The Best Books for Book Clubs in 2024, So Far

A remarkable follow-up to Brodesser-Akner’s 2019 novel (and subsequent FX miniseries) Fleishman Is In Trouble. But where Fleishman deals largely in sex, Compromise trades primarily in a topic that’s arguably more taboo: money. Or, more accurately, the very particular Semitic sort of generational wealth that usually is cultivated thanks to a singular work ethic and, often, a livelihood that’s tethered to mundane but necessary materials.

Jewish American family The Fletchers are rich. The patriarch, Carl, runs a polystyrene empire (also known as styrofoam; see: mundane materials) started by his father, who escaped Europe during the war. The novel opens with Carl’s kidnapping in 1980, and, after a large ransom is paid, he is returned home a week later to his family and everyone moves on. But, of course, they don’t.

The novel follows Carl’s three outrageously screwed-up grown children—LA screenwriter Beamer, nervous land-use attorney Nathan, and brilliant, bratty perpetual student Jenny as they attempt to navigate adulthood in the shadow of an event from 40 years before that has irrevocably traumatized the Fletcher family. And then there’s the issue of all the money going away.

Literally anybody who appreciates family sagas, postmodern fiction, and really great and funny writing will love this book, but I imagine Jewish American readers will feel a particular kinship to the novel thanks to its razor-sharp send-ups of familiar traditions, obsessions, verbal patters, definition of success, and superstitions.

—Perrie Samotin, digital director

Out now

When choosing a book-club book, you hope that it would spark a dynamic discussion and conversation to further open your understanding of the story. I’m so happy to report that A Great Country will absolutely deliver.

Gowda does a fantastic job exploring the complicated truth of this country’s “melting pot” reality. There are themes of race profiling, immigrant-parent-and-child relationships, political and social issues, and so much more. This thought-provoking book is one you don’t want to miss.

—Meagan Briggs, book influencer @meagansbookclub

On the surface, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams is a love story that connects two artists across generations. But in reality, it’s a story about a young woman who takes a chance on herself and her dream. Ricki Wilde is a 20-something from Atlanta who comes from a wealthy and meritocratic family. Since childhood she always felt that she didn’t fit in, and maybe there’s good reason for that. Her inability to fit in, in addition to meeting her fairy godmother, leads her to Harlem.

As she immerses herself in her new community, which is filled with the history of the Harlem Renaissance, she meets a man. She feels an extraordinary but unexplainable draw to him, with multiple run-ins that don’t seem coincidental. Williams draws readers in with a modern day love story, sprinkled with colloquial humor and Louisiana voodooism. She balances Harlem’s intersection with music throughout history, and what the Harlem Renaissance offered Black Americans in the 1920s. Across generations, Williams uses Ricki’s business as a flower shop owner to pay homage to historical figures and places from that time. All of this, together with intense sex scenes, makes this a perfect book for the hopeless romantic and history buff.

—Monique Wilson, editorial assistant

Out now

After I finished Annie Bot, I wanted to discuss it so badly with other women that I not only wrote about it for Glamour (read my interview with author Sierra Greer here), but I suggested it for my own book club. There’s just so much to unpack in this novel.

A brilliantly crafted examination of abusive relationships and patriarchal power, Greer tells her story through a futuristic lens, and the propulsive plot keeps the reader entertained as she makes her point. Annie is a Stella, an AI robot that can be purchased by humans for about the price of a luxury car to fill a void in their households. Stellas can be nannies or housekeepers, but Annie is set to “Cuddle Bunny” mode, meaning her primary task is to be a sexual and romantic partner to her owner, Doug. When Annie is changed to a different mode that allows her to learn from her environment, she begins to question her own value and worth. You won’t be able to stop thinking about Annie, her world, and how uncomfortably real the whole thing feels.

—S.M.

Out now

I love a good billionaire story. All Our Tomorrows reminds me of a good drama series like Dallas or Dynasty. I love the dynamics of the storyline and all the characters, so many of whom are not to be trusted.

I’m counting down the days to the second book in the series to see what happens to all that money!

—Megan Sargent, bookstagrammer at Meg’s Book Club

Out now

Book club this, book club that—what about a cookbook club? It’s what it sounds like: Everyone makes a different dish from the same cookbook, then gathers to eat and discuss. It’s perfect for people (like me) who don’t have time to read a whole novel every month but can expend 45 minutes on a recipe.

I suggest starting with Glamour contributor Alyse Whitney’s Big Dip Energy. Her dip recipes—or, as she calls them, “88 parties in a bowl”—are perfect for entertaining and easily modified for all dietary requirements, from her saag paneer artichoke dip to the multiple riffs on queso.

—Anna Moeslein, deputy editor

Out now

It’s brat summer, but I’m not talking about Charli, I’m talking about Gabriel Smith’s debut, Brat. In a dizzying stream of consciousness, we follow Gabriel as he copes with the death of his father and struggles to write his first novel, all while he teeters on the verge of insanity.

The book is so bizarre, ghostly, and gruesome, which makes its humor all the more delightful.

—Channing Smith, designer

Out now

Kiley Reid has such a way with words. Her latest novel, Come and Get It, follows a young college resident adviser named Millie who finds herself entangled with an older professor and three other students at the University of Arkansas. Reid describes her characters in one sentence that really cuts to their core and tells you exactly who they are.

This book tackles money, privilege, race, and power dynamics. I think this is a book that is begging to be discussed as Kiley explores these topics and leaves readers to draw their own conclusions. I couldn’t stop thinking about it after I finished reading, and the more I marinated in this book, the more I appreciated Kiley’s ambition.

—Nnenna Odeluga, book influencer @scsreads

Out now

Whenever I want to understand what happened in politics that day, I turn to Emily Amick, a.k.a. @emilyinyourphone. I’m not alone—Amick has made a name for herself on Instagram through her no-nonsense and easily digestible explanations of political news.

Now, she’s releasing her first book, teaming up with Sami Sage of Betches Media to make civic engagement something that young women can actually aspire to, even in these dark times. Through their frank and funny prose, and optimistic yet accomplishable ideas that are ripe for discussion, Sage and Amick make engaging in politics seem like less of a drag and actually maybe even fun.

—S.M.

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With a title like Happy Harbor, I was surprised how heartfelt this story is (the title actually refers to the hometown that the story’s main character, Josie Campbell, had distanced herself from before returning in the book to run her grandmother’s restaurant).

There is family drama and some romance. It is a book about believing in yourself but learning that life is really hard all alone, so ask for help sometimes!

—M.S.

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This was a classic whodunit book and it was a hit among my book-club friends. We all had different theories about the ending, and the plot kept us on our toes.

We also had a lot to discuss about the parents and what we would have done in their situation, so there’s a lot of potential conversation starters here.

—Jenifer Calle, commerce editor

Out now

If you want to read a romance that will make you feel things, then this is the book for you. Yulin Kuang’s debut book is about a novelist named Helen and a screenwriter named Grant. Helen and Grant went to high school together, and their lives became intertwined due to a tragic incident. More than a decade later, when Helen moves to Los Angeles to work on the TV adaptation of one of her novels, Grant is the last person she expects or wants to see in the writers room.

When I first started this book, I was truly stumped as to how the two main characters would end up together. It seems so impossible at first, but Kuang writes their love story beautifully. The tension builds and builds, and the stakes are so high. Kuang writes about the ripple effects of trauma, Helen’s complicated relationship with her immigrant parents, and Grant’s mental health struggles, among other things. This is a book that evokes strong feelings while also diving into topics that will make you reflect on your own experiences.

—N.O.

Out now

I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but that’s what drew me to pick up Ladykiller recently while on vacation. Its evocative pool scene just screamed beach read to me, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Abby is the long-suffering bestie of the flighty and sometimes cruel Gia, an heiress whose family once employed Abby’s mother. Though Abby has attempted to strike out on her own as a successful attorney, she can’t help but come calling whenever Gia needs her due to their long history and shared secrets. When Gia vanishes suddenly from her family’s Greek island estate, Abby and Gia’s brother Benny attempt to figure out what happened to her. It’s a decadent and sultry thriller, the perfect companion to your beachside margarita, and to chat about with your friends afterward.

—S.M.

