Read Between the Spines

July 2026 Most Anticipated New Book Releases

Contemporary & Literary Fiction | Historical Fiction | Romance | Thrillers & Mysteries | Horror & Gothic Fiction | Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Magical Realism | Short Stories & Essays | Biography & Memoir | Nonfiction

Contemporary & Literary Fiction

Country People

Daniel Mason

A year in the life of a family as they strike out into the unknown (aka Vermont), leaving all the comforts of home behind—a rollicking, lyrical novel from Pulitzer Prize finalist Daniel Mason, the bestselling author of North Woods and one of America’s greatest living writers.

Publication date: July 7

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Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt

Ben Reeves

For fans of Fredrik Backman and Virginia Evans, an astonishing, deeply moving novel about finding beauty in the brevity of life, as narrated by the one who knows it best: Death.

Publication date: July 7

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Man Overboard!

Kathleen Rooney

From the nationally bestselling author of Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk, comes a funny and moving novel in which a former college swimmer falls off a cruise ship and must keep treading water as memories and regrets wash over him—perfect for fans of Where’d You Go, Bernadette; Florence Adler Swims Forever; and The Wedding People.

Publication date: July 7

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A Real Animal

Emeline Atwood

In this unforgettable debut, a moment of metaphysical transformation launches a woman’s beautiful and terrifying journey through her twenties, through loneliness and complicated love that takes her from the depths of the Pacific Ocean to the plains of Texas.

Publication date: July 7

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The Devoted

Catherine Cho

In this emotionally transportive literary debut about family and fate, a young Korean woman becomes entrenched in an infamous crime organization—and the dangerous world she once sought to escape.

Publication date: July 14

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Everything to the Sea

Alicia Upano

Part riveting love story, part coming-of-age tale, Everything to the Sea is a breathtaking debut novel spanning years and shores after a sudden tsunami devastates the island of Hawai’i and cuts short a young couple’s budding romance—a deeply moving testament to the catastrophes love can endure.

Publication date: July 14

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Famous Men

Julie Buntin

From the acclaimed author of Marlena comes a vivid, uncompromising novel about a young woman looking for a father and finding herself.

Publication date: July 14

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Lady X

Molly Fader

The search for a notorious vigilante exposes the secrets among three generations of women, from contemporary L.A. to gritty 1970s New York, in this propulsive novel hailed as “an unputdownable paean to female rage and retribution” by #1 bestselling author Jodi Picoult.

Publication date: July 14

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Make Nice

Ryan Effgen

Sandwich meets The Wedding People in this irresistible comedy of manners as three generations of a family—a snail scientist, a soon-to-be divorcée, her teenage daughter, a hapless con man, and their feckless patriarch—descend on a ritzy Lake Michigan vacation island.

Publication date: July 14

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The New People

Andrea Uptmor

A searing and strikingly intimate debut set in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, about a newly married lesbian couple who move into a flipped foreclosure, unaware that the former homeowners are still living in the attic.

Publication date: July 21

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Beginning Middle End

Valeria Luiselli

Sandwich meets The Wedding People in this irresistible comedy of manners as three generations of a family—a snail scientist, a soon-to-be divorcée, her teenage daughter, a hapless con man, and their feckless patriarch—descend on a ritzy Lake Michigan vacation island.

Publication date: July 28

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City of Widows

Nadia Hasimi

From bestselling novelist Nadia Hashimi—a gripping, occasionally terrifying, yet ultimately hopeful novel focusing on the women of Afghanistan in the years since the Taliban regained power.

Publication date: July 28

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I Made You Up Inside My Head

Marta Pérez-Carbonell 

A novel about the dangerous power of storytelling, set in motion by a chance encounter. A deft, unsettling, brilliantly orchestrated debut by a rising international star, I Made You Up Inside My Head asks how far we are allowed to borrow—and bend—the truth to our own ends.

Publication date: July 28

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Yellow Pine

Claire Vaye Watkins 

In the latest novel from “our most significant rising writer of the American West” (Vulture), a woman searches for a way to reclaim the miracle of life in a world seemingly hellbent on doom.

