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Coming Soon

Curious about what books will be released in the months ahead so you can pre-order or reserve them? Then click on the months below.

Please note we have not included every book that is coming out, but rather some that caught our eye --- and that we thought should catch yours as well.

June 2021

Paperback

A Star Is Bored by Byron Lane - Fiction, Humor

St. Martin's Griffin | 9781250266507 | Published June 15, 2021

Charlie Besson is tense and sweating as he prepares for a wild job interview. His car is idling, like his life, outside the Hollywood mansion of Kathi Kannon, star of stage and screen and People magazine’s Worst Dressed list. She's an actress in need of assistance, and he's adrift and in need of a lifeline. Kathi is an icon, bestselling author and award-winning movie star, most known for her role as Priestess Talara in a blockbuster sci-fi film. She’s also known in another role: Outrageous Hollywood royalty. Charlie gets the job, and his three-year odyssey is filled with late-night shopping sprees, last-minute trips to see the aurora borealis, and an initiation to that most sacred of Hollywood tribes: the personal assistant. But Kathi becomes much more than a boss, and as their friendship grows, Charlie must make a choice.

An Elegant Woman by Martha McPhee - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

Scribner | 9781501179587 | Published June 15, 2021

As Isadora, a novelist, and two of her sisters sift through the artifacts of their forebears’ lives, trying to decide what to salvage and what to toss, the story shifts to a winter day in 1910 at a train station in Ohio. Two girls wait in the winter cold with their mother --- the mercurial Glenna Stewart --- to depart for a new life in the West. As Glenna campaigns in Montana for women’s suffrage and teaches in one-room schoolhouses, Tommy takes care of her little sister, Katherine: trapping animals, begging, keeping house and cooking, while Katherine goes to school. When Katherine graduates, Tommy makes a decision that will change the course of both of their lives.

Bear Necessity by James Gould-Bourn - Fiction

Scribner | 9781982128302 | Published June 15, 2021

Danny has become a single father to 11-year-old Will --- who hasn’t spoken since the death of his mother in a car crash a year earlier --- and has just been fired from his construction job. To make matters worse, he’s behind on the rent and his nasty landlord is threatening to break his legs if he doesn’t pay soon. After observing local street performers in a nearby park, Danny spends his last few dollars on a tattered panda costume, impulsively deciding to become a dancing bear. While performing one day, Danny spots his son in the park and chases off the older boys who are taunting him. Will opens up for the first time since his mother’s death, unaware that the man in the panda costume is his father.

Bright Precious Thing: A Memoir by Gail Caldwell - Memoir, Nonfiction

Random House Trade Paperbacks | 9780525510079 | Published June 15, 2021

Gail Caldwell traces a path from her west Texas girlhood through her emergence as a young daredevil, then as a feminist --- a journey that reflected seismic shifts in the culture itself. Caldwell’s travels took her to California and Mexico and dark country roads, and the dangers she encountered were rivaled only by the personal demons she faced. BRIGHT PRECIOUS THING is the captivating story of a woman’s odyssey, her search for adventure giving way to something more profound: the evolution of a writer and a woman, a struggle to embrace one’s life as a precious thing.

Broken Genius by Drew Murray - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Oceanview Publishing | 9781608094394 | Published June 15, 2021

In 2011, Will Parker, the young prodigy CEO of a big tech company, makes a coding mistake that costs a college student her life. To assuage his guilt, he pursues a career in the FBI Cyber Division. Now, Special Agent Will Parker is called to investigate a murder scene at a Comic Con event, where the victim has ties to a radioactive quantum computer that Will was working on before he left his gig as CEO. He discovers the victim was holding an auction for the computer on the Dark Web --- and the bidding is still live. With bidders including a legendary Chinese hacker, Russian criminals sent by the Kremlin, and a corporate executive desperate to escape a scandal, Will once again finds a life in his hands when the victim’s daughter is taken hostage.

Make Russia Great Again by Christopher Buckley - Fiction, Satire

Simon & Schuster | 9781982157470 | Published June 15, 2021

Herb Nutterman never intended to become Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff. Herb served the Trump Organization for 27 years, holding jobs in everything from a food and beverage manager at the Trump Magnifica to being the first general manager of the Trump Bloody Run Golf Course. And when his old boss asks “his favorite Jew” to take on the daunting role of chief of staff, Herb, spurred on by loyalty, agrees. But being the chief of staff is a lot different from being a former hospitality expert. Soon, Herb finds himself deeply involved in Russian intrigue, deflecting rumors about Mike Pence’s high school involvement in a Satanic cult, and leading President Trump’s reelection campaign.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - Fantasy, Fiction, Gothic, Horror

Del Rey | 9780525620808 | Published June 15, 2021

After receiving a frantic letter from her newly wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She is not sure what she will find --- her cousin’s husband is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region. Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but also might be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. Their once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper, she unearths stories of violence and madness. And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.

