on-the-ground travel as well as their own inner terrain. 

Four compelling stories of mothers and daughters center on secrets revealed and secrets kept, with powerful consequences that reverberate through the years.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Tales of sun, sand and surf

Feature by Julie Hale

Get little readers ready for a great summer vacation with one of these four picks.

Waiting for Chicken Smith, written and illustrated by David Mackintosh, is a quirky, touching book that captures the essence of summertime friendships. At the beach, a young boy awaits the arrival of his pal Chicken Smith, who stays in a nearby cabin each year with his father. The boy looks back on summers spent in the company of Chicken and his dog, Jelly, as they trekked to the lighthouse in hopes of seeing a whale. “Chicken Smith knows the beach like the back of his hand, and I do too,” the boy says. But Chicken never shows, and a rental sign appears on the house he usually stays in. On the bright side, the boy connects with his own pesky little sister, Mary Ann. Mackintosh’s charming line drawings are deceptively simple, and the story’s text appears to have been pecked out on a typewriter. Innovative visuals and a poignant plot make this story a winner.

Sea Glass Summer, written by Michelle Houts and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, is a beautifully depicted story about family, discovery and the mysteries of nature. Thomas is spending the summer with his grandmother at her island home. Down on the beach, they pick up bits of sea glass, and Thomas wonders how the pieces got there. “I’m not sure,” his grandmother says, “but your grandfather used to say that each piece of sea glass has a story all its own.” At night, Thomas dreams about the origins of the glass. In one dream, a schooner sinks into the sea, taking with it broken jars and bits of crockery. Ibatoulline’s gorgeous, realistic illustrations capture the fine details of the natural world and Thomas’ sense of excitement. Readers will be intrigued by this tale and the lessons it imparts about being attentive to the wonders of the great outdoors.

An essential book for young beachcombers, Seashells: More Than a Home provides a fascinating overview of 13 kinds of shells. In her accessible text, author Melissa Stewart covers the form, function and native habitat of each shellfish, from the beautifully curved chambered nautilus and the heart-shaped cockle to the Atlantic bay scallop with its rows of fine ridges. Stewart uses analogies from everyday life to help readers understand how these “treasures from a secret world beneath the waves” house clams, snails, oysters and other creatures. Artist Sarah S. Brannen brings the narrative to life through watercolor scenes of boys and girls exploring the seashore and collecting specimens. Precise sketches and diagrams of the shells lend a naturalist feel to the proceedings. Suggestions for further reading and a listing of mollusk types round out the volume. This fun, fact-filled book will inspire up-and-coming collectors while equipping them with important information.

A friendship is born in author and illustrator Kate Pugsley’s sweet seaside story, Mermaid Dreams. Little Maya arrives at the beach with her parents on a picture-perfect day. She’s eager to play, but they’re ready to relax. Left to her own devices, Maya climbs on her turtle float and falls asleep. She dreams that she’s riding on the turtle’s back in the ocean. Together, they dive down into the sea and find “a secret underwater world” filled with bright fish of every imaginable kind. There, Maya becomes a mermaid with a gorgeous blue tail. She swims among the coral and meets an octopus and a group of seahorses, and she even meets another mermaid. When Maya wakes up from her dream, she’s no longer in the watery wonderland, but a little girl named Pearl is standing by her turtle float, ready to play. Pugsley’s illustrations have a naive, childlike simplicity that kids will connect with. Bursting with color and a sense of adventure, Pugsley’s book has the makings of a summertime classic.

Get little readers ready for a great summer vacation with one of these four picks.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Calling all cat lovers

Feature by Julie Hale

From the fluffy Persian to the sleek Siamese, these fictional cats will capture young readers’ hearts.

