Summer … here at last! Now that the season of fun and sun has finally arrived, it’s time to fire up the grill, send off the summer campers and start packing for that long-awaited getaway. Sure, there are endless ways to enjoy summertime R&R, but few can match the lazy, pure escapist pleasure of stretching out beneath a beach umbrella with a good book. (Amid today’s hustle and bustle, in fact, that sounds downright luxurious.) And while it’s unlikely that a mom as busy as you are has seen all of the in-flight movies, nothing makes a long plane ride zip by faster than burying your nose in a hot-off-the-press new novel.
So what’s your pleasure – gripping thriller? Tearjerker? Juicy tell-all? Here you really can have it all. Whether you prefer flipping through hardcovers, paperbacks or loading up your eReader, there are plenty of new and upcoming releases to take you from that first not-quite-warm-enough beach day to the dog days of August. Happy reading – and don’t forget the sunblock.
Go Set a Watchman, by Harper Lee (Harper)
The recent discovery of Lee’s “lost” novel, written in the ’50s, rocked the publishing world. Read it and find out for yourself if the book, which follows some of the characters from Lee’s award-winning and beloved classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, lives up to expectations.
In the Unlikely Event, by Judy Blume (Knopf Doubleday)
The novelist best known for her best-selling teen fiction – how many times did you read Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret? – releases a new novel that explores complex, multigenerational family relationships circa 1950s.
The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins (Riverhead)
Drawing numerous comparisons to Gone Girl. If that isn’t enough to pull you in, taut pacing, unforgettable characters, and unpredictable plot twists make this a no-brainer for suspense fans.
A Spool of Blue Thread, by Anne Tyler (Knopf)
This gifted storyteller spins a tale of middle-class family life in Baltimore spanning several generations. It’s a story that, with its secrets and revelations, feels of-the-moment and also refreshingly classic.
Born With Teeth, by Kate Mulgrew (Little, Brown and Company)
Weaving together the threads that define women’s lives – motherhood choices, love, and career – this award-winning actress’s memoir has the power to haunt, resonate and fully engage.
Leaving Time: A Novel, by Jodi Picoult (Ballantine) and includes the novella Larger Than Life.
In Picoult’s emotional thriller, a woman’s desperate search for her mother, who vanished after an accident, draws together an unlikely group piecing together a plot-twisting jigsaw.
If I Could Turn Back Time, by Beth Harbison (St. Martin’s Press)
Who among us hasn’t asked ourselves this question, or at least wondered on occasion? Harbison’s successful yet unfulfilled protagonist doesn’t just ask; she gets a real do-over – finding herself as an 18-year-old high-schooler again.
The Knockoff, by Lucy Sykes (Knopf Doubleday)
This high-style comedy finds a fashion-mag maven fighting for her spot at the top when a digital-age upstart plots to take her place (and transform a Vogue-style magazine into an online app). Sykes’s ultramodern take freshens up the workplace generational power dynamic.
Killing Monica, by Candace Bushnell (Grand Central Publishing)
Sex and the City fans rejoice! Bushnell’s newest story of ambition, success and fame follows another Manhattan writer’s roller-coaster reinvention. She isn’t Carrie, but her story drips with all of the glamour and thrills of our fave gal about town.
The Book of Joan: Tales of Mirth, Mischief, and Manipulation, by Melissa Rivers (Crown Archetype)
In a memoir rich in fascinating tidbits, the daughter of the late queen of comedy reflects on her mother’s trailblazing life and career and shares insight into the pair’s business and personal relationships.
Terri Prettyman Bowles is a Westchester-based writer, editor and content producer.
