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Thu Jul 3 2025

Clare Mulroy | Books Reporter

Happy Thursday, booklovers!

As we enter July, I can't help but look back at last month and all its stellar new releases . June brought with it some of my favorite books of the year so far, and I'm here to convince you to add them to your bookshelf this summer.

🐌 Quirky, timely adventure comedy-drama: "Endling" by Maria Reva is compulsively readable. It takes place in 2022 as Russia is invading Ukraine, and follows a Ukrainian snail-breeding scientist who funds her rare species expeditions by working in the "marriage industry."

🏝️ If you can't stop watching "Love Island": "The Compound" by Aisling Rawle is for you. A group of young people compete to outlast each other on a popular reality TV show as they sleep around, vote each other out and win challenges for both luxury rewards and communal necessities.

🍃 A devastating coming-of-age: "A Language of Limbs" by Dylin Hardcastle reminded me of a more literary version of those "choose your own adventure" books I loved as a kid. Each chapter alternates between two different outcomes of one summer night in 1972, showing how one decision can drastically change the course of your life.

⏳ Time traveling romance: "Skipshock" by Caroline O'Donoghue follows a fated romance after a troubled schoolgirl and a traveling salesman meet on a magical, time-bending train.

New releases from June we think you should read.

Covers courtesy of Penguin Random House, Macmillan, W.W. Norton, Simon & Schuster

If you're like me and have an endless TBR, take a stab at our summer book bingo challenge, which is now open. We have fun categories for every type of reader and if you get "bingo" and submit your card, you'll be entered in a giveaway to win a $100 gift card to Bookshop.org.

What are you packing in your bag to read this summer? Let me know at cmulroy@usatoday.com. Thanks for keeping up with USA TODAY Books!