The It List summer reading guide: The best books for the beach or backyard
Welcome to the It List Summer Guide edition, where we share staff picks for the best in entertainment as the weather gets warmer. Catch the weekly It List here for the latest releases that we can't wait to watch, stream, listen to, read and binge.
Whether you’re traveling for vacation or staying local this summer, it’s the perfect time to grab a few snacks, pick a cozy spot to lounge and disappear into a good book.
What should be at the top of your list? Here are the new releases that deserve your attention.
📚 Fiction picks 📚
🔖 One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole
What to know: Cole's latest is the story of a former historic preservationist whose life is derailed by a dissociative identity disorder diagnosis and subsequent breakdown.
When she’s offered a position as the resident caretaker of a historic home, she jumps at the opportunity — and ends up entangled in a mess of lies and secrets.
🗓️ Publication date: April 16
💬 Genre: Thriller
✨ Read if you liked: The Only One Left by Riley Sager
🔖 The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley
What to know: Everybody’s favorite guncle, Patrick O’Hara, is back.
In a sequel set five years after the events of 2022's The Guncle, Rowley takes his famed character to Europe, where his brother is getting remarried.
What’s supposed to be a beautiful getaway quickly descends into chaos as O'Hara tries to rein in his young niece and nephew, keep his sister from flirting with guests and handle a groom with cold feet.
🗓️ Publication date: May 21
💬 Genre: Contemporary fiction
✨ Read if you liked: Less by Andrew Sean Greer
🔖 Allow Me to Introduce Myself by Onyi Nwabineli
What to know: Anuri Chinasa grew up with a “momfluencer” and had her entire upbringing publicly broadcast online.
In her twenties, she struggles with leaving her family behind and building her life on her own terms.
When she realizes her stepmother is treating her young half-sister the same way she treated her, Anuri decides it’s time to step in and change the family narrative.
🗓️ Publication date: May 28
💬 Genre: Contemporary fiction
✨ Read if you liked: My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
🔖 The Curious Secrets of Yesterday by Namrata Patel
What to know: Protagonist Tulsi Gupta has never been interested in taking over her family's spice shop.
When she stumbles upon an unsent letter from her grandmother that reveals a mysterious betrayal, she begins to change her mind.
Soon, she realizes there’s more to the family business than the women in her life let on.
🗓️ Publication date: June 1
💬 Genre: Contemporary fiction
✨ Read if you liked: A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
🔖 The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
What to know: Five years after publishing her sophomore novel The Stationery Shop, Kamali is back with The Lion Women of Tehran.
Set in 1950s Tehran, the novel tracks the trajectories of two young girls, Ellie and Homa, as life sets them on different paths before suddenly forcing them back together.
🗓️ Publication date: July 2
💬 Genre: Historical fiction
✨ Read if you liked: The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
🔖 One-Star Romanceby Laura Hankin
What to know: Hankin’s first official foray into romance spans an entire decade as protagonists Natalie and Rob keep meeting every few years as their respective best friends get engaged, get married and start a family.
An early disagreement in their twenties leaves them committed to never liking one another.
As the two eventually find out, life can take people in many unexpected directions — and force them to make new allies.
🗓️ Publication date: June 18
💬 Genre: Romance
✨ Read if you liked: One Day by David Nicholls
🔖 It's Elementary by Elise Bryant
What to know: Single mom Mavis Miller is unexpectedly roped into PTA duties at her daughter’s elementary school.
In her new role, she uncovers a whole lot more than she bargained for.
🗓️ Publication date: July 9
💬 Genre: Cozy mystery
✨ Read if you liked: Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
🔖 The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
What to know: Moreno-Garcia’s latest work is primarily set in 1950s Hollywood and alternates between multiple characters' points of view and timelines.
Readers meet newcomer Vera Larios, who quickly lands a coveted starring film role and gets branded an industry ingenue.
What she doesn’t realize is that plenty of people are scheming behind the scenes to take her down.
🗓️ Publication date: August 6
💬 Genre: Historical fiction
✨ Read if you liked: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
📚 Nonfiction picks 📚
🔖 First Love by Lilly Dancyger
What to know: After experiencing a personal tragedy in early adulthood, Dancyger realized the importance of female friendships in her life.
Her essay collection maps out different platonic relationships, weaving in explorations of female friendship in society and pop culture.
🗓️ Publication date: May 7
✨ Read if you liked: Big Friendship by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman
🔖 When Women Ran Fifth Avenue by Julie Satow
What to know: During the twentieth century, department stores became a central hub of American life.
Satow tells the history of the department store and three female visionaries — Hortense Odlum, Dorothy Shaver and Geraldine Stutz — who contributed to its rise.
🗓️ Publication date: June 4
✨ Read if you liked: The Chiffon Trenches by André Leon Talley
🔖 Cue the Sun! by Emily Nussbaum
What to know: What lies at the heart of America’s most beloved reality TV shows?
Nussbaum, who is a New Yorker staff writer, unpacks the seedy underbelly of the genre's history, talking to the people who built it into what it is today.
There’s a lot more to the genre than meets the eye — or makes it on camera.
🗓️ Publication date: June 25
✨ Read if you liked: Bachelor Nation by Amy Kaufman
Looking for more summer fun? Check out our guides:
