Happy June, happy summer, and happy Monday! Here are some of the books out this week that might look great on your summer TBR pile.
Books for Kids
I Love My Dragon (Board Book) – A board book based on the fantastic picture book When a Dragon Moves In.
Adventures with Dragons – A pop-up book based on the How to Train Your Dragon movies
Cece Loves Science and Adventure – A second picture book starring Cece, this time focused on STEM while camping. Sounds perfect for summer!
Hangry – A young monster shows what happens when little folks get hungry and angry, a view parents will find all-too familiar.
A Normal Pig – A new pig at school points out all the ways Pip is different, leaving Pip questioning all the things that made her Pip. Identity is one of my favorite themes in literature, so I am eager to read this one.
Spider-Man Swings Through Europe – A Spider-Man Far From Home picture book
Unicorn Day – While the unicorns celebrate their most special day of the year, they discover an impostor in their midst.
Beyoncé: Shine Your Light – Picture book biography
Wilma Rudolph – Picture book biography, part of the Little People Big Dreams series
Snoopy, First Beagle on the Moon – Snoopy wants to be the first beagle on the moon. Includes facts about the moon in the back matter.
20,000 Robots Under the Sea – Book 3 in the Bots early chapter book series. I love the look of this fully illustrated series. Ten years ago, these would have been must reads in our house. Three more books are planned for this year.
Micah’s Super Vlog: Micah’s Got Talent? AND The Big Fail – The first two books in a new chapter book/young middle grade series based on a JellyTelly show. (Jelly Telly is a Christian streaming service started by Phil Vischer, one of the creators of Veggie Tales.) Highly illustrated.
Sing With Me, Lucy McGee – Book 2 in the Lucy McGee series about Lucy McGee and her friends. This book focuses on the antics of a mean girl and the school talent show. Includes song lyrics and ukulele chords.
Books for Older Kids/Teens/Young Adults
All the Greys on Greene Street – In 1981, an artist’s father disappears in the middle of the night and all the adults – and even her best friends – are acting strange. I have already requested this one from the library.
The Boney Hand – Book 2 in the terrific Charlie and Frog series. Charlie and Frog continue their detective work, this time when a school artifact goes missing.
Escape from the Isle of the Lost – Book 4 in the Descendants series based on the Disney television movies about the offspring of Disney villains.
Out of Place – After her best friend moves away, Cove becomes the target of a vicious bully.
Peter and Ned’s Ultimate Travel Journal – A middle grade novel based on the upcoming movie Spider-Man Far From Home. This looks fantastic – readers can read along as Peter and Ned both write in this travel log about their school trip with some commentary from MJ.
Spaced Out – Book 8 in the DC Super Hero High graphic novel series from Shea Fontana. You can see some reviews – as well as other books about Super Hero High here. This one focuses on the latest Green Lantern and some of her new super friend as they battle General Zod. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series, and I am eager to read the latest adventure! A new set of graphic novels with these characters will kick off this fall.
The Story Web – A girl discovers a mysterious web, and its safety seems to impact her community.
Who Was Che Guevara? AND Who Was P. T. Barnum? AND Who Was Stephen Hawking?
The Beholder – After a public and humiliating rejection, a young woman’s step-mother tells her she must sail off to find a suitor. And if she can’t, she shouldn’t bother coming home. That cover is absolutely gorgeous! I am curious to check this one out.
The Chosen – First in a new trilogy about a young man transported to another realm full of all the people and creatures who have disappeared from his world where he must battle for his survival.
The Confusion of Laurel Graham – A teen and her grandmother connect over nature photography and their discovery of a mysterious bird call. But now that her grandmother is in a coma after an accident, the teen must reconsider all the things she thought she knew about her life and what she is willing to fight for.
Girls of July – Four young woman spending the summer in the mountains learn a lot about themselves and about each other.
If It Makes You Happy – A heavyset girl is happy to be living her best life at her Granny’s diner in Misty Haven until she is named Summer Queen. All of the activities that go along with that pull her away from the diner and send her into anxiety-provoking situations. Can she redeem this last summer before she leaves for college? Sounds like this will be all about identity (including sexuality) which is a theme I love in fiction, as I have mentioned.
I Wanna Be Where You Are – When her mom says she can’t audition for her dream dance conservatory, a teen plans a secret road trip, but she didn’t count on her neighbor blackmailing her into taking him along. I would absolutely read this one!
