Summer reading preview: New novels by Elizabeth Gilbert, Ocean Vuong, Colson Whitehead and more

• By: Kristen Arnett One-line plot: Jessa learns taxidermy from her father and finds first love with her brother’s wife. Why you should read it: Arnett’s wonderful debut is bizarrely beautiful, alternatingly humorous and absolutely heartbreaking, as Jessa yearns for life while surrounded by and consumed with death. Out: June 4, Tin House Books” data-id=”131900906″ data-link=”https://amnewyork.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/6323_image.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.31900906″/>

• By: Ocean Vuong
  One-line plot: Little Dog, born outside Saigon, comes to America in 1990 with his mother and grandma. Why you should read it: Vuong’s lyrical first novel highlights his skill as a poet, particularly the surpassingly tender passage about Little Dog’s boyfriend, who is an addict.
  Out: June 4, Penguin Press” data-id=”131900908″ data-link=”https://amnewyork.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/6661_image.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.31900908″/>

• By: Elizabeth Gilbert
  One-line plot: This sprawling tale set in the theater world of 1940s NYC follows the growing pains and ultimate growth of the spoiled — and hilarious — 19-year-old Vivian Morris.
  Why you should read it: Halfway through this delightful read, a character writes, "in these dark times, we could all use some more flapdoodle." Amen.
  Out: June 4, Riverhead Books” data-id=”131900902″ data-link=”https://amnewyork.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/6324_image.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.31900902″/>

• By: Colson Whitehead
  One-line plot: Elwood, impassioned by civil rights icons, strives to rise above his Jim Crow-era neighborhood; caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, he is sent to the notorious Nickel Academy.
  Why you should read it: A brutal and powerful story, with a concussive late twist.
  Out: July 16, Doubleday” data-id=”131900909″ data-link=”https://amnewyork.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/6325_image.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.31900909″/>

• By: Courtney Maum
  One-line plot: Written as the diary entries of earnest and precocious teen Lara, whose art collector mother (based on Peggy Guggenheim) has dragged her and a group of artists to the Mexican jungle in 1937.
  Why you should read it: Enthralling take on the hopes, thrills and despairs of youth.
  Out: July 16, Tin House Books” data-id=”131900910″ data-link=”https://amnewyork.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/6326_image.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.31900910″/>

• By: David Szalay
  One-line plot: Love and death run through these interrelated chapters, where one character carries over from each previous vignette.
  Why you should ready it: It sounds like exercise, but Szalay pulls it off with a magical assurance, realizing a satisfying, globetrotting narrative.
  Out: July 16, Scribner” data-id=”131900912″ data-link=”https://amnewyork.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/6327_image.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.31900912″/>

• By: Yoko Ogawa
  One-line plot: A young writer builds a hidden room for her editor, one of the few residents immune to the titular police force’s efforts to systematically "disappear" aspects of society.
  Why you should read it: Thoughtful entry in the vein of Bohumil Hrabal’s "Too Loud a Solitude," about writing, memory and control.
  Out: Aug. 13, Pantheon” data-id=”131900913″ data-link=”https://amnewyork.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/6328_image.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.31900913″/>

• By: Olga Tokarczuk
  One-line plot: A series of mysterious deaths plague a small Polish town.
  Why you should read it: Tokarczuk never tells a simple story; she is also writing about animal rights, human rights, William Blake and much more in another genre-melding tour de force.
  Out: Aug. 13, Riverhead Books” data-id=”131900915″ data-link=”https://amnewyork.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/6662_image.jpg” class=”wp-image-1.31900915″/>

Different readers want different things from their summer reads. These eight novels will make you laugh, cry, fall in love, mourn, think, escape and revel in the written word.