The 2026 scribes & Stories Summer Reading List
Looking for the best reads of summer? The Scribes & Stories team narrowed down the most intriguing reads of the summer. Whether you are a writer working on your own memoir, or an avid reader looking for the next compelling read, here are our 9 favorites:
The Solo Honeymoon by Laura Murphy with Bret Witter
What begins as a devastating story of a woman setting off alone on the honeymoon she planned with her fiancé after his sudden death, becomes something unexpectedly life-affirming. Laura Murphy writes with remarkable honesty about grief, love, and what it means to keep moving forward when the future you've imagined disappears overnight. Heartbreaking, funny, and ultimately hopeful. Dutton Press. Order here.
Catch the Devil by Pamela Colloff
Colloff has built her career uncovering some of the most eye opening failures of the American justice system, and this may be one of her most riveting stories yet. She follows the trail of a serial con man whose lies helped send an innocent man to death row, creating a true-crime narrative that reads just like a thriller. Extremely well reported and impossible to put down. Random House. Order here.
Hardie Grant
Trash by Simon Paré-Poupart
Everyone has a story and Montreal garbageman Simon Paré-Poupart’s part memoir and part social commentary, makes you see the world, and the people who are running in a completely different light. Hardie Grant. Order here.
On Morrison by Namwell Serpell
There have been endless books written about Toni Morrison, but not many approach her work with the intelligent admiration that Namwali Serpell brings to words. Instead of focusing on Morrison's life, Serpell examines the artistry of the books themselves, revealing just how innovative and influential they still are today. Random House. Order here.
Keeper of My Kin by Ada Ferrer
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Ada Ferrer shifts her attention to her own family in this extremely moving memoir about migration and separation. She traces the lasting impact of her mother's decision to flee Cuba in 1963 while leaving behind a young son. What comes from it is both an intimate family portrait while also a powerful meditation on love, loss, identity, and belonging. A beautiful reminder that history is never just about nations but about families. Simon & Schuster. Order here
Single Girls by John Searles
John Searles has always had a gift for creating characters who feel instantly familiar. Sharp, funny, and surprisingly touching, the novel follows women navigating friendship, ambition, disappointment, and the endless search for connection. A very smart and entertaining read inspired by his time working at Cosmo with legendary editor Helen Gurley Brown Harper Collins. Order here.
The Fine Art of Lying by Alexandra Andrews
Alexandra Andrews delivers a smart, twisty thriller set inside Manhattan’s glamorous art world. A young Upper East Side woman’s fascination with a mysterious painting and attractive, mysterious art dealer pulls her into a murder investigation that makes her question everyone and everything in her life. Harper Collins. Order here.
Alan Opts Out by Courtney Maum
When Alan Anderson bombs the biggest pitch of his career, he doesn't just lose the account–-he loses his taste for the whole rat race. He quits his job and moves into his family’s backyard playhouse to live off the land, while his wife attempts to scramble up the social ladder of their posh Connecticut town without him. LIttle, Brown & Company. Order here.
Last Night in Brooklyn
by Xochitl Gonzalez
Last Night in Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez
Alicia has her whole future mapped out—a safe, predictable life—until one night out in Fort Greene pulls her into the orbit of a glamorous, larger-than-life neighbor, La Garza. Set in Brooklyn in 2007, this is a story about ambition, envy, and the pull of a life you’re not sure you’re allowed to want. Gonzalez has called it a gender-bent, Brooklyn-set reimagining of The Great Gatsby. Flatiron Books. Order here.