Kissing Ezra Holtz (And Other Things I Did for Science) – When a girl is matched with her nemesis for an AP Psychology project, they embark on an experiment to prove that with the right steps, any two people could fall in love. This is at the top of my list for this week!
Ordinary Girls – A contemporary take on Sense and Sensibility about two sisters whose family hits a rough financial patch. They had me at “Sense and Sensibility.”
Shadow & Flame – Sequel to Onyx & Fury. A young woman with secret animal-controlling magic triumphed over her enemies in the first book, but the dangers are not completely routed. I have book one on my library list.
Sorry for Your Loss – A young man grieving the loss of his brother and struggling in every aspect of his life discovers a new outlet in photography. This sounds fascinating!
Virtually Yours – A college freshman who hasn’t dated since her high school sweetheart broke things off decides to try a matchmaking app. It matches her with that high school sweetheart – and her new best friend. Should she trust her heart or the app? This is on my list for this week, too.
War of the Bastards – Third and final book in the Royal Bastards series. The rebels continue to protect the true queen as her kingdom suffers under an evil leader. I loved the first book, so I hope to get to the other two books in this series this summer!
When the Ground Is Hard – When her best friend dumps her at their boarding school, Adele is forced to room with the least popular girl in school. But when they share a copy of Jane Eyre, they learn a lot about and from each other – and even have the chance to solve the mystery of a missing student. This is on my list, too.
Where I End & You Begin – A young man longs to invite his crush to prom, but her best friend, his tormentor, stands in his way. After a solar eclipse, Ezra and his tormentor have switched bodies. As they switch back and forth, they agree to help one another make headway with their individual crushes. This sounds amazing!
Books for Adults
The Book Supremacy (Hardcover) – Book 13 in the Bibliophile Mystery series. While on their honeymoon, Brooklyn finds a first edition of The Spy Who Loved Me, a fun James Bond choice for her new husband the spy. But when a spy friend is killed and someone else is murdered in the spy store that is displaying the rare book, Brooklyn and her husband will have to dig into his past to find a killer. This sounds amazing! I am so behind on this series, but I might have to make an exception to my read-a-series-in-order rule and try this one out!
Cherry Scones and Broken Bones (Trade Paperback – June 8) – Book 2 in the Very Cherry Mystery series. Whitney is trying to help her family inn recover after a recent murder, so when a famous painter decides to spend her summer at the inn, it seems like a great way to draw people out to the property, try her cherry treats and enjoy the art scene. But the painter is a pain in the backside. When she’s found dead, Whitney is a murder suspect. If their inn is ever going to recover, she will have to hunt down another killer. I’ll be reviewing this one next week.
Death in Kew Gardens (Trade Paperback) – Book 3 in the Below Stairs historic mystery series. A Victorian era cook receives a rare gift of tea after an act of kindness. Two days later, the man who gave her the gift is accused of murdering Lady Cynthia’s neighbor, and Kat steps in to investigate once again. I enjoyed the first book in this series.
Magic for Liars (Hardcover) – When a murder occurs at the magic school where Ivy’s twin sister teaches, magic-less Ivy is drawn in to investigate. This is the other book at the top of my list for this week!
More Than Words Can Say (Trade Paperback) – When a young Amish woman needs a man’s name on the deed to her bakery, Zacharias finds himself giving up the bachelor life he prefers for a marriage of convenience. This is on my list, too.
The Number of Love (Trade Paperback) – Historical novel set during WWI where a woman who works as a codebreaker for England teams up with a wounded soldier pursued by the enemy.
A Patchwork of Clues (Trade Paperback) – Book 1 in the Queen Bees Quilt Shop series. The site of a Saturday quilting bee becomes a crime scene when a local professor antiques shop owner is killed.
Searching for Sylvie Lee (Hardcover) – When her oldest sister disappears after a visit with their dying grandmother, the baby of the family goes looking for the sister who was always her fiercest protector. This sounds fascinating!
Kinda Like Grace: A Homeless Man, a Broken Woman, and the Decision that Made Them Family (Hardcover) – A chance meeting between the author and a homeless man who returns to the spot where he had last seen his mother three years ago leads to a change for the man, the author and her family who welcomed him into their home. An engaging-sounding memoir.
Naturally Tan (Hardcover) – Memoir from one of the Queer Eye guys, Tan France. Fans of the show should know that most of the guys have a book out now or will have one out later this year.