With summer upon us, so too is summer reading season – and this month’s literary pickings are ripe. June sees the return of BookTok favourite Taylor Jenkins Reid, whose latest love story Atmosphere is set in space and will be on every sun lounger this summer, while the wife of the late, great Hairy Biker Dave Myers reflects on life with and without him in her memoir Dave & Me.
Elsewhere, king of the heartwarming read Fredrik Backman is back with another tearjerker and short story extraordinaire Wendy Erskine pens her debut novel.
So, whether you’re after fiction that hooks you or nonfiction that lingers, here are the best new books to enjoy in June…
Ordinary Love by Marie Rutkoski; The Book Game by Frances Wise; My Friends by Fredrik Backman
Ordinary Love by Marie Rutkoski
Twenty years have passed since Emily first fell in love with Gennifer as a teenager.
Now a mother and a wife to a well-off husband, she feels as though something is missing – and in this raw, gorgeous debut, reconnecting with Gen might be her answer.
Virago, £12.99
The Book Game by Frances Wise
A smart pageturner examining friendship, ambition, jealousy and the idiosyncrasies of midlife, this novel takes place in a country house one summer, where eight friends gather for a writing retreat and plenty of tension simmers beneath the surface.
Fourth Estate, £16.99
My Friends by Fredrik Backman
From Anxious People to A Man Called Ove, millions have fallen in love with the heartwarming books of this Swedish bestseller.
His latest is a tear-jerking ode to the life-changing power of friendship and art, as a woman uncovers the story behind a painting.
Simon & Schuster, £20
My Friends by Fredrik Backman; The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine; Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Awakened by Kelechi Okafor
In the near-future, a young Black British journalist with newfound, other-worldly powers investigates the ongoing disappearance of young Black people.
A dazzling dystopian fantasy novel from the acclaimed author of Edge of Here.
Trapeze, £18.99
The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine
Frankie, Miriam and Bronagh are three mothers in Belfast whose teenage sons have all been accused of sexually assaulting a young woman.
They all want to protect their children, but at what cost? Intelligent, nuanced, and difficult to put down.
Sceptre, £18.99
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The mega-bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and The Six returns with a love story set against the backdrop of the 1980s space shuttle programme. Expect to see this one on every sun lounger this summer.
Hutchinson Heinemann, £20
Isabella’s Not Dead by Beth Morrey; The Gowkaran Tree in the Middle of Our Kitchen by Shokoofeh Azar; Dave & Me by Lili Myers
Isabella’s Not Dead by Beth Morrey
As Gwen sets out on an adventure to uncover the mystery of what happened to an old friend who suddenly ghosted her 15 years ago, she discovers far more about herself than she anticipated. Funny and smart and full of painfully relatable observations about life.
HarperCollins, £16.99
The Gowkaran Tree in the Middle of Our Kitchen by Shokoofeh Azar
The International Booker Prize shortlisted author is back with another spellbinding narrative, this time charting five decades of Iran’s tumultuous history through the saga of one big, complex family.
Europa Editions, £16.99
Dave & Me by Lili Myers
The wife of Dave Myers, who tragically passed away last year, looks back on her life with him, from their serendipitous meeting to the challenges of his cancer diagnosis.
With a foreword from Si King, it’s a gorgeous love letter to the beloved Hairy Biker.
Ebury Spotlight, £22
How Not to be a Political Wife by Sarah Vine; Strong Roots by Olia Hercules; Intimacy by Ita O’Brien
How Not to be a Political Wife by Sarah Vine
When Sarah Vine got into a relationship with then-journalist Michael Gove, she never expected him to become a politician – nor to be brought into that world with him.
Now divorced but happily co-parenting, she looks back on life as a political wife.
HarperElement, £20
Strong Roots by Olia Hercules
The Ukrainian cookbook author’s memoir is a rich tapestry of family history, food writing and national pride.
From her grandmother’s deportation under Stalin to her parents’ flight from the Russian invasion, Strong Roots is ultimately a story of resilience.
Bloomsbury, £20
Intimacy by Ita O’Brien
The TV and film industry’s most sought-after intimacy coordinator – found on sets such as Sex Education and Normal People – reflects on her life, work, and what it means to have healthy intimate connections and strong, deep relationships of all kinds.
Ebury, £16.99
Saltwater Mansions by David Whitehouse
In his 2022 book About a Boy, Whitehouse proved himself as a tremendous chronicler of real stories and he does so again here.
Saltwater Mansions tells of the disappearance of a woman from a block of flats in Margate, and is an utterly absorbing read.
Phoenix, £18.99
The Mind Electric by Pria Anand
The book fans of Oliver Sacks have been craving, The Mind Electric is a neurologist’s musings on the wonder of our brains told through the stories of the clients she sees – from the man who thinks he’s a spy to the young woman followed around by the chords of a Van Halen song.
Virago, £22