The Best Book Releases Of Summer 2025 To Add To Your TBR Right Now

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The first half of 2025 has already brought some reading group-ready book club releases, with the summer promising its own share of TBR-worthy titles. The warmer months often have readers reaching for feel-good romances or page-turning thrillers to read while basking in the pool-side sun, but there are plenty of summer books that prove a beach read can still cut deep. For example, last year saw the release of Danica Nava's workplace romance "The Truth According to Ember" alongside Jodi Picoult's stunning historical fiction "By Any Other Name."

In this way, we've curated a list of much-anticipated May-through-August book releases that deserve a place on your to-be-read list, pulling titles from a variety of genres and authors to appeal to a wide-range of book enthusiasts. So, whether you're packing for an annual beach trip or crafting a TBR for your long-weekend staycation, these summer titles are totally worth checking out. 

Taylor Jenkin Reid's latest publication is the first on our list of 2025 summer reads, with the author being known for popular BookTok favorites like "Daisy Jones & The Six" and "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo." Selected as a Good Morning America book club pick, "Atmosphere" follows Joan Goodwin, a psychics and astronomy professor, as she finds love while training to become one of NASA's first female scientists in the '80s. The quietly ambitious Joan navigates misogyny, rivalry, and friendship alongside her fellow candidates, with the entire team being put to the test when something goes terribly wrong during the monumental STS-LR9 mission. 

"I'm interested in writing about women thriving in male-dominated spaces and I think the space shuttle program called that to mind for me," Reid told "Good Morning America" about the book. "But also I was just in the mood for a really big, grand love story. I just felt like I wanted to write one. I wanted to feel one. And so that's where I started." With an average rating of 4.43 stars on Goodreads, reviewers praise "Atmosphere" for its engaging pacing and powerful storytelling. Long-time fans should note that this June release may be more romance-heavy than some of Reid's previous books, but it still ranks as a must-read from the author. 

For lovers of fantasy-infused romance, "A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping" by Sangu Mandanna is a July release that is equal-parts cozy magic and heartwarming found family. The love interest of Mandanna's "The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches" landed on our list of the best book boyfriends of the 2020s, with the slow burn romance of this new title being just as promising. Since losing most of her magic as a teen, Sera Swan has spent the last fifteen years helping her aunt run a magical inn filled with quirky guests and misfit residents. When an old spell offers the chance for Sera to reclaim her magic, she'll need the expertise of stony historian Luke Larsen to help break her curse. 

"It goes without saying that there will be magic and innkeeping," Mandanna told Audible about the new release. "But I think it's just as important for listeners to also know that there will be tea and cinnamon buns. And romance. And a lot of shenanigans involving talking foxes, strange and wonderful magical spells, and opinionated old ladies who just want to live their best hobbit lives." Alongside the cozy atmosphere, reviewers highlight the book's found family focus and ensemble of unique characters as major, heartwarming elements. Boasting an average rating of 4.36 stars on Goodreads, "A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping" is a summer release you won't want to miss. 

Just as Ashley Poston ranks among romance authors to check out if you love Emily Henry, her novel "Sounds Like Love" lands among the best book releases of the summer. The June title centers around burnt-out songwriter Joni Lark, who returns to her hometown of Vienna Shores, North Carolina in search of inspiration. Not only does she find that beach-town life isn't the same as when she left, she's also haunted by an unfinished melody that telepathically connects her with an aggravating, bitter musician. While the two decide to work together to finish the song, Joni will have to face a lot more than the music in her head on the road to self-discovery and healing.

"In this novel, I wanted to explore burnout and what that means creatively," Poston told SheReads. "It's a very personal book in that regard—who in any creative industry doesn't deal with burnout?—and I was very excited to explore it through music." Just like the author's other novels, "Sounds Like Love" stands out for its magical realism elements and heartfelt emotion, averaging a rating of 4.05 stars on Goodreads. Overall, romance readers will want to add this new Poston release to their TBRs as soon as possible.

Next up on our list is "These Heathens" by Mia McKenzie, a summer release that will especially appeal to fans of historical fiction and comedy. When seventeen-year-old Doris Steele travels from her small Georgia town to Atlanta to seek an abortion, she's taken under the wing of her former teacher's childhood friend and exposed to a world significantly different than the one she knows. As she's introduced to the '60s landscape of civil rights activism and queer community, she encounters figures like Coretta Scott King and attends an SNCC conference, with these new experiences ultimately prompting her to reflect on her own ambitions and dreams.

"It tells the story of Doris Steele, a character I based on my own grandmother who also shares her name," McKenzie told "The Stacks" podcast. "She comes face-to-face, like, with herself. You know, with dreams for her life that she didn't even know she had...So, it's a story about choice. It's a story about what becomes possible when women get to make decisions about our lives." With a 4.29 star rating on Goodreads, reviewers note that this June release expertly balances exploration of political and social issues with humor and wit. In this way, "These Heathens" makes for a quick addition to our summer reading lists.

Summer readers looking for an emotional and gripping memoir should check out "The True Happiness Company: How a Girl Like Me Falls for a Cult Like That" by Veena Dinavahi. In this late May release, Dinavahi recounts how her ongoing struggles with depression and suicide lead her Indian-American family to seek the help of Bob Lyon, a happiness-promising Georgia therapist. Under his influence and manipulation, the author was sucked into a self-help cult, going from an ambitious physics major to a college-drop out and Mormon convert.

"I immediately started writing after I realized I was in a cult — not necessarily with the intention of turning it into a book, but because I was like, 'What happened?'" Dinavahi told Mutha Magazine. "I just wrote and wrote and wrote. Some of it ended up just being for my own processing experience, and then I pieced the rest of it together." While "The True Happiness Company" explores the downfalls of the American mental health system and exposes common manipulation tactics used by cult leaders, reviewers note that the memoir is also witty and darkly humorous. While prospective readers should consult trigger warnings, this highly-rated summer release definitely lands at the top out of TBR.

Beyond narrowing our selection to books published from May to August of 2025, we curated this list by identifying highly-anticipated releases, as reported across the web, and consulting Goodreads reviews. All titles have at least a 4-star rating on the reading platform, with several of the entries being informed by my familiarity with the authors and their previous work. This list also strove to be diverse in genre, topics, and authors.