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What is it about serial killers and impossibly tense situations that work so well in summer reads? Do we blame Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster all? Does the heat drive us to dark, shady places? Do we like emotional rollercoasters paired with physical ones? Perhaps all of the above.

Writing together under the pseudonym Lars Kepler, Swedish husband-and-wife authors Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril redefined dark Nordic noir with dashes of Dragon Tattoo, Luther, and Hannibal Lecter. Through 10 books Chief Inspector for the Swedish Police Force Joona Linna maneuvers in plots that go big, move fast, and get extremely tense. Their newest, The Spider, kicks off with a dissolved body strapped to a tree, so you get the picture. The Ahndorils also take awesome headshots.

A Flicker In The Dark’s hook is solid: psychologist confronts a series of crimes echoing those of her serial killer father. Come for the family drama and jailhouse interviews, stay for an evocative take on the Louisiana setting that’s NOT New Orleans. Author Stacy Willingham has cornered a new, female-focused take on Southern noir in books full of too-quiet streets, buried secrets, and ever-present humidity.

Speaking of cornering the market and distinctive locales, try “First Lady of Irish Crime” Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series. In the second book, The Likeness, detective Cassie Maddox goes undercover as the doppelgänger of a recent murder victim (hate when that happens), assuming the dead girl’s identity and living her life to solve the murder. Do identity and reality and memory start to blur? HELL YEAH they do.

Bonus: In the mood for lies and deception at eerie lakehouses? You need Colleen Hoover’s Verity. Then get a second helping of scheming and insinuation in The Last Mrs. Parrish (J.Lo will star in the Netflix adaptation, Robert Zemeckis to direct).

Every day, seemingly every minute, we’re reading about the weight of the world. It is overwhelming, to say the least. So do yourself a favor, take care of yourself, and give your brain a short break with beach romances and page-turners. And the more spice and steam, the better.

For lighthearted rom-com vibes, try anything by Emily Henry. Our favorites are People We Meet On Vacation (travelers and polar opposites who spark), Book Lovers (book lovers who spark), and Happy Place (exes who spark). Her newest, Great Big Beautiful Life, is replete with tragic heiresses, competing journalists (who spark), the price of celebrity, and gothic family secrets. But still, you know, lighthearted.

The Windy City series by Liz Tomforde can lean a little on the smutty side of life, which might not be for everyone, but depending on your summer state of mind may be the EXACT right amount of smutty. Thomforde’s niche is pro sports in Chicago mixed with situational spice, so it’s a specific flavor. But each book is a self-contained story, so you can sample without committing to the whole shebang.

Ana Huang’s Twisted series delivers the angst. The standalone stories are darker and they bring the steam, but cover romance staples like bodyguard romance, enemies to lovers, and grumpy sunshine (great cat or band name). And kudos to the marketing copywriters too, who wrote for book one, Twisted Love: “He has a heart of ice…but for her, he'd burn the world.”

Mia Sheridan takes no prisoners, and More Than Words will make you cry several times (in a good way). A classic broken prince vanished years ago after one perfect kiss with the girl who could save him. Years later, he's a tortured musical genius hiding in France, and she reenters the picture. Also see Archer’s Voice, which contains slow burns and whiskey-colored eyes.

Bonus: Seeking a quick romance fix? Big Fan by Alexandra Romanoff is only 162 pages but still hits the sweet spot of romance mixed with strong female lead and interesting plot. The publisher, 831 Stories, is building an interesting, community-focused business model offering other small but mighty romance novellas.

A new generation of women is challenging, celebrating, and exploring the science and beauty all around us, telling stories with deeply personal stakes.

The Language of Trees, A Rewilding of Literature and Landscape pulls off the delicate mixture of memoir and natural science via essays, opinions, implorations, recipes, poems, and illustrations. The result is exquisite. With the help of Ursula K. Le Guin, Zadie Smith, Radiohead, Robert Macfarlane, and 50 other writers, activists, artists, and philosophers, editor and artist Katie Holten celebrates the relationship between words and trees, with all the roots, branches, beauty, and crisis incumbent on both.

