Lit Hub Summer Reads Giveaway 2026
Lit Hub has partnered with a slew of publishers to launch its second-ever Summer Reads
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Amin Ahmad, A Killer in the Family
(Henry Holt & Co.)
People says, “An addictive story about the price of wealth and power.” | An intoxicating drama set in the world of New York City’s elite, A Killer in the Family explores the underside of the American dream and asks, what happens when you marry into a family that keeps secrets?
Andrew Dana Hudson, Absence
(Soho Press)
As the world reels from an epidemic of human vanishing, and two agents from the Bureau of Depopulation Affairs investigate a Kansas woman’s claims that she has returned from Absence.
Lillian Li, Bad Asians
(Henry Holt & Co.)
Real Simple says, “A bitingly funny story about competition between friends, the expectations of immigrant parents, and the pitfalls of fame.” | Angie Kim says, “Lillian Li’s writing is poignant, funny, and filled with keen observations.”
Deni Elliott, Graham Buck, Catching Sight: How a Guide Dog Helped Me See Myself
(Beacon Press)
Ever wondered about the hidden world of guide dog breeding and training? Catching Sight is a moving, heartfelt memoir that shows us the transformative power of human relationships with animals.
Cecile Pin, Celestial Lights
(Henry Holt & Co.)
The New York Public Library says, “Luminous… poignant.” | One of Vogue‘s Best Books of 2026 | A beautiful, heartbreaking novel about ambition, love, and space from the award-winning author of Wandering Souls
Jane Healey, Crescendo
(Bloomsbury Publishing)
In this delicious family drama and twisted love triangle set in 1950s France, a piano virtuoso and his twin sister become rivals for a new spotlight—the adoration of a wealthy French patron.
Laurie Frankel, Enormous Wings
(Henry Holt & Co.)
A new novel by Laurie Frankel | Oprah Daily says, “Only the fearless, funny, and endlessly inventive Frankel could have written this one-of-a-kind yet amazingly down-to-earth book about a woman’s right to choose.”
Sophie Lewis, Femmephilia: Love Letters to Trans Mermaids, Queer Mothers, and Marilyn Monroe
(Haymarket Books)
From the author of Enemy Feminisms and Abolish the Family, an original diagnosis of femmephobia in our culture, and a vision of a life-giving femme feminism for all.
Selwyn O. Rogers, Healing the Gun Violence Epidemic: Ending Violence, Rebuilding Communities, and a Trauma Surgeon’s Vision for Restoring Hope
(North Atlantic Books)
A Harvard-trained trauma surgeon offers stories, research, and a compassionate analysis of America’s gun violence problem.
Maceo Carrillo Martinet, PhD, Healing the Land Teaches Us Who We Are: How Indigenous Cultural Resistance Can Restore the Earth, Recover Community, and Create Sustainable Futures
(North Atlantic Books)
Rooted in Indigenous wisdom and a four-element framework, this book invites readers to rediscover and re-embody the truth that caring for ourselves and caring for the living Earth are one and the same.
John Washington, How to Close a Camp: Dispatches from the Fight Against Immigrant Detention
(Haymarket Books)
A vital polemic and practical guide to dismantling the immigrant detention system, called “a moral manual” by Greg Grandin and “an urgent, courageous book” by Sarah Stillman.
Kat Dunn, Hungerstone
(Zando)
Before Dracula, there was Carmilla. Now, 155 years later, the bestselling cult hit Hungerstone reimagines the gothic classic in a sapphic retelling that readers are devouring. In the words of Taylor Jenkins Reid, “I didn’t like this, I LOVED it.”
Terria Smith, I Love You So Many: A Native Memoir of Adventure, Culture, and Family
(Heyday)
A big-hearted memoir of travel, place, and Indigenous identity. Hilarious and heartbreaking, this book is an ode to finding love and family, no matter how far we are from home.
