Since about half of the year is over, we’ve been getting blessed with book list after book list these past couple of weeks. In between all of the most anticipated books of the summer and all of the best of the year (so far) lists, we are really eating well. And now, The New York Times has added another great kind of middle-of-the-year list: their readers’ most anticipated. I will say that a lot of the books are ones that have been seen on the aforementioned lists, and this makes sense. The New York Times readers are likely to know more about the books the publication highlights.
As for new books out this week, there is great nonfiction: Craft Without Pain by Andrea Lui, Empire of Ink by Alex Wright, and graphic novel memoir Welcome to Hell: From the West Bank to Gaza by Mohammad Sabaaneh. If you’re interested in the mood for another graphic novel, there’s the 19th-century set queer Charity and Sylvia by Tillie Walden.
There’s also a Secret Garden-esque romance by Ashley Poston, a Bollywood/Hollywood murder mystery, fabulism in 1960’s India, and more.
The Someday Garden by Ashley Poston
From the author of The Dead Romantics comes a romance that is giving The Secret Garden, but geared towards adults. It all starts with Sophie Drear, who has a great plan that involves escaping for the summer to coastal Maine, where she’ll restore the flora of Lilymoor House. But things at Lilymoor are a little different—the staff is eccentric, the woman who owns it is a mystery, and there’s a door that opens (in different locations) that leads her to (you guessed it) a secret garden. Not only that, but there’s a secret man in the secret garden. A man who may help her restore the nurture-resistant foliage of Lilymoor grounds, and her grief-stricken spirit.—Erica Ezeifedi
The Pinnacle by Abir Mukherjee
For fans of did-he-or-didn’t-he murder mysteries and Hollywood and Bollywood!
The once Hollywood star James Abercrombie decides to marry the beloved Bollywood star Sweety Sahota to revive his career. But once he’s living his new married life in a luxury condo in Mumbai, he’s miserable. Especially since Sweety’s career continues to soar, and now the papers are claiming she’s having an affair. After a drunk night, he wakes up beside her murdered body. Certainly, he’s not responsible? Guess he’ll have to look into it! —Jamie Canaves
All access members continue below for more of this week’s best new releases.
A Prince Among Pirates by Katie Abdou
Kit Davenport is a young nobleman who wants to be anything but. He’s always disappointed his father, and now, with an arranged marriage and a restrictive noble life on the horizon, Kit needs to do something.
That something is somehow getting aboard the Deliverance, a boat helmed by the very dashing Reggie Sharpe. Sharpe is hard to resist, even if his crew is a band if pirates. It’s the exact opposite culture and community than where Kit came from, but he doesn’t have time to step off the ship. Even if he wanted to, it’s hard to leave when there’s so much excitement and such a crush-worthy captain.
But Kit’s past can’t stay hidden, and pretty soon, he’ll have to decide: the life of a nobleman or the life of a pirate? —Kelly Jensen
Together We See by Ari Tison
A daughter travels to Costa Rica for her father’s funeral in this YA murder mystery. A Bribri-American teenager, Ulá, and her brother, Kabék, travel from Wisconsin to Costa Rica for their father Andres’ funeral. This is told through multiple points of view, including Ulá, who tries to navigate feelings about losing her estranged father, and a reporter from Limón, who is looking into Andres’ death and its connection to his land activism. —Jamie Canaves
Lucky Creatures by Joseph Trinidad
This award-winning collection of essays looks at the immigrant experience in New Zealand. Trinidad handles serious issues—like systemic racism and coming out as queer—with care and honesty, while maintaining some playfulness. And, his blending of Filipine folktale creatures with local New Zealand animals explores the intersections of his experience in a personal and fantastical way.
Bonus: This is recommended by Alexander Chee for those who loved The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong. —Erica Ezeifedi
Ghost-Eye by Amitav Ghosh
A girl with mysterious abilities born into a wealthy Hindu family in 1960s India seems to remember a life from before—a life where the girl, who has been raised in a strictly vegetarian household, remembers catching and eating fish in great detail. She’s exactly the sort of case psychiatrist Dr. Shoma Bose, who has been researching cases of people who remember past lives, has been looking for. —Rachel Brittain
Other Book Riot New Releases Resources:
- All the Books, our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about the books out this week we’re most excited about.
- The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz.
- Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot’s New Release Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by genre, age category, and even LGBTQ new releases!
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