Collection Management Librarians Andrea, Dontaná, Jenna, and Kathy
Jump into summer with these new books, movies, and TV shows—for all ages—that we think will be hot, hot, hot all summer. And don’t forget to register and track your reading for summer reading.
Adult fiction | Adult nonfiction | Teens | Kids | Movies & TV shows
Adult fiction
The South by Tash Aw
Expected publication date: May 27
Why you should try it: The first in a planned tetralogy (a series of four works), this entry is perfect for anyone longing for the slow burn of a summer classic like André Aciman's Call Me By Your Name.
Description: As Jay’s family returns to the failing farm they inherited, tensions rise amid drought-stricken fields, unspoken regrets, and generational burdens, while Jay’s growing connection with Chuan, the farm manager’s son, forces them all to confront hidden desires and inescapable change.
Lush by Rochelle Dowden-Lord
Expected publication date: May 27
Why you should try it: Sommeliers are the newest profession to be having a literary moment, and really, nothing says summer like a trip to a vineyard.
Description: Four wine experts, each at a crucial point in their lives, arrive at a French vineyard estate for an unforgettable experience—but not the kind they expected. It seems at first that these four have little in common except for their love of wine and their belief in its transformative power. But, as the quartet awaits the penultimate night of the trip, when they will taste the only bottle of one of the rarest wines in the world, it becomes clear that each of them grapples with a private crisis.
Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood
Expected publication date: May 27
Why you should try it: Ali Hazelwood seems to be on a quest to write a book for every type of romance reader, and is now adding age-gap romance with a side of sibling's best friend to her repertoire.
Description: Maya Killgore is 23 and still figuring out her life. Conor Harkness is 38, and Maya cannot stop thinking about him. It's such a cliché: older man and younger woman, successful biotech guy and struggling grad student, brother's best friend and the girl he never even knew existed. Any relationship between them would be problematic.
This Is Not a Ghost Story by Amerie
Expected publication date: June 10
Why you should try it: Amerie has previously written for children and is now back with an adult novel that Library Journal says is "about human desire, confronting one's own faults and misdeeds, and the healing power of friendship."
Description: Tells the story of a Black man who walks into the light … to find himself in Los Angeles, where he becomes an instant celebrity for being the first visible and verifiable ghost.
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab
Expected publication date: June 10
Why you should try it: The buzz around this sapphic vampire book has only grown over the last year. Yes, a year! The wait is finally over!
Description: This is a story about hunger, love, rage, and life—how it ends and how it starts.
The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley
Expected publication date: June 24
Why you should try it: This is one of Oprah's most anticipated books of 2025, and honestly, that's enough for us.
Description: Banished to her grandmother’s small Florida town after becoming pregnant at 16, Adela finds an unlikely sisterhood among a group of young mothers who, despite societal judgment, support each other through friendship, love, and the complexities of motherhood and adolescence.
Hot Girls With Balls by Benedict Nguyễn
Expected publication date: July 1
Why you should try it: This book has everything: pro sports, tall women, influencers, and a wicked title.
Description: In this outrageous and deeply serious satire, two star indoor volleyball players juggle unspoken jealousies in their off-court romance ahead of their rival teams’ first rematch in a year.
My Train Leaves at Three by Natalie Guerrero
Expected publication date: July 15
Why you should try it: If you love Broadway and stories about plucky young women trying to make it, this is for you.
Description: An electric coming-of-age novel that explores grief, family, sexuality, and love as an ambitious young woman from Washington Heights tries to make it on Broadway.
Maggie, Or a Man & a Woman Walk Into a Bar by Katie Yee
Expected publication date: July 22
Why you should try it: Having been compared to Nora Ephron, Jenny Offill, Michelle Zauner, and Weike Wang, Katie Yee's debut is on track to be quite the splashy mid-summer beach read.
Description: A Chinese American woman spins tragedy into comedy when her life falls apart in a taut, wry debut novel that grapples with grief, motherhood, and myths.
The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar
Expected publication date: August 5
Why you should try it: Holes is one of the best-known, well-loved books of the 21st century. Of course, we know you'd appreciate the heads up that Louis Sachar has written a novel for adults.
Description: A modern fantasy classic of forbidden love, a crumbling kingdom, and the unexpected magic all around us.
Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle
Expected publication date: August 12
Why you should try it: The Tingle-verse is expanding, this time with wildly creative ways to die.
Description: One woman must go up against horrifying odds to save the world.
Katabasis by R. F. Kuang
Expected publication date: August 26
Why you should try it: It's R. F. Kuang, writing in dark academia. After the runaway success of Yellowface, we thought we should tell y'all about her newest book early.
Description: Two graduate students must put aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul—perhaps at the cost of their own.
Adult nonfiction
The Dry Season: A Memoir of Pleasure in a Year Without Sex by Melissa Febos
Expected publication date: June 3
Why you should try it: Why would you not read a memoir about celibacy from a former dominatrix? Plus, Febos's writing is gorgeous and honest.
Description: An examination of the solitude, freedoms, and feminist heroes discovered during a year of celibacy and a wise and transformative look at relationships and self-knowledge.
How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter's Memoir by Molly Jong-Fast
Expected publication date: June 3
Why you should try it: Come for the celebrity gossip, stay for the dark humor take on one woman's worst year of her life.
Description: Molly Jong-Fast is the only child of a famous woman, writer Erica Jong, whose sensational book Fear of Flying launched her into second-wave feminist stardom. She grew up yearning for a connection with her dreamy, glamorous, just out of reach mother, who always seemed to be heading somewhere that wasn't with Molly. When, in 2023, Erica was diagnosed with dementia just as Molly's husband discovered he had a rare cancer, Jong-Fast was catapulted into a transformative year.
I'll Tell You When I'm Home by Hala Alyan
Expected publication date: June 3
Why you should try it: If your favorite books are all about the writing and art, this poet's memoir is for you.
Description: After a decade of yearning for parenthood, years marked by miscarriage after miscarriage, Hala Alyan makes the decision to use a surrogate. In this charged time, she turns to the archetype of the waiting woman—the Scheherazade who tells stories to ensure another dawn—to confront her own narratives of motherhood, love, and inheritance.
Waiting for Britney Spears: A True Story, Allegedly by Jeff Weiss
Expected publication date: June 10
Why you should try it: Fame ain't all it's cracked up to be. Spears's story proves that, and Weiss might just be the perfect teller of the dark side of celebrity.
Description: Jeff Weiss follows America's sweetheart through Vegas superclubs and Malibu car chases, annulled marriages and soul-crushing legal battles, all the way to Britney's infamous 2007 VMA performance. As Weiss lives through the chaos leading to Britney's conservatorship, he observes cringe-inducing fashion waves, destructive celebrity surveillance, and a country whose decline is embodied by the devastating downturn of its former golden child.
The Salmon Cannon & the Levitating Frog: And Other Serious Discoveries of Silly Science by Carly Anne York
Expected publication date: June 17
Why you should try it: Um, the title and the cover?
Description: Carly Anne York shows how unappreciated, overlooked, and simply curiosity-driven science has led to breakthroughs big and small. Got wind power? You might have humpback whales to thank. Know anything about particle physics? Turns out there is a ferret close to the heart of it all. And if you want to keep salmon around, be thankful for that cannon!
Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer's Legendary Editorship by Dana Williams
Expected publication date: June 17
Why you should try it: You may not know that one of America's most celebrated writers also changed the landscape of Black literature during the 60s and 70s.
Description: While Toni Morrison's literary achievements are widely celebrated, her editorial work is little known. Drawing on extensive research and firsthand accounts, this comprehensive study discusses Morrison's remarkable journey from her early days at Random House to her emergence as one of its most important editors.
It's Not That Radical: Climate Action To Transform Our World by Mikaela Loach
Expected publication date: July 8
Why you should try it: This radical, hopeful approach to climate change is the exact book we need now.
Description: For too long, representations of climate action in the mainstream media have been whitewashed, greenwashed, and diluted to be made compatible with capitalism. As Loach shows, we are living in an economic system that pursues profit above all else; harmful, oppressive systems that heavily contribute to the climate crisis, and environmental consequences that have been toned down to the masses. Tackling the climate crisis requires us to visit the roots of poverty, capitalist exploitation, police brutality, and legal injustice.
Sharing in the Groove: The Untold Story of the '90s Jam Band Explosion & the Scene That Followed by Mike Ayers
Expected publication date: July 22
Why you should try it: Relive your glory days, bro!
