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Summer Reading 2023

Summer Reading

Summer Reading 2023

All summer long, we at Bookreporter.com have been sharing some great summer book picks with our Summer Reading Feature. While our series of 24-hour contests have ended, we encourage you to take a look at our featured titles for some sizzling summer reading ideas.

» Click here to see the winners of this year's Summer Reading contests.

Banyan Moon by Thao Thai - Fiction


When Ann Tran gets the call that her fiercely beloved grandmother, Minh, has passed away, her life is already at a crossroads. In the years since she’s last seen Minh, Ann has built a seemingly perfect life, but it all crumbles with one positive pregnancy test. Now she returns home to Florida to face her estranged mother, Huơng. Huơng is simultaneously mourning her mother and resenting her for having the relationship with Ann that she never did. Then Ann and Huơng learn that Minh has left them both the Banyan House, the crumbling old manor that was Ann’s childhood home. Under the same roof for the first time in years, mother and daughter must face the simmering questions of their past and their uncertain futures, while trying to rebuild their relationship without the one person who’s always held them together.

The Block Party by Jamie Day - Domestic Thriller


The residents of the exclusive cul-de-sac on Alton Road are entangled in a web of secrets and scandal utterly unknown to the outside world, and even to each other. On the night of the annual summer block party, there has been a murder. But who did it and why takes readers back one year earlier, as rivalries and betrayals unfold --- discovering that the real danger lies within their own block. Nothing, and no one, is ever as it seems.

Cutting Teeth by Chandler Baker - Domestic Thriller/Mystery


Darby, Mary Beth and Rhea are on personal quests to reclaim aspects of their identities subsumed by motherhood --- their careers, their sex lives, their bodies. Their children, though, disrupt their plans when an unsettling medical condition begins to go around the Little Academy preschool: the kids are craving blood. Then a young teacher is found dead, and the only potential witnesses are 10 adorable four-year-olds. Soon it becomes clear that the children are not just witnesses, but also suspects...and so are their mothers. As the police begin to look more closely, the children’s ability to bleed their parents dry becomes deadly serious.

Famous in a Small Town by Viola Shipman - Fiction


For most of her 80 years, Mary Jackson has endured the steady invasion of tourists, influencers and real estate developers who have discovered the lakeside charm of Good Hart, Michigan, waiting patiently for the arrival of a stranger she’s believed since childhood would one day carry on her legacy --- the Very Cherry General Store. Becky Thatcher came to Good Hart to forget that she’s just turned 40 with nothing to show for it. Ending up at the general store with Mary is not the beach vacation she expected, but the more the feisty octogenarian talks about destiny, the stronger Becky’s memories of her own childhood holidays become, and the strange visions over the lake she was never sure were real. As she works under Mary’s wing for the summer, she starts to believe that destiny could be real.

The Favor by Adele Griffin - Fiction

At I'll Have Seconds, a high-end fairy tale vintage dress shop in Manhattan, Nora Hammond loves nothing better than pairing a rare find with the perfect client. At home, Nora grapples with the bleaker reality of enormous debt, a tiny apartment, and an ever-dwindling hope that she and her husband Jacob will have a family of their own. When socialite Evelyn Elliot charges into Nora's life, the women spark an immediate connection, and Nora is jettisoned into the heady whirl of New York's moneyed elite. As Evelyn's stylist and confidante, Nora needs to learn all new rules of engagement for the uber-wealthy. But it isn't until Evelyn decides her next cause is to carry a baby for Nora that these rules --- and this unlikely friendship --- are tested.

The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop - Psychological Thriller


Rachel has been in love with Alistair for 15 years. Even though she’s now married to someone else. Even though she was a teenager when they met. Even though he is 20 years older than her. Rachel and Alistair’s summer love affair on a remote, sun-trapped Greek island has consumed her since she was 17, obliterating everything in its wake. But as Rachel becomes increasingly obsessed with reliving the events of so long ago, she reconnects with the other girls who were similarly drawn to life on the island, where everyone acted in ways they never would at home. And as she does so, dark and deeply suppressed secrets about her first love affair begin to rise to the surface, as well as the truth about her time working for an enigmatic and wealthy man who controlled so much more than she ever could have realized.

