7 New Books Perfect For Your Summer Beach Reads

Probably Ruby by Lisa Bird-Wilson

Titular protagonist Ruby grew up an adoptee, with her new parents unfond of her Indigenous roots. As she grows, she begins to discover her identity—and, as an adult, freely self-destructs on booze and men. It’s a beautiful, hilarious novel that catalogues the relationships that weave in and out of Ruby’s life. Out of it emerges one of the most winning, compelling fictional characters in recent memory. August 24.

The Startup Wife by Tahmima Anam

Asha Ray is a coding prodigy who developed the Empathy Module, a groundbreaking AI capable of kindness and love. Her husband, Cyrus Jones, brings couples together with the power of religion “without the baggage.” Can Asha combine their powers to develop a new social media platform that will restore humanity’s faith in itself? A delightful satire of start-up culture that fittingly reads at a blazing fast speed. Out now.

The Spectacular by Zoe Whittall

1997: Missy plays the cello in a budding indie rock band. Her mother, Carola, is finally leaving a cult. The two have not talked for years, a fact Missy’s grandmother, Ruth, is determined to fix before she dies—which is going to happen soon. A gorgeous, aching family saga that sweeps through decades, this book touches brilliantly on motherhood, womanhood, family, singledom and every kind of aging. August 24.

Summer Fun by Jeanne Thornton

In 2009, a young trans woman named Gala who works at a hostel in rural New Mexico has one obsession: writing letters to B—, the reclusive, brilliant songwriter for the Get Happies, known as “the quintessential 1960s Californian band.” This genius volcano of a novel builds to an ending no less than perfect, and each and every sentence of Thornton’s writing is steeped in genuine grace. July 27.

The Most Precious Substance on Earth

A sharp yet profoundly tender coming-ofage story about silence. Through high school, college and adulthood, Nina loses her best friend, encounters a bewildering grad school and returns to Halifax as her fretting Indian parents (attempt to) set her up with boys. Nina also shelters a dark secret about a teacher from long ago. This expertly written book will deeply move the reader. August 24.

Fight Night by Miriam Toews

Toews hasn’t left the bestseller lists since 2004’s A Complicated Kindness. This latest book, her ninth, is narrated by a nine-year-old child, Swiv, who’s part of a ragtag family living in Toronto. Swiv’s relationship with her joyously spitfire grandmother is at the centre of this blistering, breakneck-speed novel. As stunning a book as you’d hope for from a writer who’s made us laugh and cry for decades. August 24.

Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

A hard-boiled, dreamy, steamy noir from the bestselling author of Mexican Gothic. During political unrest in 1970s Mexico City, an odd couple is destined for a fateful entanglement: Maite, a no-nonsense secretary and hopeless romantic, and Elvis, an enforcer with a heart of gold. The two of them become ensnared in a sinister web— and also, perhaps, each other? August 17.