Description: The wild, untold oral history of the unlikely rise of Phish, Dave Matthews Band, Widespread Panic, Blues Traveler, and numerous other bands that helped define the 1990s jam band scene.
Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs
Expected publication date: August 19
Why you should try it: Baldwin and his work remain relevant for many reasons; this book puts it all in context.
Description: Drawing on new archival material, original research, and interviews, this spellbinding book is the first major biography of James Baldwin in three decades, revealing how profoundly his personal relationships shaped his life and work.
Positive Obsession: The Life & Times of Octavia E. Butler by Susana M. Morris
Expected publication date: August 19
Why you should try it: If you want to understand the world we are currently living in, read Octavia Butler. If you want to understand the genius of Octavia Butler, read this.
Description: Susana M. Morris places Butler's story firmly within the cultural, social, and historical context that shaped her life: the Civil Rights Movement, Black Power, women's liberation, queer rights, Reaganomics. Morris reveals how these influences profoundly impacted Butler's personal and intellectual trajectory and shaped the ideas central to her writing.
Resting Bitch Face: Poems by Taylor Byas
Expected publication date: August 26
Why you should try it: If you have never heard of Byas, it's time to change that—she is a multi-award-winning poet from Chicago.
Description: Taylor Byas uses some of our most common ways of "watching" throughout history (painting, films, sculpture, and photographs) to explore how these mediums shape Black female subjectivity. From the examination of artwork by Picasso, Gauguin, Sally Mann, and Nan Goldin, Byas displays her mastery of the poetic form by engaging in intimate and inventive writing. Fluctuating between watcher and watched, the speaker of these poems uses mirrors and reflections to flip the script and talk back to histories of art, text, photography, relationships, and men.
A Truce That Is Not Peace by Miriam Toews
Expected publication date: August 26
Why you should try it: Toews's writing is challenging, tragic, funny, heartbreaking, and profound—I can't wait to see her apply it to a memoir.
Description: "Why do you write?" the organizer of a literary event in Mexico City asks Miriam Toews. Each attempted answer from Toews—all of them unsatisfactory to the organizer—surfaces new layers of grief, guilt, and futility connected to her sister's suicide. Marking the first time Toews has written her own life in nonfiction, A Truce That Is Not Peace explores the uneasy pact a writer makes with memory.
Teens
Up in Smoke by Nick Brooks
Expected publication date: May 6
Why you should try it: You won’t be able to put down this edge-of-your-seat thriller, and if you want more, the author is releasing an accompanying rap album.
Description: After Cooper King is pressured by friend Jason to go on a looting spree during a local march, someone is shot dead, and after Jason is taken into custody, Cooper teams up with his sister to uncover the real murderer.
Blades of Furry by Emily Erdos, Deya Muniz
Expected publication date: May 13
Why you should try it: This queer sports comic featuring adorable art started as a popular webcomic.
Description: Emile, an up-and-coming rookie in battle skating, which combines the grace of figure skating with martial arts sparring, faces off against reigning champion Radu and also discovers Radu’s secret, in a rivals-to-lovers romance.
Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel
Expected publication date: June 3
Why you should try it: Read this survival thriller with a friend because you’ll definitely want someone to talk to about it when you finish.
Description: Xavier Oaks reluctantly leaves his mom and brother to join his dad and his dad’s new pregnant wife at the cabin, only to awaken one morning and discover it’s like the house has been moved and they’re trapped inside a dome.
Celestial Banquet by Roselle Lim
Expected publication date: June 3
Why you should try it: Get ready for mouth-watering food descriptions and thrilling fantasy competition!
Description: Iron Chef meets The Hunger Games in Roselle Lim’s dazzling YA fantasy debut, following a young noodle chef who competes in a cutthroat cooking competition for the gods.
Never Thought I'd End up Here by Ann Liang
Expected publication date: June 3
Why you should try it: Who needs to go on vacation when you can travel vicariously through an enchanting book?
Description: Leah Zhang is traveling across China’s most beautiful cities to get back to her roots, but the boy who ruined her life is also on the trip, and the deeper they wander into China’s provinces, the deeper she falls in love.
Goodbye, My Princess by Wo Si Cun Fei, Tianshu
Expected publication date: June 17
Why you should try it: It’s the first English translation of the romantic tragedy that inspired a popular C-drama. Have tissues handy.
