Book Buzz: Summer Reads

Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For June, we’re looking at this year’s If All Arkansas Read the Same Book selection, historical fiction about the Gilded Age, an anthology of Western mysteries, a family saga set in 1970s Mississippi, a vampire fantasy romance, a guide to eating around the United States, true crime about gator poaching, encouragement for writers, and audiobook memoirs, romances, chick lit, and mysteries.

If you enjoy historical fiction:

Patti Callahan Henry’s The Secret Book of Flora Lea (2023)*

Hazel still harbors considerable pain and guilt from the disappearance of her little sister Flora. The two had been evacuated from the London Blitz and living a relatively idyllic existence in the English countryside, with Hazel distracting the much younger Flora with imaginative tales of a magical place they could escape to. This fantastical fictional world was their secret, one that seemed to disappear with Flora. That is until years later when Hazel, working at a bookshop, comes across a book about that magical world the two sisters shared. Complications ensue.

*Ebook and audiobook also available on Libby

Recommended for those who enjoyed Madeline Martin’s The Last Bookshop in London and Mary Ann Shaffer’s The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Shana Abé’s An American Beauty (2023)**

Inspired by a true story, this novel chronicles the life of Arabella Huntington, who became the wealthiest self-made woman in America during the Gilded Age. From her inauspicious start working in a gambling parlor in post-Civil War Richmond, a young Arabella is brought to New York as a kept woman by an older businessman. Under the guise of being a wealthy widow, Arabella amasses a fortune in real estate and strives to become accepted by the exclusive Four Hundred Society, which includes the likes of the Astors and Vanderbilts.

**Ebook and audiobook also available on Libby and Hoopla.

Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Marie Benedict and Kristin Hannah.

If you prefer Westerns:

John D. Nesbitt’s Bright Skies and Dark Horses (2023)

Nesbitt writes Western mysteries, and he is in fine form with this anthology of eight stories. In them, an investigator pursues the murderer of saloon girls, a ranch hand desperately wishes to escape the outlaw life, and a man’s quest to avenge his brother takes an unexpected turn.

Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Bill Brooks.

If you love Southern fiction:

Jeff Barry’s Go to Hell Ole Miss (2024)***

In 1970s Mississippi Hill Country, Big John is a larger-than-life presence, a former POW during WWII who prides himself on his spotty knowledge of Shakespeare. After his beloved daughter is brutally beaten by her husband, whom Big John pressured her to marry in the first place, he’s hellbent on saving her.

***Ebook also available on Libby.

Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Pat Conroy and Wiley Cash.

If you want vampire-themed fantasy romance:

Carissa Broadbent’s The Serpent and the Wings of Night (2022)

As a human in a vampire world, Oraya has a precarious position. To protect herself from always being someone’s meal, she must enter and win a legendary and deadly tournament, but it will pit her against some of the most ruthless vampires. To win, she must form an alliance with Raihn, who’s an avowed enemy of her adopted father, the vampire king. But Raihn becomes more than just an uneasy alliance when Oraya starts to fall in love with him. You can imagine how this goes.

Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Rebecca Yarros and Sarah J. Maas.

If you need nonfiction:

National Geographic’s 50 States, 1,000 Eats (2024)****

Before embarking on any travel this summer, make sure you check out this guide to where to eat in all 50 states! Whether you go near or far, you’ll find recommendations for some of the best and most interesting places to eat around the country.

****Ebook also available on Libby.

Recommended for anyone interested in broadening their palate, at places both near and far.

Rebecca Renner’s Gator Country: Deception, Danger, and Alligators in the Everglades (2023)*****

If you enjoy unusual true crime, check out this new book, which chronicles Jeff Babauta’s time as an undercover agent infiltrating alligator poaching rings in Florida. It’s a strange, complex world . . . and a dangerous one.

*****Ebook and audiobook also available on Libby.

Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Susan Orlean and David Grann.

Jami Attenberg’s 1,000 Words: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round (2024)

Several years ago, writer Jami Attenberg and a friend started a #1000WordsofSummer challenge, wherein they wrote anything as long as it was 1,000 words every day for 2 weeks to combat writers’ block. What started as a private challenge turned into an online sensation as more and more people learned about it and joined in. In this book, Attenberg offers advice on writing, including from many famous, award-winning, and best-selling authors, so you can have your own 1,000Word challenge.

Recommended for writers or those who aspire to be. 🙂

While you’re at it, be sure to visit our Write On writing support group every 1st and 3rd Saturday afternoon at the library.

If you like audiobooks:

Trish O’Kane’s Birding to Change the World (2024)

Trish O’Kane was a successful, middle-aged investigative journalist when Hurricane Katrina turned her world upside down. Before the storm, she had just relocated to New Orleans to start a job as a journalism professor, but afterward, as she tried to put her life back together, she became intrigued with the birds in her backyard. Her newfound hobby morphed into a passion, and within a few years, she was going back to school to study birds. Now a professional ornithologist and environmental educator, O’Kane reviews her path to birding and bird activism.

Recommended for those who enjoy nature-themed memoirs.

Pippa Grant’s Not My Kind of Hero (2023)

The trouble starts for Maisey as soon as she and her daughter relocate to the ranch she inherited in rural Wyoming. Everything seems to go wrong, and her grumpy tenant–who is also her daughter’s math teacher–doesn’t help matters. Still, Maisey finds herself drawn to Flint, the grumpy math teacher/tenant in question.

Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Emily Henry.

Susan Mallery’s The Summer Book Club (2023)******

The rules for summer book club are pretty simple. No sad books and no pressure! Laurel and Paris are best friends who invite newcomer Cassie to the group. It’s initially just a fun, easy way to blow off steam, but the three friends soon find themselves inspired by the heroines of the books they’ve been reading. In the process, all three find themselves taking more chances to find happiness in their lives.

******Ebook also available on Libby, audiobook on Hoopla, and physical copy in the collection.

Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Jennifer Crusie, Jill Shalvis, and Brenda Novak.

Brandy Schillace’s The Framed Women of Ardemore House (2024)*******

Jo Jones has always felt like an outsider due to her neurodivergence and relocating to England as an American in the wake of a failed marriage and editing career doesn’t make her feel any more welcome. Still, she takes possession of the eerie family estate she has inherited as a means of escaping the collapse of her life as she knows it. Then the groundskeeper is found shot to death in the house, and she is the prime suspect.

*******Ebook and audiobook also available on Libby, audiobook on Hoopla, and physical copy in the collection.

Recommended for those who enjoy Nita Prose’s Maid series.

What’s your favorite new-ish books? What books are you buzzing about this summer? Have you read any of these books? Tell us in the comments! As always, please follow this link to our online library catalog for more information on any of these items or to place them on hold.