Our Most Anticipated New Book Releases of June 2021

Golden Girl B&N Exclusive Edition

Family! Secrets! Second Chances! Nantucket! The Queen of Summer Reading always delivers a page-turning read that’s relatable and aspirational. Her latest novel opens with the unexpected death of a writer and features a striking twist (three wishes!) that readers won’t want to miss. Our exclusive edition includes an original, previously unpublished essay about books and life that will have all of Elin’s readers talking this summer.

The Maidens

Alex Michaelides sure has made us wait for the follow-up to his 2019 psychological thriller, The Silent Patient. And it was worth the wait! An instant classic for fans of bildungsromans/college campus thrillers such as Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, The Maidens spins a fabulous tale of chilling suspense from Greek Mythology, campus intrigue, and a cat-and-mouse game between a charismatic professor and a dogged group therapist.

The Other Black Girl B&N Exclusive Edition

Are you in the mood for a bold, propulsive story that you won’t be able to put down? The Other Black Girl is The Devil Wears Prada meets Get Out and you might not know you’re reading a debut novel because the writing is so assured and the characters are so indelible. Sharp and full of insights about race, class and gender, this gripping, twisty page-turner will keep you on your toes until the very last page. And our exclusive edition has an extra chapter to keep you on your toes a little longer!

Something Wild

This heartbreaking story about a complicated family marks a searing debut for Hanna Halperin. This story about mothers and daughters is told from multiple perspectives as it tackles tough topics about intimate partner violence and how trauma is passed from generation to generation before ultimately, landing with a hopeful note as two sisters come together as they move toward healing. An honest, unflinching read from beginning to end.

Malibu Rising

An epic end-of-summer party, fame, family drama, personal tragedies, a mansion in flames… The Riva siblings have needs and insecurities and secrets—oh, do they have secrets that crash and collide and change their worlds. This wildly entertaining novel unfurls over 24 hours in 1980s Southern California and caps off Reid’s California trilogy, which also includes the bestsellers Daisy Jones & the Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. A perfect summer beach read!

The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear

How is it that we do not already know about this remarkable, courageous woman of 19th century America, who advocated for the rights of women and those accused of insanity, and was a contemporary to such feminist lights as Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony? Kudos and gratitude to Kate Moore, author of Radium Girls, for this gift of an intelligent and sensitive history told with the riveting energy of a gripping novel.

Dream Girl B&N Exclusive Edition

Novelist as a protagonist. Check! Self-referential title. Check! A character from said novel making phone calls to the author. Check? Leave it to Laura Lippman (a favorite here at Barnes & Noble) to work up a Gordian Knot of a novel that refuses to let us out of its grip. Dream state, imagination and the merging of the two are a perfect combination in this thriller. Incidentally, we think this title pairs nicely with Palace of the Drowned by Christine Mangan. Our Exclusive Edition discusses the inspiration behind the story.

How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

A travelogue, a history, a quest, a warning and a call for a reckoning that the history of slavery is the history of our country, central and defining to who we were and who we are, individually and collectively. In powerfully lyrical prose, Clint Black challenges us to really learn our history, listen to our legacies, understand the recollections that “remain in the marrow of our bones,” that travel through time and generations. A tour de force that will keep you engaged long past the last page.

The Cape Doctor

Filled with grace and fascinating insights about medicine, The Cape Doctor is a thoughtful, moving and compassionate portrait of life at the intersections of gender identity, class and love. Based on the true story of Dr. James Miranda Barry, a brilliant 19th Century Irish medical doctor who revolutionized medicine in the British colonies and blazed a path for others.

Survive the Night: A Novel

The premise is simple: two people drive from New Jersey to Ohio. We’ll stop there. Instead, we’ll give you, dear reader, the keys to this journey. Wear your seat belt, as there will be many turns — and none taken slowly. Also, we hope you like music. There’s a song we’d like you to hear. (*Pops a cassette into tape deck* … *locks doors* … *accelerates*.) Hang on!

Girl One: A Novel

Fan of The Power by Naomi Alderman? Fan of The Handmaid’s Tale or The Testaments by Margaret Atwood? Binge-watched Black Mirror at least once? You need to read Girl One, ASAP. Be prepared to blow your mind with this terrifically inventive, cinematic supernatural thriller and coming-of-age story about the bonds between parents and children, the communities we build, and the power of truth to set us free.

The Wolf and The Woodsman

If you’re like us and can’t get enough of fractured Fairy Tale retelling with fabulous, fierce heroines as the heart of unforgettable stories, books like Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver and The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden, just wait until you meet Évike, the star of this incredible story of hidden magic and family ties based on Hungarian and Jewish folklore. (And you know you want this jacket on your shelf and in your IG.)

The Ugly Cry

Danielle Henderson’s childhood in 1980s upstate New York was anything but ordinary—and you can say the same thing about her memoir. So funny, so hard and aching at times, so touching, The Ugly Cry feels like a long, intimate and animated conversation with a close friend. There is a big, beating, generous heart at the center of Danielle Henderson’s story that is irresistible, and charming, and hopeful. And thank goodness for grandmothers!

Widespread Panic

Ninteen-fifties Hollywood! This is PURE Ellroy territory. Mystery, crime, HollyWEIRD Babylon all wrap themselves into a literary knockout fever dream that only Ellroy could conjure. (Remember, Ellroy’s the talent behind L.A. Confidential and The Black Dahlia.) If you’re looking for us, we’ll be located at a booth in Musso & Frank Grill with a scotch in one hand and Widespread Panic in the other. And when you’re done here, there’s more Hollywood gone awry in The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman.

Filthy Animals

The Booker Award-nominated author of Real Life returns with an extraordinary, sometimes shocking story collection. Filthy Animals is a deeply emotional, razor-sharp collection of linked stories about loneliness, longing and love that asks us how far we’ll go to connect with other people. Like the stories in Florida by Lauren Groff, Lot by Bryan Washington and The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans, Taylor’s rich stories deliver in every way.

Somebody’s Daughter

With a commanding hand and impressive self-awareness, Ashley Ford’s gorgeous memoir unfolds with an extraordinary pacing, layer after layer, nuance after nuance, to lay bare the fraught makings of a complicated life. This is, in the end, a truly inspiring story of choices and love and compassion. We’re not Ashley’s only fans: Glennon Doyle and Brené Brown adore Ashley and her prodigious talent, and Oprah Winfrey chose this memoir to launch her book imprint.

Bath Haus: A Thriller

For those anxiously awaiting a new title from the author of When You Find Me, P. J. Vernon gives us his second novel, Bath Haus. The wait is over, and wow, wow, wow, this pulse-pounding story of secrets and lies and twists grabbed us from the first page and never let go. (If all thrillers were as exhilarating from the first page to the last, we’d need to wear seat belts in our reading chairs.)