How John Updike inspired this beach read
Article excerpt
Jenny Jackson, author of Pineapple Street, discusses how John Updike's Couples inspired her new novel, The Shampoo Effect.
As we go easing into the holiday weekend, there’s a smaller batch of releases: though the ones that are here, are ones that count. Jenny Jackson’s next hotly anticipated novel, The Shampoo Effect, is perfectly in time for a beachy weekend getaway, as is Teddy Wayne’s different-style of beach read: The Au Pair. Read on for the full list below, and have a great holiday!
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Jenny Jackson, The Shampoo Effect
(Pamela Dorman)
“A frothy, exuberant book.”
, People
Teddy Wayne, The Au Pair; cover design by Robin Bilardello (Harper, June 30)
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Teddy Wayne, The Au Pair
(Harper)
“This compulsive thriller gleefully and skillfully skewers both stereotypical tropes and the contemporary publishing landscape.”
, Boston Globe
Paul Tremblay, Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep
(William Morrow)
“This ingenious novel is refreshing, hilarious, teeming with warnings of real horrors to come, and ultimately entirely human.”
, Virginia Feito
Prudence Bussey-Chamberlain, Bone Horn; cover design by Victoria Maxfield (Soft Skull, June 30)
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Prudence Bussey-Chamberlain, Bone Horn
(Soft Skull)
“[A] sexy, fun, and exquisitely odd mystery.”
, 4Columns
Emma Southon, Not Built in a Day
(Simon and Schuster)
“A bracing and important corrective to more naive visions of the ancient world.”
, Publishers Weekly
Aamina Ahmad, July Sun
(Riverhead)
“Ahmad excels at swiftly drawing readers into her characters’ unique internal landscapes, so that each story feels lived in, more expansive than its page count.”
, Kirkus
Julia Angwin and Ami Fields-Meyer, On Courage: How to be a Dissident in an Age of Fear
(Mariner)
“Here is the practical, historically informed examination of dissent that our troubled moment calls for.”
, Jelani Cobb
Kat Stoddard, Wasp’s Nest
(Celadon)
“A keen examination of love in all its modern and messy complexities and a tremendously entertaining debut.”
, Grant Ginder
Colin Asher, The Midnight Special: The Secret Prison History of American Music
(W. W. Norton)
“A well-written and mesmerizing group portrait of five musical outlaws.”
, Booklist
Ethan Joella, The Top of the World
(Scribner)
“An immensely affecting novel about living with zeal and approaching life’s end on one’s own terms.”
, Megha Majumdar
Katie Gaddini, Esther’s Army: The Christian Women Who Power the American Right
(W. W. Norton)
“Written with a generous, lighthearted touch as well as critical eye, Esther’s Army is not just an essential guide to our political times, but a captivating portrait of the power Christian women wield in the post-Covid age.”
, Darren Dochuk
Cecilia Eudaye, The Summer of the Serpent
(Soho Press)
“Satisfying and thought-provoking … Readers will be grateful for the introduction to this distinctive writer.”
, Publishers Weekly
Christen E. Civiletto, Thundering Waters: The Toxic Legacy of Niagara Falls
(Island Press)
“A fierce indictment of the chemical industry’s long-term pollution of Niagara Falls.”
, Kirkus
David Ellis, Keep Them Close
(Putnam)
“Bold, brilliant, and unforgettable. David Ellis is in a league of his own.”
, Alex Finlay
Lixung Sun, On the Origin of Sex: The Weird and Wonderful Science of Reproduction
(Basic Books)
“A sweeping, celebratory investigation of ‘one of the most puzzling, persistent mysteries in all of biology.'”
, BookPage
Lucy Caldwell, Devotions
(Faber & Faber)
“Introspective and wide-ranging … There’s much to admire in these nuanced stories.”
, Publishers Weekly