Summer reading season is here, and everyone from The New York Times to People magazine to Oprah has opinions on what the top books of the summer will be.
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With new releases from the likes of Ann Patchett and Elizabeth Strout, not to mention new novels from the authors of blockbusters like “Hamnet,” “The Help” and “The Midnight Library,” there’s something for everyone this summer.
Here are some of the books that have been getting the most attention so far this summer — and why they’re generating so much buzz.
Note: This book list contains works for adult audiences. They may contain content, themes and language that is for mature readers.
1. ‘Whistler’ by Ann Patchett
Summary: “When Daphne Fuller and her husband Jonathan visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they notice an older, white-haired gentleman following them. The man turns out to be Eddie Triplett, her former stepfather. … Now fifty-three, Daphne hasn’t seen Eddie for many years, not since the fateful event that changed the direction of both their lives. Meeting again, time falls away; while their relationship was brief, it had a profound impact on them both, and now that they are reunited, they have no intention of ever being separated again.”
Why it’s getting buzz: “Whistler” is the 10th novel from the award-winning Patchett, who is known for, among other works, “Bel Canto,” “The Dutch House” and “Tom Lake.”
What people are saying: “Is there a place in serious literature for kind, happy characters and kind, happy stories? This intimate and entertaining novel makes the strong case that there is.” — The New York Times
Release date: June 2
2. ‘The Midnight Train’ by Matt Haig
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Summary: “No one can change the past, but the Midnight Train can take you there.
“The chance to re-live the moments that meant most. To see what kind of person you really were.
“For Wilbur his best days were with Maggie, the love of his life. On his honeymoon in Venice. Before he gave it all away. He wishes he could go back and live differently. But to do so risks everything . . .”
Why it’s getting buzz: It’s the follow-up to the bestselling, life-affirming 2020 novel, “The Midnight Library” — which will soon be getting a film adaptation starring Florence Pugh.
What people are saying: “Matt Haig’s newest tale achieves modern classic status. … The book offers wisdom, redemption, and the journey of a lifetime for Wilbur, and for readers.” — The Christian Science Monitor
Release date: May 26
3. ‘Land’ by Maggie O’Farrell
Summary: “Tomás and his reluctant son, Liam, are working for the great Ordnance Survey project to map the whole of Ireland. … The British soldiers in charge are due to arrive any day, expecting the work to be completed, but Tomás is unexpectedly sent off course by an unsettling encounter in a copse. His life, and the lives of those of his family, will never be the same again. Liam is terrified by the sudden change in his taciturn father. What was it that caused such cracks to open in Tomás, and how is Liam, aged only ten, going to finish the mapping and get them both home?”
Why it’s getting buzz: O’Farrell is best-known for the 2020 novel “Hamnet,” which was made into an award-winning film last year for which she co-wrote the screenplay.
What people are saying: “With ‘Land,’ her tenth novel, O’Farrell owns her Irish heritage. It is unequivocally a novel about Ireland, the Irish and the Irish diasporic experience. It is also … her most far-reaching, ambitious novel to date.” — The Times
Release date: June 2
4. ‘The Calamity Club’ by Kathryn Stockett
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Summary: “Eleven-year-old Meg, one of the unadoptable ‘big girls’ at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed. Birdie, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford on a mission to ask her social-climbing sister to help the struggling family she’s left behind. And Charlie is a woman with a past, running low on luck but driven by fire, fury, and grit. When their fates converge, they come up with an audacious plan to take back control of their lives.”
Why it’s getting buzz: “The Calamity Club” is Stockett’s first novel since her runaway bestselling debut “The Help” in 2009, which was turned into a star-studded movie in 2011.
What people are saying: “A nearly 700-page book so immersive, exciting, and downright fabulous, you never want it to end.” — Oprah Daily
Release date: May 5
5. ‘Cool Machine’ by Colson Whitehead
Summary: “1986. Carney has always been haunted by his inability to save his cousin Freddie. Now, twenty years after Freddie’s death, he has a chance to rescue Freddie’s son from the violent forces of the city. But coming out of retirement … will mean risking the safety and security he’s spent decades building for his family, with only one shot to get it right.”
