Hot Summer Books Archives

City of Girls

by Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert delivers a love story set in the 1940s New York City theater scene. Vivian Morris is shipped off to her Aunt Peg after she's kicked out of college. Her aunt's theater introduces her to a dazzling array of people and life experiences. But when Vivian is embroiled in a professional scandal, it will not only turn her new life upside down, it will put her on the path to the great love of her life. Exploring female sexuality and human desire, City Of Girls will have you questioning what it means to be "good."

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel

by Ocean Vuong

In this luminous debut about family and first love, a gay Vietnamese immigrant man writes his mother a letter in which he reveals their painful family history and gives her insights about his own life. His mother doesn't know how to read but the letter is a window for her to better understand him, if she so chooses. With evocative prose, Vuong reminds us of the power in telling your own story, especially when your voice was previously silenced.

If You Want to Make God Laugh

by Bianca Marais

From the publisher: "From the author of the beloved Hum If You Don't Know the Words comes a rich, unforgettable story of three unique women in post-Apartheid South Africa who are brought together in their darkest time and discover the ways that love can transcend the strictest of boundaries. In a squatter camp on the outskirts of Johannesburg, seventeen-year-old Zodwa lives in desperate poverty, under the shadowy threat of a civil war and a growing AIDS epidemic. Eight months pregnant, Zodwa carefully guards secrets that jeopardize her life. Across the country, wealthy socialite Ruth appears to have everything her heart desires, but it's what she can't have that leads to her breakdown. When these personal crises send both middle-aged women back to their rural hometown to lick their wounds, the discovery of an abandoned newborn baby upends everything, challenging their lifelong beliefs about race, motherhood, and the power of the past."

Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune

by Roselle Lim

Natalie Tan returns home to San Francisco after her estranged mother's death and finds a changed city and the unexpected inheritance of her grandmother's restaurant. When the neighborhood seer tells her she must cook three recipes from her grandmother's cookbook for her struggling neighbors in order for the restaurant to succeed, she couldn't be less interested. After all, her neighbors didn't help her deal with her mother. Or did they? This lush debut shows how we can find community and support in unexpected places. And it's guaranteed to make you hungry!

Lady in the Lake: A Novel

by Laura Lippman

Lippman combines mystery with classic noir, whose plot is based on a real 1960s unsolved mystery. Maddie knows what it is to have secrets. Freshly out of her twenty year marriage and going hard after a fresh start as a journalist, she throws herself into a story about a missing Black woman whose body has just been discovered. Maddie's going to find the truth about Cleo, whether the dead woman wants her to or not. But in 1966 Baltimore, secrets have a way of coming out for both Maddie and Cleo and the consequences could be devastating.

Summer of ’69

by Elin Hilderbrand

Is it really summer if you don't read Elin Hilderbrand’s latest novel? This time she's back with her first historical fiction. The Levin children love spending their summers at their grandmother's home in downtown Nantucket but this summer finds them torn in other directions—Boston, Martha's Vineyard, Vietnam—with the exception of 13 year old Jessie, who's suddenly not so sure about getting stuck with her grandmother. Get a front seat view as the family experiences the changing times for their country and for themselves.

The Nickel Boys

by Colson Whitehead

Colson Whitehead brings Jim Crow-era Florida to life through the real story of a reform school in Tallahassee that claimed to rehabilitate delinquent boys and instead abused and terrorized them for over one hundred years. Elwood Curtis is bound for a local black college when an innocent mistake lands him at The Nickel Academy instead. Elwood finds comfort in Dr. Martin Luther King's words and holds to his ideals, whereas his friend Turner believes the world is crooked so you have to scheme to survive. All this leads to a decision with harrowing repercussions for their respective fates.

Big Sky (Jackson Brodie)

by Kate Atkinson

Fans of Atkinson's Jackson Brodie series will be delighted to learn about this release, nine years after the last book Started Early, Took My Dog. Brodie lives in a quiet seaside village now and works as a private investigator. When his current job leads him to discover a human trafficking network, he also learns just how far back the crimes go. Atkinson writes mysteries exploring the human condition with trademark wit balancing out the devastation. You'll fly through the pages until justice is served.

The Favorite Daughter

by Patti Callahan Henry

Every family has secrets. Lena Donohue reinvented herself in New York City after she was betrayed by her sister on her wedding day. She rarely returns to her small Southern hometown, until her father's worsening Alzheimer's calls her back. As she and her siblings work together to preserve his failing memories, a secret from his past emerges. Lena will have to decide whether she has the strength to forgive in this absorbing story.

