10 New Books to Heat Up Your Summer Reading List

Summer Reading List: 10 Must-Read Books to Add to Your Collection

Whether you’re at the lake, inside enjoying the air conditioning or simply on the patio, summer is an excellent time of year to curl up with a good book. We put together a list of ten new book options, including historical fiction, action thrillers, a cookbook of exotic fruits, memoirs and collections of short stories.

1. The Land of Big Numbers 

by Te-Ping Chen

Fiction Short Stories

Formerly a reporter in Beijing and Hong Kong, Chen’s experience as a foreign correspondent provided inspiration for this short story collection. These ten stories chronicle the realities of life, society and culture in contemporary China, one of the world’s most complex nations.

2. The Last Thing He Told Me 

by Laura Dave

Mystery Fiction

Best-selling author Dave explores the theme that we all have stories we never tell. A Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick, this heart-pounding mystery begins with a husband’s disappearance and ends with a devastating twist. 

3. Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie: The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR

by Lisa Napoli

Nonfiction Biography

This is the story of four female journalists who banded together in nonprofit public radio’s (NPR) early days. Napoli tracks the careers of Susan Stamberg, Linda Wertheimer, Nina Totenberg and Cokie Roberts from the early 1970s to the funding crisis that nearly bankrupted NPR in 1983.

4. Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century 

by Jessica Bruder

Nonfiction Sociology

A growing community of American nomad workers are taking to the road in thousands of RVs and vans in search of work. In this book, Bruder explores how employers discovered a new, low-cost labor pool made up of transient adults. It’s a tale of the U.S. economy and how this will impact the future of survival and labor for these Americans. The book is also the inspiration for Chloé Zhao’s 2020 Golden Lion award-winning film of the same name, starring Frances McDormand.

5. The President’s Daughter 

by President Bill Clinton and James Paterson

Action Thriller Fiction

After their wildly successful book together, The President Is Missing, these two powerhouses are back with an action-packed novel about a former POTUS and Navy SEAL whose daughter is held hostage. It’s an entirely new cast of characters from the duo’s first book but you can expect the same fun.

6. The Fox and I: An Uncommon Friendship 

by Catherine Raven

Nonfiction Memoir

After completing a Ph.D. in biology and moving to a tiny cottage in rural Montana, she is visited by a persistent, mangy-looking fox. Raven’s memoir is great for those struggling with loneliness. An unlikely friendship develops with the fox while she overcomes feelings of isolation, bursting with tenderness and understanding.

7. Palace of the Drowned 

by Christine Mangan

Historical Fiction

Mangan writes a stunning historical mystery set in 1960s Venice, Italy. A novelist escapes to a friend’s palazzo to hide away after a disastrous book release, when she meets a potentially suspicious fan. The allure of Venice combined with a twisted tale of ambition and human nature will definitely keep you enthralled. 

8. The Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart, Tender and Unruly (with recipes) 

by Kate Lebo

Nonfiction Memoir Cookbook

Cookbook author and essayist Lebo covers a different fruit for every letter of the alphabet in this fun take on exotic fruits and their recipes. You’ll learn about humanity’s history of turning fruits into useful entities capable of tightening our skin, supercharging our diets and making sense of the world.

9. Objects of Desire 

by Clare Sestanovich

Fiction Short Stories

In this debut story collection of the rarest kind, critics say you’ll wish every single entry could be an entire novel. Sestanovich, who works for The New Yorker, takes everyday situations and dives in deep to reveal the sort of universal truths about society that we’re always hungering for.

10. A Slow Fire Burning 

by Paula Hawkins

Suspense Mystery Fiction

From the author of The Girl on the Train, Hawkins is back with this slow burn of a thriller. Three women are under investigation for the murder of a young man on a London houseboat. If you like a good murder mystery, be sure to pre-order this one for it’s release on August 31.

All of these books are available for purchase at your favorite bookstores and are also available as audiobooks. If you need a refresher, go here for instructions on how to listen to audiobooks.