We’re still a few weeks from the equinox, but it sure seems like summer is upon us. Does that mean beach reads are in season? We mean…it might, if beach reads are your thing. Maybe beach reads aren’t your thing, though; that’s okay, too. We’ve got some June book recommendations for you here; hopefully you’ll find something enlightening, entertaining, or energizing on this very list.
Lee Mandelo, editor, Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity
(June 1, Erewhon Books)
As a writer, Lee Mandelo’s fiction abounds with atmosphere, menace, and a strong sense of interpersonal connection. As an editor, Mandelo has assembled a new anthology that explores sexuality in the near and distant future. Add contributions from the likes of Margaret Killjoy, Sam J. Miller, and Neon Yang and you have a compelling volume.
Anelise Chen, Clam Down: A Metamorphosis
(June 3, One World)
This formally inventive metaphor isn’t Anelise Chen’s first foray into that world; that would be her critically acclaimed 2017 book So Many Olympic Exertions. Chen’s new book builds on a typo to answer a question many of us have never asked: just what can we learn from the humble clam?
Grant Maierhofer, Maintenance Art
(June 6, Sublunary Editions)
We’re going to defer to Lindsay Hunter here, who called this book a “brief, wholly realized exploration of art and marriage and familyhood and being a body in a city.” We’re always here for new writing from Grant Maierhofer, and this new book fits that description perfectly.
António Lobo Antunes (translated by Elizabeth Lowe), Midnight Is Not in Everyone’s Reach
(June 10, Dalkey Archive Press)
In an introduction to an interview with António Lobo Antunes for BOMB in 2008, Alessandro Cassin noted that Antunes “is routinely compared to the masters of modernism, from Joyce to Faulkner.” This novel focuses on one woman’s return to a location dear to her in her distant childhood, and the ways in which memory and place collide as she revisits it.
Kate McKean, Write Through It: An Insider’s Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life
(June 10, Simon & Schuster)
Kate McKean is the writer behind the terrific newsletter Agents & Books, which is one of the most informative guides to the publishing industry out there. Her new book Write Through It is a fascinating and essential look at writing from both the craft and business sides of the equation, written with care and candor.
Quino (translated by Frank Wynne), Mafalda
(June 10, Elsewhere Editions)
When artist Quino died in 2020, the New York Times revisited his best-known character, Mafalda. She was, Daniel Politi wrote, “curious about the world and finely attuned to its injustices.” This new collection should bring Quino’s work, and its balance of comedy and satire, to a new Anglophone audience.
Jacob M. Appel, The Biology of Luck
(June 16, Sagging Meniscus Press)
A story of frustrated love on Bloomsday in 2004 New York City, this new edition of Jacob M. Appel’s 2013 novel draws together several disparate thematic threads. “I’ve always been awed by Ulysses,” Appel said in a 2014 interview — and this novel is a thoroughly unconventional homage to a certain James Joyce novel.
Katharine Coldiron, Out There In the Dark
(June 17, Autofocus Books)
Katharine Coldiron‘s bibliography to date has included both fiction and nonfiction, both of which often head into formally inventive territory. Her latest book returns to the cinematic world, juxtaposing her own life experiences with a heady amount of film criticism — all making for an immersive, enveloping read.
Catherine Lacey, The Möbius Book
(June 17, Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
While we’re on the subject of formal invention, hey: here’s Catherine Lacey’s new book, which blends fiction and memoir in a way few writers do. Lacey has also written a thoughtful exploration of the differences between memoir and autofiction, which is very much worth your time as well.
Irene Solá (translated by Mara Faye Lethem), I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness
(June 17, Graywolf Books)
Irene Solà’s new novel has a lot on its mind, encompassing hundreds of years’ worth of history in a town in Catalonia and the ominous presences — quotidian and supernatural alike — that threaten it. Kirkus had plenty of good things to say about this one, calling it “sweeping and sly, raunchy and richly compelling.”
Rob Hart, The Medusa Protocol
(June 24, G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
In which Rob Hart follows up his earlier Assasins Anonymous — about a hired killer doing his best to embrace a non-violent life — with another story about secret organizations, mysterious conspiracies, and people who are very good at doing very bad things. If you’re looking for compelling characters and plenty of thrills, look no further.
Note: all cover artwork and release dates are subject to change.