Her, Too by Bonnie Kistler - Psychological Thriller


Kelly McCann is a high-powered lawyer whose specialty is defending men accused of sex crimes. Her detractors call her a traitor to her gender, but she doesn't care. As the story opens, she has secured an acquittal for a renowned scientist accused of sexually assaulting his female employees. But the thrill of her victory is short-lived. That very night, she, too, falls victim to a brutal sexual assault. And almost as horrific as the attack is the fact that she can't tell anyone it happened --- not without destroying her career in the process. Joining forces with her rapist's other victims, the shrewd lawyer plans to turn the tables on him. It’s not only about justice --- these wronged women are out for revenge. But someone, it seems, is out for them. And one by one, they find themselves facing even greater danger.

Homecoming by Kate Morton - Historical Mystery

Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959: At the end of a scorching hot day, beside a creek in the grounds of the grand and mysterious house, a local delivery man makes a terrible discovery. A police investigation is called, and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most shocking and perplexing murder cases in the history of South Australia. Many years later, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. After her beloved grandmother, Nora, suffers a fall, Jess discovers a book at Nora’s house that chronicles the police investigation into a long-buried crime: the Turner Family Tragedy of Christmas Eve, 1959. It is only when Jess skims through the pages that she finds a shocking connection between her own family and this once-infamous event.

The Homewreckers by Mary Kay Andrews - Fiction

Hattie Kavanaugh went to work restoring homes for Kavanaugh & Son Restorations at 18, married the boss’s son at 20, and became a widow at 25. When Hattie falls head-over-heels for a money pit of a house, she’s determined to make it work. But disaster after disaster occurs, and her dream might cost Kavanaugh & Son their livelihood. When a slick Hollywood producer shows up in her hometown of Savannah, she gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: star in a beach house renovation reality show, cast against a male lead who may be a love interest or the ultimate antagonist. But during the demolition, evidence comes to light that points to the mysterious disappearance of a young wife and mother years before.

The House on Prytania: A Royal Street Novel by Karen White - Mystery

Nola Trenholm may not be psychic herself, but she has spent enough time around people who are to know when ghosts are present, and there are definitely a few lingering spirits in her recently purchased Creole cottage in New Orleans. But with the sudden return of Sunny Ryan, Beau Ryan’s long-lost sister, Nola has plenty to distract her from her ghostly housemates. Especially when Beau, wanting to mete out justice to those he blames for Sunny’s kidnapping, asks Nola for a favor that threatens to derail her hard-won recovery and send her hurtling backward. Torn between helping Beau and protecting herself, Nola doesn’t realize until it’s almost too late why the ghosts are haunting her house --- a startling revelation that will throw her and Beau together to fight a common enemy.

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See - Historical Fiction

According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine. Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom. But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife --- embroider bound-foot slippers, pluck instruments, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.

The Lie Maker by Linwood Barclay - Thriller


Your dad’s not a good person. Your dad killed people, son. These are some of the last words that Jack Givins’ father spoke to him before he was whisked away by witness protection, leaving Jack and his mother to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives as best they could. Years later, Jack is a talented but struggling author. So when the U.S. Marshals approach him with a lucrative opportunity, he’s in no position to turn them down. They’re recruiting writers like Jack to create false histories for people in witness protection. Jack soon realizes this may be a chance to find his dad. But Jack’s father hasn’t made contact with his handlers recently, and they have no idea where he is. He could be in serious danger, and Jack may be the only one who can find him.