Publication date: July 28

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Historical Fiction

The Great Wherever

Shannon Sanders

An impulsive and heartbroken woman inherits her father’s share of a Tennessee farm that is rich in family secrets and occupied with busybody ghosts in this sweeping family portrait.

Publication date: July 7

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Single Girls

John Searles

An infectious and utterly charming fictionalization of the iconic Helen Gurley Brown’s early years at the helm of Cosmopolitan, and the intrepid group of women she took under her wing to create one of the most talked about magazines of all time.

Publication date: July 7

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The Half Life

Rachel Beanland

From the author of Florence Adler Swims Forever and The House Is on Fire, a novel set on a remote Italian island about a navy wife’s reckoning with power, love, and the price of staying silent in the Atomic Age.

Publication date: July 14

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Should the Waters Take Us

Stephanie Soileau

An epic debut novel that follows one family across four centuries, from France to Acadia to the bayous of Southern Louisiana—a poignant examination of belonging, place, and how individual acts of moral compromise contribute to cycles of injustice and destruction.

Publication date: July 14

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Meet Me in Paris

Kristin Harmel

Kristin Harmel, the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Lost Names and The Winemaker’s Wife, returns with a captivating new novel about several intertwined stories of love, loss, courage, and redemption set over the course of one magical week in Paris.

Publication date: July 28

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When Mikan Road Was Ours

D. K. Furutani

Winner of Simon & Schuster’s Books Like Us contest, a gripping, sincere debut novel set across four generations of a Japanese American family living in California’s vibrant agricultural heartlands, exploring the sharp edges of inheritance and what it means to truly belong.

Publication date: July 28

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The Winds of Maracaibo

María Elena Morán 

A propulsive family drama, the story of a woman determined to recover her kidnapped daughter amid the ruins of Chávez’s social revolution—the fast-paced English-language debut of an award-winning and bestselling author that brings the Venezuelan migrant crisis to life in lyrical, seething prose, for readers of Elizabeth Acevedo, Jesmyn Ward, and Gabriela Garcia.

Publication date: July 28

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Romance

Every Version of You

Natalie Messier

For fans of The Love of My Afterlife and The Seven Year Slip, Reese’s Book Club LitUp Fellow Natalie Messier’s heartfelt contemporary romance debut follows a woman who gets a second chance at a formative time in her adult life—this time to win the “one that got away.”

Publication date: July 7

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The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy

Brigitte Knightley

The stakes are high, the love is forbidden, and the slow burn turns steamy in this swoony, witty, and heart-stoppingly romantic sequel to instant New York Times bestseller The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy.

Publication date: July 7

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The MASH Up

Laura Marie Meyers

Ruby Wynne is a staunch rule-follower who lives by the numbers. So when a surprising breakup – on her thirty-fifth birthday – ruins all her well-laid plans, Ruby makes an unexpected wish . . . Only to wake up inside a M.A.S.H. game from seventh grade.

Publication date: July 7

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Die for Me

Shirlene Obuobi

A stay-up-all-night, smart, spicy romance following a doctor who finds herself falling for an alluring, much-younger man with a deadly secret. Extraordinarily transfixing, suspenseful, and addictive, Die for Me is nothing short of a seduction.

Publication date: July 14

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Extracurricular

Rachel Lynn Solomon

When a former pop star enrolls in college, the last thing she expects is A-plus chemistry with her psychology professor in this sexy and tender romance from #1 New York Times bestselling author Rachel Lynn Solomon.

Publication date: July 14

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In Stormy Weather

Chelsea Curto

From bestselling indie author Chelsea Curto comes an academic rivals-to-lovers romance about storm-chasing meteorologists during hurricane season in Florida—perfect for fans of Ali Hazelwood and B.K. Borison.

Publication date: July 14

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The Romance Revival

Christina Lauren

New York Times bestselling author Christina Lauren returns with an unforgettable romance in which a fateful accident erases a troubled marriage from memory—and a scientific breakthrough gives love one extraordinary do-over.