The Last House Guest

by Megan Miranda

Avery is inseparable from her friend Sadie every summer in Littleport, Maine; a feat in a village where locals and visitors rarely go beyond acquaintance. But then Sadie is found dead and ruled a suicide and Avery can’t help but feel the community blames her for the loss. The truth will out and Avery must do all she can to clear her name. Come for the story, stay for the unexpected twist. This psychological thriller is the very definition of a beach read!

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors

by Sonali Dev

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that only in an overachieving Indian American family can a genius daughter be considered a black sheep." Inspired by Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, this genderbent story pits neurosurgeon Dr. Trisha Raje against chef DJ Caine in a series of misunderstandings and unfair judgments. But Trisha is the only surgeon who can save DJ's sister’s life and these two will have to find a way to work together. Read this for Dev's take on Austen, the mouthwatering descriptions of food, and the way the story examines class and privilege in our modern world.

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill

by Abbi Waxman

Nina Hill is content with her bookstore job, trivia team, and cat. When the father she never knew suddenly dies, she learns she has a huge extended family, who all want to meet her—the horror! And if that wasn't enough to wrap her mind around, her trivia nemesis starts seeing her in a romantic light. None of this can be a good idea. Or can it? Looks like Nina's bookish life is about to get much more interesting.

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

by Kim Michele Richardson

Books have the power to change lives and nowhere is this more true than the story of 19-year-old Cussy Carter, an Appalachian woman who joins the Pack Horse Library Project of Kentucky and delivers books to the impoverished hill people of Eastern Kentucky. She's also the last living female with Blue People ancestry, all of whom had a skin condition called methemoglobinemia, which really did turn their skin blue. Inspired by real history and set in 1936, this is a story of hope and heartbreak and how fierce determination can challenge the grasp of poverty and oppression.

Chirp

The Two Lila Bennetts

by Lisa Steinke, Liz Fenton

If you've ever wondered about the road less taken, you'll love this inventive thriller. One of criminal defense attorney Lila Bennett's bad choices splits her life in two. In one version of her life, she's taken hostage. In the other, she avoids being kidnapped but still falls prey to someone who wants to destroy her happiness. Lila will have to figure out not only who's out to get her but how she can possibly survive.

The Paris Diversion (Kate Moore #2)

by Chris Pavone

Pavone is back with the exciting next installment of the Kate Moore series. It's a day like any other in Paris or so everyone thinks until a massive terrorist attack begins. But Kate soon realizes things are not what they seem and somehow the truth involves her family. You'll race through the pages of this espionage thriller!

The Chelsea Girls: A Novel

by Fiona Davis

The Chelsea Hotel is a long-time haven for creatives, making it the perfect setting for playwright Hazel Riley and actress Maxine Mead to use to their advantage. But as they work on bringing their show to Broadway, they find a roadblock in the Red scare targeting the entertainment industry. Fiona Davis brings the glitz, glam, and danger of 1950s New York to life with a revealing look at the toll of McCarthyism and the complications it brings to Hazel and Maxine's dreams and friendship.

The Farm: A Novel

by Joanne Ramos

It sounds like a dream: go to the Farm and take advantage of every amenity, from the organic meals to the daily massages. Not only that, you'll be paid for the privilege. All you have to do once you're chosen to be a Host is become a surrogate. Immigrant and single mother Jane is thrilled when she's selected, until she realizes she no longer belongs to herself. Cut off from her daughter, she cannot leave the grounds and she has no freedom. And she dare not risk what will happen if she tries. This dystopian tale raises questions about motherhood, money, and the ethics of the concessions and trade-offs we sometimes make for those we love. You'll want to discuss this with someone.

Things You Save in a Fire

by Katherine Center

One of the only female firefighters in her firehouse, Cassie always knows how to deal with an emergency. At least, when it comes to others. When her estranged mother asks her to move back to Boston to help take care of her, Cassie thrown into the deep end. Her new firehouse doesn't exactly welcome her with open arms, with the exception of the handsome rookie. But Cassie never dates fellow firefighters and taking this risk could jeopardize her career. She's about to learn what courage really looks like and how to love against all odds.

The Friends We Keep

by Jane Green

Friends since college, Evvie, Maggie, and Topher swore nothing would keep them apart. Instead, they've drifted apart over the years until their 30th reunion brings them back together. No one is where they thought they'd be but now they have a second chance to reconnect with themselves and each other. Jane Green's latest reminds us our regrets and disappointments don't have to define us and that it's never too late for love and forgiveness.

Hot Summer Books

a gateway

to reliable joy this summer

Buckle Up!

summer reading starts May 16th