Kathi Appelt’s Max Attacks is an uproarious chronicle of crazy cat behavior. Max, depicted by illustrator Penelope Dullaghan as a blue kitty with black stripes and wide whiskers, is a practiced prankster. Over the course of the book, he scales the screen of a window in pursuit of a lizard, chews up a pile of dirty socks, toys with a loose shoestring and topples a bowl filled with fish. Small wonder, then, that by book’s end, this cat is ready for a nap. Appelt tells the story through rhymed lines of verse: “Max’s paws are made for pounces. Max’s legs are built for trounces.” Filled with unexpected perspectives (check out the close-up of Max with his nose pressed against the fishbowl), the illustrations by Dullaghan are colorful and dynamic. No doubt about it: Readers will be mad about Max.

Acclaimed adult author Joyce Carol Oates is also a pro when it comes to writing children’s books, as she proves with The New Kitten. The only cat in the Smith household, Cherie is something of a feline matriarch—mature, with a purr “as loud as a motor” and very territorial. But when a new kitten named Cleopatra arrives in the Smith household, Cherie is appalled as she watches the interloper chase balls, climb the cat tree and play with her food. Yet the Smiths adore Cleopatra. Feeling left out and unloved, Cherie runs into the woods. She follows a bunny, who disappears into a burrow. After she gets trapped in a tree by two fierce foxes, Cherie realizes it’s time to go home—and time to make peace with Cleopatra. Artist Dave Mottram contrasts the two felines in his winning illustrations: Cherie is big and commanding, while Cleopatra has shining eyes and plenty of kitten appeal. This heartwarming story is sure to become a cat classic.

An unlikely pair of critters become pals in Coll Muir’s fun, fanciful Can Cat and Bird Be Friends?. When Cat (big and black, with considerable claws) first encounters Bird (small as a golf ball and just as round), he’s ready for a snack. Yet he’s met with a question: Why do cats eat birds? “I don’t know,” Cat replies. “It’s always been like that.” Forgoing tradition, the two decide to be friends, only to discover that they don’t have much in common. Cat likes to stretch; Bird prefers to fly. Cat grooms himself; Bird would rather bathe in water. They’re about to give up and go their separate ways when Bird mentions a hobby (painting!) that Cat also happens to enjoy. In the blink of an eye, a bond is formed, and the pair are next seen with easels and brushes, working side by side. Muir’s spare yet expressive illustrations perfectly complement this droll narrative of unexpected connection. Here’s to odd couples! 

In Caroline Magerl’s lovely Maya and the Lost Cat, a little girl gains a new feline friend. Through her window, Maya spies a cat perched high on a rooftop. She uses every lure imaginable to coax the creature back to safety—to no avail—until she sets out a tin of fish. Then, “Pad pad thump. In perfectly quiet fur boots, Cat came to see—and ate every oily silver morsel!” Maya starts knocking on doors in an effort to locate Cat’s human parents. With a little direction from her furry companion, she eventually comes to a houseboat bobbing at the end of a windswept pier that’s home to Fritz and Irma, who are overjoyed to see their lost friend. Before Maya departs, Cat brings her a special present—a kitten she can call her own. Magerl’s charming watercolor pictures make this title especially memorable.

Never fear—Ghost Cat, written and illustrated by Kevan Atteberry, is nowhere near as eerie as the title implies. A young boy senses the presence of a cat that seems remarkably similar to the one he used to have but has since lost. He can never actually catch the spectral animal, as it is “a quick, dark blur. Here, and then not here,” the boy says. When strange incidents start happening—a bowl crashes in the kitchen; a book falls in the den—it becomes clear that there’s a creature in the house making mischief. Atteberry portrays the trickster kitty as a sleek, blue figure outlined in white. This mystery has a happy ending, as the ghost leads the boy to discover a living kitten, making them a happy group of three. Readers will be intrigued by Atteberry’s whimsical tale of feline love.

From the fluffy Persian to the sleek Siamese, these fictional cats will capture young readers’ hearts.
YA FictionYA

Find your summer fling

Feature by Alice Cary

Whether you’re headed to the beach for a sun-soaked vacation, working a summer job or just stuck at your house, these stories are guaranteed to provide thrills, swoon-worthy romance and pure entertainment. 