Description: Now married to the heartless crown prince, Princess Xiaofeng lives a secret life outside the manor until a stranger reveals a past she cannot remember, and she must recover her memories of love and betrayal.
Of Flame & Fury by Mikayla Bridge
Expected publication date: July 15
Why you should try it: Romantasy lovers will devour this adrenaline-filled, enemies-to-lovers tale.
Description: On an island built from ash and shrouded in fire, phoenix racing is a sport just as profitable as it is deadly. Kel Varra and her team of underdogs are desperate to win the annual races and the fortune that comes with it, but they need a new rider, which leads Kel to join forces with an arrogant rival she can’t get out of her head.
Soul of Shadow by Emma Noyes
Expected publication date: July 29
Why you should try it: It’s dark, supernatural, mysterious, and inspired by Norse mythology!
Description: While investigating a classmate's disappearance, 16-year-old Charlie finds herself drawn to a mysterious newcomer who uncovers a hidden world made of magic, gods, and monsters.
Kids
An Immense World: How Animals Sense Earth's Amazing Secrets by Ed Yong
Expected publication date: May 13
Why you should try it: Pulitzer Prize winner Ed Yong’s New York Times bestseller about animal senses is now adapted for young readers because animals are fascinating to people of all ages.
Description: Explore the amazing ways animals perceive the world, such as turtles that track the Earth’s magnetic fields and fish that use electricity to talk to each other.
The Girl in the Walls by Meg Eden Kuyatt
Expected publication date: May 20
Why you should try it: Secrets, ghosts, AND written in free verse? A triple win.
Description: Sent to spend the summer with her seemingly critical Grandma Jojo, neurodivergent and artistic V discovers a ghostly girl in the walls and must uncover the ghost's desires and her grandmother's secrets before their relationship is irreparably damaged.
The Wild Robot on the Island by Peter Brown
Expected publication date: June 24
Why you should try it: A simplified and stunningly illustrated new edition of The Wild Robot, perfect as a new entry point or a way to revisit for fans of the chapter book and movie.
Description: When a robot washes ashore, she adapts to her new home by making lifelong connections with the island's animal inhabitants.
Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson
Expected publication date: July 1
Why you should try it: Acclaimed YA author Tiffany D. Jackson makes her middle grade debut with this twisty, thrilling mystery for those who think vacations are more interesting when there’s a murder to solve.
Description: Brooklyn girl Kaylani McKinnon is thrust into an intricate web of lies when a shocking murder on Martha's Vineyard threatens to expose dangerous secrets.
The Day the Books Disappeared by Joanna Ho
Expected publication date: July 15
Why you should try it: Celebrate the freedom to read and the library tenet “every book its reader” (S.R. Ranganathan) in this zany, child-friendly take.
Description: In an attempt to share his love of airplanes with his classmates, Arnold accidentally wishes away all the books in his classroom until he learns that everyone's individual interests bring them joy.
The Space Cat by Nnedi Okorafor, Tana Ford
Expected publication date: August 12
Why you should try it: It’s a comic about an alien cat from notable Africanfuturism author Nnedi Okorafor!
Description: Space cat Periwinkle experiences his most epic adventure yet when he moves with his humans to Kaleria, Nigeria, where something strange is happening.
Dream On by Shannon Hale
Expected publication date: August 26
Why you should try it: There’s a reason Shannon Hale is such a megastar, and this new comic is bound to be as heartfelt and captivating as her other stories.
Description: When Cassie gets a letter from a magazine sweepstakes with the words “YOU’RE THE WINNER” stamped on the front, she thinks it’s the answer to all her problems. But will prizes really solve Cassie’s problems? And what will she lose if she doesn’t win anything at all?
Hansel & Gretel by Stephen King, Maurice Sendak
Expected publication date: September 2
Why you should try it: It’s from the duo you never knew you needed and definitely never expected.
Description: Let Stephen King, global bestselling and award-winning author, and Maurice Sendak, beloved creator of the Caldecott Medal–winning Where the Wild Things Are, guide you into the most deliciously daring rendition of the classic Grimm fairy tale yet. But will you find your way back out?
