Books we’re excited to pre-order this summer
The Old Town Books team loves a good book pre-order spree. The joy of making the purchase, knowing it’s going to feel like a gift you gave yourself once it arrives, the excitement leading up to pub day, the anticipation of curling up with your new book and losing yourself in the story—we love it all.
Here are some of the books we’re eagerly waiting for this summer:
Ally:
I’m excited about Flashlight by Susan Choi (published June 3)! And Lisa Jewell’s newest, Don’t Let Him In (published June 24) - totally different books, but ones you can get equally lost in.
Cate:
Is my summer reading motto "give me murder or give me death?" It definitely is...😬 So I can't wait for book number two from Cleménce Michallon (join us for an event celebrating the release of Our Last Resort (out July 8)!) Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox (out July 1) is a perfect Summer thriller set at a sweet sixteen in a Texas mansion that is rumored to be haunted. And then I can't WAIT to kick off spooky season with the new Brynne Weaver, Tourist Season (out Sept. 23)!
Melissa:
I’m looking forward to Troubling Tonsils! By Aaron Reynolds (out Sept. 2). A spin-off chapter series from the CREEPY CARROTS team where Jasper Rabbit tells a scary story about a marmot whose tonsils get the better of him and we get to marvel at more of Peter Brown's film noir-inspired art? Yes please! And Little Alleluias by Mary Oliver (out Sept. 9), of course - MUST OWN ALL THE MARY OLIVER BOOKS.
Kim:
I can’t wait for Accomplice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer (out Aug. 5). The third book in the Assistant and the Villain series between a sunshine assistant who finds herself working for a grumpy villain in a hilarious and heartfelt work place fantasy romance. I'm so excited to continue with this story and these characters! I also want to yell about I Think I’m in Love with an Alien by Ann Aguirre (published June 17)! Strange Love by Aguirre is one of my favorite books of all time and I've been looking forward to her new traditionally-published alien romance for months!
Lane:
I'm nothing if not consistent, so of course I'm excited for a Lesbian Vampire Summer™️! Yes, I've preordered my copy of V.E. Schwab's Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil (out June 10), but why stop there? The Midnight Shift by Seon-Ran Cheon (out Aug. 12) is a Korean bestseller, releasing in-translation in the US this summer. Its complex, mysterious, and bloody good.
Leah:
I am SO excited for Sweet Heat by Bolu Babalola (out Sept. 2). We’re revisiting Kiki and Malakai from 2023’s Honey & Spice—only it’s six years later, and they’ve broken up (I fell to my knees when I read the synopsis). I can’t wait to see them find their way back to each other. I know I’ll laugh, and I’ll probably cry. Bolu Babalola is one of the best romance writers out there.
Sarah:
I’m looking forward to The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai (out Sept. 23). Okay, this upcoming September release from Booker Prize-winning author Kiran Desai is 688 pages long, but hear me out! I relish an immersive, sweeping multi-generational, multi-geographical family epic and I think this one is going to scratch that itch! This is a book about the romance between two young Indian Americans living in Brooklyn and Vermont and delves into the themes of class, race, connection, and loneliness across continents and time. It has already received high praise from Ann Patchett!
I’m also eager to read Fox by Joyce Carol Oates (published June 17). This is another long one, but I’m looking forward to Joyce Carol Oates’ take on dark academia. It’s about the disappearance of a “charismatic, mercurial” teacher from an elite boarding school in New Jersey and explores the questions of justice and complicity. It’s been called eerie, shocking and sinister, yet addictive and beautifully written.
Robyn:
My most anticipated pre-order is The Art of Vanishing by Morgan Pager (out July 1). It's a magical love story about a museum employee who is able to step into the paintings. I can't wait to see what whimsical adventures this book will embark on.
Another book that I’m excitedly waiting for is Dinner with King Tut by Sam Kean (out July 8). I often find myself thinking about what people ate for dinner or what their favorite book was or any of the little things that make a person human when I read history. And this book, described as following a new generation of researchers resurrecting the hidden details of daily life–the tastes, textures, sounds and smells–as they pioneer a new discipline called experimental archaeology, sounds like it’s right up my alley.
Pia:
My most anticipated read is Katabasis by R.F. Kuang (out Aug. 26). Alice in Wonderland meets Dante’s Inferno? Sign me up! Descent to hell? More like descent into madness. Rebecca Kuang knows how to spin a dark academia tale like no other.
Anna:
Mine is A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna (out July 15). A cozy magical realism novel about a witch who lost her powers and is trying to keep up an old magical inn in the English countryside with the help of a quirky set of residents that include a skeleton rooster and a snarky fox.
Isa:
I’m for sure preordering Westfallen: Into the Fire by Ann Brashares (out Sept. 16)! My students and I are only fifty pages into the first one and are already hooked. I can’t wait for the sequel!! I’m also definitely preordering the indie special edition of The Poisoned King by Katherine Rundell (out Sept. 11) , the sequel to Impossible Creatures!! One of the best, most magical books I read this year, period. I recommend it to everyone!!!
Nicole:
I’ve had Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crown by Jessica Townsend (published June 24) preordered for over a year. Nevermoor is the best fantasy series currently in progress and I am on the edge of my seat waiting for the next installment! I also can’t wait for “Vanderpump Rules” star Scheana Shay’s memoir, My Good Side (out July 22), where she promises to spill all the secrets behind the scandalous show.