2023 Summer Books Preview

THE GUEST by Emma Cline

Trickery, luxury and menace abound in the latest tale of from the author of “The Girls.” A "working girl" on vacation, insinuates herself into people's lives, pretending to be whomever they need — buddy, girlfriend, babysitter. Few writers could make us care about her as Cline does. (Random House, out now)

CHARM CITY ROCKS by Matthew Norman

This frankly adorable rock-n-roll love story is straight outta downtown Baltimore, where piano teacher Billy Perkins lives upstairs from a vintage record store. When his teenage son learns of Billy's lifelong crush on famous drummer Margot Hammer, he schemes a meet-cute that doesn't go well at all. But then … (Dell, June 6)

THE DISSIDENT by Paul Goldberg

This brainy, satirical thriller transports us to a vivid 1970s Moscow, where Viktor's wedding day is spoiled by his discovery of the double axe murder of a Jewish activist and his gay lover, an American diplomat. If he doesn't want to be charged with the crime, says the KGB, Viktor must solve it -- before Henry Kissinger gets to town! (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 6)

LUCKY DOGS by Helen Schulman

This sleek and twisty novel begins in Paris, where a starlet named Meredith has come to hide from the media hurricane that broke after she went public about her rape by a Hollywood producer. She is befriended by Nina, a sophisticated, well-connected woman who seems eager to help her — but is anything about Nina as it seems? (Knopf, June 6)

BE MINE by Richard Ford

The final novel in the acclaimed Frank Bascombe series finds the former sportswriter and real estate agent at 74, caring for his son, Paul, who has been diagnosed with ALS. Their pilgrimage to the Mayo Clinic and Mount Rushmore offers a wide canvas for Ford's brilliant writing, full of humor and insight. (Ecco, June 13)

YOU WERE ALWAYS MINE by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza

The team of Piazza and Pride (“We Are Not Like Them”) is back with another angle on interracial relationships. When a Black woman in Georgia finds an abandoned white baby in a park, she is unwilling to give it up to the foster system she herself is a survivor of. A fascinating take on race and motherhood. (Atria, June 13)

FIREWORKS EVERY NIGHT by Beth Raymer

Why wouldn't C.C. Borkowski want to invite her mother to her fabulous wedding which is being held at her future in-laws' estate on Long Island Sound? The answer emerges through C.C.'s equal parts hilarious and painful account of her 1990s childhood, a coming-of-age among the wild characters and settings of South Florida. (Random House, June 27)

THE RACHEL INCIDENT by Caroline O'Donoghue

Calling all Sally Rooney fans for another smart, funny Irish novel about friendship and love. Rachel's job at a bookshop brings her a new BFF, James, a co-worker who becomes her housemate and confidant regarding her mad crush on her married university professor. Their scheme to throw him a book signing doesn't go as planned. (Knopf, June 27)

SAVE WHAT’S LEFT by Elizabeth Castellano

When her husband leaves her to "find himself," Kansas City-based Kathleen finds herself a converted oyster shack on the waterfront, drives eastward through the five stages of grief, and becomes "the first person in history to reach acceptance on the Long Island Expressway." Don't miss this hilarious send-up of beach town politics. (Anchor, June 27)

LEXINGTON by Kim Wickens

Scenes of glory at Belmont Park and Aqueduct are among the charms of this nonfiction account of the famous stallion at the center of Geraldine Brooks' novel “Horse.” His winnings at the track are outdone only by his success as a sire — 12 of the 13 winners of the Triple Crown are in his bloodline. (Ballantine, July 11)

CROOK MANIFESTO by Colson Whitehead

Get set for the further adventures of furniture dealer Ray Carney, introduced in “The Harlem Shuffle,” who’s still trying — and failing — to hew to the straight-and-narrow. Both crime novel and social history, the 1970s episodes open with Carney desperate to get his daughter Jackson 5 tickets and end with a Bicentennial celebration. (Doubleday, July 18)

SOMEBODY’S FOOL by Richard Russo

Back to North Bath, New York — except the benighted town has been dissolved and annexed to its successful neighbor, Schuyler Springs. Sully may have left us, but his son, Peter; frenemy Doug Raymer; sidekick Rub, and girlfriend Ruth struggle bravely to improve their lives. And it's also a murder mystery! (Knopf, July 25) 

I’M NOT DONE WITH YOU YET by Jesse Q. Sutanto

This one-sitting, twisty read begins with an estranged friendship between Jane and Thalia, who studied writing together at Oxford University. Now Jane's career is taking on water while Thalia hits the bestseller list with a thriller rooted in their past. Jane hunts Thalia down at a writer's conference — and ends up suspected of murder in Montauk. (Berkley, Aug. 22)