This is the time of year when just about every magazine and newspaper publishes a list of recommended summer reading. Some of these lists emphasize “beach books” — page-turners that don’t require much concentration. Others focus on the latest and greatest in literary fiction, while some provide an eclectic mix of new books for all kinds of readers. One list, in fact, suggests both Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy’s literary novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, and  Sarah MacLean’s The Day of Duchess (#3 in the Scandal and Scoundrel romance series).

Some of the lists irk me with their guilt-inducing tone: “7 New Books You Need to Read This Summer” (Vulture); 22 Exciting New Books You Need to Read This Summer” (Buzzfeed); 24 Incredible New Books You Should Read This Summer” (Huffington Post); 10 Books You Have to Read This Summer” (Redbook) . . . well, you get the point. The fun of summer reading is to read whatever you want, with no sense of obligation.

The New York Times has a terrific list with a nice title: “Books to Breeze Through This Summer,” and Bill Gates recommends two of my favorites (Hillbilly Elegy and Born a Crime) in “5 Good Summer Reads.” I like his modest approach — just five well-chosen books, and they’re good. Not necessarily incredible or exciting, but solidly good.

In my online search for lists of recommended summer books, I came across a couple of quizzes designed to help readers find just the right book. One said my “reading personality” was “Big Kid”, which is pretty accurate; it also suggested I read an obscure book from 2011, “The Story of Charlotte’s Web: E.B. White’s Eccentric Life in Nature and the Birth of an American Classic by Michael Sims, which I absolutely loved. (I’m thinking this was a lucky guess because the other book it recommended was The Cardboard Valise by Ben Catcher, which is a graphic novel, and if there’s one thing I am not interested in reading, it’s a graphic novel. I get a headache just thinking about it.

Another, called “Which Summer Beach Read is Perfect for You?”, promised to find the perfect beach book “for my personality” — which turned out to be The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, a book I did not enjoy and is the farthest thing from a beach read I can imagine. This is why it usually works best to ask a real person — a friend, bookseller, librarian — for a recommendation.

Author/bookstore owners Ann Patchett (Parnassus Books, Nashville) and Emma Straub (Books Are Magic, Brooklyn) shared some of their favorite new releases in a recent New York Times article, “Summer Reading Recommendations From 6 Novelists Who Own Bookstores.” One of Straub’s picks is Saints For All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan, which tops my list as well — along with Straub’s own Modern Lovers, new in paperback. Patchett highly recommends The Leavers by Lisa Ko, which shows up on just about every other summer reading list also.

Here are three summer reading lists, highlighting books I love: new in hardcover (fiction and nonfiction), new in paperback (fiction), and new in paperback (nonfiction). I’m hoping there’s something for everyone!

New in hardcover:

My Life With Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues by Pamela Paul
Dark books say to us, “This isn’t about you. You are in fact alive and safe. Yes, there’s an implicit and unavoidable warning, an edge of danger; these things happen, the books say. And yet, as bad as it gets inside this book, you, the reader, are securely outside.
I’ll read and enjoy just about any book about books — but My Life with Bob is the most captivating and original “bookworm book” I’ve read. Oh, how I wish I’d done what Pamela Paul, editor of the New York Times Book Review, has done her whole life — kept a written record of my reading.

Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
When word came that Keith had died of cancer, Abel was astonished. That astonishment had to do with death, with the wiping out of a person, with the puzzlement that the man was simply gone.
Elizabeth Strout can do no wrong! I loved these linked stories about Lucy Barton’s family and neighbors. Her writing is gorgeous. simple on the surface but actually profound.

A House Among the Trees by Julia Glass
But there were still plenty of bookstores. In them, Tommy found refuge from the heat and consolation from all the unsettling changes; new books might arrive daily, but none would displace Hardy or Eliot or Tolstoy. 
When Mort Lear, legendary book author and illustrator, dies unexpectedly, his longtime assistant, Tomasina Daulair, becomes the executor of his complicated and controversial estate. Inspired by the life and career of Maurice Sendak, Julia Glass’s compassionate and insightful novel explores art, truth-telling, and loyalty, while telling a well-plotted story. This is my favorite novel of 2017 — so far.