Out now

I’ve been a big fan of Kimberly McCreight for years for her previous novels, especially her debut, Reconstructing Amelia. She excels at crafting complex women characters who are grappling with real questions surrounding what it means to be a woman and a mother in the world, and her latest is no exception.

Like Mother, Like Daughter follows Cleo, a university student with a complicated relationship with her mother, Kat. When Kat suddenly vanishes, Cleo must examine what misconceptions she was holding about her mom and her life, in time to help her before it’s too late. It’s a readable thriller with some deep questions at its core that are ripe for discussion.

—S.M.

Out now

It has been 20 years since Eilis Lacey left home, moved to Brooklyn, and married Tony. She’s now in her 40s, trying to navigate life after hearing the news of her husband’s infidelity. She decides to return home to Ireland and spend time with the family she left behind, along with the man she left when she moved to America.

Tóibín’s storytelling is rich and full of tension as he explores the complexities of life, the decisions we make, and the consequences that result.

—M.B.

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I’m a particular fan of women narrators who have a voice that’s sardonic, biting, or just straight-up self-absorbed. Hannah, the protagonist of Tasha Coryell’s often-hilarious debut is all three, and her black humor communicates truths about the current millennial ennui through her often outlandish remarks.

Hannah is a 30-something single woman who’s feeling adrift and bitter in both her personal life and in her dead-end job. After being ghosted by yet another f-boy, she finds herself becoming obsessed with the case of a string of young women found dead in Atlanta. When police arrest a successful lawyer named William for the killings, Hannah finds herself attracted to the case in more ways than one. You won’t stop laughing at Hannah’s observations on adulthood, true crime, and modern dating (and also will probably feel just a tiny bit dragged).

—S.M.

Out now

You don’t need to have struggled with binge-eating disorder to find poignancy and resonance in the pages of Emma Specter’s More, Please: On Food, Fat, Bingeing, Longing, and the Lust for “Enough.” There’s a mixture of memoir and in-depth reporting here that feels as though you’re reading one long, lovely, personal essay about how —both individually and societally—food can become an emotional salve.

I tore through this over a few warm days on my stomach at the park and felt the full spectrum of emotions while doing so. To put it simply: I laughed out loud, I felt stray tears run down my cheeks, and I dog-eared relentlessly—all of which are the greatest tells of a great read.

—Amalie McGowan, creative development manager

Out now

Nightwatching is one of those reads I devour: a thrilling mystery with an actual message and larger social commentary contained within. Tracy Sierra drops you right into her terrifying scenario. An unnamed woman wakes up suddenly to a bump in the night, and realizes there is an intruder in the house she shares with her two young children, and he is trying to hurt them.

Sierra’s plot is propulsive and literally heart-pounding, but is interspersed with flashbacks that reveal the scenarios that led the family to this exact moment. Along the way, she raises important questions about who gets to be a victim and how hard it is for women to be believed. It will enrage you, it will scare you, and it will definitely make you want to discuss it.

—S.M.

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As a frequent reader, I have to say it takes a lot to make me actually stop and go, “Woah!” But that was the reaction I had when finishing the first third of Swallow the Ghost. I was completely caught off guard by Eugenie Montague’s choices in where she took her novel, which is told in three parts from three different perspectives, and the rest didn’t disappoint.

Jane Murphy is a somewhat jaded and listless millennial working in advertising who is just waiting for something exciting to happen in her life. Well, something does, and the impact will reverberate across everyone who knows her. I actually don’t want to share any more of the plot because I want you to have the same jump scare. Trust me, it’s just that good.

—S.M.

Out now

Everyone’s talking about it: Dating apps are the worst. But no matter how bad you or your friends’ stories are about your terrible Tinder dates, you probably don’t have it as bad as Gwen, the protagonist of L.M. Chilton’s hilariously satirical novel. Because her online dates keep dropping dead.

Gwen, a listless coffee-truck owner who is on the apps after breaking up with her long-term boyfriend, is shocked when she realizes that a recent murder victim is one of the men she recently went on a terrible app date with, but even more so when the next of her dates is killed as well, and the next. She must try to figure out the pattern of why her dates keep getting murdered and try to stop the killer in their tracks to avoid the blame being placed on herself. It’s a clever concept, and Chilton imbues his critiques and observations of the modern dating scene with over-the-top absurdities and heart.

