Books for wherever summer takes you. Beach blanket optional.
These are the fiction titles our reviewers liked best this month.
尝补苍诲,听by Maggie O鈥橣arrell (Knopf)
Maggie O鈥橣arrell鈥檚 magnificent historical novel 鈥淟and鈥� is a powerful epic about a remote Irish peninsula and its beleaguered peoples. Set in the aftermath of the Great Hunger, the narrative focuses on the family of a surveyor and cartographer named Tom谩s. He has been hired by the British Ordnance Survey to map the territory and record the loss of hundreds of Irish tenant households following the potato blight. Lushly written and heartbreaking, the novel is also a moving paean to perseverance and survival. 鈥� Heller McAlpin
Why We Wrote This
Summer reading season is here with shady-chair-ready books that expand imaginations and enrich understanding. In nonfiction, innovation blooms 鈥� from the first all-star baseball game to a 1909 cross-country car race to the man who laid the first transatlantic cable.
Green City Wars,听by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor)
Skotch isn鈥檛 merely a raccoon. The world-weary protagonist of 鈥淕reen City Wars鈥� is a freelance investigator with a job to do 鈥� locate and deliver a mouse to his former employer before warring squirrel armies, or the rat gangster boss, or a weasel enforcer grab him first. Sound crazy? Part noir, part 鈥淎nimal Farm,鈥� the latest from Adrian Tchaikovsky envisions a world where genetically engineered animals provide the (mostly) unseen labor powering humans鈥� harmonious eco-dreamland. Feathers ruffle and the fur flies as vexing questions about exploitation, addiction, and the privilege of independent thought loom in the shadows. Tchaikovsky鈥檚 world-building dazzles.听鈥� Erin Douglass
An Artful Dodge,听by Karen Odden (Soho Crime)
This unusual historical novel set in Victorian London revolves around a notorious ring of women thieves. Virtuoso cat burglar Kit Jimeson yearns to escape the gang鈥檚 dangerous lifestyle and protect her beloved younger sister from joining. When treacherous Maggie O鈥機onnell, leader of the gang, returns from prison, she resents Kit鈥檚 standing with the group. 鈥淎n Artful Dodge鈥� offers a surprisingly moving tale with loyal and courageous characters.听鈥� Stefanie Milligan
A Pair of Aces,听by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray (Berkley)
In 1930s New York, two women from very different milieus 鈥� a prosecutor and a brothel owner 鈥� team up to topple mob boss Lucky Luciano. The novel is based on the true story of Eunice Carter, Manhattan鈥檚 assistant district attorney (and first Black female prosecutor). While Carter鈥檚 collaboration with high-class madam Polly Adler (a real person) is fictional, both women blazed trails in hostile environments.听鈥� Stefanie Milligan听 听
Murder at the Spirit Lounge,听by Jess Kidd (Atria Books)
In Jess Kidd鈥檚 terrific second mystery featuring former nun Nora Breen, a s茅ance for six becomes one unholy mess. A 鈥渨orld-renowned medium鈥� has been murdered while doing the hard (and apparently lucrative) work of 鈥渓ifting the veil between worlds.鈥� From an alluring actress to a gruff colonel, the gathering鈥檚 motley attendees can鈥檛 explain what happened 鈥� and then, one by one, start meeting inexplicable ends themselves. Ever curious, Nora teams up with Detective Inspector Rideout, himself an attendee, to uncover the truth. The writing is stellar; the message of partnership vanquishing vindictiveness a balm.听鈥� Erin Douglass
Leave and Come Back,听by Lavanya Lakshmi (Pamela Dorman Books)
Lavanya Lakshmi鈥檚 sparkling rom-com finds Simran鈥檚 love interest, Leo, unintentionally crashing her cousin鈥檚 two-week wedding festivities in New Jersey. Worried that her judgmental Aunt Veema will reject Leo, Simran enlists her cousins鈥� help in a scheme straight out of a Bollywood movie. Their aim: Make Leo the most helpful and appreciative wedding guest ever, so that he will win Veema over and be accepted into the family. The novel turns grief and misunderstandings into life-affirming renewal.听鈥� Stefanie Milligan听
Moonlight Murder,听by Uzma Jalaluddin (Harper Perennial)
Uzma Jalaluddin鈥檚 eloquent sequel to 鈥淒etective Aunty鈥� is a bona fide cozy murder mystery hit! South Asian-Canadian detective Aunty Kausar Khan is impelled to investigate another murder in Toronto 鈥� this time linked to one of her granddaughters. Double doses of intrigue arise, as clues pile up that inspire Kausar to finally solve who killed her son, Ali, 20 years ago.听鈥� Stefanie Milligan听
These are the nonfiction titles our reviewers liked best.
