Summer is in full swing and there are still a lot of wonderful books to come. As usual, our emphasis is on debuts and small press titles. This roundup only scratches the surface of the exciting new works out this summer, including books by our old, established pals Lauren Groff, A. M. Homes, Ottessa Mosfegh and Laura van den Berg. So kick up your feet, relax on the screen porch, in the pool, or just on your favorite comfy chair, and enjoy one of these refreshing summer reads.

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai 

We are so pumped about The Great Believers that we’ve just gotta include a shoutout to our Volume VII judge Rebecca Makkai, whose outstanding novel The Great Believers hit the shelves in June. Don’t take our word for it, though. The New York Times had this to say: “It’s a pleasure, as well, when a narrative opens up worlds not familiar to most readers, when it offers actual information along with the momentum of its story and its characters.”

Publication date: June 19

How to Love a Jamaican: Stories by Alexia Arthurs

The literary world is abuzz in anticipation of Alexia Arthurs’s debut collection. Zadie Smith has this to say: “In these kaleidoscopic stories of Jamaica and its diaspora we hear many voices at once: some cultivated, some simple, some wickedly funny, some deeply melancholic. All of them shine.”

Publication date: July 24

I Can’t Date Jesus: Love, Sex, Family, Race, and Other Reasons I’ve Put My Faith in Beyoncé by Michael Arceneaux

The world really needs Michael Arceneaux’s debut collection of essays and, luckily for us, we only have to wait until the end of the month. Arceneaux’s essays have appeared in publications such as The Guardian, The Root, New York Magazine, and the New York Times. His essays describe, among other things, what it means to be a gay black man in America today.

Publication date: July 24

Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

There are just so many wonderful debuts coming out in July. Fruit of the Drunken Tree, Ingrid Rojas Contreras’s first novel, is set in Colombia during the time of Pablo Escobar and told from the point of view of a seven-year-old girl.

Publication date: July 31

Let Me Be Like Water by S.K. Perry

The debut novel for Perry, who was longlisted for London’s Young Poet Laureate in 2013, relies on a budding friendship between a heartbroken girl and a retired magician. Don’t miss her book, out from Melville House in the dog days of August.

Publication date: August 14

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Whether you’re sunning on the beach, sprawled out in the hammock, or lounging in the AC: long summer days offer endless opportunities to crack open a book (and a beer). There is an abundance of exciting new books out this summer, but these seven debuts are at the top of our reading list.

Music for Wartime by Rebecca Makkai

Music for Wartime is acclaimed author Rebecca Makkai’s third book, but her debut short story collection. In these stories, two contestants in a reality show are prompted to fall in love; a minister buries an elephant and contemplates his own faith. For a preview, you can check out Makkai’s stories on This American Life and in Michigan Quarterly Review.

Publication Date: June 23

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

J. Ryan Stradal’s debut novel follows a young woman named Eva as she grows into a renowned chef. Each chapter focuses on a particular dish and character, beginning in the Minnesota where Eva’s father first teaches her an appreciation for food.

Publication date: July 28

The Next Next Level: A Story of Rap, Friendship, and Almost Giving Up by Leon Neyfakh

Slate reporter Leon Neyfakh follows the career of the musician Juiceboxxx in this nonfiction book that is at once a profile of an artist and a meditation on contemporary culture and the nature of art and sacrifice.

Publication date: July 7

The Beautiful Bureaucrat by Helen Phillips

In Helen Phillips’ debut novel, we step into an increasingly surreal world in which a woman is employed to enter numbers into a mysterious database. If that was not enough to pique your interest, Ursula K. Le Guin offers this praise: “Told with the light touch of a Calvino and the warm heart of a Saramago, this brief fable-novel is funny, sad, scary, and beautiful. I love it.”

Publication Date: August 11

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

After Stegner fellow Ottessa Moshfegh’s much-lauded McGlue, we are anxiously awaiting her novel Eileen, out this August from Penguin Press. Eileen is narrated by a young woman who works in a boys prison in the 60s and is involved in a harrowing crime.

Publication Date: August 18

You Too Can Have A Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman

You Too Can Have A Body Like Mine, the debut novel from up-and-coming author Alexandra Kleeman, offers a thrilling critique of contemporary culture. For a taste of Kleeman’s work, check out her fiction in Guernica, Gulf Coast, BOMB, and  Zoetrope.

Publication Date: August 25

The Anglerfish Comedy Troupe: Stories from the Abyss by Colin Fleming

The Anglerfish Comedy Troupe is Colin Fleming’s debut short story collection, out from Dzanc books. These eighteen stories explore the dynamics of failed relationships in worlds of the author’s own making. People living inside a noise machine discuss romance. A small group of musicians plays the background track to a couple’s life. We can’t wait to get our hands on this dark and inventive collection.

Publication Date: August 11

by Sadye Teiser