July is a fantastic month for the readers among us. Beach-worthy temps mean it’s the perfect time to reap the rewards of bringing books outdoors. Imagine cracking the spine of a fresh new title while lying in the sand. Or consider packing a novel for your upcoming weekend getaway. (Aren't summer Fridays ultimate bliss?)
Escaping into a book while soaking up some vitamin D can benefit more than just your mind and body. There’s always the possibility that you might also spy someone else palming an actual bound piece of writing and spark up a conversation (@hotdudesreading exists for a reason — a handheld screen is really no match when it comes to public displays of bibliophilia).
Wherever your latest reads take you, we’ve got you covered with another installment of what we recommend you read this month. From Southern epics to scintillating mysteries and haunting coming-of-age debuts, we've pulled together 10 incredible titles. Here we go.
Listen To Me
By Hannah Pittard
Out July 5
Mark and Maggie have been road tripping to see family together for years. But this time around, things are different: Maggie was recently mugged at gunpoint outside their home and her anxiety has reached a fever pitch. To make things worse, the estranged couple is forced to stop at a remote hotel for the night when a storm makes it impossible to continue on — and in near-complete isolation with the power out, they are forced to reckon with a dangerous stranger.
Thrilling and suspenseful, Listen To Me digs into the ways in which the person you trust the most can fast become a stranger — forcing you to question whether you knew them at all to begin with.
Photo: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Absalam's Daughters
By Suzanne Feldman
Out July 5
Cassie works full-time in her grandmother's Laundromat in rural 1950s Mississippi, while Judith falls for "colored music" and dreams of becoming a radio star. The sisters are half-siblings: One is Black, the other white, daughters to the same father.
But when their father passes away, the sisters embark on a road trip to Virginia to claim their inheritance. What they discover along the way — about each other, about themselves — is unforgettable.
Photo: Henry Holt.
The Dream Life Of Astronauts
By Patrick Ryan
Out July 5
The nine stories in this gorgeous collection all take place in Cape Canaveral, spanning from the 1960s to present day. But though they fit together beautifully, each one could be its own stand-alone novel, should Ryan choose to expand on the characters and circumstances.
A former astronaut plagued by his own inner demons becomes obsessed with a teen boy; a teen beauty queen must decide what to do about her unplanned pregnancy. There is humanity and heart in each one of these tales, all rendered with nuance and depth that will leave a mark on your thoughts long past the final pages.
Photo: Random House.
You Are Having A Good Time
By Amie Barrodale
Out July 5
Barrodale's work has appeared in The Paris Review, VICE, Harper's Magazine, and beyond, but in this — her debut collection of what can only be called character study essays — she truly hits a stride.
These interconnected tales scrutinize the way relationships are created and fall apart; why people drink too much; why there are some things that we cannot let go of and some things we let slip through our fingers, knowing we would be best to hold on to. Sharp and full of insight, You Are Having A Good Time is a portrait of modern life with an almost anthropological edge, as well as a meditation on the stories we tell ourselves about who we really are on the inside.
Photo: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux.
Pond
By Claire-Louise Bennett
Out July 12
Released to huge critical acclaim in the U.K. last year, Bennett's book has finally made its way across the pond — and it was well worth the wait. Reminiscent of Norwegian writer Karl Knausgård as much as it is Thoreau and Zadie Smith, Pond is the story of one young woman's daily life, told one portrait of existence at a time. But at its very base, this is a book about the yearning to be known and the not-easily-lost desire to understand one's place in the world.
Photo: Penguin.
All The Time In The World
By Caroline Angell
Out July 12
Charlotte is a gifted musician with a promising career ahead — but for now, she's making ends meet by nannying for an Upper East Side family she adores. Over time, she becomes increasingly attached to the children and their parents, but when an unthinkable tragedy strikes without warning, Charlotte has to decide where her heart belongs: with her professional aspirations or with the people she knows might fall apart without her.
A refreshing rewrite of The Nanny Diaries -type narrative, All The Time In The World dissects the choices women are so often forced to consider — and the idea that it may, in fact, be impossible to have it all, so you have to decide what, deep down, you want instead.
Photo: Macmillan.
Here Comes The Sun
By Nicole Dennis-Benn
Out July 19
Delores and her daughters, Margot and Thandi, have lived all their lives in the shadow of Jamaica's touristy Montego Bay. Delores fell into prostitution to make money for her family, and Margot follows suit, working the reception desk at a fancy hotel while sleeping with guests on the side. Both daughters have a dream: For Thandi, it's to attend college and eventually help lift the family out of generations of poverty.
"I wanted readers to see the other side of paradise," Dennis-Benn wrote of her inspiration. "I wanted them to see the real people behind the fantasy life." See them we do — and so much more — in this impressive and illuminating debut.
Photo: W.W. Norton & Co.
Monterey Bay
By Lindsay Hatton
Out July 19
In 1950, teenage Margot Fiske and her eccentric entrepreneur father, Anders, relocate to the shores of famed Monterey Bay, the California coastal area immortalized by Steinbeck's Cannery Row.
Hatton tells the story of the Bay, the iconic aquarium, and the final days of the canneries alongside Margot's coming-of-age tale. The author, who grew up in Monterey Bay herself, has written an impressively detailed and beautiful love story for her native home — but, like all complex love stories, there are myriad moments of darkness.
Photo: Penguin Press.
Losing It
By Emma Rathbone
Out July 19
Julia Greenfield was a swim team star back in college. But now, at 26, she feels stuck in a job she hates, in a city she wants to leave. And she still hasn't lost her virginity. Determined to surrender her V-card, Julia ventures to North Carolina for the summer to visit her Aunt Vivienne and change her life. But when she gets there, she discovers that Viv has her own sexual secrets. One thing's for sure, though: This is the summer of Losing It.
Rathbone's debut is whip-smart and wonderfully funny — if you're going to add one book to the list this month, let it be this one.
Photo: Riverhead Books.
The Hopefuls
By Jennifer Close
Out July 19
When Beth follows her husband, Matt, to Washington, D.C., for his political career, she hates everything about the nation's capitol — including the social obligations and exclusive cliques. But when Beth and Matt finally make friends with Jimmy, a White House staffer whose political star is on the rise, and his wife, Ashleigh, Beth feels like she has finally found her footing in her new town.
Until, that is, their friendship is threatened by Jimmy's political success — and rumors that boundaries have been crossed between the couples. A nuanced portrait of commitment, loyalty, and climbing the ladder, The Hopefuls tackles a thorny question: What do we owe each other in any marriage?
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