Publication date: July 14

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Just a Highland Fling

Naina Kumar

Sparks fly on a road trip through the Scottish highlands in this delightful forced proximity romance from the bestselling author of Flirting With Disaster.

Publication date: July 21

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Thrillers & Mysteries

Get Lost

Justin Halpern

From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Sh*t My Dad Says, a fast-paced and hilarious thriller about a young woman who reluctantly teams up with her deadbeat dad to find her missing mom—perfect for fans of Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard.

Publication date: July 7

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Helpless

Jessica Knoll

From the New York Times bestselling author of Luckiest Girl Alive and Bright Young Women comes a smoldering erotic thriller with a singular, mind-bending ending.

Publication date: July 7

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The Man

Laura Sims

From the highly acclaimed author of How Can I Help You, a New York Times Best Thriller of the Year: a singular take on the psychological suspense novel that follows a 1960s housewife turned amateur photographer who begins to fear for her life when she notices the dark silhouette of a man in the background of her self-portraits. 

Publication date: July 7

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We Will See You Bleed

Ron Currie

In 1984 Maine, union leader Babs Dionne must confront her violent past as women fight to save their community during a devastating paper mill strike.

Publication date: July 7

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Wisdom Corner

David Heska Wanbli Weiden

From the award-winning author of Winter Counts comes a new thriller about life—and death—on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. Virgil Wounded Horse is desperately trying to escape his past as a hired vigilante on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. But when a legendary figure from the reservation is murdered, Virgil is forced to return to the job. 

Publication date: July 7

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The Death Row Club

V. A. Vazquez

A dark, dazzlingly original psychological thriller about a woman invited to an annual weekend getaway for the adult children of serial killers…but when one of the participants ends up dead, they begin to wonder if someone among them might be carrying on the family traditions.

Publication date: July 14

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Hot Girl Murder Club

Ashley Winstead

From national bestselling author Ashley Winstead comes a buzzy, bloody new thriller about success, sisterhood, and demanding justice…by any means necessary.

Publication date: July 14

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The Intrigue

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night comes a sizzling noir about desire, danger, and greed, in which seduction is the ultimate con.

Publication date: July 14

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Cloudthief

Nathaniel Rich

From the award-winning author Nathaniel Rich, Cloudthief is a heist novel for a new era, in which the most valuable things in life are virtual, privacy is a sick joke, and security is relative. After all is lost, what remains?

Publication date: July 14

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The Mortons

Justine Larbalestier & Scott Westerfeld

The Mortons are a modern-day, old-money dynasty with impeccable taste, from their exquisitely crafted cocktails to their expertly tailored vintage garments. They are also stone-cold killers. For the Mortons, homicide is heritage. In this family, murder is currency—and business is booming.

Publication date: July 21

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Furious Violet

Sarai Walker

From the author of the bestselling phenomenon Dietland comes a razor-sharp, subversive thriller about motherhood, obsession, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.

Publication date: July 28

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Indie Darling

Lauren Nossett

A brilliant, breakout novel from ITW Thriller Award-winning author Lauren Nossett―a mystery set in Nashville, where a Dolly Parton–loving private detective is drawn into the disappearance of an enigmatic pop star.

Publication date: July 28

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Horror & Gothic Fiction

Fabulous Bodies

Chuck Tingle

From Chuck Tingle, USA Today bestselling author of Bury Your Gays, comes Fabulous Bodies, a supernatural joyride where Drive meets Beetlejuice.

Publication date: July 7

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Carry Me to My Grave

Christopher Golden

From New York Times bestselling author Christopher Golden comes a high concept horror novel about a man trying to protect his dead mother’s body from the evil that is hunting them.

Publication date: July 21

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The Flayed Man

Chloe Lauter

A complex mother-daughter relationship is taken to a new level in this fresh and propulsive novel of family curses, blood-thirsty ghouls, and budding romance set against the Mojave Desert and Las Vegas.