—S.M.

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Who doesn’t love a story about an older woman getting a second chance at love and life? Sylvia is the woman we all need in our lives right now. She is authentically her and that feels relatable and wonderful!

Your fellow book-clubbers will love to talk about Sylvia and wonder what she’s up to now. If you’re a Sex and the City fan, you’ll love this one.

—MB

Out now

Dating coach Lily Womble has built a community on social media with her “feminist” approach to dating, a.k.a. removing men from the center of relationship conversations. She expands on this philosophy in Thank You, More Please, which attempts to change the conversation around dating and make it more fulfilling. Mainly, she wants women to find joy in searching for a relationship (which is needed more than ever in the age of dating apps).

How do women find this joy? By embracing their truest self. Womble, a self-described “late bloomer,” thinks that women have been taught to settle and shrink back in order to “find a man,” and she’s sick of it. Her bold proclamations of how women should be themselves and proudly are just what any of your friends tired of the apps needs to hear, and is a rallying cry for all women, single or coupled alike.

—S.M.

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The last decade or so has been revolutionary in the science of egg freezing. All of the sudden, it seems like every woman is doing it. But who is regulating this now-huge industry, and what is freezing your eggs actually like?

Those are the questions Natalie Lampert set out to answer when she was told that due to only having one ovary and other complications that she should freeze her egg if she wanted to have biological children. So, as a reporter, she decided to investigate what doing so actually meant. It’s an informative and illuminating read that is sure to spark discussion.

—S.M.

Out now

When Roe v. Wade fell in June 2022, it was a shock to many women, especially those who supported abortion rights. But the plan to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion had been in the works for years. In this seminal book by New York Times reporters Elizabeth Dias and Lisa Lerer, they walk through, essentially, what happened, and how antiabortion advocates accomplished their goal.

Alternating in between the perspectives of those for and against abortion is an effective tactic in the book, and it manages to be extremely illuminating while still easily readable. You’ll be fired up and angry in eager measure, just in time for the 2024 election.

—S.M.

Out now

When my book club came together to discuss The Fury by Alex Michaelides, we were divided on the ending. Half of us thought the narrator got what he deserved, half of us felt bad for him. Truthfully, some of us were confused about what exactly happened at the end, which made for fun interpretations. It was a very different way of reading a thriller; it felt like reading a screenplay at the time.

The details on the characters were at times so specific that it made you feel as if you really knew them, yet certain details from the unreliable narrator left you with doubts. I personally felt that we needed more background on the characters. Either way, I would highly recommend The Fury. The ending alone is extremely entertaining, with so many twists and turns.

—J.C.

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I grew up going to summer camp in the Adirondacks, so when I picked up The God of The Woods I was immediately transported back to my creaky little bunk. Liz Moore’s new book follows the disappearance of 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar from her bunk while at Camp Emerson.

Through multiple POVs and interwoven storylines, we quickly discover that her disappearance may be more sinister than losing her way in the woods, as she is the second Van Laar child to go missing. The novel is a substantial read at almost 500 pages, but I zipped through it, hungry to solve the mystery.

—C.S.

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My book club (named Tomegirls) dissolved naturally, as my friends and I had all given up on trying to keep it going. After reading The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, I wish I still had an intelligent group of lively women to discuss it with.

McBride has a great way of building a narrative arc and creating engaging characters—I was so invested in all of their lives. The ability to juggle so many stories at once that weave together is something he sharpened over the years, and I’m impressed. But mostly I really want to talk about how often the author said breasts or made some unnecessary comment about a woman’s appearance. It was almost funny at one point; while listening to the audiobook, I thought it should be turned into a drinking game.

—Lauren Brown, senior visual editor

Out now

In modern fiction, it’s somewhat rare to come across a premise that is completely original. But Holly Gramazio pulls it off in her delightful debut, The Husbands, which I not only tore through because I couldn’t stop reading it but did so with a smile on my face the entire time. It’s really that charming.