Why it’s getting buzz: Whitehead’s novels have won multiple awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes for “The Underground Railroad” and “The Nickel Boys.”
What people are saying: “Whitehead concludes his Harlem Trilogy with a transcendent and wildly entertaining novel in which his recurring characters grapple with the ways their lives are defined by crime and the city they call home. … It’s the greatest New York novel in years.” — Publishers Weekly
Release date: July 21
6. ‘The Things We Never Say’ by Elizabeth Strout
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Summary: “Artie Dam is living a double life. He spends his days teaching history to eleventh graders. … He goes to holiday parties with his wife of three decades, makes small talk with neighbors. … He is, by all appearances, present and alive. But inside, Artie is plagued by feelings of isolation. …
“And then, one day, Artie learns that life has been keeping a secret from him, one that threatens to upend his entire world. Once he learns it, he is forced to chart a new course, to reconsider the relationships he holds most dear — and to make peace with the mysteries at the heart of our existence.”
Why it’s getting buzz: The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Olive Kitteridge” is returning for her 11th book.
What people are saying: “There is so much here to explore, so many endless human mysteries. Let’s hope that this fine author continues steadily along her path, delivering unto her loyal readers story upon story, gift upon gift.” — The Guardian
Release date: May 5
7. ‘It Could Have Been Her’ by Lisa Jewell
Summary: “Jane Trevally is walking her dogs on her country estate when a small white terrier appears, alone and with no sign of the teenaged girl he’d been staying with nearby. When the teenager is reported missing, Jane offers to return the dog to his registered owner, hours away in London. Arriving at a run-down house called Thornwood in the deepest backwaters of Hampstead, she is immediately on alert — because Jane has a dark history with this house.
“The man who answers the door is not the man that Jane remembers from her past. He is cagey, and claims to know nothing about the missing teenage girl. Then, through the window of the house, Jane catches a glimpse of a haunted-looking woman.”
Why it’s getting buzz: Jewell is known for her bestselling thriller novels, with her most popular being 2023’s “None of This is True.”
What people are saying: “Jewell turns a chance encounter into a disturbing treatise on the past’s ability to assert itself in ways both unwelcome and unlikely. The author’s fans will relish this pitch-black spine-tingler.” — Publishers Weekly
Release date: June 23
8. ‘Country People’ by Daniel Mason
Summary: “Miles Krzelewski is a devoted husband, a doting father beloved for his outlandish bedtime stories. … He is also a bit lost, twelve years late with his PhD on Russian folktales and increasingly haunted by a sense that he’s become a disappointment to his family. So when his wife, Kate, accepts a visiting professorship at a prestigious college in the faraway forests of Vermont, he decides that this will be the year to finally move forward with his life. …
“Until Miles stumbles upon a bizarre — perhaps ridiculous — local legend, which, he soon suspects, might not be just a legend after all.”
Why it’s getting buzz: Mason’s last novel, 2023’s “North Woods,” was a New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize finalist.
What people are saying: “Mason has fun exploring marriage, friendship, parenthood and the beguiling allure of storytelling and fantasy in this upbeat romp.” — NPR
Release date: July 7
9. ‘Yesteryear’ by Caro Claire Burke
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Summary: “Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the heir to a political dynasty? What Natalie’s followers — all 8 million of them — don’t know won’t hurt them. …
“Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children — they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. … This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.”
Why it’s getting buzz: The New York Times called it one of the buzziest books of the year — its sharp, satirical take on the “tradwife” movement has proved divisive and discussion-provoking. Oh, and Anne Hathaway has been set to star in the movie version since before the book was published.
What people are saying: “As it sends up both MAGA and online culture, this deliciously funny, topical, and fiercely intelligent debut also probes deeper questions about authenticity, ambition, kindness, celebrity, consumerism, and what it means to be a woman in America today. It’s also a propulsive page turner, impossible to put down.” — Kirkus Reviews
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Release date: April 7