The days are still long and hot, and despite ads for pumpkin spice everything and back-to-school “essentials” plaguing your commute, summer is indisputably in full swing. Further proof: New York City’s pools are still open — through Sept. 9! Make the most of peak pool season by waking up early before your commute, heading out early or just procrastinating on a weekday by lying out on the deck with one of these great poolside reads, which transition to subway reads as soon as you dry off.
‘Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win’
By Jo Piazza
Silicon Valley COO Charlotte Walsh has fought for equality in the workplace, and now she’s ready to make change in Washington, D.C. Fed up with the state of American politics, Walsh moves her family to her hometown in northeast Pennsylvania, where she campaigns to unseat the incumbent senator in the November 2018 election in this timely political tale.
‘How to Love a Jamaican’
By Alexia Arthurs
This anthology of expertly crafted short stories takes readers from the shores of Jamaica to the New York University campus and beyond, introducing readers to a plethora of personalities and unique takes on familiar places.
‘The Incendiaries’
By R.O. Kwon
It may not be totally light pool reading, but there’s a reason you’re seeing the recognizable geometric shapes that make up the cover of Kwon’s debut novel all over this August. This love story framed, through an extremist religious cult, catastrophe and an ongoing search for identity, is impossible to put down.
‘The Bucket List’
By Georgia Clark
Clark’s newest novel opens on protagonist Lacey Whitman’s “last day.” That is, the day her doctor calls her at work to inform the 25-year-old New Yorker that she’s tested positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation, which predisposes her to breast cancer. Now, with difficult decisions ahead, and a self-imposed six month timeline to decide if a preventive mastectomy is right for her, Lacey is living out her Bucket List in only the way a young Williamsburg dweller trying to launch an app, get promoted to her dream job and expand her sexual repertoire can.
‘French Exit’
By Patrick DeWitt
A wealthy Upper East Side widow, Frances, and her childlike adult son, Malcolm, decide to escape looming bankruptcy and stateside scandal by fleeing to France. Landing in Paris, the Price family of course can’t say au revoir to their problems. A cast of hilarious characters lets readers dive into this overseas tragicomedy. (Out Aug. 28)
