We lost a literary giant last week, and at a young age, too. Marjane Satrapi, author of the groundbreaking graphic memoir, Persepolis, passed away at the age of 56. There wasn’t much information shared about how or even where she died, but the office of French President Emmanuel Macron issued a statement on her influence:
“Her passing marks the loss of a leading figure in French culture and a freedom-loving artist whose work carried a universal message and earned her immense international acclaim.”
In less sad news, there are some great new books coming out this week. Among them are some perfectly seasonal and summer-y novels, like the Denmark-set Waist Deep by Linea Maja Ernst, translated by Nicolette Sherilyn Hellberg, and the romance The Summer Girlfriend by Kristina Forest. There’s also a charming story by Pulitzer Prize winner Andrew Sean Greer that takes place in an eccentric older woman’s Italian villa —more on that later.
But if you prefer nonfiction for your summer reading, there’s Freedom: Essays by Zinzi Clemmons, All the Feels: How to Stay Human in the Digital World by Pamela Pavliscak, and Cleanup on Aisle Five: Essential Work, Poverty Wages, and the View from Behind the Supermarket Register by Ann Larson. Meanwhile, lit fic lovers are blessed with the 1870s-set Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See, and the globe-spanning I’ll Take the Fire by Leila Slimani, translated by Sam Taylor.
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Finally, this week’s featured books include a charming and eccentric time in an Italian villa by Andrew Sean Greer, a jet-setting romance by Tia Williams, a memoir by trans actress and icon Laverne Cox, and more.
Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer
The latest by Pulitzer Prize winner Andrew Sean Greer is part coming-of-age story and part love story, with a dash of focaccia. The young man protagonist is what some Black elders in the South would call “broke, busted, and disgusted.” He’s got no money and no direction, and so he takes this kind of general handyman job in the Italian countryside working for a wealthy widow known as Coco. He’s been trained as an archivist, but what he’s actually meant to do for Coco is uncertain. He ends up getting rid of martens, investigating an ancient waste system, amusing Coco’s eccentric guests, and trying not to get in the way of her finding her long-lost love. As the summer job turns into a fall one, and he finds out the secrets of the villa, he also finds himself changed.
This has to be one of the best beach/summer reads coming out this year. —Erica Ezeifedi
The Missed Connection by Tia Williams
Sasha doesn’t have the time and energy for relationships with her fast-paced career as a casting agent. But there’s something about the handsome Italian man she sits next to on a flight to Paris that she just can’t shake. The trouble is, they didn’t exchange contact info, and Sasha has no clue how to find him. When an email she meant to send to a work friend accidentally goes out to her entire company, Sasha’s search for Mr. Seat F turns into a global affair. —Susie Dumond
Transcendent by Laverne Cox
Laverne Cox busted through countless barriers to become the first openly trans person nominated for an acting Emmy Award for her work on Orange Is the New Black. Now, she’s sharing the ins and outs of that journey, from her difficult childhood and mental illness to becoming a Hollywood star in her 40s, and everything in between. This is a hotly anticipated reflection on the life of a groundbreaking actress who has cleared the way for so many non-gender-conforming performers, giving her the opportunity to be candid and vulnerable with her many fans. —Leah Rachel von Essen
Pool House by Mary H.K. Choi
Stevie wants to escape her mom. She’s tired of dead-end jobs, tired of not making ends meet, tired of living in Los Angeles, tired of her mother not leaving her alone.
Moon, her mother, is an actress out of work, and she’s dealing with a lot. She’s recovering from addiction, and she’s just lost her lover (and former TV husband). Processing her grief and her life as it is now is challenging, and it’s made worse when she realizes Stevie wants to leave, too.
Stevie and Moon need each other, even if it’s not the best for them. They’ve moved into their pool house and rented out the main house to make ends meet. But things become much more intense when Moon’s former TV son, Adam, shows up at the funeral for his TV dad/her lover. Adam happens to be Stevie’s former crush, and now the three of them are making new, convoluted plans. They’re going to move back into the main house and play family.
Things are tense, even if they look okay on the outside. —Kelly Jensen
Editor’s note: This is Roxane Gay’s Audacious Book Club choice for July.
The Fervent Whites by De’Shawn Charles Winslow
For fans of tense mysteries set in a small town in the ‘80s!
In the early ‘80s, after almost two years in prison for a crime they didn’t commit, James and Ella White return to their community in upstate New York. There is no happy welcome back. There is instead a secret being held, harassment, a murder, and a whole lot of tension. —Jamie Canaves
A Voice Like Mine by Deb Haaland
Deb Haaland was the first Native American to serve in a presidential cabinet. Before that, she was one of the first Native American women to be elected to Congress. A member of the Pueblo of Laguna, Haaland grew up with a life impacted by alcoholism, poverty, and single parenthood. But she grew to believe her voice mattered, and now in 2026, she’s running for governor in New Mexico. —Kendra Winchester
Other Book Riot New Releases Resources:
- All the Books, our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about the books out this week we’re most excited about.
- The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz.
- Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot’s New Release Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by genre, age category, and even LGBTQ new releases!
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