Bears are in deep trouble everybody, as you’ll discover in the superlative Eight Bears by Gloria Dickey. There are only 8 types of bears left on the planet, and Dickey visits the habitat of each to witness their current predicaments and roles in our imaginations, myths, entertainments, and toy aisles. She is a compelling writer who leaves you more curious about the natural world at the end of the book. Plus, you’ll leave with a TON of bear facts for your friends (i.e., a bear’s closest living relative is a seal). The more you know.

You’ve never experienced marine science like this. Sabrina Imbler’s How Far the Light Reaches is a brilliant blend of queer science and memoir, creating a correlation between sea creatures and selfhood. In ten essays they bring a young, trans, half-Chinese perspective to explore the depths of the ocean, reflecting on adaptability, community, danger, and freedom. Look for a highlight on the yeti crab, whose frenetic dance to stay warm and alive in the dark with a packed community of crustaceans connects to Imbler’s experiences at a queer club in Seattle.

Bonus: Kathryn Lindquist is a Fire Lookout for the US Forest Service in Western Colorado, and lives 4 months out of the year in a 1930s lookout straight out of a movie set. She lives and loves the mountain life, and her Instagram Lookout Lindquist is a picture-perfect dream, brave-the-elements reality check, and bite-sized science series all rolled into one.

Bookstores are the new third spaces.

20 years ago, they were dead. Killed off by billion-dollar interests, unfeeling corporations, and changing algorithms. But, as an inspirational lesson for our times, nothing’s permanent, right? Printed matter finds a way, and independent bookstores in NYC have returned to our lives as something much more than they were.

On the busy Flushing Avenue corridor separating the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Fort Green, Head Hi is part coffee shop, part event space, and part book/magazine seller dedicated to art, architecture, and design. Every week, they do intriguing things with intriguing people, like book launches, new issue parties, listening experiences, art shows, and talks with eminent authors and thinkers. It’s a required stop for anyone who wants to drop $100 on design mags (raises hand), look erudite while doing it, and meet other design and print obsessives.

Hive Mind Books is a Bushwick oasis specializing in queer and trans books, plus a curated selection of general titles. It just opened last year, and it’s quickly become an essential community hub in the neighborhood, with an extraordinary programming schedule featuring author events, writing nights, tarot card readings, and conversations with trailblazers and activists. You can get coffee and work there too, but at heart, it’s a safe space dedicated to stories about growth and love and acceptance. We need more of those, yes?

Paige Lipari is a wonder (read her engaging Grub Street profile here). For 9 years her bookstore Archestratus has survived and flourished in Greenpoint, expanding from an impressive cookbook and food memoir selection to putting the multi in multi-hyphenate. They do groceries, baked goods and prepared foods, readings, screenings, tastings, dinner parties, bookclubs … her vision for the space is limitless, but it still feels so inviting when you walk in the front door. Comfort food indeed.

The New York outpost of L.A.’s The Ripped Bodice is the universe’s new center for romance novels. Sisters and owners Leah Koch and Bea Hodges-Koch opened the West Coast store via a Kickstarter campaign. Now they’re in New Yorker articles, consumer trend reports, Today Show segments (so your mother knows about them too), and everywhere. Plus they’re around the corner from the Park Slope Food Coop and Union Hall, if you’re in the mood for maximum Park Slope.

Book Shares from Antonym

What is it about serial killers and impossibly tense situations that work so well in summer reads? Do we blame Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster all? Does the heat drive us to dark, shady places? Do we like emotional rollercoasters paired with physical ones? Perhaps all of the above.

Every day, seemingly every minute, we’re reading about the weight of the world. It is overwhelming, to say the least. So do yourself a favor, take care of yourself, and give your brain a short break with beach romances and page-turners. And the more spice and steam, the better.

A new generation of women is challenging, celebrating, and exploring the science and beauty all around us, telling stories with deeply personal stakes.

Bookstores are the new third spaces.

Sarah Skinner