Lauren is a 30-something who is mostly content with her life, even though her best friend is getting married and she’s super single. That is until her friend’s bachelorette party. When Lauren stumbles home after a night of fun, there’s a man in her apartment, and he says he’s her husband. Then, the man goes upstairs into her attic, and a completely new husband comes down. Soon, Lauren learns she can get a new husband and an accompanying new life anytime she wants, just by sending them upstairs. Through Lauren’s journey, Gramazio explores the paradox of modern dating. Mainly, when you can infinitely swipe (or in this case, swap) how do you know when you’ve found the one?

—S.M.

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A delightfully silly book with a pure heart at its center, I blazed through The Memo. It tells the story of Jenny Green, a 35-year-old who does not have it all together. She lost her dream career after an internship went horribly wrong, her boyfriend low-key sucks, and she feels as if she’d made nothing of her life. Meanwhile, Jenny has watched her friends from college go on to amazing and fruitful careers and lives.

Frustrated at all that evades her, Jenny reluctantly attends her college reunion, where she finds out that she just missed the memo. Literally. Turns out, all of her friends have belonged to a secret society that allows them to craft their dream life if they follow their “memos” exactly. When Jenny gets the chance to rewrite her life with her own memo, she takes it, but will it really make her happier? It’s an exploration of the roads not taken and what fulfillment really means that lends itself to endless discussion.

—S.M.

Out now

Mary Claire Haver is a menopause expert backed by her credentials and her millions of views on TikTok and Instagram, and she is the girl’s girl we’ve all been waiting for when it comes to learning more about our bodies and the inevitable arrival of menopause.

Haver breaks everything down to what we can do to help ourselves prepare, not only physically but mentally too. She gives us hope and encouragement, and I have no doubt this will be a book club meeting you won’t want to miss.

—M.B.

Out now

There’s been a lot of coverage in the past few years of groups of women who get together to discuss the harmful actions one man has inflicted on all of them. In her searing memoir, Chimene Suleyman gracefully accounts for how revolutionary and healing these types of connections can be.

After going through an abortion with her then partner, Suleyman never sees him again. In her journey of trying to understand why the man she thought she loved ghosted her, she found he had left a trail of gaslighting and destruction in his wake, along with many, many more women. It’s a powerful tribute to female solidarity that you won’t be able to stop thinking about.

—S.M.

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The Paradise Problem was such a great romance story! Anna and Liam have a past and when they meet again, there is a lot riding on their relationship…like millions of dollars!

This was a laugh-out-loud, perfect summer read. As a huge Christina Lauren fan, this has to be my new favorite.

—M.S.

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The latest novel from author Jo Piazza has something for everyone. History buffs? Check. Thriller girlies? Yup. Inspirational women? Definitely. Piazza took inspiration from her own family history in crafting this narrative, which is loosely based on her great-grandmother’s murder in Sicily.

The book follows Sara, a chef who is down on her luck after both her business and marriage fail. After her great aunt dies, Sara learns she’s left her a mystery to unfold that takes her all the way back to Italy to unravel a piece of their family story. It’s an ode to strong women, past and present, with a compelling plot to keep you turning the pages.

—S.M.

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Everyone loves a good reality TV villain, and for good reason. What fun would your favorite dating shows be without them? But there’s usually more to them that meets the eye, as in The Villain Edit.

Laurie Devore tells the story of Jac, a writer who was once a publishing wunderkind but has seen her acclaim and opportunities dry up after a huge failure. Desperate to revive her career, Jac decides to apply for the 1, a Bachelor-like dating show. She hopes that by winning audiences over with her search for love, she can also convince them to buy her books again, but she didn’t bargain for getting a bad edit. Like, a really bad edit. Plus, there’s Henry, a guy she hooked up with shortly before the show who just so happens to be the executive producer of the 1, and may be pulling the strings. It’s a fun and frothy twist on the genre that is endlessly entertaining.

—S.M.

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I knew The Wedding People was going to be one of the top book club books of the summer when I realized not only was my club reading it, but two of my friends’ clubs were as well. It is just the perfect novel to discuss. A heartfelt story that touches on second chances, depression, fertility, romance, and the wedding industrial complex, anyone can find a character to relate to and feel for.