In the first pages of Happily and Madly, we learn that a fortuneteller once gave 17-year-old Maris Brown good and bad news: She will fall “happily and madly in love,” but she will probably be dead before her 18th birthday. As she approaches that fateful day, Maris loves “living fast, taking risks, and playing the odds for love,” but her risk-taking is finally catching up with her. After her second arrest, Maris is shipped across the country to spend the summer at the beach with her estranged father and his new family. After she rescues a mysterious, alluring boy who’s running for his life, Maris becomes entangled in an increasingly dangerous, complicated web involving lavish wealth, pharmaceutical deaths, undercover agents and sexy secret romance. In addition to superbly capturing the myriad difficulties facing teens in blended families, author Alexis Bass’ snappy writing will keep you turning pages until the bullet-riddled, jaw-dropping end.

When an act of violence by her mother’s live-in boyfriend results in the death of her beloved kitten, Selina Kyle drops out of school and takes to the streets of Gotham City in this graphic novel retelling of Catwoman’s backstory, Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale. Bestselling author Lauren Myracle brings a fresh vibe to the iconic tale with an adroitly crafted blend of emotional depth and superhero action. After a homeless kid welcomes Selina into his small gang and teaches her parkour, she transforms herself into Catgirl. Issac Goodhart’s moody black and blue illustrations make every moment count, capturing Selina’s journey from vulnerability and despair (which includes cutting) to self-reliance and empowerment. As Selina wrestles with decisions about whom to trust, readers will welcome the fact that there’s more to come. “After all, cats have nine lives. I’ve only just begun,” she teases.

A spring break trip to Kyoto, Japan, to meet her estranged grandparents turns into a romantic adventure for high school senior Kimi Nakamura in I Love You So Mochi, a sweet, fun novel that also features absorbing details about Japanese culture. The timing is perfect when Kimi’s grandfather unexpectedly sends her a plane ticket to Kyoto, as Kimi is at a crossroads. She’s been accepted into a prestigious art school, but her heart is in fashion design. But once she arrives in Kyoto, she meets a dreamy boy named Akira who is also torn between two worlds. He dreams of becoming a doctor, but he’s feeling pressured to help his uncle with his mochi stand. Together, the two teens tour the city as they fall in love and try to navigate the difficulties that arise when one’s dream doesn’t align with family expectations and needs. This easygoing romance goes down sweet.

In Jennifer Dugan’s sparkling summer romance, Hot Dog Girl, bisexual teen Elouise Parker wants the summer before her senior year of high school to be epic, but instead it “just feels like everything is changing all at once, in a bad way.” Elouise’s mother abandoned the family years ago, and Elouise and her supportive father are still finding their way without her. Elouise is thrilled to be working once again at Magic Castle Playland, the amusement park she loves, but she’s devastated to learn that it will soon be closing for good. As Elouise does her daily rounds dressed as a giant hot dog, she plots to keep the park open and schemes to win the heart of Nick, a pirate diver, without realizing that her best friend, Seeley, is in love with her. Dugan’s amusement-park setting is entertaining, as is her likable cast of characters.

“Being dumped feels like food poisoning,” says 17-year-old Frederica “Freddy” Riley, who has an on-again, off-again relationship with her captivating but cheating girlfriend, Laura Dean. Freddy’s best friend, Doodle, drags her to a psychic, who urges Freddy to get out of the relationship once and for all. Freddy struggles to follow this advice in Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me, award-winning author Mariko Tamaki’s emotionally swirling graphic novel set in Berkeley, California. Freddy is so caught up in Laura Dean’s vortex that she nearly loses Doodle, who’s facing a terrible crisis of her own. Thankfully, Freddy writes to an advice columnist, who responds with wise words that will resonate with anyone stuck in a toxic relationship. Rosemary Valero-O’Connell’s illustrations perfectly pair with this story of a diverse group of teens struggling with a wide range of issues, including pregnancy and sexual identity.

Whether you’re headed to the beach for a sun-soaked vacation, working a summer job or just stuck at your house, these stories are guaranteed to provide thrills, swoon-worthy romance and pure entertainment. 