Publication date: July 21

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The Story Keeper

Kelly Rimmer

In the aftermath of a tumultuous year, Fiona Winslow finds solace in the decaying grandeur of Wurimbirra, the rambling family estate she once called home. Intent on restoring it, she discovers the keys to more than just the dilapidated mansion—beneath the crumbling plaster and dust are secrets that have been buried for a generation.

Publication date: July 21

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Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Magical Realism

Dominion

Jean Kwok

Fourth Wing—by way of Chinese mythology—meets The Hunger Games in a perilous world where a young woman with no memory and little magic may hold the key to uniting the Dominions and saving the mortal realm, from the New York Times bestselling author of Read with Jenna pick Searching for Sylvie Lee and Girl in Translation.

Publication date: July 14

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The Dragon Has Some Complaints

John Wiswell

In this heartfelt and humorous fantasy from the Nebula-winning author of Someone You Can Build a Nest In, a dragon whose three heads bear rather…different…personalities finds family in the most unexpected of places.

Publication date: July 14

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Misery’s Wife

Joan Tierney

A queer and cli-fi reimagining of a Portuguese folktale about a young trans woman who must save her elder sisters from the King of the Air, the King of the Sea, and the King of Misery.

Publication date: July 14

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Not with a Bang

Temi Oh

A queer and cli-fi reimagining of a Portuguese folktale about a young trans woman who must save her elder sisters from the King of the Air, the King of the Sea, and the King of Misery.

Publication date: July 14

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A Forsaken Prophecy

Stacey McEwan

In a world of high-class magic and gangster grit, a star-crossed couple must decide where their loyalties lie in the sizzling romantasy follow-up to Stacey McEwan’s New York Times bestseller A Forbidden Alchemy.

Publication date: July 21

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Mudlark

Mary Helen Specht

A dazzling dystopian novel about the fall of a troubled rockstar, her long-lost solo album, and her daughter’s epic search for redemption in the ruins of New York City.

Publication date: July 21

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Prince of Swords

Elise Kova

Welcome back to Arcana Academy. Tarot magic, forbidden desire, battle, and betrayal collide for the power to change the world in the thrilling second book of this New York Times bestselling fantasy romance series.

Publication date: July 21

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The Felicity Complex

August Clarke

Annie Bot meets Fallout in this dystopian satire: six women created in a lab, designed to serve the billionaires of the future in a luxury fallout shelter, rebel against their programming after the end times arrive.

Publication date: July 28

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Fishbone Cinderella

Elizabeth Lim

A mother and daughter must break their family’s curse through trials of war and immigration, love, loss, and redemption in this riveting multi-generational saga with a shimmer of magic, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Forgery of Fate.

Publication date: July 28

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Short Stories & Essays

Nightjar: Stories

Emily Ruskovich

From the award-winning author of the national bestseller Idaho comes a “stunning collection” (Harper’s Bazaar) of stories that explore how unexpected intuitions forever alter the lives of ordinary people.

Publication date: July 7

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Perverts: Stories

Mac (Marisa) Crane

A full-frontal confrontation of the ways we perform desire and shame—from the downright bizarre to the frighteningly relatable—by the award-winning author of A Sharp Endless Need.

Publication date: July 7

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You Won’t Get Free of It: Stories of Mothers & Daughters

Rachel Aviv

A collection of reported stories that explore the relationship between mothers and daughters, from the finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing for her work in The New Yorker.

Publication date: July 7

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It Will Come Back to You: Collected Stories

Sigrid Nunez

The first ever collection of short stories from the New York Times bestselling, National Book Award-winning author of The Friend. Nunez brings together thirteen of her best stories from the decades-long sweep of her career, tracing the origins of her style and her remarkable artistic range. 

Publication date: July 14

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Memoirs & Biographies

Midstream: A Life Remade in 50 Swims

Kate Washington

A memoir of jumping feet first into a new life, reclaiming long-forgotten joys, and discovering a renewed sense of self after divorce. A fresh vision of midlife to women who have abandoned themselves in service of others.