The novel tells the story of Phoebe, a college professor who has hit her rock bottom after her last fertility treatment failed, her marriage ended, and her cat died. On a whim, she decides to go to a luxury hotel in Rhode Island, where she unwittingly gets swept up in an extravagant wedding week for a bride and groom who have issues of their own. It’s simply delightful, entertaining, and heartfelt.

—S.M.

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Just because summer is almost over doesn’t mean your book club has to cease reading steamy beach reads about rich people behaving badly in beautiful locales. Teddy Wayne’s The Winner has all of that and more, with a dose of a rather salacious love triangle.

Wayne tells the story of Conor, a working-class yet striving recent law school graduate who works as a tennis pro to make extra cash. When he gets a gig for the summer teaching out on an exclusive enclave in Massachusetts, his ambitions begin to pull him into a path of deception, sex, and money he may not be able to come back from. You’ll loathe Conor yet root for him in equal measure, which is always ripe for good discussion.

—S.M.

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Military wives are a tight-knit yet insular community, who rarely get the spotlight their better halves enjoy. But as Simone Gorrindo details in her beautiful memoir, this is a group of women who are long overdue for recognition of their strength and friendship.

Gorrindo was working as an editor in NYC when her husband joined an elite unit in the army. Suddenly, she was living in a town in rural Georgia alone as her husband was deployed to a war zone. Luckily, she had the wives, the other women whose husbands were serving in the unit, with whom she formed a beautiful and complex bond. Women of all ages, military wives or not, can relate to this story of friendship and resilience. (I passed it along to my 84-year-old grandmother, a former military wife who gave it rave reviews.)

—S.M.

At face value, The Women is the untold story of the women who fought in the Vietnam War, but there is so much more to unpack throughout the 20-year journey we take with Frankie.

Kristin Hannah was able to create such a visceral experience for the reader to really feel the pain of war, the impact it made not only on the service members but the ripple effect it had on their families, society, and the political climate during this era. You will be rooting for Frankie to find peace from the first moment we meet her up until the very last page.

—M.B.

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I love Kennedy Ryan so much, and I was eagerly anticipating the release of This Could Be Us, the second book in her interconnected Skyland series. This novel is about Soledad, a mother of three young girls whose world is turned upside down when her husband betrays her. Soledad goes on a journey of self-discovery and self-love, and also finds romantic love along the way. Kennedy takes us from serious moments to funny moments to heartfelt moments so seamlessly.

I experienced a range of emotions while reading this, and I became so invested in these characters over the course of the book. She highlights the importance of female friendships and also includes a thoughtful representation of autism. For anyone who’s ever had their life upended, had to start over, gone through a bad breakup, or worked on learning to love oneself, I think there’s a lot to relate to here.

—N.O.

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Brenda Novak is back at it! Every year I look forward to her new summer release. This year, Tourist Season will pull you into the world of three characters that will keep you fully engaged.

With romance and suspense built in, you will ask yourself, how much do you trust your own heart?

—M.S.

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With her debut Bad Summer People, Emma Rosenblum delivered a pitch-perfect beach read. Her latest proves she knows what we want to read about in the summer: mainly rich people in warm locales behaving badly.

This time, the rich people are employees of the incredibly pretentious and maybe sketchy tech company Aurora, the warm locale is a leadership retreat in Miami, and the bad behaviors are ever more salacious and possibly illegal. Told through multiple perspectives of a cast of deliciously narcissistic characters, Rosenblum’s tale is juicy and hilarious, especially if you’ve ever had the misfortune of speaking to a tech bro for too long.

—S.M.

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Reading this book of essays is like spending an afternoon with your funniest friend. With his keen observations and witty insights, not only did I laugh at every page but I also felt weirdly seen. At some point I shoved it over to my husband so he could peep Gary’s dispatch on that awkward moment when you walk into a restaurant and realize the vibe just isn’t…it…and you have to leave without making a scene (something my hubby has put up with me doing many times).

It’s a perfect, fast read that’s simultaneously effortless and thoughtful, and it’ll make you think about travel, staying as a house guest with friends, and even Maggie Smith differently.

—Brie Schwartz, commerce director

Out now