Mustique Island by Sarah McCoy - Fiction

Tucked into the southernmost curve of the Caribbean, Mustique is a private island that has become a haven for the wealthy and privileged. Its owner is the eccentric British playboy Colin Tennant, who is determined to turn this speck of white sand into a luxurious neo-colonial retreat for his rich friends and into a royal court in exile for the Queen’s rebellious sister, Princess Margaret. Willy May Michael, a former beauty queen from Texas, seeks out Mustique for its peaceful isolation. Determined to rebuild her life and her relationships with her two daughters, she constructs a fanciful white beach house across the island from Princess Margaret. But when Willy May’s daughters arrive, they discover that beneath its veneer of decadence, Mustique has a dark side.

Pieces of Blue by Holly Goldberg Sloan - Fiction


When Paul Hill drowns in a surfing accident, his broken-hearted wife, Lindsey, and their three children are left in huge financial trouble. Once Paul’s life insurance finally comes through, Lindsey impulsively uses the money to buy a charmingly ramshackle motel in Hawaii. Teenage Olivia quickly develops a crush on a handsome but monosyllabic skateboarder. Twelve-year-old Carlos reinvents himself as a popular kid named Carl. And Sena, the youngest, will do whatever it takes to protect her beloved motel chickens. But while the kids adjust, Lindsey is flailing. Then a handsome stranger rolls into the motel parking lot, and she’s surprised to feel a long-dormant part of herself stirring. She accepts his offer to help, unaware that he may have secrets of his own.

Prom Mom by Laura Lippman - Psychological Thriller


Amber Glass has spent her entire adult life putting as much distance as possible between her and her hometown of Baltimore, where she fears she will be forever known as “Prom Mom” --- the girl who allegedly killed her baby on the night of the prom after her date, Joe Simpson, abandoned her to pursue the girl he really liked. But when circumstances bring Amber back to the city, she realizes she can have a second chance --- as long as she stays away from Joe, who is now married. The problem is, Amber can’t stay away from Joe. And Joe finds that it’s increasingly hard for him to ignore Amber. Against the surreal backdrop of 2020 and early 2021, the two are slowly drawn to each other and eventually cross the line they’ve been trying not to cross. And then Joe asks Amber to help him do the unthinkable.

The Quantum Solution: An Evan Ryder Novel by Eric Van Lustbader - Thriller/Adventure

Evan Ryder is an extraordinary intelligence field agent now working for the security arm of Parachute, a private company and the world’s leader in the application of quantum technology. In the past, Ryder has done lethal battle in the modern global wars of power politics, extremist ideology, corrosive disinformation and outrageous greed. But now she finds herself in a battle arena whose dangers, while less obvious, are greater than anything the world has seen before --- the present and future war of weaponized quantum technology. When an elite Russian scientist and the American Secretary of Defense die, at the same time half a world apart, of inexplicable sudden catastrophic brain damage, the world’s intelligence services realize that the quantum war has truly begun.

What Remains by Wendy Walker - Psychological Thriller


Detective Elise Sutton is a forensics expert with a knack for solving cold cases and a deep knowledge of the criminal mind. She prides herself on being rational and in control, until a crisis at a department store leaves her steeped in guilt and self-doubt about whether or not she did the right thing to save a man's life. Elise is hailed as a hero, but she doesn't feel like one. She soon grows numb, even to her husband and daughters, as she sets out to find the one man who might know the truth. When she finds him --- or did he find her? --- their connection sets off a terrifying game of cat and mouse, threatening Elise and the people she loves most.

Windfall by Wendy Corsi Staub - Psychological Thriller


When three former roommates reunite for a birthday weekend in Las Vegas, the lottery ticket they buy on a whim has the winning numbers --- giving them a billion-dollar windfall. They turn to Shea Daniels, a “sudden wealth manager,” who promises to guide them through the pitfalls of having more money than they’d ever imagined. The trio travels to a secluded California mansion, where Shea and her staff cater to their every whim. The house is purportedly cursed, the last place a missing movie star was seen alive. Their weekend turns to terror when they discover they are trapped. And when history repeats itself and one of them disappears --- the one who’s holding the billion-dollar ticket --- the others must face the fact that either their friend has betrayed them…or a predator is lurking.