Summer Reading Recommendations from Off the Shelf

A captivating mystery about a boy with synesthesia—a condition that causes him to see colors when he hears sounds—who tries to uncover what happened to his beautiful neighbor, and if he was ultimately responsible.

From New York Times bestselling author of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA Lauren Weisberger is back with another dishy, daring novel about three worldly women who trade in their Manolo Blahniks for Birkenstocks in the wealthy New York City suburb of Westport. Featuring Emily, Miranda Priestly’s first assistant, from THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA.

Miranda July meets Mary Karr in this brilliant debut novel from Jen Beagin—about a cleaning lady on a quest for self-acceptance after her relationship with a loveable junkie goes awry.

Evelyn Hugo, a legendary film actress, is aging and reclusive—and finally ready to spill the truth about her scandalous life. When she selects unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant to tell her story, no one is more surprised than Monique herself. As she's summoned to Evelyn's apartment, Monique listens, rapt, to the memories Evelyn has to share. But as Evelyn's story nears the end, it's clear that Evelyn's and Monique's lives intersect in tragic and irreversible ways.

Written with an exciting combination of narrative flair and historical authority, this interpretation of the tragic life of Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, breaks new ground in our understanding of the very young woman who became queen at a time of unprecedented social and political tension and whose terrible errors in judgment quickly led her to the executioner’s block.

Sophie Lucido Johnson gets a lot of questions when she tells people that she’s polyamorous. MANY LOVE is an intimate look at this often misunderstood practice: its history, its misconceptions, and Sophie’s personal transformation from serial monogamist to proud polyamorist.

In 2015, Mandy Len Catron wrote a piece for the popular Modern Love column about testing out a list of questions that, according to a study, would result in two people falling in love. This collection continues the themes and questions she introduced in that piece—What makes love last? How damaging can our cultural narratives about relationships be?—in smart, witty, and vulnerable essays that draw on her personal life and her observations of the culture at large. In the age of apps, blind dates, chance encounters, and doubt, HOW TO FALL IN LOVE is a fascinating study of how people find and keep each other.

By the New York Times bestselling author of MANSON, the comprehensive, authoritative, and tragic story of preacher Jim Jones, who was responsible for the Jonestown Massacre—the largest murder-suicide in American history.

THE HISTORY OF BEES follows three generations of beekeepers from the past, present, and future, weaving a spellbinding story of their relationship to the bees—and to their children and one another—against the backdrop of an urgent, global crisis.

From twice National Book Award–nominated Rachel Kushner comes a spectacularly compelling, heart-stopping novel about a life gone off the rails in contemporary America.

One of Stephen King's most propulsive and unsettling stories ever, about an outsider who becomes another person's double—and commits horrific acts.

THE COURAGE TO BE DISLIKED, already an enormous bestseller in Asia with more than 3.5 million copies sold, demonstrates how to unlock the power within yourself to be the person you truly want to be.

In this mesmerizing novel, you'll meet Anna Kerrigan, an indomitable and unforgettable heroine who becomes the first female diver at the Brooklyn Naval Yard—the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations—and navigates a world populated by gangsters, sailors, divers, bankers, and union men. This is novel we promise you'll want to dive right into.

LOST IN THE BEEHIVE is a touching new novel set in the 1960s about the power of friendship, love, and accepting your past in order to find a future.

An astonishing untold story from America’s past—a sweeping, powerful, and necessary work of history that reads like GONE WITH THE WIND for the Cherokee.

From Jessica Knoll—author of LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE—comes a blisteringly paced thriller starring two sisters who join the cast of a reality TV series. One won't make it out alive. So…who did it?

Sunshine Mackenzie is literally living the dream: she has a line of bestselling cookbooks, a devoted architect husband . . . and a big secret that, if revealed, could result in a catastrophic fall from grace. HELLO, SUNSHINE is a smart, funny, compelling novel that your book club will love—especially if anyone has ever felt envious of the picture-perfect lives depicted on their friends’ Facebook feed.

In this compelling love story set in postwar Korea in the 1960s, an unhappily married woman struggles to give her daughter a good life and to find love in a society caught between ancient tradition and change.

On a day that begins like any other, Hal receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. Full of spellbinding menace and told in Ruth Ware’s signature suspenseful style, this is an unputdownable thriller from the Agatha Christie of our time.

THEN SHE WAS GONE is twisty, suspenseful novel about the lingering aftermath of a young girl’s disappearance and the ways we fail to recognize the truth even when it’s right in front of us.

Astounding and incredibly moving, EDUCATED is Tara Westover's story of growing up in the mountains of Idaho with her survivalist Mormon family and leaving them behind in search of an education and a new life. It's a powerful tale of fierce family loyalty and the paralyzing grief that comes from severing one's closest ties.

A dazzling new novel of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss set in 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris.