12 New Books to Read This Summer (2023)
I know it’s only March but it’s never too early to start planning out which books we want to read, especially when there are so many to choose from!
I’ve mentioned before that I’m a member of Netgalley, where I receive free ebooks in exchange for honest reviews.
My favorite thing about Netgalley – besides the free books of course – is that they have a “Buzz Books” ebook that you can read twice a year. It talks about a bunch of popular new releases for the upcoming seasons.
I just got done checking out the latest “Buzz Books” and I decided to share my favorite picks from the popular new releases.
So, here are 12 NEW books to read this summer of 2023!
1- Witness
What does it mean to take action? To bear witness? What does it cost? In these ten stories, each set in the changing landscapes of contemporary New York City, a range of characters―from children to grandmothers to ghosts―live through the responsibility of perceiving and the moral challenge of speaking up or taking action. Though they strive to connect, to remember, to stand up for, and to really see each other, they often fall short, and the structures they build around these ambitions and failures shape not only their own futures but the legacies and prospects of their families and their city.
This title will be released on August 1, 2023. (You can pre-order it here!)
2- Mastering the Art of French Murder
Tabitha Knight recently arrived for an extended stay with her French grandfather in Paris. Thanks to her neighbor and friend Julia Child, another ex-pat who’s teaching Tabitha how to cook for her Grandpa. But one cold December day, Tabitha learns that a body has been found in the cellar. Tabitha recognizes the victim and the murder weapon – Julia’s sister, and Julia’s knife. Tabitha hopes to find the real killer before she or one of her friends ends up in prison… or worse.
This title will be released on April 25, 2023. (You can pre-order it here!)
3- The Librarianist
Bob Comet is a retired librarian passing his solitary days surrounded by books and small comforts in a mint-colored house in Portland, Oregon. One morning on his daily walk he encounters a confused elderly woman lost in a market and returns her to the senior center that is her home. Hoping to fill the void he’s known since retiring, he begins volunteering at the center. Here, as a community of strange peers gathers around Bob, and following a happenstance brush with a painful complication from his past, the events of his life and the details of his character are revealed.
This title will be released on July 4, 2023. (You can pre-order it here!)
4- Homecoming
Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959: At the end of a scorching hot day, beside a creek on 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 and thousands of miles away, Jess discovers a book 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 – a murder mystery that has never been resolved satisfactorily.
This title will be released on April 4, 2023. (You can pre-order it here!)
5- The Three of Us
The wife has it all. A big house in a nice neighborhood, a ride-or-die snarky best friend, Temi, with whom to laugh about facile men, and a devoted husband who loves her above all else—even his distaste for Temi. On a seemingly normal day, Temi comes over to spend a lazy afternoon with the wife: drinking wine, eating snacks, and laughing caustically about the husband’s shortcomings. But when the husband comes home and a series of confessions are made, the wife’s two confidantes are suddenly forced to jockey for their positions, throwing everyone’s integrity into question—and their long-drawn-out territorial dance, carefully constructed over years, into utter chaos.
This title will be released on April 4, 2023. (You can pre-order it here!)
6- Talking at Night
This is the story of Will and Rosie. The two are opposites in every way and yet they fall for each other as teenagers; nineties music, sideways glances, sunsets and bonfires, and talking late into the night. It’s palpable, inevitable: they’re on the precipice of starting something wonderful. Until one day, tragedy strikes, and any possibility of being together seems to shatter. But time and again, Rosie and Will find their way back to each other. Though the years pass, they cannot quite let go of what might have been.
This title will be released on June 20, 2023. (You can pre-order it here!)
7- Sisters of the Lost Nation
A young Native girl’s hunt for answers about the women mysteriously disappearing from her tribe’s reservation leads her to delve into the myths and stories of her people, all while being haunted herself. Part gripping thriller and part mythological horror, author Nick Medina spins an incisive and timely novel of life as an outcast, the cost of forgetting tradition, and the courage it takes to become who you were always meant to be.
This title will be released on June 20, 2023. (You can pre-order it here!)