‘Round Midnight by Laura McBride
Her world spun and spun, and all these ordinary parts of it, these things that made perfect sense, did not make sense at all. What was she doing? And what would she do now?
As she did in We Are Called to Rise, Laura McBride brilliantly weaves together the stories of several characters with Las Vegas as the backdrop. The writing is gorgeous and the story is perfectly paced and constructed, with surprises at every turn. The reader’s heart goes out to the four women whose lives intersect: June, a nice Jewish girl from New Jersey turned nightclub owner; Honorata, a Filipina forced to become a mail-order bride; Engracia, a Mexican immigrant who has suffered a tragedy; and Coral, a music teacher trying to understand her mysterious past. I loved every page of this special novel.

Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan
She met her worries in the same old way. Whatever the hour, she would rise to her feet and climb the attic stairs to Patrick’s bedroom, so that she might lay eyes on him. This was a bargain she struck, a ritual to guarantee safety. Nothing truly bad could happen if she was expecting it.
I’ve enjoyed all of J. Courtney Sullivan’s novels, but this one could be my favorite. As always, she excels at creating characters who come to life on the page. At the heart of Saints for All Occasions are two sisters who emigrate from Ireland to Boston. After a painful falling out, one sister becomes a nun, while one marries and raises a family that includes a troubled son. The secrets from their pasts drive them apart, only to bring them together when a family crisis occurs.

Strangers Tend to Tell Me Things: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Coming Home by Amy Dickinson
I was so happy I thought I would inflate and float, balloon-like, over the crowd, out of the chapel, and fly and drift over the village, and the hills, fields, streams, and lakes of this challenging countryside that is my home.
I enjoyed Dickinson’s earlier memoir, The Mighty Queens of Freeville, and this follow-up is even better. It’s a delightful collection of essays about family, home, and rolling with life’s unexpected punches.

 Do Not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy
A few times during the day, Liv saw the ship’s tenders ferrying people ashore and wondered if they should have gone. That was something she was trying to work on: not always second-guessing her decisions, wondering if she’d made the wrong one. But how could you know if you’d made the right decision when you on saw one version play out?
Don’t start this book until you have an uninterrupted stretch of time, because you won’t be able to stop reading. When two families decide to spend their Christmas vacation on a luxury cruise, a shore excursion turns into a nightmare when the children disappear into the jungle. Ann Patchett’s blurb, “smart and thrilling and impossible to put down” is right on the money.

Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk
When I was a baby, someone tucked me into an old boat and pushed me out to sea. I washed up on a tiny island, like a seed riding the tide. It was Osh who found me and took me in. Who taught me how to put down roots, and thrive on both sun and rain, and understand what it is to bloom.
Who can resist a story about an infant who lands on the shore of an island in a little rowboat? Not me, especially when the book is set in the Elizabeth Islands of Massachusetts, where I spent time during my childhood summers. Lauren Wolk’s second book for young readers is just as lovely as Wolf Hollow, and will appeal to adult readers in the same way.

New in Paperback — Fiction

Mischling by Affinity Konar
Reminiscent of The Book Thief, Mischling is the haunting story of real-life identical twins who were subjects of Dr. Josef Mengele’s medical experiments at Auschwitz.

The Summer Guest by Alison Anderson
Anderson’s elegantly constructed novel, like all the books I love, engages both the mind and the heart. Readers will learn about Chekhov, Russian and Ukrainian history, and the art of translation, and they will reflect on the meaning of love and friendship. For my full review, click here.

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
Bert Cousins can’t bear to stay home with his pregnant wife and three children, so he crashes Franny Keating’s christening party, where he kisses Franny’s beautiful mother, Beverly — and causes the breakup of two families. Ann Patchett’s novel,  brilliantly structured as a series of nine linked stories that supply bits and pieces of the Keating and Cousins families’ complicated history, spans fifty years in their lives. For my full review, click here.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
One of my favorites of 2016, Homegoing begins with the story of two half-sisters born in 18th century Ghana and unknown to each other, one sold into slavery and one married to a British slave trader. The succeeding chapters (each one a self-contained story) follow their descendants in Africa and the United Sates.

The Nix by Nathan Hill
If Tom Wolfe and John Irving had a baby — it would be The Nix — my favorite “big” book of 2016. Every once in a while, you want to wrap yourself up in a long novel that covers everything from family relationships to social history.

