Adults

In Furiously Happy, a humor memoir tinged with just enough tragedy and pathos to make it worthwhile, Jenny Lawson examines her own experience with severe depression and a host of other conditions, and explains how it has led her to live life to the fullest.

In 1998, Pasty leaves Jamaica for New York, hoping to connect with her old love, Cicely. She leaves her daughter behind, and over the next decade, they both struggle with the consequences of Patsy’s decision. Epic in scope, this stunning book is an unflinching upheaval of the conventional narratives of how mothers, daughters, and queer women are expected to behave.

When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius―his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House.

There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse in this witty and thrilling romance.

If you're looking for something a bit different than your standard summer beach read, try this cool-kid travel inspiration guide that will leave your mind stuffed with ideas for where to go on your next vacation. Packed with so much more than just recommendations of where to go and what to see in the U.S., Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean, this book from the founders of travel website Fathom offers up all of the most interesting stories and people behind popular and under-the-radar destinations.

Jennifer Weiner's beachy books are basically a staple of the season, and this is no exception. Daisy has it all: a successful business, fulfilling volunteer work and a head full of discontent. When she mistakenly starts getting emails meant for a much more glam single woman named Diana, it seems like the fault of similar email addresses. But when the two women connect, we learn it might have been less than coincidental. This twisty novel about female friendship will make the hours fly by. 

Jordan Baker grows up in the most rarefied circles of 1920s American society—she has money, education, a killer golf handicap, and invitations to some of the most exclusive parties of the Jazz Age. She’s also queer, Asian, adopted, and treated as an exotic attraction by her peers, while the most important doors remain closed to her.

But the world is full of wonders: infernal pacts and dazzling illusions, lost ghosts and elemental mysteries. In all paper is fire, and Jordan can burn the cut paper heart out of a man. She just has to learn how.

Need some funny beach books to add to your reading list? Sometimes you just need a clever satire, and I promise you’ll laugh at the ridiculous Bernadette, a Seattle-area mom who takes antisocial to a whole new level. You might not love the ending, but the buildup is so much fun that I still like recommending it to others.

Crotchety old A. J. Fikry is struggling in life. He is now a widow. His bookstore is failing. To top it off, his rare edition of Edgar Allan Poe has been stolen. On the verge of becoming a complete recluse, a plot twist occurs that will gives Fikry a second chance at life. A heartwarming tale perfect for reading on the beach this summer.

Just in time for your summer vacation comes one of the top beach reads of 2021. On the remote Frick Island in the middle of Chesapeake Bay, Piper Parrish had a perfect life – until her husband died. But Piper kept carrying on, acting as if he was still alive, and the townsfolk decided to play along with the grieving widow. When an ambitious podcaster arrives in town, he feels like he has the story of a lifetime, until he starts to fall in love with Piper.

Each of the three Schuyler sisters has her own world-class problems, but in the autumn of 1966, Pepper Schuyler's problems are in a class of their own. When Pepper fixes up a beautiful and rare vintage Mercedes and sells it at auction, she thinks she's finally found a way to take care of herself and the baby she carries, the result of an affair with a married, legendary politician.