NonfictionFictionMemoirComing of Age

Summer reading 2019: Your sweetest escape

Feature by BookPage contributors

Summer days were made for getting lost in a good book. We’ve gathered a few of the season’s hottest novels—stories of romance, adventure and suspense—that are just right for whiling away a few lazy hours. Grab a cold drink, find a spot in the shade, and get ready to read.

Cape May
By Chip Cheek
In Chip Cheek’s debut novel, the year is 1957. Young Henry and Effie from tiny Signal Creek, Georgia, are on a two-week honeymoon in Cape May, New Jersey. By the end of their first awkward week of marriage, Effie wants to go home early, and Henry, defeated, assents. But the night before they are to leave this coastal ghost town, they spot signs of life—signs of a party, no less—and decide to stop in. Cheek paints a graphic and sensuous portrait of an fragile marriage embattled well before its time. Cape May is a besotted picnic of a novel—day-drunk and languid, shadowed by ever-threatening storm clouds. —Kathryn Justice Leache

Cari Mora
By Thomas Harris
If it’s a thriller you seek for summer reading, look no further than Cari Mora by Thomas Harris, author of The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal Rising. Beautiful young Cari Mora is an immigrant caretaker of a house in Miami Beach with a fortune hidden beneath it: millions of dollars in cartel gold. When Hans-Peter Schneider—a psychopath who thrives on violence—comes after the treasure, he develops a sinister interest in Cari. But she’s a fighter at heart, has experienced war and knows how to look after herself. Harris explores the dark side of human passion in this pulse-pounding novel. His first book in 13 years, Cari Mora will not disappoint fans of disturbing, taut thrillers. —Julie Hale

The Flatshare
By Beth O’Leary
If the idea of flatmates sharing a bed at alternate hours without meeting sounds too far-fetched, hold your skepticism. If it sounds like a meet-cute waiting to happen, you’re in luck. Regardless of your starting point, The Flatshare is a charming love story to warm your heart. After Tiffy’s boyfriend dumps her, she’s desperate to find a new flat. Night nurse Leon needs extra cash, and he’s willing to get creative. The flatmates follow a strict schedule to ensure that they won’t overlap, but as they begin to get to know each other through notes, their curiosity about each other grows. Even skeptical readers will be surprised by the thoughtful way Beth O’Leary faces not only new love but also the traces of individual pasts. —Carla Jean Whitley

How Not to Die Alone
By Richard Roper
Filled with humor and heart, How Not to Die Alone, Richard Roper’s debut novel, tells the story of Andrew, a solitary soul whose public health job entails tracking down the next of kin of people who die alone. Due to a misunderstanding, Andrew’s co-workers think he’s a happily married father of two. In truth, his only family is a distant sister, and he leads a generally isolated existence. When Peggy joins his team at work, Andrew feels an attraction that she seems to share. But coming clean about his life could mean the end of his career and his reputation. What’s a lonely guy to do? A brisk, compelling read, Roper’s book is a rom-com with substance. —Julie Hale

Into the Jungle
By Erica Ferencik
Delve into the heart of the Amazon in Erica Ferencik’s second action-packed thriller. In 2010, while living in a hostel in Cochabamba, Bolivia, Lily Bushwold, a Boston native, meets Omar, an Amazon hunter turned motorcycle mechanic. Two scrappy yet tender kindred spirits, they quickly fall in love. When Omar is summoned back to his jungle village, Ayachero, to avenge his mourning family, Lily accompanies him. Little does she know it’s not just Omar she follows, but a mystical calling to discover her ca’ah, her life’s purpose, intrinsically bound up with the fragile jungle ecosystem. A chilling journey into jungle life, Into the Jungle is also a deep probe into environmental ethics and love. —Mari Carlson

