ELLE's Ultimate Summer Books Round-Up
Whether you're on the beach or a mountainside, these reads guarantee pure escapism.
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The days are long, it is hot(ish) and that well-deserved holiday is hopefully on the horizon. You finally have time for the books you’ve been waiting to read all year! Or maybe you’re in need of recommendations … Look no further: here are our favourite books coming out this summer. Whether you’re planning to read by the pool, on the beach, on the mountainside or you have to stay by your fan in the city (hey, we’ve all been there), all these books guarantee pure escapism. We’ve included, in order, literary fiction, genre reads, stories, nonfiction and poetry. Dive in!
Crudo by Olivia Laing
Olivia Laing dazzled us with her nonfiction, including The Lonely City, and this is her first novel. It follows a woman named Kathy (who does share a lot of delicious details with Kathy Acker) who tries to make sense of the disastrous political moment, in the summer of 2017, while planning her wedding. Electric and unputdownable, its 'love in the apocalypse' vibe is deep and light at the same time.
Out on 28 June
Aliens and Anorexia by Chris Kraus
Finally, the sequel to the revered (and oft-Instagrammed) I Love Dick hits the shelves in the UK. As Chris’s independent film is badly received, she is left picking up the pieces. This time, she not only chronicles her own life and art, but also those of other visionaries – 'aliens' – like radical philosopher Simone Weil.
Out on 14 June
Ordinary People by Diana Evans
Contemporary London and Barack Obama’s election victory are the backdrop for the stories of two black couples in their early 30s, and the tensions between settling down and wanting to break free. One of the best novels about relationships in London of recent years.
Out now
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
From the author of Eileen and Homesick for Another World comes this new novel about a woman who feels alienated and despondent, despite her seemingly perfect life in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and she decides to literally hibernate – aided by narcotics and a pretty horrendous psychiatrist. I don’t know about you, but just that premise makes me instantly want to reach for the book and hide with it for the next few hours.
Out on 12 July
The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer
A sprawling novel about female mentorship, and the tensions between second-wave feminists and young activists today. The novel follows a young student who suffers a sexual assault at a frat party as she starts college, then meets an iconic feminist from the 70s who takes her under her wing.
Out now
Pretend I'm Dead by Jen Beagin
This novel had me rooting for its protagonist, Mona, 23 and cleaning houses to get by as she tries to figure her life out, from the very beginning – in which she falls for a guy she meets at a needle-exchange programme at which she volunteers. Her heart will be broken and she will start over in Taos, New Mexico – where she’ll meet a bunch of offbeat characters, all charming and odd – all the while trying to make peace with a painful childhood. This outline alone doesn’t do it justice, though. This is one of the most moving novels I’ve read all year.
Out on 5 July (Oneworld)
The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner
The acclaimed author of The Flamethrowers is back with a mysterious portrait of contemporary America and life on its margins, through the eyes of an incarcerated woman, Romy, who has left behind a son and a San Francisco youth. For fans of Orange Is the New Black.
Out now (Jonathan Cape)
Oreo by Fran Ross
This novel was first published more than 40 years ago, but its cult status has surfaced in recent years in the US. It follows Oreo, a biracial girl from Philadelphia, the daughter of a Jewish father and a black mother, who has been brought up by her grandparents and embarks on a trip to New York to find her absent father. Funny, brilliant and whip-smart, it’s a modern parody of the myth of Theseus in the shape of a memorable self-discovery story filled with 70s pop culture.
Out on 12 July
Everything Under by Daisy Johnson
Daisy Johnson’s story collection Fen was unanimously beloved a couple of years ago, firmly situating her among the UK’s most exciting new voices, so we’re thrilled about this, her debut novel, promising to be a “story of family and identity, of fate, language, love and belonging” set in modern-day England.
Out on 12 July
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
This novel, a literary sensation in Japan, follows Keiko, a woman who finds peace, purpose and solace in her new job at a Tokyo convenience store. Unfortunately, her social circle won’t have it: it’s unacceptable for a single woman to be content spending all her time stacking shelves. As pressure mounts “to find either a new job, or worse, a husband, she is forced to take matters into her own hands,” the editors say. This promises to be “a gift to anyone who has ever felt at odds with the world,” said writer Ruth Ozeki – and, well, who hasn’t?
