Books Update: Summer Reading

Our big annual issue with roundups of the latest in thrillers, true crime, science fiction and more

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story May 29, 2020 Igor Bastidas Dear Reader, With many of us sequestered far from a beachfront or campground this year, summer may be most readily accessed through the pages of a book. So be it. We won’t take time here to mourn what we’ve lost — though those losses are all too real — but will focus instead on some of what can be found inside a book, through the literary imaginations and careful reporting and research of our writers. Herewith, then, some traditional summer pleasures for you to experience no matter how far you are from your usual poolside chaise. This year’s Summer Reading issue includes roundups of the latest in thrillers, true crime, historical fiction, horror, romance, science fiction and fantasy. We’ve got great armchair travel for you, sports books in lieu of season tickets, cookbooks to inspire those (endless) home-cooked meals, and books about Hollywood to substitute for seats perfectly centered three-quarters of the way back in the theater. You want yet more distraction? Try our User’s Guide to Stephen King. Try “The Address Book,” a surprisingly fascinating exploration of what it means to live at a certain number on a certain avenue. Try the latest book by Lionel Shriver or Steven Johnson or Brit Bennett or Emma Straub or Neal Bascomb or Lawrence Wright. Head out to the Wild West. Enjoy a beach read even if the beach is only in your mind. We’re there with you. Please stay in touch and let us know what you think – whether it’s about this newsletter, our reviews, our podcast, our literary calendar, our Instagram or what you’re reading. We read and ponder all of it. I even write back, albeit belatedly. You can email me at books@nytimes.com. Pamela Paul Editor of The New York Times Book Review @PamelaPaulNYT Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Like this email? Sign-up here or forward it to your friends. Have a suggestion or two on how we can improve it? Let us know at newsletters@nytimes.com. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. THE BOOK REVIEW PODCAST A Manhunt on the 17th Century’s High Seas Steven Johnson talks about “Enemy of All Mankind,” and Gilbert Cruz offers a guide to Stephen King’s work. ROUNDUPS Summer Reading Let books entertain you, offer escape and stretch your horizons this season. FICTION In Richard Ford’s New Stories, Ambivalence Is the Default Condition His collection “Sorry for Your Trouble” features characters who find that the pieces of their lives no longer fit. By Rand Richards Cooper fiction In ‘Rodham,’ Curtis Sittenfeld Reimagines Hillary’s Life In this novel, an alternative biography of sorts, Hillary strides into the history books without Clinton at the end of her name. By Jill Abramson fiction A Novel Imagines the Fate of Twin Sisters, One Passing for White “The Vanishing Half,” by Brit Bennett, considers fraught questions of racial identity, personal freedom and community in a story that stretches from the Jim Crow South to 1980s Los Angeles. By Ayana Mathis fiction An Eerily Prescient Pandemic Novel That’s Guaranteed to Terrify In Lawrence Wright’s “The End of October,” a virulent flu races around the globe, killing millions and plunging society into disarray. By Douglas Preston fiction You May Not Like Lionel Shriver’s Characters. That May Be the Point. In “The Motion of the Body Through Space,” a lifelong couch potato starts running, and trouble follows. By Joshua Ferris The Cute Little Devices Are Watching You “Little Eyes,” by Samanta Schweblin, is a brisk survey of 21st-century life as seen through the camera eyes of a plausible consumer fad. By J. Robert Lennon fiction Emma Straub’s New Family Saga Is Half Feel-Good, Half Fraught In “All Adults Here,” a widowed mother struggles to reveal the truth of her past mistakes. By Stephen Mccauley fiction Life Advice From a Dead Grandmother Who’s Returned as a Bird “Parakeet,” Marie-Helene Bertino’s trippy, surreal new novel, follows a heroine reckoning with her unhappy engagement and other life choices. By Bess Kalb Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT fiction What if, Instead of the Internet, We Had Xenobots? Adam Levin’s new novel, “Bubblegum,” envisions an alternate reality involving a struggling writer and his too-cute A.I. “pet.” By Garth Risk Hallberg fiction A Novel Imagines the Life of the Man Who Discovered Camus In “Our Riches,” the Algerian novelist Kaouther Adimi revisits Edmond Charlot and his legendary bookshop, as well as her country’s turbulent past. By Elisabeth Zerofsky In His New Book, a War Novelist Turns to More Intimate Battles “Red Dress in Black and White,” by Elliot Ackerman, features an American woman anxious to leave her Turkish husband as political unrest rages in Istanbul. By Joan Silber He Can’t Save His Daughter. Can He Save Himself? In Percival Everett’s novel “Telephone,” a geologist wrestles with reality after his daughter is stricken with a degenerative disease. By Rivka Galchen fiction For This Lesbian Romance, World War II Is Just One Complication Dola de Jong’s 1954 novel “The Tree and the Vine” is a portrait of two women dogged by issues too personal to be defined by political catastrophe. By Lidija Haas fiction A Numbers-Cruncher Confronts Emotion and Other Unquantifiable Matters “The Index of Self-Destructive Acts,” a new novel by Christopher Beha, considers the collapse of a Manhattan family in the wake of the financial crisis. By Benjamin Markovits fiction In the Canyons of Southern California, a Rocky Coming-of-Age Kate Milliken’s debut novel, “Kept Animals,” follows the tangled lives of a ranch hand, an equestrienne and a movie star’s daughter in a relationship as fraught as the landscape. By Janet Fitch fiction Multiple Women, Three Centuries, One Far-Reaching New Novel In “The Book of V.,” Anna Solomon explores how lives connect across time. By Jennifer