Monsieur Mediocre
By John von Sothen
Ah, Paris! There’s no city quite like it. And these days, when Americans are finding vacations as scarce as video rental stores, it’s hard not to look with longing at the six weeks’ getaway still in vogue across the pond. But American-­born columnist John von Sothen didn’t come to France for the vacations. Fifteen years ago, he fell in love with a French actress and moved to Paris. Now the father of two teens, he has penned an entertaining memoir of his life as a husband, father and constantly surprised expat. Monsieur Mediocre offers thoughtful observations about everything from politics to family life with irresistible charm. —Deborah Hopkinson

Mr. Know-It-All
By John Waters
If you’re a person who’s easily offended, take it from me: Don’t even read the reviews, much less crack open the cover of John Waters’ latest book. A whip-smart (he’d no doubt like that description), funny, multitalented and unique cultural icon, Waters is also an artist and book collector, and these essays reflect his endless assortment of interests—ranging from his movie-making memories (Patty Hearst thought he was kidding when he asked her to be in a movie) to his planning of and taking what he calls “a senior-citizen acid trip.” While it’s certainly not a book for everyone, Waters’ legion of admirers will be lining up in droves to hop aboard the Mr. Know-It-All bus. —Alice Cary

Mrs. Everything
By Jennifer Weiner
At the outset, Jennifer Weiner’s new novel pays homage to Little Women: Older sister Jo, a tomboy and athlete, wants to be a writer, while younger sister Bethie just wants to be a sweet, pretty daughter. But in Alcott terms, these two sisters are more like Jo and Amy—sometimes they just don’t get along. Mrs. Everything follows the two sisters from their Jewish girlhood in post-World War II Detroit through the present and into the near future, 71 years in all. With its long timespan and focus on cultural change, Mrs. Everything is a departure for Weiner, but she still delivers flawed but approachable female characters, well-­examined friendships and romantic relationships and often-joyful sex scenes. —Sarah McCraw Crow

Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune
By Roselle Lim
Summer beckons a reading list that is as light, fun and feel-good as the season itself. Roselle Lim’s Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune definitely fits that need. Set in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Lim’s debut is the story of 20-something Natalie, who has just returned home to the worst news possible: the unexpected passing of her mother, Miranda. Her shock and sadness are compounded by the guilt of parting ways seven years ago over a disagreement which now seems extraneous. But this is a story of luck and fortune, so it isn’t long before Natalie is given a chance to fix it all. —Chika Gujarathi

Necessary People
By Anna Pitoniak
Two complex women inhabit Necessary People, Anna Pitoniak’s second psychologically astute novel. College graduates Stella Bradley and Violet Trapp have become the closest of friends, though they’re opposites in so many ways. When their longtime friendship gives way to ambition, Pitoniak perceptively traces the fracture of their sisterlike bond, leading to a denouement the reader will not anticipate. An insightful glimpse into the competitive world of TV news and Pitoniak’s spot-on portraits of these two women come together in a gripping novel that’s sure to be a popular summer read. —Deborah Donovan

Nuking the Moon
By Vince Houghton
One category of “beach read” that’s criminally neglected is the “dad beach read.” Vince Houghton tackles this genre head-on in his curious, delightful new book, Nuking the Moon. At the height of World War II and the Cold War, national governments the world over devised missions and schemes that never came to fruition—because they were very bad. Houghton, a curator at the International Spy Museum in Washington, roasts these failed plots one by one. “Why not use a live cat to spy on the Russians?” someone at the CIA once asked without a hint of irony. “I’ll tell you exactly why,” Houghton responds, to readers’ delight. —Christy Lynch

Out East
By John Glynn
This memoir relates the travails of a group of privileged New England kids as they navigate an indulgent, raucous summer in Montauk in their late 20s. (Of course, references to The Great Gatsby abound.) When feelings for a male friend develop into something more, author John Glynn finds himself bearing the weight of a secret about his sexual identity. What follows is a charming portrait of how deeply human it is to be uncertain, to be driving a hundred miles an hour toward nowhere and longing to have a buddy in the car. Out East is a heart-wrenching reminder of the precarious emotional inner life that undulates just beneath the surface, even for people who seem as though they have it all. —Kelly Blewett

