The Last Shelf of Summer

Finish strong with the season's best books

There's something about summer reading. It's more than a pastime. It's an obsession. We want to get lost in our beach books and spend the lingering evening daylight eagerly turning pages in our backyard hammocks. Close out your summer with the season's hottest books.

General fiction

My Friends by Fredrik Backman

The bestselling author of A Man Called Ove and Anxious People returns with the funny and moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger's life twenty-five years later.

James by Percival Everett

This Pulitzer Prize winner is headed for the big screen (courtesy of Spielberg). The brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view, is both harrowing and darkly humorous.

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

A love triangle unearths dangerous, deadly secrets from the past in this thrilling novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences. It's a sweeping love story perfect for fans of Where the Crawdads Sing.

The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb

Corby Ledbetter is already struggling when he causes the tragedy that tears his family apart and lands him in prison. This propulsive novel traces the young father's search for hope, redemption, and the possibility of forgiveness.

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

In this unputdownable thrill ride of a novel, astronomer Joan Goodwin is selected as one of the first women to join NASA's 1980s space shuttle program. The experience will forever change the trajectory of her life.

The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

Hai is a troubled Vietnamese-American teenager; Grazina, an elderly widow suffering from dementia. Their unlikely connection gives them both a lifeline in this bighearted novel about unexpected friendship and chosen family.

Romance

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

When Phoebe arrives at the grand Cornwell Inn, everyone assumes she's there for the wedding. At turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, this resonant novel explores the winding paths in life that take us to places we never imagined.

One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune

Alice was seventeen and staying at a lake cottage with her grandmother, when she took the photo that would launch her career. Years later, she's back for another summer in that magical place. And so is Charlie, the subject of that photo.

The Pumpkin Spice Café by Laurie Gilmore

When Jeanie's aunt gifts her a cozy café in a small coastal town, Jeanie jumps at the chance for a fresh start. This is the first cozy romance in the bestselling Dream Harbor series, a BookTok sensation.

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Margaret Ives, a reclusive octogenarian heiress, invites two authors to compete for the chance to tell her story. Optimistic striver Alice and Pulitzer Prize-winning thundercloud Hayden may be polar opposites, but a lot can happen in a month.

Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter

After just a few months together, Wes's fledgling relationship with Liz is derailed by sudden tragedy. In the sequel to Better Than the Movies, the two struggle to find their way back to one another while adjusting to college life.

A Mother's Love by Danielle Steel

In this suspenseful read, Halley is a devoted mother still processing her own childhood trauma at fifty. Adjusting to an empty nest after her twin girls move to L.A. and facing her first holiday alone in Manhattan, she books a trip to Paris.

Fantasy and sci-fi

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, twice as many tributes will be taken. In District 12, Haymitch is trying not to think about it and just focusing on being with the girl he loves.

The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst

Terlu Perna, introduced in The Spellshop, gets her own story in this cozy romantic fantasy. The lonely witch finds herself on a faraway island brimming with singing flowers, honey cakes, and a grumpy gardener struggling to keep his plants alive.

Watch Me by Tahereh Mafi

Brimming with pulse-pounding action and torturous romance, this exhilarating new series returns to the breathtaking dystopian world of the bestselling Shatter Me universe ten years after the fall of The Reestablishment.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab

This epic horror thriller from the author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue weaves together the stories of three young women across centuries, continents, and cultures. It's a slow-burn melodrama about immortality and hunger.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Even though it came out in 2021, this interstellar journey is still flying off the shelves. The story of a lone astronaut trying to save Earth is soon to be a major motion picture starring Ryan Gosling. Maybe that has something to do with it? 

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there's no more time for lessons. Because the battle has truly begun. Book three in the blockbuster Empyrean series sees Violet embarking on a critical mission.

Thriller and horror

Glorious Rivals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Seven players arrived on Hawthorne Island, each with their own secrets and motivations to win. The stakes get higher, the game gets twistier, and everything heats up in this heart-stopping sequel to The Grandest Game.

Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson

At twenty-seven, Jet's been waiting for her life to begin. But after a violent attack by an unseen intruder, doctors predict her imminent death leaving her just one week to solve her own murder.

Never Flinch by Stephen King

The beloved recluse-turned-detective Holly Gibney does double duty against two potent threats in intertwining storylines—a diabolical killer on a revenge mission and a vigilante targeting a feminist celebrity speaker.

The Tenant by Freida McFadden

Abruptly fired, Blake Porter is hard-pressed to make mortgage payments on the brownstone he shares with his fiancée. Enter the beautiful, charming Whitney looking to rent a room. She's exactly what Blake's looking for. Or is she?

Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts

Newly single and recovering from a near-fatal shooting in her parents' peaceful home, officer Sloane Cooper may be down, but she's not out. So when a local woman vanishes, Sloane investigates, uncovering a disturbing pattern.

An Inside Job by Daniel Silva

Art restorer and legendary spy Gabriel Allon has landed a prestigious commission in Venice. But after discovering the body of a mysterious woman, he finds himself in a desperate race to recover a lost masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci.

You may have noticed that these volumes weren't necessarily published this summer (or even this year!), but they're the books that have been captivating readers all season long. Did we miss any of your favorite reads from the summer?  

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Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon