Book Buzz: Beach and Summer Reads

Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For June, we’re looking at the perfect read for summer, whether you’ll be at the beach or on a staycation.

If you like contemporary women’s fiction with beach settings:

Catherine Ryan Hyde’s Rolling Toward Clear Skies (2024)

Maggie, a California physician who volunteers for Doctors on Wheels, packs her family up and relocates to Louisiana after a hurricane to lend a hand. Along the way, she becomes a foster mom to two orphaned sisters and their dog, much to the chagrin of her own children. When she returns with everyone to California, she finds that mending everyone’s hearts and blending her new family together may be harder than she’d assumed.

Recommended for fans of Susan Mallery’s work.

If you love YA romance:

Emma Lord’s The Rival (2025)

School may be out for summer, but in this academic-themed contemporary romance, school is a battlefield. Sadie and Seb are next-door neighbors who have long competed for academic honors. Sadie thinks she’s finally won when she is accepted into a prestigious college that waitlists Seb. However, he somehow makes it off the waitlist and also lands on the same extracurricular zine she’s working on. Nevertheless, the more they compete, the more sparks fly.

Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Gloria Chao and Danielle Parker.

If you enjoy historical fiction:

Niall Williams’s This Is Happiness (2019)*

In a small village on the West Irish coast, rain is everything. But just as the rain has stopped, electricity finally comes to town, as well as a troubled teenager who has left his seminary studies to live with his grandparents. This gentle book has been lauded for its lyrical and pastoral coming-of-age story, as well as its vivid depiction of life in rural Ireland.

Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Sebastian Barry, Colm Tóibín, and Claire Keegan.

*Also available as an ebook on Libby and an audiobook on Hoopla.

Jennifer Moorman’s The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds (2025)**

If you prefer your historical fiction to have more of a magical realism element, you might prefer this new novel. A grieving young widow named Josephine channels her energy into reclaiming her great-grandmother’s old house, but she is astonished when her home renovations lead to her being transported back to the house in the 1920s, to a house party her ancestor is hosting. Josephine soon realizes that the key to her future existence rests some 100 years earlier, and the time for her to save herself in the future is rapidly running out.

Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Alice Hoffman.

**Ebook and audiobook also available on Hoopla.

Bryn Turnbull’s The Berlin Apartment (2024)***

If you prefer bittersweet historical romance, try this one. It follows the romance between two Berliners, Uli and Lise. He lives in West Berlin, and she lives in East Berlin, but she looks forward to their life together after the engagement. Just two days after the proposal, however, the Berlin Wall goes up, with him on one side and her on the other. Complications ensue.

Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Marie Benedict, Katherine Reay, Kristin Hannah, and Kate Quinn.

***Ebook and audiobook also available on Hoopla.

If you prefer cozy fantasy:

Syou Ishida’s We’ll Prescribe You a Cat (2023)

This gentle contemporary fantasy novel follows the patients of the Nakagyō Kokoro Clinic for the Soul in Kyoto, Japan. Each person the mysterious clinic receives gets the exact same treatment–a cat to take home. Endearing and wholesome adventures ensue.

Recommended for those who enjoyed Shelby Van Pelt’s Remarkably Bright Creatures, as well as the work of Hisashi Kashiwai and Toshikazu Kawaguchi.

If you want a thriller:

Jessie Garcia’s The Business Trip (2025)

Stephanie and Jasmine are strangers who just so happen to share the same flight before they both disappear, after texting the same mysterious message to friends about a man named Trent McCarthy. But who is Trent and where are Stephanie and Jasmine? You’ll have to read this twisting and turning debut novel to find out.

Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Freida McFadden and Sarah Pekkanen.

What’s your favorite new-ish books? What books are you buzzing about for 2025? 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.