Movies & TV shows
Sinners
Release Date: TBD
Why you should try it: It’s directed by the great mind that brought us Creed (2015) and Black Panther (2018). It has a great cast, stellar soundtrack, and Michael B. Jordan, what’s not to love?
Description: Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Expected Release Date: May 6
Why you should try it: This is a thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. It was nominated for Best International Film in this year’s Academy Awards, now it’s time to find out why.
Description: In Tehran, the exemplary family of an investigating judge is tested by the dramatic events following a young woman's death in police custody.
My Dead Friend Zoe
Release Date: May 13
Why you should try it: A unique movie spin on how someone copes with the loss of a loved one and the grief that comes with it.
Description: Cook Eugenie and her boss Dodin have grown fond of one another for over 20 years, and their romance gives rise to dishes that impress even the world's most illustrious chefs. When Dodin is faced with Eugenie's reluctance to commit, he begins to cook for her.
Holy Cow
Expected Release Date: June 3
Why you should try it: Whether you love a good underdog story or cheese, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
Description: After the tragic death of his father, 18-year-old Totone is thrust into the unexpected and very adult role of looking after his younger sister and their failing family farm in the Jura section of France. He assumes even more responsibility when he enters a cash competition for the best Comte cheese made in this western part of the French Alps. A verité look at the hardscrabble life of French agriculture, it is simultaneously a moving love story and above all an ode to the love of cheese.
Marcella
Expected Release Date: June 3
Why you should try it: Anyone who Julia Child admires is worth learning more about.
Description: Marcella Hazan didn't just teach Italian cooking, she changed the way America eats. Fearless, passionate, and exacting, she introduced authentic recipes to millions. Julia Child called Marcella "my mentor in all things Italian." The intimate portrait reveals the beloved woman who forever shaped home kitchens.
We Want the Funk
Expected release date: June 17
Why you should try it: Nothing hypes people for the summer like music, and what better way to kick off good weather and summer vibes than the history of funk.
Description: We Want The Funk! is a syncopated voyage through funk's history, from its African and jazz roots to James Brown's early work and the rise of Parliament Funkadelic. Distinctly urban, funk reflected a post-Civil Rights sensibility. The film explores the symbiotic relationship between funk's explosion and the political and racial dynamics of 1970s inner-city America. An unapologetic expression of Black pride, resilience, and joy in the wake of the Civil Rights era. The film explores how funk's infectious grooves became a force of cultural resistance and self-determination. Packed with rare footage, legendary performances, and in-depth interviews with funk pioneers, We Want The Funk! captures the raw energy, deep soul, and unbreakable spirit of funk.
Fallout Season 1
Expected Release Date: July 8
Why you should try it: What better way to enjoy summer than walking through the Wasteland with a dog, two humans, and a ghoul?
Description: Based on one of the greatest video games of all time, Fallout is the story of haves and have-nots in a world in which there's almost nothing left to have. Two hundred years after the apocalypse, the gentle denizens of luxury fallout shelters are forced to return to the incredibly complex, gleefully weird, and highly violent universe waiting for them above.
All We Imagine as Light
Expected Release Date: July 22
Why you should try it: This film has stunning cinematic shots, and you’ll be curious to know where Prabha, Anu, and Parvathy’s lives go.
Description: All We Imagine as Light follows three very different women working at the same hospital, Prabha, Anu, and Parvathy, each contending with personal and material struggles amid a modernizing India riven by gentrification and rising Hindu nationalism. When eviction drives Parvathy back to her childhood village, the trio embark on an enchanting getaway by the sea, where they shake loose their remaining secrets and, in one otherworldly sequence, a lingering ghost.
About Andrea
Collection Management Librarian Andrea is an avid audiobook and manga reader. When she isn't chipping away at her reading list, she's attending local pop culture conventions.
About Jenna
Collection Management Librarian Jenna believes the world would be a better place if more adults read kids' books. When her nose isn't buried in a picture book, you can find her snuggling foster kittens, hiking a mountain, or watching an old movie.
About Dontaná
Dontaná is a Collection Management Librarian who was born with an unending reading list. She is almost always reading two books simultaneously and is easily distracted by cool covers.
About Kathy
Kathy is a Collection Management Librarian who loves reading, sharing, and talking about books. Her missions in life are to create communities of readers, convince folks that her official title should be "Book Pusher," and refute that "disco" is a dirty word.