Publication date: July 7

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Our Knives Will Save Us: Dispatches from a White Mountain Apache Chef

Nephi Craig

From Indigenous chef Nephi Craig, a searing personal and cultural reckoning that demonstrates the power of food to heal intergenerational wounds.

Publication date: July 14

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The Renoir Girls: A Hidden History of Art, War & Betrayal

Catherine Ostler

Three sisters, the daughters of a prominent French Jewish family, all painted as children by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. In the turbulent years from the Belle Epoque to World War II, one would marry an English aristocrat and escape; one would become a collaborator with the Nazis; one would die in Auschwitz. This is the remarkable hidden history of the lives behind Renoir’s beguiling portraits.

Publication date: July 14

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The Solo Honeymoon: A Brief Beautiful True Love Story

Laura Murphy with Bret Witter

A romantic, life-affirming memoir about a young woman’s solo honeymoon to Europe after her fiancé’s sudden death weeks before their wedding, and the community of hope and wonder she built along the way.

Publication date: July 14

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Rise Above: A Memoir

Matthew Schnipper

An unforgettable memoir of fatherhood, grief, and the life-saving power of love and art in the wake of unimaginable loss. Even as it is an account of grief, Matthew Schnipper’s memoir is about resilience in the face of the unexpected turns life takes, and how to chart a path forward.

Publication date: July 21

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Dad, Love, Me: A Memoir

Matthew Quick

Written in the form of a letter to his ailing father, this debut memoir from the bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook explores the complicated burden of caring for an abusive parent who is dying—here is Matthew Quick’s most personal and potent work to date.

Publication date: July 21

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Unsayable: A Life in Writing

Micahel Cunningham

An intimate memoir portraying a life spent trying to describe the indescribable, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Hours and Day.

Publication date: July 21

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All That’s Unseen: An Appalachian Memoir

Emilee Hackney

In her luminous debut, Emilee Hackney offers both a love letter to and a reckoning of the place that made her—a story of losing her faith, finding her way back to her Appalachian home, and discovering what endures.

Publication date: July 21

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Nonfiction

American Alt: A True Story of Madness and Friendship in a Fractured Country

Chris Lockhart

A glimpse into the mind of an American conspiracy theorist, the schizophrenia, trauma, and misinformation that drove him to the brink, and the friendship that brought him back.

Publication date: July 7

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Hotel Exile: Paris in the Shadow of War

Jane Rogoyska

Since its opening in 1910, the Hotel Lutetia has been a grand Paris institution, a meeting place for artists, intellectuals, musicians, and politicians. But the hotel has a darker history, too―from the years before, during, and after the second World War. In this short period, the Lutetia witnessed some of the most dramatic and terrible events in recent history.

Publication date: July 7

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How to Kill a Language: Power, Resistance, and the Race to Save Our Words

Pamela Colloff

An urgent, globe-spanning exploration of languages at risk, from Kichwa to Ukrainian, that asks: What do we lose—culturally, politically, and personally—when a language is silenced?

Publication date: July 7

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Aging Out: An Exploration of Caregiving, Community, and How Americans Grow Old

Pamela Colloff

A profoundly personal investigation into the current state of eldercare and what it means to grow old in America. Combining the incisive reporting of Evicted with the beautifully rendered introspection of The Empathy Exams, Aging Out is an intimate and unflinching exploration of what it means to age in this country and why Americans―including Schiller herself―are so terrified of getting old.

Publication date: July 14

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A Sudden Flicker of Light: A Revisionist History of Movies

David Thomson

From one of cinema’s wisest and most penetrating observers, an arresting new perspective on the sweep of film history. In tracing the progress, from the Lumiere Brothers to the Coens, Thomson glories in the great movies, but admits to increasing unease over what the medium has done to us—promoting fantasy, misleading models of sexual identity, the cult of authority, power, and happy endings.