Allie Rowbottom, Lovers XXX
(Soho Press)
Set against the neon-lit porn world of 1980s Los Angeles, a raw and evocative portrait of sex, friendship, and the perilous edge of liberation for two young women—from the author of Aesthetica.
Nina LaCour, Meet Me in the Garden
(Flatiron Books)
From bestselling, award-winning author Nina LaCour comes a gorgeous family story about self-discovery and love in all forms, inspired by the author’s Creole roots. Profound and expansive, a story of love and longing, art and motherhood, friendship and desire, Meet Me in the Garden is a decades-spanning tour de force, inspired by the author’s family and tracing the history of the Great Migration.
Kate Washington, Midstream: A Life Remade in 50 Swims
(Beacon Press)
You’ll be inspired to do your own 50 Dunks Challenge after reading this “winning narrative of a woman reaching her prime, guided by a road map for joy” (Kirkus, starred review).
Jacqueline Harpman, tr. Ros Schwartz, Orlanda
(Seven Stories Press)
A groundbreaking novel from Jacqueline Harpman, acclaimed author of I Who Have Never Known Men, about a woman whose subconscious mind splinters and finds itself in the body of a young man. Now available in paperback with a new foreword by Isle McElroy celebrating the 30th anniversary of its original publication.
Jasmine Holmes, Our Sister’s Keeper
(Bindery Books)
For fans of Jordan Peele, Tananarive Due, and P. Djèlí Clark comes a 1920s Southern gothic psychological horror novel of feminine rage and Black girl magic.
Mary H.K. Choi, Pool House
(Flatiron Books)
Bestselling young adult author Mary H.K. Choi debuts a brilliantly observed adult novel about mothers, daughters and the complexity of family set against the backdrop of Hollywood. A course charted through the wilderness of motherhood, this is a story about the challenges of navigating class, fame, burgeoning sexuality, and grief as two women grapple with what it means to grow up and grow older in Hollywood.
Samantha Allen, Puck
(Zando)
In this A Midsummer Night’s Dream-inspired romcom, Puck is a reality show producer with a talent for bringing people together… and tearing them apart. The newest from the author of Patricia Likes to Cuddle is a chaos-filled fever dream that’s “everything you’d want in a Shakespearean retelling,” (Ashley Herring Blake).
Ben Fountain, Rasputin Swims the Potomac
(Flatiron Books)
Lit Hub declares, “Fountain turns this scathing satire into the most relevant story of our time.” | From the award-winning, bestselling author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk comes a biting satire of American politics and a searingly intelligent novel about the cruel absurdities of contemporary life, centering on a world champion professional wrestler with presidential ambitions.
A.P. Thayer, Tapeworm: A Vampire Novel
(Zando)
From Dusk Till Dawn meets The Thing in the horror discovery of the season! Named a Most Anticipated of Summer by CrimeReads, you can preorder this debut about a group of friends who confront questions of identity, aging, and desire during a vampire infestation in an isolated Californian desert.
Leonie Swann, tr. Anthea Bell, Three Bags Full
(Soho Press)
Discover the delightful mystery that inspired the major motion picture The Sheep Detectives, and meet a new breed of investigators ewe have to read to BAA-lieve.
Shannon Sanders, The Great Wherever
(Henry Holt & Co.)
“The dead are relentless gossips, or at least these dead are.” | An impulsive and heartbroken woman inherits her father’s share of a Tennessee farm that is rich in family secrets and occupied with busybody ghosts in this sweeping family portrait.
Rasheed Newson, There’s Only One Sin in Hollywood
(Flatiron Books)
From the author of My Government Means to Kill Me comes a cinematic, razor-sharp novel following a backlot fixer’s daring investigation into the suspicious death of a closeted Black actor within the glamorous world of Hollywood. A searing portrait of the movie industry and a compelling journey into the queer history of Los Angeles.
Andromeda Romano-Lax, What Boys Learn
(Soho Press)
In a twisty thriller from the author of The Deepest Lake, a mother becomes consumed by the fear that her teenage son may be implicated in the murder of two classmates.