Stalin鈥檚 Apostles,听by Antonia Senior (PublicAffairs)
Antonia Senior鈥檚 鈥淪talin鈥檚 Apostles鈥� revisits the infamous Cambridge Five spy ring, a cadre of posh Englishmen who infiltrated the upper ranks of Britain鈥檚 clubby midcentury establishment 鈥� and funneled mountains of secrets straight to the Kremlin before their unmasking in 1951. The noxious mix of English manners, left-wing idealism, and cold-blooded betrayal has long captivated the public. But Senior鈥檚 new account strips the spies of romantic glamor, focusing instead on the devastating human costs of their treachery and how they aided Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in building a brutal empire.听鈥� Bryn Stole
The Wreck of the Mentor,听by Eric Jay Dolin (Liveright)
An American whaling ship is lost at sea in a fierce storm, and the survivors wash up on a small speck of land in a remote corner of the Pacific. In their bid to survive, they will face unimaginable hardships and challenges, not the least of which include clashes with different groups of Pacific Islanders. More broadly, this is a story of what happened when the economic growth and expansion of the West collided with traditional cultures that were, for good reason, deeply suspicious of newcomers.听鈥撎齌erry W. Hartle
The First All-Star Game,听by Randall Sullivan (Atlantic Monthly Press)
In 1933, the United States was reeling from a market crash and an assassination attempt on the president. Baseball, still in its fledgling days, was sinking under the influence of gamblers and gangsters, even as the athleticism of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig drove the sport to new heights. A Chicago journalist was so dedicated to the idea of bringing all the best players to one game in Comiskey Park that he promised to cover any losses with his own paycheck. The result was the first All-Star Game 鈥� a home run for both baseball and a nation yearning for hope.听鈥� Kendra Nordin Beato
Lightning Beneath the Sea,听by James M. Tabor (W. W. Norton & Company)
Though little known today, New Yorker Cyrus Field became a global celebrity in the 19th century after he assembled a scientific dream team to lay the first transatlantic telegraph cable. The technology allowed messages between continents to travel within minutes. That great leap forward, and the glory and complications it created in its wake, are at the heart of James M. Tabor鈥檚 sweeping chronicle of the birth of the global communications age.听鈥撎鼶anny Heitman
The Long Revolution,听by Nathan Perl-Rosenthal (Basic Books)
Before the Fourth of July became associated with fireworks and barbecues, it was a day for debating the American experiment in self-government: For the nation鈥檚 first 100 years, the centerpiece of the annual celebration was a public oration assessing the health of the country鈥檚 founding ideals. Using 2,500 surviving speeches as source material 鈥� and citing abolitionist Frederick Douglass鈥� 1852 address as a masterpiece of the form 鈥� historian Nathan Perl-Rosenthal presents a compelling vision of a Revolution that early generations of Americans viewed as fragile and incomplete.听鈥撎鼴arbara Spindel
The Beasts of the East,听by Andrew Moore (Mariner Books)
Environmental journalist Andrew Moore explores citizen-driven efforts to restore the once-verdant ecosystems of the eastern United States and draw near-extinct species back to their native habitats. He examines firsthand the return of buffalo and bison, as well as sandhill cranes to areas once decimated by industrialization and suburban sprawl. And while these initiatives are not without challenges, Moore鈥檚 meticulous research, conveyed in engaging prose, also restores a sense of hope.听鈥撎齁oan Gaylord
The Hardest, Longest Race,听by Eric Moskowitz (St. Martin's Press)
Automobiles were still a novelty in 1909, and paved roads were something of a rarity, too. That made for a precarious odyssey when the moneyed rake Robert Guggenheim decided to stage a cross-country car race from New York City to Seattle, a contest that author Eric Moskowitz chronicles with voluminous research and wry humor. Fans of great summer road trips will find his story irresistible.听鈥� Danny Heitman