Harmony by Carolyn Parkhurst (June 13)
In a last-ditch effort to help their special needs daughter, Tilly, the Hammond family follows child development expert Scott Bean to rural New Hampshire, where they help him set up a family retreat called “Camp Harmony”. Tilly’s younger sister, Iris, and mother, Alexandra, take turns narrating the story of the Hammonds’ decidedly unharmonious attempt to begin a new life.

Siracusa by Delia Ephron
Two couples — one with an odd 10-year-old daughter, Snow — decide to vacation together on the Sicilian coast. This turns out to be, for many reasons, a really bad decision.

You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott
When I read an article on crime fiction in the Wall Street Journal that said Abbott’s “books are driven as much by intricate character development and rhythmic sentences as they are by plot”, I immediately brought home a copy of You Will Know Me. Set in the world of competitive gymnastics, Abbott’s eighth novel is a page-turner by anyone’s definition. Sixteen-year-old Devon Knox — and her parents — have their hearts set on the Olympics when a crime in their tight-knit community of gymnasts, parents, and coaches threatens to destroy their dream. Perfect crossover book for older teens.

Modern Lovers by Emma Straub
Straub’s The Vacationers was one of my favorite beach books in 2014, and Modern Lovers is just as clever and entertaining. (It’s “too deftly and thoughtfully written to be relegated merely to the beach,” according to the New York Times Book Review.) The novel takes place during one summer in Brooklyn, and like The Vacationers, it focuses on two middle-aged couples with children who are facing crises in their relationships.

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
The older I get, the more likely I am to fall asleep while reading in bed at night. This smart and very suspenseful thriller kept me reading well past my bedtime. A plane crashes minutes after taking off from Martha’s Vineyard, leaving only two survivors. Was one of the people aboard responsible for the crash? Told in alternating perspectives, the story is a puzzle that most readers won’t be able to solve until the very end.

New in Paperback — Nonfiction

American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin
The kidnapping of Patty Hearst is the first news story I remember following. Toobin masterfully sifts through all the craziness of Hearst’s kidnapping and time as a fugitive to create a portrait of an era, and of a very young and malleable woman.

Look at You Now: How Keeping a Teenage Secret Changed My Life Forever by Liz Pryor
This memoir about a young girl from a prominent family whose parents send her to a state-run “home” for unwed mothers that’s actually  a juvenile detention center, kept me up late at night — and broke my heart. I’m in awe of the author’s kind and forgiving spirit.

Finding Fontainebleau: An American Boy in France by Thad Carhart
This captivating blend of memoir and history is filled with the author’s affection for French culture. Carhart’s portrait of France in the 1950s is one readers rarely see, where the wounds of the war are still fresh and the country is just beginning to become a modern consumer society. I loved seeing midcentury France through the eyes of a young child. For my full review, click here.

Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets by Luke Dittrich
If you liked The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, you’ll find Patient H.M. equally fascinating. “Patient H.M.” was Henry Molaison, a young man who was lobotomized in the 1950s in attempt to cure his severe epilepsy. The twist in this book is that the neurosurgeon who performed the surgery was Dr. William Beecher Scoville, the author’s grandfather. Dittrich provides a fascinating and personal viewpoint about the medical ethics involved with his grandfather’s career, as well as the changing attitudes towards mental illness during the 20th century.

Hungry Heart: Adventures in Life, Love, and Writing by Jennifer Weiner
Weiner is sensitive about being categorized as “chick lit”, so she would hate to hear me say I don’t love her novels because of their genre. However, I really enjoyed her book of essays, and found myself underlining passages and turning down pages.

The Bridge Ladies by Betsy Lerner
The author became a regular attendee at her mother’s Monday afternoon bridge club for nearly three years, strengthening her connection with her mother, building friendships with the other octogenarian “Bridge Ladies” — and falling in love with the game of bridge. Lerner, a literary agent and poet, writes beautifully. Her story will resonate with mothers and daughters, bridge players or not. For my full interview with the author, click here.

Seinfeldia: How a Show About Nothing Changed Everything by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
If you’re a Seinfeld fan, don’t miss this book, which the New York Times reviewer said made him want to “buy a loaf of marbled rye and start watching again, from the beginning.” (Armstrong’s last book, Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And all the Brilliant Minds Who Made The Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic, is terrific as well.)

The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner
Wow! I read this memoir about growing up in a polygamist Mormon doomsday cult in one day. The author is her mother’s fourth child and her father’s 39th. If you liked The Glass Castle, The Sound of Gravel is for you.

Enjoy your summer reading!