Summer is winding down, and we’ll soon embrace crisp weather and colorful foliage. Thankfully, no matter the season, we have incredible reads to keep us company.
Scribd’s best new books and audiobooks include moving family sagas, like highly anticipated new releases from Ann Patchett (The Dutch House) and Elizabeth Acevedo (The Poet X). We’ve also got historical fantasies rooted in ancient Chinese history, plus several genre-bending novels involving both time travel and cults (what are the odds). And if you’re eager for your own education while the kids head back to school, check out nonfiction accounts of WWII women soldiers, melting glaciers in Antarctica, and space exploration.
No matter what piques your interest, Scribd has a book — or a whole list of books — for you.
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lara’s three adult daughters return to the family cherry farm to quarantine. Lara fills the long hours by sharing stories of her early adulthood, when she had a brief acting career and a whirlwind romance with a rising film star. Patchett (The Dutch House, Commonwealth) solidifies her reputation as one of the best literary talents of the century by lacing beauty and meaning into every strand of a dual-timeline story. The iconic Meryl Streep narrates this ode to family, destiny, and life before parenthood.
Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo
In her adult debut, Acevedo (author of the National Book Award-winning The Poet X) follows the always spirited, often magical lives of the Marte women. Several members of this Dominican American family are blessed with gifts, like Flor’s ability to predict the time and nature of everyone’s death. She plans her own “living wake,” bringing the family together as they’re all dealing with dramas, crises, and surprises. A woman-centric family saga written with heart and humor.
Time’s Mouth by Edan Lepucki
Ursa flees an unhappy home in Connecticut, landing in a commune in California where her ability to time travel through memories positions her as a cult leader. As the decades pass, Ursa’s gift, along with her family trauma and penchant for running away, are passed down through generations. Time’s Mouth is a story of parenthood and painful legacies, especially the ones we can’t seem to escape.
Mobility by Lydia Kiesling
Bunny Glenn, the daughter of an American foreign service worker, comes of age in Eastern Europe amid the Soviet Union’s collapse. Pipeline access is on everyone’s mind, subconsciously affecting Bunny in adulthood as she builds a career in the Texas oil industry. In “Mobility,” Kiesling (“The Golden State”) questions individual roles in large-scale politics and skewers the ways we avoid responsibility during global crises like climate change.
The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange
After spending over a year in prison on a drug trafficking conviction, all Tara Connelly wants is a fresh start. But life isn’t easy when living with your troubled and secretive adult siblings. Tara’s also dealing with a strict parole officer, a bothersome police detective, and a possibly unwise new romance. Lange (We Are the Brennans) dissects family secrets and the power of being vulnerable in her sophomore novel.
My Name Is Iris by Brando Skyhorse
When advanced wristbands replace IDs and credit cards, American immigrants become second-class citizens. As “The Band” — available only to those with U.S.-born parents — is compulsory for daily activities like driving and working, a second-gen Mexican American woman struggles to stay afloat. Speculative but all-too-relevant, this novel by award-winning author Skyhorse (The Madonnas of Echo Park) is a satirical take on anti-immigrant policies.
Pulling the Chariot of the Sun by Shane McCrae
McCrae, an award-winning poet, National Book Award finalist (In the Language of My Captor), and 2019 Guggenheim fellow, delivers a memoir about identity erasure and reclamation. As a toddler, the author’s white grandparents kidnapped him from his Black father, instilling racist ideals into his young mind and alienating him from his heritage. McCrae’s memories unfold in poetic prose that highlights the emotional toll his experiences had on his coming-of-age.
Valiant Women by Lena Andrews
Like many important moments in history, most accounts of WWII are male-centric. Andrews, a CIA analyst, corrects the narrative with this meticulously researched exploration of the hundreds of thousands of women who were instrumental in winning the war. The author weaves profiles of and interviews with the women alongside riveting stories of female pilots, engineers, nurses, spies, translators, and more, recognizing the brave, brilliant people who deserve a place in our history books.
Bellies by Nicola Dinan
Called “smart, hilarious, and deeply moving,” by Elliot Page, Bellies is a compassionate and affecting story about Tom and Ming, who meet in college and quickly fall in love. Later, Tom senses Ming is keeping something from him. The truth changes the trajectory of their relationship: Ming plans to transition into a woman. Dinan, a trans woman herself, shifts between perspectives to give a full picture of both characters’ experiences, vulnerabilities, and fears during a pivotal time in their lives.
All-Night Pharmacy by Ruth Madievsky
Who are we without our idols? The unnamed protagonist in All-Night Pharmacy will do anything to impress her older sister, Debbie, including experimenting with drugs and other risky behavior. When Debbie goes missing after an altercation, the narrator finally has a chance to discover who she really is, aided by a mystical new girlfriend. Madievsky’s skills as a poet shine in her debut novel, which is rich in imagery and feverish tension.
A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power
Three generations of Dakota women deal with the damaging effects of indoctrination and cultural suppression, two through Indian boarding schools and one through inherited trauma. Cora, Lillian, and Sissy’s stories play out from a unique perspective: their beloved dolls, who bear witness to abuse, grief, loss, and fury. Power, a PEN Award-winning author, unravels the legacy of pain carried by many Indigenous Americans.
Hangman by Maya Binyam
After 26 years in America, a middle-aged man abruptly returns to his native country in Africa. Why must he go, and who pre-made all of his travel arrangements? Neither the reader nor the protagonist knows, making the story surreal and surprising. After arriving in his homeland, the narrator looks for his brother, encountering many colorful characters along the way. Binyam’s hypnotic debut peels back the layers on colonialism from the lens of a refugee searching for a sense of belonging and home.
Tomb Sweeping by Alexandra Chang
Following her acclaimed debut novel, Days of Distraction, Chang turns to short stories set across the U.S. and China. In one, a misunderstood woman with dashed dreams lives in anonymity until her death. In another, an unemployed tech worker house sits for the wealthy, who are hiding bizarre secrets. There’s also a daughter who hardly recognizes her aging father after years of estrangement. These tales encompass diverse backgrounds, life experiences, and dilemmas, but they all highlight the many ways people both fail and sustain us.
Prophet by Helen Macdonald and Sin Blaché
Macdonald (H Is for Hawk) teams up with debut author Blaché to explore the pleasure and pain of memory. If you’re a fan of stories that fall neatly within a box, look elsewhere: Prophet defies expectations and genres. When random objects — from a diner to a vintage arcade machine — begin appearing in random places, an unlikely spy duo investigates an experimental drug that weaponizes people’s fondest memories. Sci-fi, queer romance, and mystery collide and intermingle in this wholly unique novel.
Lush Lives by J. Vanessa Lyon
Lyon’s debut, the second release from Roxane Gay’s new imprint, is a sapphic love story at the heart of New York’s art and auction scenes. Artist Glory Hopkins recently inherited her late aunt’s brownstone and all its contents, leading her to meet (and begin dating) Parkie de Groot, an auction appraiser. Their budding relationship is complicated by Glory’s ambitions, racial and class divides, and a mysterious manuscript found in the brownstone’s attic. Intersectional and immersive, this novel is as lush as the title suggests.
The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman
Mia Jacob is born in The Community, a patriarchal cult in modern-day Massachusetts. Stifled by her mother’s husband, the commune leader, Mia escapes into books — and then, magically, into the past. In 1837 Salem, she falls for Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of her favorite novel, The Scarlet Letter.
Hoffman (Practical Magic) questions fate and highlights women’s oppression across centuries in this time-travel fantasy and love letter to reading (you can see why we’re such big fans).
The Quickening by Elizabeth Rush
Pulitzer Prize-finalist Rush (Rising) blends scientific study with personal memoir. In 2019, the journalist joined a research group in Antarctica, becoming one of the first people to see the Thwaites Glacier up close. Rush meticulously chronicles the glacier’s past and present, and the significant impact it will have on our future as climate change chips away at its structure. Woven throughout, she also reflects on her conflicted desire to have children amid a grim global outlook. Personal, meditative, and educational — ideal for fans of The Sixth Extinction.