Notes on a Silencing: A Memoir by Lacy Crawford - Memoir, Nonfiction

Little, Brown and Company | 9780316491532 | Published June 15, 2021

When NOTES ON A SILENCING hit bookstores in the summer of 2020, even amidst a global pandemic, it sent shockwaves through the country. Not only did this intimate investigative memoir usher in a media storm of coverage, it also prompted the elite St. Paul's School to issue a formal apology to the author, Lacy Crawford, for its handling of her report of sexual assault by two fellow students nearly 30 years ago. In this searing book, Crawford tells the story of coming forward during the state investigation of the elite New England prep school decades after her assault, only to find for the first time evidence that corroborated her memories. This revelation launched Crawford on an extraordinary inquiry deep into gender, privilege and power, and the ways that shame and guilt are used to silence victims.

On Ocean Boulevard by Mary Alice Monroe - Fiction, Women's Fiction

Gallery Books | 9781982147006 | Published June 15, 2021

It’s been 16 years since Caretta “Cara” Rutledge has returned home to the beautiful shores of Charleston, South Carolina. Over those years, she has weathered the tides of deaths and births, struggles and joys. And now, as Cara prepares for her second wedding, her life is about to change yet again. Meanwhile, the rest of the storied Rutledge family is also in flux. Cara’s niece, Linnea, returns to Sullivan’s Island to begin a new career and an unexpected relationship. Linnea’s parents, having survived bankruptcy, pin their hopes and futures on the construction of a new home on Ocean Boulevard. But as excitement over the house and wedding builds, a devastating illness strikes the family and brings plans to a screeching halt.

Seven Lies by Elizabeth Kay - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller, Women's Fiction

Penguin Books | 9781984879738 | Published June 15, 2021

Growing up, Jane and Marnie shared everything. They knew the other's deepest secrets. They wouldn't have had it any other way. But when Marnie falls in love, things begin to change. Because Jane has a secret: she loathes Marnie's wealthy, priggish husband. So when Marnie asks if she likes him, Jane tells her first lie. After all, even best friends keep some things to themselves. If she had been honest, then perhaps her best friend's husband might still be alive today. SEVEN LIES is Jane's confession of the truth --- her truth.

Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan - Fiction

Penguin Books | 9780143136392 | Published June 15, 2021

In 1973, 20-year-old Moll Gladney takes a morning bus from her rural home in Ireland and disappears. Bewildered and distraught, Paddy and Kit must confront an unbearable prospect: that they will never see their daughter again. Five years later, Moll returns from London. What --- and who --- she brings with her will change the course of her family's life forever.

The Brittanys by Brittany Ackerman - Fiction, Women's Fiction

Vintage | 9780593311738 | Published June 15, 2021

They're not the most popular freshmen at their Florida prep school, but at least everyone knows their name(s). The Brittanys. Brittany Rosenberg drives her golf cart around her subdivision to meet boys. Brittany Gottlieb insists you can't lose your virginity if you haven't gotten your period. (She heard it somewhere!). Brittany Tomassi is from New York. Brittany Jensen once threw her tampon into a stranger's swimming pool. She is the greatest person in the whole wide world --- at least as far as the fifth Brittany, our narrator, is concerned. Even within their friend group, she and Jensen are a duo. But Jensen's interests may be diverging from her friends'. And within our narrator's own family, life-changing events may be taking shape --- events that only years later, she has the perspective to see.

The Buddhist on Death Row: How One Man Found Light in the Darkest Place by David Sheff - Biography, Nonfiction

Simon & Schuster | 9781982128487 | Published June 15, 2021

While in San Quentin, serving a sentence for armed robbery, Jarvis Jay Masters was set up for the murder of a guard --- a conviction that landed him on death row, where he’s been since 1990. At the time of his murder trial, he was held in solitary confinement, torn by rage and anxiety, felled by headaches, seizures and panic attacks. A criminal investigator repeatedly offered to teach him breathing exercises, which he initially refused --- but then desperation caused him to change his mind. David Sheff describes Masters’ gradual but profound transformation from a man dedicated to hurting others to one who has prevented violence on the prison yard, counseled high school kids by mail, and helped prisoners --- and even guards --- find meaning in their lives.

