Five Terrific Novels for Summer 2024
Romance! Vampires! Cats in business suits! Five fun & powerful stories to savor.
Dear friends,
I’m on a plane leaving the very last stop on the launch tour for my novel, Mother-Daughter Murder Night. It’s been a long fall/winter/spring of events, and I’m now gratefully heading into the wilderness to climb rocks, swim in lakes, run up mountains, pick cherries, and work on my next novel. And, of course, I’m reading. I’m always reading.
Summer, for me, is a time of pleasure reads. Dog-eared paperbacks on the beach, audiobooks on long car rides, ebooks devoured late into the night. Over the past year, I’ve read ~100 novels. Here are five of the most memorable. Every one of these five fell somewhat outside my “normal” reading diet—and each was a total delight. All but one are currently available (the last will be released in August). Most can be found at your local bookstore or library. I hope you'll tell me which ones speak to you.
Now, onto the recommendations.
SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE by Tia Williams
Summer’s hot, y’all. And this book is scorching. Seven Days in June is a contemporary romance novel about two African-American writers with an incendiary past. It’s sexy, smart, and complicated. I’m pretty new to reading romance, and this book showed me the incredible range and depth possible in the genre.
LONG BRIGHT RIVER by Liz Moore
I read more mysteries than any other genre, but this is the only crime novel on my list this summer. It’s a more literary story than a straight-ahead whodunnit. Long Bright River is a hard-hitting, powerful family drama about a Philadelphia cop investigating a series of attacks on drug addicts… while looking out for her sister, who is herself an addict. This isn’t an easy book, but it is ultimately hopeful.
OUR MISSING HEARTS by Celeste Ng
Another powerful, gripping family story, this one about a mixed-race family separated by racist policies in a dystopian society. Our Missing Hearts is a speculative novel about the revolutionary power of art. It takes place in a country that is just a few hops away from the America we live in today. It’s propulsive, gorgeously written, and on the shorter side—a beautiful, chilling one-sitting read.
STARTER VILLAIN by John Scalzi
This book is also speculative, short, and a fast read. But it is much sillier than any other book on this list. Starter Villain tells the story of an ordinary man who discovers he is heir to a Bond supervillain’s empire, complete with a volcanic lair and purring sidekick. Scalzi is a funny, inventive writer, and I had a blast with this story. There’s a lot of swearing, but besides that, this could be a fun one to share with kids.
WE LOVE THE NIGHTLIFE by Rachel Koller Croft
I’ve never been a fan of broody vampire dudes. But Rachel Koller Croft reclaims the fangs for the ladies in her terrific new book (coming out this August, but you can preorder now) about a pair of London party girls who want to dance forever or die trying. I loved Rachel Koller Craft's first novel, Stone Cold Fox, and We Love the Nightlife is just as fresh, sexy, irreverent, and wicked, with a brilliant, bloody twist.
That’s my shortlist for summer 2024. If you want more, you can check out the 19 books I recommended last summer. If you have a favorite novel of late, please drop a note about it in the comments (and please include what you liked about it).
I wish you a summer of stories that open new worlds to you.
Love, Nina
p.s. if, like me, you prefer paperbacks, I’m happy to tell you Mother-Daughter Murder Night is coming out in paperback edition on September 3. It is available for pre-order now (aka you can reach out to your favorite bookseller and they will deliver one to you on September 3). The paperback will feature a new map of the key places in the story, drawn by my dear friend Beck Tench.
pp.s. here’s a shot from one of my favorite moments on tour, talking about Mother-Daughter Murder Night with young readers at Santa Cruz High School. I’m not ready yet to fully put words to what I’ve “learned” from this year of dramatic change to my career and life, but I feel so grateful for it… and excited to share more with you soon.
