Episode 171 - Summer 2026 Book Preview

Summer is here, and so is a new crop of books! Relax by the pool, go on vacation, or just hang out in air conditioning with our picks.

Books and other media mentioned in this episode:

Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker
This Is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman
Ann Patchett books
Catherine Newman books
Katherine Center books
The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser
This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page
Keeper of Lost Children by Sadeqa Johnson
So Old, So Young by Grant Ginder
Kin by Tayari Jones
A Far-Flung Life by M.L. Stedman
Whidbey by T. Kira Madden
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
Unbound by Peyton Corinne
The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden
A Fortune of Sand by Ruta Sepetys
Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune
Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monahan
Whistler by Ann Patchett

Ann’s picks:

• A Perfect Hand by Ayelet Waldman (releases May 19)
  - Upstairs, Downstairs (TV)
  - Downton Abbey (TV)
• The Children by Melissa Albert (releases June 2)
  - The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
  - Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
• The Pinnacle by Abir Mukherjee (releases June 16)
  - The White Lotus (TV)
  - Only Murders in the Building (TV)
• Tillinghast by Clare Cavenagh (releases June 23)
  - Marion by Leah Rowan
  - Psycho (film)
• The Great Wherever by Shannon Sanders (releases July 7)
  - The Wedding People by Alison Espach
• Hide and Seek by Søren Sveistrup (releases July 7)
  - The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup
  - The Chestnut Man (TV)
• Time to Burn by Ellery Lloyd (releases August 4)
  - The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby by Ellery Lloyd
• Meet Me in the Garden by Nina LaCour (releases August 4)

Halle’s picks:

• Five by Ilona Bannister (releases May 5)
  - Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister
  - The Passengers by John Marrs
• The Burning Side by Sarah Damoff (releases May 19)
  - The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff
• The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue by Zoulfa Katouh (releases June 2)
  - As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
• Tropesick by Lauren Okie (releases June 16)
  - How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang
  - Any Trope But You by Victoria Lavine
• Romantic Hero by Kirsty Greenwood (releases June 16)
  - The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood
• Leave and Come Back by Lavanya Lakshmi (releases June 16)
• The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson (releases June 30)
• Die for Me by Shirlene Obuobi (releases July 14)

What We’re Reading This Week:

• Ann: Greedy by Callie Kazumi
  - The Menu (film)
• Halle: Dissection of a Murder by Jo Murray
  - Book of the Month
  - Presumed Innocent (TV)
  - Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
  - Presumed Innocent (film)

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