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You may not have any required summer reading lists as an adult, but you can still choose to spend the hotter months with your nose in a book. Books are excellent beach companions, or they can keep you company as you escape the midsummer sun. This July, expect tantalizing book releases, including a collection of politically themed essays, a historical fiction/sci-fi mashup, and a new horror story by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
‘I Want to Burn This Place Down’ by Maris Kreizman
Cultural critic Maris Kreizman tackles a bevy of heady topics in her debut essay collection, “I Want to Burn This Place Down”, including “losing faith in American institutions and finding power in transformative rage,” said Time. In her “politically charged” essays, she shares her thoughts on the idea of a “good Democrat,” her progressive move further toward the political left in her 40s and “being a former goody two-shoes who now believes you have to break a few rules to make this world a more equitable place.” The collection is “gentler than its title suggests” and an “intelligent and entertaining read,” said Kirkus Reviews. (out now, $25, Amazon; $22, Harper Collins)
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‘Archive of Unknown Universes’ by Ruben Reyes Jr.
Ruben Reyes Jr.’s debut novel is historical fiction with parallel narratives that has a few science-fiction elements. In 2018, a pair of Salvadoran American Harvard students attempt to uncover their family histories using an experimental device that allows users to glimpse alternate versions of their lives. What they find sends them on a journey to Havana and San Salvador to explore how their ancestors shaped the protagonists’ lives. In 1978 Havana, the story follows a pair of revolutionary young men whose connection is threatened as the war in El Salvador intensifies.
Through “unflinching depictions of government-sanctioned disappearances and other atrocities,” Reyes “powerfully excavates the rippling effects of the Salvadoran civil war on his characters,” said Publishers Weekly. “Readers will be riveted.” (out now, $26, Amazon; $23, Harper Collins)
‘The Bewitching’ by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Speaking of historical fiction, Silvia Moreno-Garcia brings her dark horror flair to her latest novel, “The Bewitching.” She once again introduces a transgenerational trio of women who “encounter witches and disturbing magic,” said Book Riot. While studying for a graduate degree, Minerva uncovers that the famous horror author at the center of her research was inspired by the disappearance of her roommate. Minerva soon realizes that the author’s stories mirror those her great-grandmother told her about growing up in 1900s Mexico. (July 15, $27, Amazon; $29, Penguin Random House)
‘The Convenience Store by the Sea’ by Sonoko Machida
Japanese convenience stores “already verge on magical realism,” said Vulture. Sonoko Machida’s “The Convenience Store by the Sea” is a story about “one such konbini in southern Japan.” The store owner is looking out for the emotional well-being of his customers, as well as trying to nourish their bodies. From there, “interconnected melancholic stories roll out and criss-cross.” If you are nostalgic for “dramedies from the mid-aughts where all the characters are connected through fate and everyone is in love or having a nervous breakdown,” then this is the book for you. (July 15, $29, Amazon; $29, Penguin Random House)
‘Simplicity’ by Mattie Lubchansky
In her newest graphic novel, Mattie Lubchansky leans “further into Surrealism,” Vulture said. Protagonist Lucius Pasternak, a municipal employee of the New York City Administrative and Security Territory, is dispatched to investigate the inhabitants of Simplicity, an upstate utopian commune established during the 1970s. Throughout the novel, Lubchansky “explores the limits of utopian separatism, the downsides to trying to work against an oppressive system from the inside and how communities can defend themselves and win,” said LitHub. (July 29, $29, Amazon; $29, Penguin Random House)
![Book of the Month Club Review [2025]](/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TOHA24_Book-of-the-Month-Club_Katie-Bandurski_04_PKedit_FT-390x220.jpg "Book of the Month Club Review [2025]")
