Emily has a PhD in English from the University of Southern Mississippi, MS, and she has an MFA in Creative Writing from GCSU in Milledgeville, GA, home of Flannery O’Connor. She spends her free time reading, watching horror movies and musicals, cuddling cats, Instagramming pictures of cats, and blogging/podcasting about books with the ladies over at #BookSquadGoals (www.booksquadgoals.com). She can be reached at emily.ecm@gmail.com.
We’re in the middle of the spring, but it’s already time to start thinking ahead to what we’re going to be reading this summer. As the warm months finally approach, it’s time to start daydreaming about which books we’ll be reading poolside or in our relaxing outdoor hammocks this year. There are three books in particular that everyone has been talking about already, so you can expect to see these titles in a lot of people’s hands once summer kicks off.
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Ballantine Books, June 3)
Okay, so technically, summer doesn’t start until June 20, but Taylor Jenkins Reid’s latest definitely feels like the perfect read to kick off the summer months. In the summer of 1980, Joan Goodwin is chosen to join NASA’s Space Shuttle program and to train at Houston’s Johnson Space Center. As she makes friends among her fellow trainees and prepares for her first flight, Joan finds everything she thought she knew about herself and about the universe challenged.
Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson (Scholastic Press, July 1)
Tiffany D. Jackson is known for her spine-chilling YA horror novels and thrillers, but this summer, she’s making her middle grade debut. When Kaylani’s family decides to vacation at Martha’s Vineyard, the summer starts off well enough. Kaylani is about to find other kids to hang out with, there is plenty of delicious ice cream to go around, and the beach is beautiful. But then the unthinkable happens. Was it a murder? A shark attack? Whatever the truth is, Kaylani is determined to get to the bottom of it.
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager, August 26)
If your bookish friend group isn’t already buzzing about R.F. Kuang’s Katabasis, then it’s time to get new friends. This is one of the most highly anticipated books of the year. How far would you go to get a recommendation from one of the most respected magicians and professors in the world? Would you travel to literal Hell? That’s what Alice Law and rival graduate student Peter Murdoch decide to do. But will their scholarly knowledge of Orpheus and Dante be enough to protect them in the Underworld?
Book Radar Newsletter
Sign up for Book Radar to receive exciting book deals and must-read forthcoming titles.
Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox.
Will you be adding these books to your TBR? All of these books are available for preorder now, so you can make your reading plans for the summer right away.
English (US) · 