8- The Woman in the Castello
Rome, 1965: Aspiring actress Silvia Whitford arrives at Rome’s famed Cinecittà Studios from Los Angeles, ready for her big break and a taste of la dolce vita. Instead, she learns that the movie in which she was cast has been canceled. Desperate for money, Silvia has only one choice: seek out the Italian aunt she has never met, Gabriella. Silvia immerses herself in the part of an ingenue tormented by the ghost of her beautiful, seductive ancestor. But when Gabriella abruptly vanishes, the movie’s make-believe terrors seep into reality. No one else on set seems to share Silvia’s suspicions. Yet as she delves into Gabriella’s disappearance, she triggers a chain of events that illuminate dark secrets in the past—and a growing menace in the present…
This title will be released on July 25, 2023. (You can pre-order it here!)
9- You Know Her
Two hours before he vanished, Mark Dixon stole a glass of wine. That’s what bartender Sophie Braam told the cops when they questioned her about the customer whose mutilated body was just found. What she didn’t tell them is that she’s the one who killed him. As winter slides into spring and bodies start piling up, Officer Nora Martin begins to suspect that something’s not quite right with the unnerving, enigmatic bartender. But will she be able to convince Murph, or will he keep laughing off the idea that the serial killer haunting their little town is a woman?
This title will be released on April 4, 2023. (You can pre-order it here!)
10- The Golden Spoon
The author of numerous bestselling cookbooks and hailed as “America’s Grandmother,” Betsy Martin isn’t as warm off-screen as on, though no one needs to know that but her. She has always demanded perfection and gotten it with a smile, but this year something is off. As the baking competition commences, things begin to go awry. At first, it’s merely sabotage—sugar replaced with salt, a burner turned to high—but when a body is discovered, everyone is a suspect.
This title was released on March 7, 2023. (You can purchase it here!)
11- Wednesdays at One
Dr. Gregory Weber is a renowned psychologist residing in an elegant home with his wife and their two kids. When an unscheduled client named Mira starts to appear in his office each week with knowledge about his past, Gregory quickly grows obsessed with her. As his attraction for Mira grows more intense with each session, so does her probing scrutiny of him. Soon Gregory’s professional boundaries begin to dissolve and he becomes the patient, desperate to uncover his connection to this mysterious woman and find out what she wants from him. In searching for the answers, Gregory risks losing everything that matters: his career, his family, and his mind.
This title will be released on July 11, 2023. (You can pre-order it here!)
12- Last to Eat, Last to Learn
Inspired by generations of her family’s unwavering belief in the power of education, Pashtana Durrani recognized her calling early in life: to educate Afghanistan’s girls and young women, raised in a society where learning is forbidden. In a country devastated by war and violence, where girls are often married off before reaching their teenage years and prohibited from leaving their homes, heeding that call seemed both impossible and dangerous. Pashtana founded the nonprofit LEARN and developed a program for getting educational materials directly into the hands of girls in remote areas of the country, training teachers in digital literacy. Her commitment to education has made her a target of the Taliban. Still, she continues to fight for women’s education and autonomy in Afghanistan and beyond.
This title will be released on May 23, 2023. (You can pre-order it here!)
Are you excited about any new books to read this summer? Do any of these books seem interesting to you? Let’s chat in the comments!
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Amber Myers says
Thank you for this list. I love to read and need to find more books to keep me busy!
Tammy says
Pool time is tight around the corner and I love to read there. Thanks for the list.
Alita Pacio says
This is so exciting. I love to discover new books to read. I am most excited with the last to eat, the last to learn.
Lavanda Michelle says
I love to read on summer trips, especially to the beach. I will certainlypickc some of these up this summer.
Richelle Milar says
Wow! What a really nice selection of books you have here! I’m surely going to check this out
laura says
These books look amazing I do see a few that I would love to read this summer also add to my collection. Thanks for sharing these with us.
Beautiful Touches says
These all look like really good books to check out!
Catalina says
So many interesting books! I am intrigued by The Woman in the Castello!
Christy Garrett says
These all sound like great books to read. I’ll have to see if my local library has any of them in stock.
Zab Zaria says
I think these would be good books to read. It’s definitely something I’ll keep in mind!
Lois says
Sisters of the lost nation seems the most interesting to me.