Publication date: July 7

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Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast

Pamela Colloff

The riveting, true story of an audacious con man who helped send another man to death row for a murder he did not commit. In this mesmerizing debut, Pamela Colloff spins a dark tale of a remorseless and brilliant liar made lethal by a system more concerned with winning convictions than finding the truth.

Publication date: July 14

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The Earth Said Remember Me: How to Revive Our Memories & Restor the Planet

Jason Dove Mark

A rallying cry and resistance manual from one of the leaders breathing new life into the environmental movement. In this inspiring manifesto, environmental advocate and longtime editor-in-chief of Sierra magazine Jason Dove Mark offers antidotes that everyone can use to resist ecological amnesia and make lasting progress to repair and revive a livable planet.

Publication date: July 14

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Our Wild Familiars: How Animals Are Adapting to Cities & Reshaping the Natural World

Dan Werb

A dazzling journey into the hidden lives of synanthropes, the wild animals who’ve found ingenious ways to survive and thrive in human communities—from award-winning writer and scientist Dan Werb.

Publication date: July 14

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Sisters of the Midnight Sun: A Murder in Arctic Alaska

Rebecca Wright Stevens

The stunning true story of a double homicide in the vibrant native Alaskan Iñupiat community at the arctic edge of the United States—written by the public defender at its center.

Publication date: July 14

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They Stole a City: Wilmington’s White Supremacist Coup and the Families Who Live with Its Legacy

Lauren Collins

In this ambitious and groundbreaking history, Lauren Collins weaves together stories of four Wilmington, North Carolina, families over 125 years to create a full accounting of the long-term effects of the 1898 white supremacist massacre and coup and its critical role in subverting American democracy.

Publication date: July 14

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Ungrounding: The Architecture of Genocide

Eyal Weizman

From an acclaimed architect and investigator, a devastating, meticulous accounting of Israel’s destruction of Gaza and crimes against its people

Publication date: July 14

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Up All Night: A World History of Nightlife

Imogen Willetts

From the glamorous depravity of Studio 54 to the underground cabarets of Weimar Berlin, from Georgian London’s gaudy pleasure gardens to the birth of techno in post-industrial Detroit, a brilliantly researched history charting four centuries of nightlife, showing the fascinating evolution of how humans have gone out after dark.

Publication date: July 14

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Lost in Curiosity: Field Nomes from Scientists’ Adventures into the Unknown

Roberta Kwok

Award-winning journalist Roberta Kwok pulls back the curtain on what scientific discovery actually looks like… Not a Eureka moment, but a fraught, often chaotic pursuit of truth. The real story of science isn’t a triumphant breakthrough. It’s messy, mysterious, and deeply human.

Publication date: July 21

Cover of "Discontent" by Beatriz Serrano featuring a young woman in an office setting.

Tin Can Coast: A History of Industry, Greed, and Fishing in the Golden State

Joseph Ogilvy

The hidden story of the California Coast, told through generations of immigrants, surges of industry, and three marine species caught in the dragnet of human history.

Publication date: July 21

Cover of "Discontent" by Beatriz Serrano featuring a young woman in an office setting.

Blizzard of Lies: Karen Read, John O’Keefe, and the Shocking Unsolved Murder in Cop Town, USA

Dave Wedge

In January 2022, a Boston police officer turned up dead in the snow, seemingly a victim of a simple hit-and-run. But Officer John O’Keefe’s death kicked off a scandalous whodunit that invited federal scrutiny and triggered nationwide outrage.

Publication date: July 28

Cover of "Discontent" by Beatriz Serrano featuring a young woman in an office setting.

Liberation Summer: The Moment That Changed the Women’s Movement and the Future of American Politics

Micki McElya

A sweeping, definitive work of history exploring the road to the September 1968 protests of the Miss American Pageant—one led by women’s liberationists and the other organized by the emergent Miss Black America Pageant—and the birth of a new politics of beauty.

Publication date: July 28

Cover of "Discontent" by Beatriz Serrano featuring a young woman in an office setting.

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