The summer books on this list are perfect whether you’re planning a getaway to the beach, the mountains, or your backyard reading nook!
Summer reading is arguably the best time to get lost in a good book – or two or several! I love kicking back in my Adirondack chair with a cool drink and a great book. It’s an inviting escape from a busy year of being on the go.
Last year, I started this list of the best summer reads, which included many of my favorite authors. Now, I’m adding to it with the most talked about, highly anticipated new releases for summer 2023.
I’m so happy to share this summer reading list of new releases and the best fiction books set in the summer. Pack these novels on your next vacation, or enjoy them in your outdoor reading nook!
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New Releases for This Summer
Hot of the presses for when the weather gets hot! Check out these great new releases that’ll have you turning pages with your feet up and cool drink beside you all summer.
On Fire Island by Jane L. Rosen
This summer novel will give you all the feels – think smiling with tears in your eyes! After her untimely death at 37, a book editor refuses to leave her loved ones until she spends one last summer on Fire Island.
With so many endorsements from great authors like Elin Hilderbrand and Carly Fortune, this novel is bound to be a page-turner!
Happy Place by Emily Henry
Harriet and Wyn were the perfect couple – until they weren’t. But they haven’t told their friends that they broke up five months ago. Now they’re on their yearly friends getaway to the coast for a weekend of wine, cheese, seafood … and faking that they’re still together!
If you love fake dating novels, this one looks fun. Also, check out my Book Spotlight on Pretending in Paradise by Franky Brown.
Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune
Fern and Will had a random chance meeting in which they spent the day together and made a pact to meet in the same place one year later. When Will is a no-show, they won’t see each other again until nine years later.
Undeniably, a lot is going on between Fern and Will, that’s yet to be discovered! This one looks like you won’t want to put it down.
The Guest by Emma Cline
Alex may no longer be welcome as the guest of a wealthy older man she’s been staying with all summer on the East End of Long Island, but that doesn’t mean she has to go home.
This novel will have you turning pages as you witness Alex move from one place to the next as the guest no one knew they invited!
Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst
After retaliating to her former boss with a scorching letter about the racism and sexism she’s received as a black woman and leaving her girlfriend behind in the city, Mickey returns to her hometown in Maryland. But she can’t hide at home for long when her letter goes viral.
It’s about to get complicated for Mickey and super entertaining for you, the reader!
Sea Change by Gina Chung
This novel looks so cute that I had to include it on this booklist of the best summer reads!
Ro is stuck and super lonely after everyone she cares about in her life has left her for their busy pursuits. Ro is only left with her job at the aquarium and her bond with a Giant Pacific octopus named Delores.
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
June Hayward and Athena Liu are friends and fellow authors. But when Athena dies unexpectedly, June discovers her unfinished manuscript. Despite being a basic white woman, June finishes the story as Athena, hoping to find the success she’s never had with her own writing.
Can June keep her true identity a secret? I can’t wait to find out!
Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby
Here’s one for all the non-fiction summer book lovers! This hilarious essay collection follows Samantha Irby’s highs and lows in Hollywood.
It looks like a fun glimpse behind all the glitz and glam!
Big Gay Wedding by Byron Lane
When a book is described as “proud, loud, and hilarious,” it’s kind of hard to resist!
Barnett Durang is planning to marry his groom in his small Louisiana town at his mother’s farm – his mother doesn’t know it yet. And the town has conflicting opinions, as you may have predicted. Will the grooms make it down the aisle?
There Are No Rules for This by JJ Elliott
Fair warning, this novel starts off with a sad premise, but then it’s sure to win you over and maybe have you planning your own “living funeral.”
When best friends come together after one of their group commits suicide, there are tears, as you’d expect. But there’s so much more to the story in the most cathartic and hilarious way!
What are the best summer books?
I’m so excited to share this booklist of summer novels because it features my favorite authors, including Jennifer Weiner, Elin Hilderbrand, and Mary Kay Andrews. These authors are master storytellers!
Also, I love a novel that takes you somewhere you’d love to visit. I want to check in at The Hotel Nantucket and stay at The Summer Place on Cape Cod. But the novels by Elin Hilderbrand and Jennifer Weiner, respectively, will have to do.
This summer booklist takes you across the country, from Maine in Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore to California in Lady Sunshine by Amy Mason Doan. And it doesn’t stop there; jet to Europe to take a rollicking trip in a luxury campervan in The Getaway Girls by Dee MacDonald.
1. The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner
Description: You’re invited to a wedding at the family beach house in Cape Cod. It may be the last event before the house goes up for sale. Get ready for family secrets and plenty of drama as the wedding day approaches.
My Thoughts: Jennifer Weiner is one of my favorite authors. Her books always entertain with characters that feel like people you know. I can’t wait to read this book this summer! Also, I recommend reading Big Summer and That Summer.
2. The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand
Description: Book your reservations at the Hotel Nantucket this summer. Once you check in, sit back and enjoy the story of Lizbet Keaton, the general manager. The hotel may seem idyllic, but there’s also room for drama from the staff, the guests, and the hotel’s tragic history.
My Thoughts: Elin Hilderbrand is also a favorite author of mine. Pick up any one of her books set in the beautiful location of Nantucket, and you’ll be all set with the perfect summer read! I recommend adding Summer of ’69 and 28 Summers to your summer reading list!
3. Lady Sunshine by Amy Mason Doan
Description: Join Jackie Pierce at her bohemian uncle’s sprawling estate, The Sandcastle, on the California coast. This story begins in the summer of 1979. Jackie is having a fantastic time until a tragic event occurs at the end of summer. Twenty years later, Jackie returns to The Sandcastle and unravels the past.
