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Readers' Most Anticipated June Books
At the beginning of each calendar month, Goodreads’ editorial team assembles a list of the hottest and most popular new books hitting shelves, actual and virtual. The list is generated by evaluating readers’ early reviews and tracking which titles are being added to Want to Read shelves by Goodreads regulars.
Each month’s curated preview features new books from across the genre spectrum: contemporary fiction, historical fiction, mysteries and thrillers, sci-fi and fantasy, romance, horror, young adult, nonfiction, and more. Think of it as a literary smorgasbord. Check out whatever looks delicious.
New in June: meaningful chance encounters in Ann Patchett’s Whistler, moneyed midlife crises in Jenny Jackson’s The Shampoo Effect, international romance at 30,000 feet in Tia Williams’ The Missed Connection.
Also on tap this month: dilapidated old mansions in the summer fields of Tuscany, organized crime in 1930s New York City, and a new riff on a classic Hitchcock movie.
Each month’s curated preview features new books from across the genre spectrum: contemporary fiction, historical fiction, mysteries and thrillers, sci-fi and fantasy, romance, horror, young adult, nonfiction, and more. Think of it as a literary smorgasbord. Check out whatever looks delicious.
New in June: meaningful chance encounters in Ann Patchett’s Whistler, moneyed midlife crises in Jenny Jackson’s The Shampoo Effect, international romance at 30,000 feet in Tia Williams’ The Missed Connection.
Also on tap this month: dilapidated old mansions in the summer fields of Tuscany, organized crime in 1930s New York City, and a new riff on a classic Hitchcock movie.
Daphne Fuller, 53, has just been reunited with her former stepfather, Eddie Triplett, after a chance meeting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Eddie’s marriage to her mom lasted only a year, when Daphne was nine, but the two formed a powerful bond. Looking back, they get a chance to process the one event that changed both of their lives. Ann Patchett (Bel Canto) returns with a carefully observed story about human connections and the enduring power of love.
Author Maggie O’Farrell delivered an instant classic of historical fiction with her 2020 novel, Hamnet, which eventually turned into one of last year’s biggest and best movies. Her new novel moves the action to 19th-century Ireland where Tomás and his 10-year-old son attempt to map all of Ireland in the wake of the Great Hunger. Also in the mix: a loyal dog, ancient Gaelic folklore, and the inevitably circular patterns of time.
Read our interview with O’Farrell.
Read our interview with O’Farrell.
In a Massachusetts seaside town, a group of old friends approach early middle age with profound reluctance. Houseboats. Parties. Affairs. Consequences. Caroline Lash is the newcomer to this circle of drama, and things get weird—fast. When she exposes some dark secrets, it all gets even weirder. If you liked Jenny Jackson’s 2023 debut, Pineapple Street, her sophomore novel promises a similar vibe of moneyed East Coast drama.
From Cleveland author Sonia Feldman, Girl’s Girl is a coming-of-age story set in the nostalgic warmth of a bright Midwest summer, where there’s nothing much to do and all day to do it. Three teenage friends encounter those first pulses of adolescent desire as Feldman explores queer intimacy and suburban Ohio girl culture. Early readers are saying very nice things about this vivid and evocative debut novel.
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his 2018 novel, Less, author Andrew Sean Greer returns with a fun and funny adventure set in the rolling greenery of the Italian countryside. Our unnamed protagonist has been hired to archive the documents and art in a decaying old Italian villa. The villa’s current owner, an ancient Italian Baroness, just has a few odd jobs she’d like done first—starting with the “antediluvian septic system.” Hijinks ensue. Early readers are loving the book’s quiet wit and endearing characters.
Historical fiction readers will want to flag this one: The author team of Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray (The Personal Librarian) reunite for a story of an unlikely female friendship in 1930s New York City. Assistant district attorney Eunice Carter—the city’s first Black female prosecutor—teams up with high-class madam Polly Adler to take down the notorious crime boss Lucky Luciano. Courageous and determined women taking down corrupt and powerful men? Can’t argue with that.
Jane Trevally is just trying to do the right thing when she returns a lost dog from her country estate to a strange address in London. But when she sees the creepy old house, it triggers some memories from 25 years ago. Dark memories. And who’s that woman in the window? Author Lisa Jewell connects the dots with her latest exercise in atmospheric suspense. Bonus trivia: Returning readers may remember protagonist Jane Trevally from Jewell’s last book, Don’t Let Him In.
Domestic thriller specialist Natalie Barelli (The Housekeeper) earns points for sticking to themes. Her new novel, The Housewife, finds new bride Jodie Davies trapped in her perfect Beverly Hills life when she discovers that her controlling psychologist husband, Roy, has been keeping some unsettling secrets. The stakes are high: Roy’s first wife vanished under dubious circumstances. Jodie should really go to the police, except that might expose some secrets of her own. Marriage! It’s tough!
Mystery fans of a certain intensity will remember that Caitlin Mullen won the Edgar Award for best first novel with her 2021 psychological thriller, Please See Us. For her second book, the New Jersey author moves the action from Atlantic City to the state’s spooky Pine Barrens region. Police Chief Callie Hauser has just made an arrest that promises to crack open an infamous cold case file, concerning teenage sisters who went missing in the 1990s.
If you like your romance novels sprinkled with a little magical realism, check out the latest love story from South Carolina author Ashley Poston (The Seven Year Slip). The Someday Garden introduces readers to Sophie Drear, new head gardener at the famous Lilymoor House. The grounds are going to take some work, but the real challenge is the intermittent magical portal in the hedge maze—and the intriguing man on the other side. The owner’s handsome nephew might be an issue, too.
Brynne Weaver’s dark romance series, The Seasons of Carnage Trilogy, proceeds from a reasonable enough thesis: Serial killers need love, too. This second book continues the swoony, bloody saga of Cape Carnage, the world’s most dangerous seaside resort town. Weaver’s enemies-to-lovers romance takes a turn when a horde of true-crime amateur sleuths threatens to disrupt the killers’ paradise. Heads up that this series features romance, suspense, and dark, dark, dark humor. Check those content warnings!
Tia Williams famously detailed the steamiest summer week in the history of Brooklyn with 2021’s Seven Days in June. Her new novel, The Missed Connection, features a lonesome casting agent, a handsome Italian man, and their chance encounter on a Paris flight. Sasha Cruz is determined to find the man from Seat F and eventually requests some help from friends. But things get really interesting when a private email accidentally goes company-wide. Oopsie.
Fans of the multimedia pop culture sensation that is Heated Rivalry will want to check out Edward Schmit’s debut romance, The Open Era, another queer sports-themed love story—this time in the world of professional tennis. Austin Hardy is the first openly gay man to compete in a Grand Slam event. The media wants to talk about his identity; Austin wants to stay focused. Meanwhile, another distraction arrives in the form of Diego Cruz, the No. 2–ranked player in the world.
Responding to an egregious lack of Breton folklore in the historical fantasy market, author Katherine Arden (The Winternight Trilogy) turns to European history, circa 1490. France is attempting to annex the then-independent kingdom of Brittany. Princess Anne of Brittany, facing a forced marriage to the King of France, has a plan: a secret preemptive betrothal, which involves taking her entire court deep into a forbidden forest to hunt a creature out of legend. Early readers report pleasant twists, so avoid spoilers.
Besides being a strong contender for book cover design of the year, the new novel from author Melissa Albert (The Hazel Wood series) promises an interesting new approach vector to the modern fantasy story. The setup: Guinevere Sharpe and her brother grew up under strange circumstances. Their mother, a world-famous author, wrote them into her popular fantasy books. But the reality at home was…different. Now grown, the two siblings reunite to finally confront their childhood. The Children ponders magic, memory, and fantasy literature itself.
Remember how, in Hitchcock’s Psycho, poor Marion gets stabbed to death in the shower by psychopath Norman Bates? Well, what if that famous shower sequence went the other way? Leah Rowan’s debut novel—a kind of cinematic alt-history thriller—takes Hitchcock’s horror classic and more or less twists its problematic little head off. Rowan rethinks the story from the ground up, Norman is left bleeding on the bathroom tiles, and then things get really interesting.
In this economy, any job is a good job. But Julia Flang has just accepted a very strange temp assignment. She’s to chaperone a dead man from California to the East Coast—a dead man with a super-advanced AI implanted in his head. Meanwhile, the dead man has his own problems, having emerged from a vegetative state into a brand-new kind of technological horror. Veteran author Paul Tremblay channels Philip K. Dick in this darkly funny sci-fi adventure.
Author Isabel J. Kim has won the Nebula, Locus, BSFA, and Shirley Jackson awards for her short fiction. Her ferocious debut novel imagines an alternate universe in which immigrants are split in two upon crossing the border. One copy, called an “instance,” remains behind when the other enters the new country. It worked out well for Soyoung Rose Kang, who left Korea for the U.S. when she was 10. Only now she’s heading back home, where her unhappy “instance” is waiting. Uh-oh.
Young adult mystery readers are invited to the opulent halls of Button Manor, where the world-famous billionaire Leontes Button has just been murdered. Can his five adopted heirs, each one a child prodigy, solve the crime? Important note: Geniuses can be killers, too. Pretty good ones, actually. Author Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (Ace of Spades) ponders some nature-versus-nurture issues lurking just below her locked-room murder mystery.
Scholar and relic hunter Yaseema seeks the one artifact that could save her conquered kingdom—the crown of an ancient Fae Queen. But others are interested in this powerful item, and it’s hard to tell friend from enemy from potential life partner. Early readers are enjoying author Emily Varga’s take on YA romantasy, which includes advanced plot maneuvers, forced-proximity romance, and some double-sided allegory about colonialism and exploitation.
