11 New Books We Can’t Wait to Read This Summer

Sike by Fred Lunzer is a future-gazing narrative that explores modern love and human connection in the age of artificial intelligence. Adrian finds success in his career as a lyricist when he writes a hit song about the woes of love. Now back in the emotional gutter after another messy breakup, Adrian turns to Sike — an AI psychotherapy app that promises guidance toward contentment. Maquie, meanwhile, is on the hunt for London’s next big tech. She’s looking for something to rival the success of Sike, though she refuses to use the app herself. When the two finally meet, a spark ignites, and the pair find themselves drawn together as they grapple with issues of identity, anxiety, ambition, and self-reflection.

Publication date: May 20, 2025

Ready to add a dose of suspense to your next summer getaway? Get your hands on Alex North’s latest gripping thriller, The Man Made of Smoke. Dan Garvie is a criminal profiler who remains haunted by the dangerously close call he had with a serial killer in his youth. When Dan’s father dies under suspicious circumstances, he races home to his island community to investigate. But could something from his past be waiting there for him? Emotional, shocking, and swirling with secrets, The Man Made of Smoke is a perfect summer sizzler.

Publication date: May 13, 2025

Notes on Infinity by Austin Taylor is an extraordinary new novel about young love and reckless success that will have you flying through the pages. Harvard students Zoe and Jack are on the cusp of a major discovery: the cure for aging. When their late nights in the lab lead to real potential, they get an investor on board. Soon their fledgling project blooms into a biotech startup, capturing headline news and landing the pair on magazine covers. But their meteoric rise is threatened by an unexpected accusation that could unravel everything they’ve built, including their partnership. 

Publication date: June 3, 2025

If you’re looking for a witty rom-com to add to your beach bag, Friends With Benefits by Marisa Kanter is a lovely summer accessory. Besties Evie and Theo are both facing some obstacles — Evie has a great career opportunity, but it doesn’t come with health benefits, which she sorely needs; Theo’s trying not to get evicted from his rent-controlled apartment. Luckily there’s a solution that solves both their problems: get married. If they’re married, Evie can be on Theo’s insurance and they’ll meet the married-income loophole in Theo’s lease. What could possibly go wrong? Well, when matters of the heart are involved, quite a lot.

Publication date: May 6, 2025

Body-acceptance advocate and MEGABABE founder Katie Sturino drops a heartwarming and hilarious debut about self-love in the big city in Sunny Side Up. The novel follows Sunny Greene, a 35-year-old recent divorcee who’s ready to embrace where she’s at in her life. With her brother’s wedding on the horizon, she’s looking for a date and a plus-size swimsuit that she actually enjoys wearing. Sunny’s tired of putting herself down, and why should she? She’s got a great apartment, a great business, and lovely companions in her friends and pets. So what’s stopping her from diving into the dating world? With three different suitors, Sunny sets out to find love of all varieties—self-love included.

Publication date: June 24, 2025

Bestselling author Taylor Jenkins Reid knows how to capture the spirit of an era in her novels. For proof, check out Daisy Jones & the Six or The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. In her new novel, Atmosphere, the author invites you on a journey through the stars. It’s the 1980s, and physics and astronomy professor Joan is selected as one of the first women scientists to join NASA’s space shuttle program. As she gets to know her crewmates working at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, Joan finds new passions and new love beyond anything she’s known before. Their 1984 mission, though, will change everything. Featuring compelling characters, sweeping emotion, and a thrilling narrative, Atmosphere is out of this world.

Publication date: June 3, 2025

A father’s disappearance is mapped out over time and place in Flashlight by Susan Choi. Louisa was only 10 years old when she washed up on a beach, barely alive. Her father, though, was never found. Told from alternating perspectives, the story of Louisa’s family unfolds in a smart and surprising narrative — from her Korean father who moved them to Japan before his disappearance, to her American mother, who’s estranged from her family, to Louisa’s half-brother, who makes a consequential reemergence. Immersive and complex, Flashlight is “superbly crafted” (Eleanor Catton, author of Birnam Wood).

Publication date: June 3, 2025

Food writer and New York Times contributor Besha Rodell delivers a delectable food memoir about her life and career as a food critic with Hunger Like a Thirst. After moving to the United States from Australia as a teen, Rodell searched for her calling. It took a while, but she found it in a restaurant. Beginning as a waitress and working her way to a successful career as a restaurant critic, Rodell’s life has been full of rewarding friendships and plenty of meals — both good and bad.

Publication date: May 13, 2025

The reality of female friendships is far more complex than the hashtag-besties narrative so often sold by the media. In Bad Friend, Tiffany Watt Smith delves into the topic with insight and candor. Part memoir, part history, part social critique, Bad Friend traces the rich cultural foundations of friendships between women and pulls from the author’s own experiences as it thoughtfully explores female friendship in all of its complex beauty.

Publication date: May 6, 2025

Literary icon James Baldwin gets a well-deserved and thoroughly researched biography in Nicholas Boggs’s Baldwin: A Love Story. With his deft examination of Baldwin’s personal and professional life, Boggs captures his impact on literature, the Civil Rights movement, and Black and queer history. He also reveals the ways in which the legendary figure’s closest relationships influenced his art. Beautifully written and thoroughly engrossing, Baldwin is an ideal companion for your summer travels.

Publication date: August 19, 2025

Plan to soak up the sun riverside this summer? Why not get to know the nature you’re enjoying! From bestselling nature author Robert Macfarlane, Is a River Alive? plunges into the flowing heart of riverways, advocating for their recognition as living beings rather than geographical features for humans to make use of. Macfarlane excels at capturing the timeless beauty and awe-inspiring wonder of the natural world. Here, he delivers a powerful and persuasive meditation on rivers that moves fluidly through time and across continents.

Publication date: May 20, 2025