My Thoughts: I love the intrigue. The setting is somewhere I’d love to visit. The whole vibe seems super cool. I’m in! Add Lady Sunshine to my summer reading list.
4. The Getaway Girls by Dee MacDonald
Description: There’s a seat for you in this luxury campervan. Buckle up for a fun, rollicking ride! Three (shall we say, “mature”) women become fast friends based on their shared desire for adventure. So they make it happen by jetting off to tour the beaches of France and the delights of Italy from, you guessed it – a luxury campervan. What could go wrong?
My Thoughts: I’m not sure if I want to read this or live this or both! I’ll start by adding it to my want-to-read-it-this-summer list. Reviewers mentioned that you should keep your expectations below “laugh-out-loud” to enjoy this upbeat, light-hearted read fully.
5. Last Summer Boys by Bill Rivers
Description: It’s the summer of 1968. Thirteen-year-old Jack Elliot thinks he’s devised the perfect plan to prevent his older brother, Pete, from being drafted into the war. All he has to do is make his brother famous in his rural Pennsylvania town. How? Spend the summer searching for a fighter jet that crashed several winters ago. However, their search leads to so much more.
My Thoughts: In his bio, author Bill Rivers writes that he lives with his family “outside Washington, DC, where he still keeps a piece of a crashed fighter jet they found in the hills of southeastern Pennsylvania.” Woah! This book comes highly recommended by my mom. I’ll be reading it next.
6. Home Wreckers by Mary Kay Andrews
Description: If a beach house renovation reality show called The Homewreckers sounds like something you’d watch, tune in to this book. Set in the Savannah, Georgia area, Hattie Kavanaugh falls in love with a money pit of a house. After agreeing to have her renovations filmed for a reality show, Hattie’s personal history and the mysterious history of the house amp up the drama well beyond plumbing issues.
My Thoughts: I adore Mary Kay Andrews as an author. Her books, typically set in and around Savannah, Georgia, are always entertaining and delightful to read. I also recommend reading Savannah Blues and, especially, Savannah Breeze.
7. Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore
Description: Let’s head North for a vacation along the coast of Maine by Penobscot Bay. Louisa has packed up her three children, left her husband behind in Brooklyn, and is staying at her parents’ house. Louisa’s father has Alzheimer’s. Her mother is having difficulty facing the reality of it. And, there’s a curious character named Kristie who arrived with baggage of all sorts.
My Thoughts: Elin Hilderbrand has called Meg Mitchell Moore “one of my own favorite writers.” I love the location of the setting in Maine and the cozy family drama premise.
8. The Summer of Lost and Found by Mary Alice Monroe
Description: Escape to the Isle of Palms in South Carolina. Due to the pandemic, Linnea Rutledge was recently laid off from a job she adores at the aquarium. While her boyfriend is gone for an extended period, a past boyfriend moves in next door. Then, her current boyfriend comes home. And this romantic triangle is all occurring during the complicated time of COVID-19.
My Thoughts: I love reading Mary Alice Monroe because I adore the area known as “Low Country” and because she often includes the sea turtles that nest along the South Carolina shore in her stories. However, the pandemic aspect in this book may add too much reality for my summer reading tastes. If you agree, check out her earlier works. I recommend reading The Beach House.
9. The Summer House by Hannah McKinnon
Description: It’s family reunion time at the family beach house in Rhode Island. Pack your weekend bags for this read. Meanwhile, the characters will bring their actual and emotional baggage. When Flossy Merrill convinces her three troubled children to gather at their beach house, she has an announcement. She’s selling the home that holds their memories from every summer of their lives.
My Thoughts: The premise feels all too familiar. That said, this easy and perhaps predictable read is exactly the type of summer book made for lazy days of relaxation.
10. The Lifeguards by Amanda Eyre Ward
Description: If I can’t move to Austin, Texas’s Zilker Park neighborhood, described as “a wonderland of greenbelt trails, live music, and moms who drink a few too many margaritas,” I’ll read about it. However, all is not perfection. Three mom friends have sons who work together as lifeguards. And those same three sons are harboring a secret.
My Thoughts: Summer isn’t all beach homes and road trips. Sometimes it’s about hanging around your neighborhood and visiting the community pool. But what if those teen lifeguards have a secret? And what’s the secret? I’ll have to read this book to find out!
11. The Shortest Way Home by Miriam Parker
Description: Care for a romantic trip to Sonoma? Why, yes, I don’t mind if I do. Hannah is enjoying her fling to wine country with her boyfriend, who is about to propose. But then she’s offered a marketing job at the winery. Now her trip may become her new life (with or without her boyfriend).
My Thoughts: Do I want to read about a romantic trip to Sonoma’s wine country and pretend I’m actually on the trip? Why, yes, I don’t mind if I do. This book seems like a light read, but it’s got that psychological element about how our choices impact our life’s path. This book may get you thinking and dreaming.
Bonus: 3 More Summer Books to Read
I asked what you’re reading this summer, and you delivered! Thanks to your recommendations, here are a few more excellent summer book recommendations:
Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton – I added this book to my summer reading list last month after including it on my book list Books That Take You Places. A sultry trip to Havana, Cuba, sounds like the perfect summer read!
You Loved Me Once by Corinne Michaels – This book comes highly recommended by a close friend. If she likes it, I know I’ll like it! This story follows the life of a doctor unwilling to risk her heart for love. Once she meets Dr. Westin Grant, she can’t resist love. However, it all goes awry in a single fateful moment. I can’t wait to read what happens!
The Shape of Family by Shilpi Somaya Gowda – Immerse you into the complicated lives of four family members. This is one of those books where you sit down to read it, and the next time you look up, hours have gone by!
