Summer Reads, Make Us Feel Fine
Here's what the FP team will be reading this summer:
Lucia by Alex Pheby
Galley Beggar Press
"Lucias should stick together" —Lucia
Severance by Ling Ma
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
"I'm a sucker for dystopian novels and any book Jia Tolentino has good things to say about." —Hannah
Poso Wells by Gabriela Alemán, translated by Dick Cluster
City Lights Books
"A noir, feminist, eco-thriller? Say no more!" —Lauren
Cult X by Fuminori Nakamura, translated by Kalau Almony
Soho Press / Soho Crime
"I've enjoyed all of Soho Press's Japanese crime/mystery titles, but this book seems truly nuts. It's impossible to not want to read this when looking at the rave reviews." —Jisu
Love War Stories by Ivelisse Rodriguez
Feminist Press
"I love a good short story collection! Can't wait for the world to get their hands on Rodriguez's debut!" —Luriel
Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston
Amistad
"As FP is gearing up for our fiftieth anniversary, I've been thinking a lot about legacy and how the past informs the present and the future. I'm inspired by the trails Hurston blazed for next-generation writers of color and beyond." —Jamia
Sodom Road Exit by Amber Dawn
Arsenal Pulp Press
"An excitingly queer story of a young woman returning home and coping with a complex mother-daughter relationship while also being trapped in the buzz, hum, and sweat of summer. There are also the elements of a ghost haunting and a now-abandoned amusement park that moves the book into fascinating supernatural territories." —Mya
Florida by Lauren Groff
Riverhead Books
"I've always been vaguely afraid of the state of Florida, where many of my family members somehow coexist with alligators, and I love creepy tales of collision between human and nonhuman worlds, so I have high hopes for this one." —Sophia M.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Alfred A. Knopf
"It is very beneficial to my own writing as it is also about international students in the U.S., about their alien identities and their struggles with the immigration procedure." —Zixu
The Incendiaries by R. O. Kwon
Riverhead Books
"I've been a fan of R. O. Kwon's writing about literature and book culture for a while now, so it's super exciting to soon be able to read her debut novel, The Incendiaries. It's a love story between Phoebe, a Korean American woman who attends an elite American university and gets pulled into a cult with ties to North Korea, and Will, a fellow student who struggles against fundamentalism and dedicates himself to finding Phoebe when she disappears. Sounds like a page-turner!" —Sophia O.
There There by Tommy Orange
Knopf Publishing Group
"There's been so much positive buzz about this book—I can't wait to get my hands on it! And I love the cover." —Suki
Tenemental by Vikki Warner
Feminist Press
"I love the idea of a reluctant landlady. Can't wait to read!!" —Ruthie
Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson
Razorbill
"I was sold on the idea of a vigilante zombie girl gang and having Latina protagonist is an added bonus!" —Alyea