The Dilemma by B. A. Paris - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

St. Martin's Griffin | 9781250151377 | Published June 15, 2021

It’s Livia’s 40th birthday, and her husband Adam is throwing her the party of a lifetime to make up for the wedding they never had. Everyone she loves will be there, except her daughter Marnie, who’s studying abroad. But Livia is secretly glad Marnie won’t be there. Livia has recently uncovered a secret about their daughter that, if revealed, will shake the foundation of their family to its core. She needs to tell Adam, but she’s waiting until the party is over so they can have this last happy time together. Adam, meanwhile, has his own surprise for Livia: he’s arranged for Marnie to secretly fly back for the party. But before Marnie arrives, Adam hears some terrible news. Now he too is faced with a dilemma: Does he share what he's learned with his wife? Is hiding the truth the same as telling a lie?

The Dragons, the Giant, the Women: A Memoir by Wayétu Moore - Memoir, Nonfiction

Graywolf Press | 9781644450567 | Published June 15, 2021

When Wayétu Moore turns five years old, her father and grandmother throw her a big birthday party at their home in Monrovia, Liberia, while her mother works and studies in faraway New York. Before she gets the reunion her father promised her, war breaks out in Liberia. The family is forced to flee their home on foot, walking and hiding for three weeks until they arrive in the village of Lai. Finally, a rebel soldier smuggles them across the border to Sierra Leone, reuniting the family and setting them off on yet another journey, this time to the United States. THE DRAGONS, THE GIANT, THE WOMEN recounts this harrowing journey in Moore’s early childhood, her years adjusting to life in Texas as a Black woman and an immigrant, and her eventual return to Liberia.

The Geometry of Holding Hands: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel by Alexander McCall Smith - Fiction, Mystery

Anchor | 9780593081235 | Published June 15, 2021

Just when Isabel and Jamie finally seem to have some time to connect and unwind, a wealthy Edinburgh resident comes to Isabel with an unusual request --- he would like her to become the executor of his large Highland estate. He has only a short time to live and, without any direct heirs, is struggling to determine which of his three cousins would be the best caretaker. Should the estate go to the bohemian artist, the savvy city property developer, or the quiet, unassuming bachelor? All the while, Isabel is also busy helping her niece, Cat, who, though perennially unlucky in love, appears to have finally found her match in the leonine Leo. But Isabel is beginning to suspect that Leo might be interested in more than Cat’s charms --- namely, her access to the family trust.

The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda - Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller, Women's Fiction

Simon & Schuster | 9781501165436 | Published June 15, 2021

Arden Maynor was just a child when she was swept away while sleepwalking during a terrifying rainstorm and went missing for days. Against all odds, she was found, alive, clinging to a storm drain. The girl from Widow Hills was a living miracle. Arden’s mother wrote a book, and fame followed. As soon as she was old enough, Arden changed her name and disappeared from the public eye. Now a young woman living hundreds of miles away, she goes by Olivia. But with the 20th anniversary of her rescue approaching, the media will inevitably renew its interest in Arden. Soon Olivia feels like she’s being watched and begins sleepwalking again, like she did long ago, even waking outside her home. Until late one night she jolts awake in her yard. At her feet is the corpse of a man she knows --- from her previous life, as Arden Maynor.

The Lost Diary of Venice by Margaux DeRoux - Fiction, Romance

Ballantine Books | 9781984819505 | Published June 15, 2021

In the wake of her father’s death, Rose Newlin finds solace in her work as a book restorer. Then, one rainy Connecticut afternoon, a struggling painter appears at her door. William Lomazzo brings with him a 16th-century treatise on art, which Rose quickly identifies as a palimpsest: a document written over a hidden diary that had purposely been scraped away. Yet the restoration sparks an unforeseen challenge when William --- a married man --- and Rose experience an instant, unspoken attraction. Soon they are forced to confront the reality of their own mystifying connection.

When You Find Me by P. J. Vernon - Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Crooked Lane Books | 9781643851730 | Published June 15, 2021

Visiting her family’s South Carolina estate, socialite Gray Godfrey wakes from a night out to an empty bed. Her husband Paul is gone, and a thrashing hangover has wiped her memory clean. At first, she’s relieved for the break from her tumultuous marriage. But when his car is found abandoned on the highway, Gray must face the truth: Paul is gone. When a stranger named Annie calls claiming to know Paul’s whereabouts, Gray reluctantly accepts her help. But this ally is not what she seems: soon Annie is sending frightening messages and revealing disturbing secrets only Gray could know. As Annie’s threats escalate and Gray’s grip on reality begins to slip, the life she thought she had and the dark truth she’s been living begin to merge.