Haigh Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT fiction Locked in a Creative Struggle, With Rilke as Her Guide Kate Zambreno’s novel “Drifts” is an inquiry into the artist’s efforts to remain productive. By Catherine Lacey fiction The Beach May Be Closed, but These Books Are Worth Opening Three new novels transport you to other places — Nantucket, Seoul and the French Riviera. By Elisabeth Egan NONFICTION nonfiction The Pirates’ Booty That Changed the Course of History In “Enemy of All Mankind,” Steven Johnson argues that a 1695 showdown on the high seas was a crucial turning point in the rise of the British Empire. By Adam Higginbotham nonfiction Guns, Gunfights and the Legends of the Wild West Jim Rasenberger’s “Revolver” explores Sam Colt and the invention of the six-shooter, while Tom Clavin’s “Tombstone” looks at the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. By T. J. Stiles nonfiction Before the Feminist Revolution, This ‘Messy Experiment’ Nurtured Female Talent “The Equivalents,” by Maggie Doherty, combines the story of a Radcliffe College institute to support creative women with that of the friendship forged by five early fellows. By Claire Messud nonfiction From Hollywood ‘Pretty Girl’ to Empowered Novelist Susanna Moore’s memoir “Miss Aluminum” is a provocative look at the early circumstances that shaped her writing career. By Lisa Schwarzbaum nonfiction What Street Names Say About Us To write “The Address Book,” Deirdre Mask traveled the globe to probe the hidden histories and surprising implications of the names of our roads and thoroughfares. By Sarah Vowell nonfiction Nancy Pelosi’s Brilliant Career Molly Ball’s biography reveals a shrewd and battle-hardened political leader. By Michelle Goldberg nonfiction How Paradise Went Up in Flames In “Fire in Paradise,” Alastair Gee and Dani Anguiano recount in granular detail how a raging wildfire destroyed a California town in 2018. By Rachel Monroe nonfiction From Saigon to the Suburbs, a Vietnamese-American’s Struggle to Assimilate In “Sigh, Gone,” Phuc Tran recalls his coming-of-age in a white world with an Asian face. By E. Alex Jung nonfiction How Walking Changes Us “In Praise of Walking” and “In Praise of Paths” offer two very different approaches to the benefits of taking regular strolls. By David L. Ulin nonfiction Comedy Tonight: ‘S.N.L.’ Then and Now On its 45th anniversary, Colin Jost (in “A Very Punchable Face”) and Alan Zweibel (in “Laugh Lines”) relive their years at “Saturday Night Live.” By Peter Keepnews nonfiction Fact or Farce? Alexandra Petri Thinks ‘Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why’ The latest installments of political satire from the Washington Post columnist. By Tiffany D. Cross nonfiction From the Philippines to Harvard, Boyhood to Womanhood, a Coming-of-Age Across Borders In “Fairest,” Meredith Talusan looks back on her life lived at the intersection of genders, races, sexualities and cultures. By Rawiya Kameir nonfiction Scrolling Through the Rise, and Takeover, of Instagram In “No Filter,” Sarah Frier goes behind the scenes of the billion-dollar deal between Kevin Systrom and Mark Zuckerberg. By Nellie Bowles nonfiction Andy Warhol, Superstar Blake Gopnik’s mammoth biography traces the life and career of the original King of Pop. By Luc Sante nonfiction The Jewish Race-Car Driver Who Outpaced the Nazis In “Faster,” Neal Bascomb brings to life a vivid chapter in auto-racing history. By Nick Donofrio nonfiction ‘What Pea Disrupts Your Sleep, Princess?’ In “The Shapeless Unease,” the British novelist Samantha Harvey ponders her struggles with insomnia. By Alexandra Jacobs nonfiction Lighting Out for the Territories With Ornette Coleman Maria Golia’s new biography of the unorthodox jazz musician captures the many worlds his compositions explored. By David Hajdu CHILDREN’S BOOKS children’s books A Comics-Obsessed Cinderella Down on the Farm In Lucy Knisley’s “Stepping Stones,” a city girl faces her fears about farming, family life and evil stepsisters. By Susan Dominus children’s books Going Places: An Anonymous Gossip Cartoonist With Buzz In Remy Lai’s “Fly on the Wall,” an overprotected boy who feels invisible at school creates an eavesdropping alter ego. By Vera Brosgol FEATURES by the book The Novel That Made Jules Feiffer Ignore His Family on Vacation “For five days, I barely moved from the beach chair.” The Essential Stephen King If you’ve never read his books, here’s where to start. By Gilbert Cruz Dreaming of a Park Bench and a Book What we wouldn’t give to spend an afternoon reading in the sun. By Gal Beckerman and Erica Ackerberg New & Noteworthy Audiobooks, From Harry Potter to Kevin Hart A selection of recent audiobooks of interest; plus, a peek at what our colleagues around the newsroom are reading. Letters to the Editor Readers respond to recent issues of the Sunday Book Review. editors’ choice 11 New Books We Recommend This Week Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times. inside the list Yes, It Is Possible to Change History. Write a Novel! In her best-selling debut, “The Henna Artist,” Alka Joshi changes the course of her mother’s life. By Elisabeth Egan New in Paperback: ‘Sabrina & Corina’ and ‘Save Me the Plums’ Six new paperbacks to check out this week. By Jennifer Krauss Best Sellers Combined Print & E-Book Fiction Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction Hardcover Fiction Hardcover Nonfiction Paperback Trade Fiction Paperback Nonfiction All Lists New International Books Illustration by Thoka Maer Your sneak preview of books coming out in 2019 from around the world. Get globetrotting. Continue reading the main story Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Books from The New York Times. To stop receiving these emails, unsubscribe or manage your email preferences. Subscribe to The Times |Get The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your Email|Privacy Policy|Contact Us The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018