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
Kingfisher, who previously reimagined “The Fall of the House of Usher” in What Moves the Dead, puts a horror spin on a classic fairy tale. Toadling, raised by the fae, guards a tower that holds a sleeping princess and dark secrets. After centuries, a prince arrives to save the damsel, not realizing his actions could destroy the world. A whimsical and darkly funny novella, Thornhedge will surprise you at every twist.
Daughters of Latin America edited by Sandra Guzman
This vital collection encompasses 140 Latine women authors representing dozens of countries and several generations. Featuring well-known names like Ada Limón (Shelter), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Angie Cruz (How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water), plus others who deserve equal recognition, Daughters of Latin America gives voice to the many cultures, memories, traditions, and experiences of the Latine identity, including Indigenous Latines.
Swim Home to the Vanished by Brendan Shay Basham
Damien is devastated by his younger brother’s death, so he leaves his life in Colorado behind and settles in a small seaside town where he finds work among local brujas with their own tragic family history. But the longer Damien spends with the women, the more contentions and secrets begin to emerge. Inspired by Navajo storytelling, Basham’s atmospheric debut uses fantasy and allegory to explore loss and catharsis.
The Perennials by Mauro F. Guillén
The world is changing faster than ever. As we experience transformative tech advancements and greater longevity, Guillén (2030) asserts that previously established norms and divides only hold us back. As his well-sourced book explains, we’re better off doing away with terms like “boomer” and “millennial” to embrace a perennial identity — one where we stop expecting age to equate to milestones like marriage, parenthood, or retirement. This is a valuable lesson on collaboration, understanding, and adaptability.
Killing the Guys Who Killed the Guy Who Killed Lincoln by Jesse Joyce
You know of John Wilkes Booth and the guy he killed, President Abraham Lincoln. Now prepare to learn the far more outlandish stories of Booth’s killers — Boston Corbett, a literal mad hatter who castrated himself, and John Wilkes’ brother, Edwin Booth, a renowned but troubled actor. This wry, rollicking history from stand-up comedian Joyce provides an eye-opening account of America’s colorful past.
Witness by Jamel Brinkley
Brinkley, a National Book Award finalist for his debut, A Lucky Man, crafts a collection set in New York City. The characters in these stories all bear witness to loss, injustice, or other forms of grief, and they must weigh the risks of speaking up with the costs of staying silent. Intimate, devastating, and reflective, each vignette in Witness is more immersive than the last.
Terrace Story by Hilary Leichter
Annie and Edward live in a small urban apartment with their baby. When Annie’s colleague, Stephanie, visits one evening, a closet in their home mysteriously transforms into a beautiful terrace. This is the premise of Leichter’s (Temporary) National Magazine Award–winning short story, which she expands on in this novel, offering three additional stories that explore the truth behind the remarkable terrace. Themes of love, grief, and family take center stage in this time- and space-bending collection.
Interstellar by Avi Loeb
In his 2021 book Extraterrestrial, Loeb, a Harvard University theoretical physicist, claims that alien life does exist. In this follow-up, Loeb takes his arguments further, asserting why — and how — we must prepare ourselves for eventual contact. The author’s optimism and passion are contagious in this thrilling scientific exploration of what our interstellar future may entail.
Where There Was Fire by John Manuel Arias
Nearly thirty years after their Costa Rican banana plantation goes up in flames, an estranged mother and daughter still grapple with their losses. Reconciliation may be possible, but their family legacy remains forever painful. Arias’ debut is a heartbreaking family saga about generational trauma, entrapment in unhealthy cycles, and how American imperialism feeds both.
About the Author: Lanie Pemberton
Lanie is a San Diego-based freelance writer with many Scribd Snapshots and recommended reading lists under her belt. She loves reading about animals and the natural world, with plenty of murder mysteries peppered in. When she needs a break from writing and reading, Lanie can be found taking long walks under the SoCal sun, usually alongside her husband and pampered pittie, Peach.