Passion on Park Avenue
By Lauren Layne
The title says it all: Passion on Park Avenue by Lauren Layne is a Big Apple romance brimming with sophisticated fun. At 29, Naomi Powell is spirited, independent and oh-so-successful. The daughter of a housekeeper, she holds the rank of CEO at a major jewelry company—a position that gives her access to the rarefied world of the Upper East Side. Yet Naomi isn’t quite accepted by the city’s well-to-do. When handsome Oliver Cunningham—the son of a family who once employed her mother—enters the picture, she has a new distraction on her hands. The first entry in Layne’s new Central Park Pact Series, Passion on Park Avenue is the perfect summer escape. —Julie Hale

Recursion
By Blake Crouch
Blake Crouch’s follow-up to his breakout bestseller, Dark Matter, has an instantly compelling premise—across the country, people have begun experiencing vivid, emotional memories of alternate lives. Solving the mystery of False Memory Syndrome would be enough to drive Recursion forward, but the second you think the book has settled into a holding pattern, it pinwheels off in an entirely unexpected direction. Early on, Crouch lets the reader in on the secret of the syndrome’s origins through frequent flashbacks to 11 years before the disease started to spread, and the two timelines play off each other in increasingly poignant ways. It’s early, but Recursion may be the smartest, most surprising thriller of the summer. —Savanna Walker

The Scent Keeper
By Erica Bauermeister
Emmeline and her scientist father live a somewhat idyllic, if Spartan, existence on a remote island off Canada’s west coast. He’s invented a mysterious machine, the Nightingale, a kind of olfactory Polaroid camera that captures scent moments on specialized paper. But paradise, like childhood, has a fixed term, and one traumatic incident whisks Emmeline off her island into a society that she finds finds both intriguing and terrifying. Reminiscent of Vianne Rocher from Joanne Harris’ beloved Chocolat, Emmeline is persistent, engaging and a savant in her chosen field. All she has to do is to take her father’s advice: follow her nose, and then get out of its way. —Thane Tierney

Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered
By Karen Kilgariff & Georgia Hardstark
Fans of the wildly popular “My Favorite Murder” podcast already know the heart, hilarity and horror embodied by hosts Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. But even those who have been living under a rock will enjoy their new book, Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered. Kilgariff and Hardstark delve into comedy’s darker, more vulnerable underbelly in these essays, detailing adolescent escapades with drugs, creeps, eating disorders and more. Confessional, wise and more than a little obscene, this book is for anyone whose path to adulthood is littered with blunders. These authors will show you how to remember them and laugh. —Christy Lynch

Summer Hours
By Amy Mason Doan
Summer Hours is a sweet, satisfying love story. Growing up, Becc always played by the rules, getting good grades and preparing for a journalism career. But a college romance with the irresistible Cal derailed her plans and damaged an important friendship. Years later, as she travels to California for a wedding, Becc is accompanied by a special guy whom she hasn’t seen in ages (we won’t spoil the story by revealing his identity!). Memories of the time she spent with him come flooding back, but he doesn’t seem to share her enthusiasm for the past. Should Becc ignore her feelings, or follow her heart? Doan spins an unforgettable tale of old-fashioned romance in this winning novel. —Julie Hale

Time After Time
By Lisa Grunwald
Fans of historical fiction will savor Time After Time by Lisa Grunwald. In 1937, Joe, a railway man working in Grand Central Station, crosses paths with Nora, a mysterious young woman who doesn’t quite fit in with her surroundings—because she’s a ghost. The real Nora was an art student who died in a subway crash in 1925. As a spirit, she reappears in Grand Central Station every now and again, but when she and Joe fall in love, they’re determined to find a way to build a life together. An unforgettable tale of otherworldly romance, Grunwald’s book is a true page-turner. Pick up a copy and prepare to be transported. —Julie Hale

What are you reading this summer? Check out these must-reads for long, lazy days . . .

Sign Up

Stay on top of new releases: Sign up for our newsletter to receive reading recommendations in your favorite genres.

Sign up now

Trending Features

All Features