Beach Read by Emily Henry (Berkley)
January Andrews and Augustus Everett couldn’t be more different. January is a bestselling romance author, and Augustus writes highbrow literary fiction. But when they both find themselves with writers’ block and living in neighboring beach houses, they agree to a challenge to shake something loose. As Augustus attempts a romance novel and January the next great American novel, each is forced to let the other show them a different side of life and writing. (Available now.)
Weird But Normal by Mia Mercado (HarperOne)
Popular essayist Mia Mercado pulls together her most awkward, weird, humorous, and all-too-relatable stories in her debut essay collection. Exploring everything from her depression and current beauty standards to racial identity (Mercado is biracial) and quitting the job that makes you want to drink, she perfectly depicts millennial life in a way that’s both hilarious and deeply personal. (Available now.)
Some Go Home by Odie Lindsey (W. W. Norton & Company)
In Nashvillian Odie Lindsey’s debut novel, three generations of Mississippians grapple with a decades-old murder. While Hare Hobbs faces retrial for the crime, Doc and Jessica, descendants of the victim, are left trying to build a life in its wake. As class and race get twisted up in the mission for justice, the entire town is forced to reckon with the truth. (Available July 21.)
Westside Saints by W. M. Akers (Harper Voyager)
In his debut novel, Nashville native W. M. Akers brings readers the story of Gilda Carr, a private detective working on her strangest—and most personal—case yet. It’s 1922 and Akers’ reimagined West side of Manhattan has erupted in a civil war. Gilda is hired to recover a relic when her mother, supposedly dead, resurfaces out of nowhere. Now Gilda must find out what brought her mother back to life. (Available now.)