Out on 5 July
The Pisces by Melissa Broder
Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton
This is an irresistible novel about a toxic friendship taken to the extreme, full of dark New York glamour, decadence and bohemia. When Louise, a struggling young woman and aspiring writer, meets Lavinia and gets access to her world (easy, glittery, full of parties, beauty, money, drugs, clothes and fake friendships), Louise knows that it won’t last forever. Unless she can find a way to have Lavinia’s life... So many novels are compared to The Secret History and The Talented Mr. Ripley in the digital age, but in this case it’s absolutely justified.
Out on 14 June
Suicide Club by Rachel Heng
It’s near-future New York City and humans’ life expectancy is 300 years… And you can even be immortal, which a lot of people are obsessed with (think of it as the new clean living). But would you want to live forever, if given a choice? Protagonist Lea faces that question as she joins a network of rebels called the Suicide Club who reject that and live and die in their own terms.
Out on 10 July
The Lido by Libby Page
A friendship story between two women, 86 and 26-years-old, who unite when their local London lido is threatened with closure. A feel-good novel proving that age is a construct.
Out now
Promising Young Women by Caroline O’Donoghue
This brilliant debut novel takes dreary office politics to the extreme. The 26-year-old protagonist works at an advertising agency, and has a secret gig as an agony aunt at night, but somehow can’t follow her own wise advice. As she unwittingly starts an affair with an older man in the office, she discovers how intertwined sex and power really are.
Out now
A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
This novel is the first book from Sarah Jessica Parker's publishing project, and it turns out she has excellent taste when it comes to literary new voices. A Place for Us follows the lives of an Indian-American Muslim family who gather in California for the eldest daughter's wedding. A brilliant, highly readable contemporary tale of identity and belonging.
Out on 14 June
All These Beautiful Strangers by Elizabeth Klehfoth
This is a properly beachy thriller, in which privileged student Charlie – whose mother disappeared mysteriously 10 years back – gets an invitation for an elite secret society at her college, and, convinced that she belongs, she’ll follow their diabolical games in order to get accepted into it. Then, she’ll get absorbed by a deep web of secrets and lies, which involucrate her own family in deep, dark stuff. Cruel Intentions meets Gossip Girl. We’re not surprised film plans are underway by the producers of Wild, Gone Girl and Big Little Lies.
Out on 12 July
You Were Made For This by Michelle Sacks
Speaking of page-turners, this thriller promises to explore the darker side of motherhood, jumping from the several protagonists’ points of view à la Gone Girl. It follows a couple, Merry and Sam, who have a seemingly idyllic life in the Swedish countryside with their infant son, having left behind their New York life to forget a few secrets. Until, of course, Merry’s childhood friend comes to stay and starts to see things that others might miss.
Out on 19 June
Things To Make and Break by May-Lan Tan
The excitement for this debut story collection is mounting on both sides of the Atlantic, and we’re jumping on the wave. The book was published by a small press a few years ago, and is now resurfacing. Despite the weirdness of comparing debuts, the mentions of Lydia Davis, Miranda July and Carmen Maria Machado by people we trust certainly piqued our interest. It’s been called 'omnisexual' and 'strange, flinty, cigarette-stained,' and said to be about 'the ghosts of past and future lovers,' about the third person that hovers over each relationship between two, including our former selves. See you by the pool.
Out on 28 June
How To Love A Jamaican by Alexia Arthurs
This debut collection about Jamaican immigrants in the US and their families, going from Manhattan and the Midwest to close-knit island communities back home, will be a must-read this summer. We’ll leave you with what Zadie Smith said of it: 'In these kaleidoscopic stories of Jamaica and its diaspora we hear many voices at once: some cultivated, some simple, some wickedly funny, some deeply melancholic. All of them convince and sing. All of them shine.'
Out on 9 August
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