According to the weather apps, the world outside of our window feels like 108 degrees with a severe thunderstorm warning also on the horizon. If ever there was a time to find somewhere air-conditioned and crack open a book, we’re pretty sure this is it. Our recommended books for the month of July include a couple of names that will be familiar to longtime Vol. 1 Brooklyn readers, along with some intriguing forays into subjects ranging from Kafka to tradwives.
Maris Kreizman, I Want to Burn This Place Down
(July 1, Ecco)
In a recent interview for the Chicago Review of Books, Maris Kreizman talked about the ethos behind her new essay collection. “There is so much moral judgment about so many things over which we simply don’t have control,” she said — and this powerful collection reckons with big questions about life, politics, and society.
Gary Shteyngart, Vera, or Faith: A Novel
(July 8, Random House)
According to the publisher, there’s a bit of Henry James’s What Maisie Knew in the literary DNA of Gary Shteyngart’s new novel. (Given the title. we’re guessing there might be some Nabokov in there as well.) An astute observer chronicling an imploding marriage amidst tensions personal and societal has our interest piqued for sure.
Can Xue (translated by Deanna Ren), Kafka & I
(July 11, Hanuman Editions)
Can Xue is the author of several highly singular books and is perennially cited as a favorite to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Her new book finds her reflecting on the work of Franz Kafka — and if the idea of one genius pondering the work of another gets your attention, you’re not alone.
Kerry Cullen, House of Beth
(July 15, Simon & Schuster)
We’re always happy to see a new book from a Sunday Stories alumnus out in the world, and Kerry Cullen’s new book has a fantastic elevator pitch: it’s tradwife horror. That it’s set in the part of New Jersey that borders the Delaware River is one more area of interest.
Cora Lewis, Information Age
(July 15, Joyland)
The excellent literary site Joyland is making a move into publishing, and this novella from Cora Lewis is the first book to be released from this new imprint. The great Kathryn Davis wrote that this “[applies] the flashing precision of a surgical tool to the material of our daily lives.”
Michael Cisco, Black Brane
(July 22, CLASH Books)
We’ve had plenty of good things to say about the work of Michael Cisco over the years, including several books that combine heady riffs on the moden world with nightmarish imagery. Apparently his new book is something of a tribute to Thomas Ligotti; like Can Xue pondering Kafka, we’re excited to see what could come from this juxtaposition of literary talent.
Jennifer Givhan, Salt Bones
(July 22, Mulholland Books)
Jennifer Givhan’s new novel Salt Bones transposes a classical myth — that of Persephone and Demeter — to the region around the Salton Sea. It’s a heady mix of past and present, chronicled by a writer with an impressive stylistic range. And if you’d like to know more, you can hear Givhan reading from the novel’s opening here.
Rax King, Sloppy: Or: Doing It All Wrong
(July 29, Vintage)
We’ve long enjoyed Rax King’s candid, nuanced essays, and we’re thrilled to see that this month brings with it a new collection of them. As she explained in a 2024 interview, Sloppy began its existence as a memoir of addiction before turning into something very different — and thoroughly compelling.
Mattie Lubchansky, Simplicity
(July 29, Pantheon)
Mattie Lubchansky’s previous book, Boys Weekend, was a near-future story of old friends growing apart, cults, seasteading, and the possible end of the world. Simplicity is a very different work; there’s also a futuristic setting, but here, Lubchansky probes questions of community and isolation, featuring a very different side of her work.
Daniel Saldaña París (translated by Christina MacSweeney), The Dance and the Fire
(July 29, Catapult)
The modern and the archaic collide in The Dance and the Fire, about three old friends who reunite in a city threatened by wildfires — and whose convergence unlocks a kind of ecstatic dancing in the region. Publishers Weekly dubbed it a “smoldering tale,” which sounds promising.
Note: all artwork and release dates are subject to change.