5 riveting books to read this July

A summer of enthralling book releases continues with another batch of new books to distract you from the hot weather. Here's a list of July book releases to add, including fresh takes on old literary classics, an ode to Florida's strangeness and a follow-up from bestselling author Taffy Brodesser-Akner. 

'Masquerade' by O.O. Sangoyomi (July 2)

In this West African-based historical fiction debut, author O.O. Sangoyomi blends 15th-century history and a loose retelling of the myth of Persephone. When the warrior king of Yorùbáland conquers Òdòdó's hometown of Timbuktu, life gets worse for her and the other women in her blacksmith guild. Then she is abducted and whisked to the capital city of Sàngótè, where the king chooses her as a bride. Her status quickly ascends in the medieval warrior society while she gets wrapped up in the schemes and machinations of power. The "richly detailed world-building" and mythological inspiration all lend to a layered, immersive storyline in Sangoyomi's debut," said the Library Journal. Order here. 

'Long Island Compromise' by Taffy Brodesser-Akner (July 9)

In her follow-up to her bestselling 2019 debut "Fleishman Is In Trouble," journalist Taffy Brodesser-Akner begins forty years after the kidnapping of Carl, the Fletcher family patriarch. Carl is still dealing with PTSD from the incident, and his now-grown children have also suffered in the aftermath. The story follows each of the children as they return home to deal with the death of their mother and the lingering tremors of the kidnapping ordeal. 

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In her sophomore effort, there is a "lip-smacking relish" to the way Brodesser-Akner "delivers devastation on her luckless characters" and the "slow, inevitable flow of failure, where the character can only watch but is powerless to stop it," The Guardian said. Brodesser-Akner's maximalist style delivers a story that is "too much at times" but "sometimes too much is just right." Pre-order here. 

'State of Paradise' by Laura van den Berg (July 9)

The eccentricities of the Sunshine State are on full display in this upcoming novel. The unnamed narrator of Laura van den Berg's latest is a ghostwriter who moves back to Florida to be closer to family and help care for her sick father. When an unidentified pandemic hits, the narrator and her husband, a historian, stick around. Her father's passing leads to her mother unwittingly becoming the leader of a cult and her younger sister becoming obsessed with sophisticated virtual reality technology that helps her contact their dad. When her sister goes missing, the narrator is thrust into an investigation that reveals things about her employer and the VR tech.

"State of Paradise" is van den Berg's sixth work of fiction, a "heady blend of speculative and auto-fiction with an evident aspiration," Elle said, "to settle into the thick soup of the reader's brain and make a permanent home." Pre-order here. 

'The Coin' by Yasmin Zaher (July 9)

The protagonist of Palestinian journalist Yasmin Zaher's debut novel also happens to be an unnamed narrator. A wealthy Palestinian woman, she is "simultaneously rich and poor" since she is unable to access her inheritance in the U.S. That does not stop her from trying to maintain appearances as she tries to find her place in New York City. Amid all this, she starts compulsively cleaning her skin, rubbing herself raw. With her debut, Zaher "creates a hypnotic portrait of a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown," Time said. 

If you are familiar with Ottessa Moshfegh, Rachel Cusk, Sally Rooney or Raven Leilani, you will recognize Zaher's tone: "sophisticated but world-weary, functioning but this close to actively giving up on the world and all its bigoted, sexist microaggressions and outright cruelties," said The Washington Post. Pre-order here. 

'The Bright Sword' by Lev Grossman (July 16)

The author behind the "Magicians" trilogy returns with an epic set during the age of Arthurian legend, with a fresh take on the familiar tale that is set after King Arthur's death. Collum, a young knight, joins some of the Round Table's lesser-known knights to restore Camelot and discover what led to the king's death. The novel interweaves the lives and pasts of each knight as they go on a quest to find a replacement for the king. "Epic fantasy fans will hang on every word," Publisher's Weekly said. Pre-order here.