Get Excited! Here Are The Most Anticipated Books Of Summer 2021

If you’re looking for a straight-up feel-good love story, this is a great place to start. It’s sweet and breezy to read, but it also has a really cool premise: Piper Parrish’s husband dies in an accident, but she (and her entire community) pretend like he’s still alive so that she can deal with her grief. Who knows what could possibly happen when a stranger comes to town (okay, we probably know what will happen) but we want to read about it anyway! We love that this one is happy and light-hearted while still exploring ideas of community, grief, and if there are things more important than the truth. Release Date: May 25 2021

Warm and funny without being just plain fluff, The Guncle by Steven Rowley follows a man named Patrick through a really big life change: when his niece and nephew suffer a tragedy and are left without caregivers, he has to step up. And while he’s an amazing uncle, it turns out that he’s a pretty green parent. The author of Lily and the Octopus and The Editor continues bringing the hits with this feel-good read that still has depth and meaning.Release Date: May 25 2021

From the best-selling author of Red, White and Royal Blue Casey McQuiston comes her second LGBTQ romance that is fun, hot, and, honestly, a bit weird! The protagonist is August, a young New Yorker who can’t quite find her place in the world. During her commute she falls for a woman on the train, but there’s a slight issue: her crush is not only trapped in the Subway system, she’s also trapped in the 1970s. Put aside a really lovely summer day to enjoy this in a couple of big chunks—it’s tender, funny, and queer as heck. Release Date: June 1 2021

How about a literary romance that is steamy as all get-out but also laugh-out-loud funny? Seven Days in June follows two best-selling authors who reconnect 15 years after an intense one-week love affair to find that their love is still unstoppable, even though things are pretty complicated. From the author of The Perfect Find and The Accidental Diva, we love that this book is a rom-com with some added depth. Release Date: June 1 2021

From the author of Daisy Jones and the Six comes a beach read so beachy that we just can’t. The premise: the four adult siblings of a famous singer always have a huge end-of-the-summer bash in Malibu that is truly the party to end all parties. But this year, each sibling has a ton riding on the celebration. Taking place over 24 hours, we’re all invited to take in the drama, style, fun, and energy of this addictive, sparkly romp, and you won’t want it to end. Release Date: June 1 2021

A cerebral, slow-burning thriller with a workplace backdrop, The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris is about competition, belonging, and inclusion—on personal and societal scales. It all starts when Nella is excited for another Black employee to start at her job at Wagner Books—but instead of finding a new friend, she finds herself the center of threats, controversy, and a mystery. Harris excels at threading social commentary into a suspenseful story, and this one will keep you locked in until the last page. Release Date: June 1 2021

Are you looking for something short and suspenseful—that doesn’t waste a word to get going? Look no further than What’s Done in Darkness, which can be read on a plane ride or two (if you don’t have young kids) or on a vacation day or weekend. The story revolves around Sarabeth, a woman who was abducted as a young girl, and who is ready to leave her complicated past behind. But when a detective tells her that she could help save the lives of other missing girls, she decides to confront what she’s been burying deep inside. This is fast-paced, twisty, and satisfying—if you like to feel super scared while relaxing at the pool. Release Date: June 22 2021

Two friends go on vacation each year—but it seems like every time they go somewhere, things get kind of… murdery. One friend, Emily, is starting to get suspicious of her friend Kristen, and that’s when things get really exciting. From Andrea Bartz, author of The Herd and The Lost Night, comes another psychological thriller that focuses on friendship, trust, and identity. Release Date: June 22 2021

While you’re out of the office, how about a corporate spy novel that makes you thankful you don’t have to deal with intrigue and danger from 9 to 5? Imposter Syndrome, Kathy Wang’s sophomore effort following Family Trust, is a complex, twisty story of what happens when just trying to get along in Silicon Valley’s tech world collides with Russian espionage and company politics. At the center of the story are Julie, the COO with a secret, and Alice, a first-generation Chinese American who stumbles into much more than she bargained for. It’s a page-turner that also has something to say about women in tech, capitalism, and feminism. Release Date: May 25 2021

What if you stole something from someone only to find out that it wasn’t the first time it was stolen? This idea is central to The Plot, the newest thriller from Jean Hanff Korlitz. It’s a book about books: a down-and-out novelist Jacob Finch Bonner, thinks his career is over. But when he has the opportunity to steal an amazing plot from a former student, he takes it and re-enters the limelight. He thinks he’s gotten away with a little intellectual theft—up until someone sends him an email letting him know the jig is up. This highly anticipated literary thriller is getting rave reviews, and it’s book-within-a-book format will please even the nerdiest nerds. Release Date: May 11 2021

In Revival Season, Miriam Horton is the teenaged daughter of a Baptist preacher famed for his healing powers, and each summer they tour the South offering mass services to all. But everything changes when Miriam learns a shocking truth about her dad at the same time that she discovers she might have the power to heal. In this riveting debut coming-of-age novel, Monica West explores faith and family. Release Date: May 25 2021

Hold on to your hats: this might be the weirdest thing you read this summer. A debut collection of short fiction by newcomer Nana Nkweti, Walking on Cowrie Shells spans every genre you can think of, then blends them up and spits them out in perfectly original tales. Just for an example: one story is about a PR professional tasked with making a zombie outbreak look good, while the next one is about a graphic novelist at comic con and the next one is about a mermaid. If you’re sick of reading formulaic stories where you can guess the ending: this is our pick for you. Release Date: June 1 2021

Summer is the perfect time for fairy tales, and Ava Reid has an adult fairy tale that will transport you to a whole nother world, at least for a few hundred pages. The Wolf and the Woodsman is original, magical, and woodsy story that seems to have everything, from a battle between good and evil to an enemies-to-lovers romance. Release Date: June 8 2021

Of course we aren’t going to give you a list of summer reads without including something witchy. In this newest effort by Rivka Galchen, we get a retelling of the true story of Katharina Kepler, mother of mathematician Johannes Kepler. It’s 16th Century Germany, and people are running around accusing people of being witches. Compared to other books about witches that have come out recently, this one is deeply rooted in history and fact, and is a fascinating look at what it might have really been like to live in a time when women could be put on trial based on simple accusations. On top if its interest as historical fiction, we love the main character and the book’s feminist undertones. Release Date: June 8 2021