These new reads will distract you from the heat during the day and keep you reading well past your bedtime. These include a nice mix of drama and mystery.
1. Do Not Become Alarmed by Malie Meloy
The sun is shining, the sea is blue, the children have disappeared.
Everyone is delighted when Liv and Nora take their families on a cruise. The adults enjoy the relaxation and the four children—ages six to eleven—love the food and their independence. When they disembark in Central America, a series of minor events leads the families farther from the safety of the ship. Then suddenly the children are gone. The story is told from the perspectives of both the adults and the children. The adults become helpless and the children learn their own strengths.
2. The People We Hate at the Wedding by Grant Ginder
Enjoy this family drama with sharp humor and tender moments. Families are complicated and weddings can bring out the best and worst in those we love.
“Family dysfunction at its best. This novel is addicting and entertaining and I couldn’t put it down!” Jennifer Close, New York Times bestselling author of Girls in White Dresses and The Hopefuls.
3. The Destroyers by Christopher Bollen
After his father’s death, Ian Bledsoe turns to his childhood friend Charlie for emotional and financial support. At first this rich, exuberant friend seems to provide the solutions to Ian’s troubles. Then Charlie disappears and Ian begins his suspenseful journey exploring identity and deception.
“The Destroyers is one superb novel, a tightly woven and fast-moving narrative set in beautifully crafted prose. A read-all-night of a book.” —Alan Furst, author of A Hero of France
4. Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland
“Science fiction author Stephenson joins forces with historical novelist Galland in this exuberant time-hopping adventure. Military intelligence expert Tristan Lyons possesses ancient documents that prove magic, now extinct, was commonplace until the mid-19th century, bringing translator Melisande Stokes in to help with the project. The duo is joined by a Hungarian witch, an eccentric physicist and his wife, a jargon-spouting bureaucrat, and a rollicking group of historical figures, all navigating the strands of time. The combination of technology, history and humor will have readers racing through the pages as quickly as the D.O.D.O. (Department of Diachronic Operations) team hops through time. Quantum physics has never been this fun or this funny.” –Library Journal
5. The Force by Don Winslow
This novel looks at what cops do right and what they do wrong. As the story begins, Denny Malone is in jail, stripped of his gun and badge. The story moves back and forward in time, showing how Malone and his team attacked drugs and guns with little regard for protocols, procedures or even the law.
“Shocking authenticity is the lifeblood of Don Winslow’s The Force. I stopped everything I was doing to read it straight through. Detective Sergeant Denny Malone takes us on a searing journey through the corruption that lies at the heart of our justice system. I wish I’d written it!” –Greg Iles, author of Mississippi Blood
See more of Jennifer’s fiction suggestions
Jennifer Jones
I’m the library’s fiction selector and I’ve been suggesting new books to library and bookmobile customers for over 17 years. I keep up on all the new book reviews, and my favorite question is “What are you reading?” I love to talk about books and to read books. I like to tell library customers, “Try something new. If you don’t like it, at least the price is right!”