2207 South Green Road by Janice C. Spector - Fiction

Two Bairns Press | 9781736706411 | Published June 22, 2021

In 1961 suburban Cleveland, 10-year-old Edna hides in her bedroom closet, avoiding her disdainful father and distracted mother. Grandma Becky is a shrewd woman who manages her husband Morris' successful floor-scraping business. Although Becky appears to be in charge, she's consumed by hypochondriacal fantasies, and her secrecy leads her sisters Ceal and Libby to suspect something sinister. After discovering a stash of cash and a bedroom full of state-of-the-art medical equipment, they ultimately uncover her addiction to a cocktail of Percocet, Darvon and paregoric. But when people start dropping dead for no apparent reason, things take a darker turn --- and then a shocking event changes everything.

A Private Cathedral: A Dave Robicheaux Novel by James Lee Burke - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Simon & Schuster | 9781982151690 | Published June 22, 2021

The Shondell and Balangie families are longtime enemies in the New Iberia criminal underworld and show each other no mercy. Yet their youngest heirs, Johnny Shondell and Isolde Balangie, have fallen in love and run away after Isolde was given as a sex slave to Johnny’s uncle. As he seeks to uncover why, Detective Dave Robicheaux gets too close to both Isolde’s mother and the mistress of her father, a venomous New Orleans mafioso whose jealousy has no bounds. In retribution, he hires a mysterious assassin to go after Robicheaux and his longtime partner, Clete Purcel. In order to defeat the hitman and rescue Johnny and Isolde, Robicheaux will have to overcome the demons that have tormented him throughout his adult life.

All of Us by A. F. Carter - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Grove Press | 9780802149442 | Published June 22, 2021

ALL OF US is a riveting thriller with six compelling protagonists --- who all share one body. Though legally she is Carolyn Grand, in practice she is Martha, a homemaker who cooks and cleans for her “family”; Victoria, a put-together people person; Serena, a free spirit; Kirk, a heterosexual man; Eleni, a promiscuous risk-taker; and Tina, a manifestation of what is left of Carolyn after years of childhood sexual abuse. As they jockey for control of their body, all the personalities also work together to avoid being committed to a psychiatric facility. However, Carolyn’s tenuous normal is shattered when Hank Grand, the man who abused her and leased her out to pedophiles, is released from prison. And when Hank is killed in a seedy hotel room, Carolyn is immediately a prime suspect. But are any of her personalities capable of murder?

Brontë’s Mistress by Finola Austin - Fiction, Historical Fiction

Atria Books | 9781982137243 | Published June 22, 2021

Yorkshire, 1843: Lydia Robinson has tragically lost her precious young daughter and her mother within the same year. She returns to her bleak home, grief-stricken and unmoored. All of that changes with the arrival of her son’s tutor, Branwell Brontë, brother of her daughters’ governess, Miss Anne Brontë, and those other writerly sisters, Charlotte and Emily. Branwell has his own demons to contend with --- including living up to the ideals of his intelligent family --- but his presence is a breath of fresh air for Lydia. A love of poetry, music and theater bring mistress and tutor together, and Branwell’s colorful tales of his sisters’ imaginative worlds form the backdrop for seduction. But their new passion comes with consequences.

Clean Hands by Patrick Hoffman - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Grove Press | 9780802149114 | Published June 22, 2021

Elizabeth Carlyle’s prestigious New York law firm is working on the most high-stakes case in company history, defending a prominent bank. When Elizabeth gets the news that one of her junior associates has lost his phone --- and the secret documents that were on it --- she desperately needs help. Enter ex-CIA officer Valencia Walker, a high-priced fixer who gets called in when governments, corporations and plutocrats need their problems solved discretely. But things get complicated when the missing phone is retrieved: somebody has already copied the documents, and now they’re blackmailing the firm. The situation gets murkier still when stories about the documents start appearing in the press and a tragic suicide seems staged, hinting that darker forces may be churning below the surface.

Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Penguin Books | 9781984879370 | Published June 22, 2021

While on her daily walk with her dog in a secluded woods, a woman comes across a note, handwritten and carefully pinned to the ground by stones. "Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn't me. Here is her dead body." But there is no dead body. With very little to go on, our narrator invents a list of murder suspects and possible motives for the crime. Oddly, her suppositions begin to find correspondences in the real world, and the fog of mystery starts to fade into menacing certainty. As her investigation widens, strange dissonances accrue, perhaps associated with the darkness in her own past. We must face the prospect that there is either an innocent explanation for all this or a much more sinister one.