41 new books for summer reading in 2024

For your summer reading pleasure, here is a selection of 41 new books to choose from, including ones by Wisconsin writers, with a subset of choices for children and teens. In each case, I've either read the book already or browsed it, or been impressed by a previous work from the same author, or had the new book recommended by a trusted source of information.

Thanks to my colleague Chris Foran for contributing pop-culture selections.

"Between the Lines: Steppenwolf’s Seagull and a Reluctant Actor’s Journey Back to the Stage" (Blue Jay Ink), by Eric Simonson. Despite his chronic stage fright, playwright Eric Simonson ("Lombardi," "Run Bambi Run") went back on stage as an actor — at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre. The Milwaukee native and Lawrence University grad turns this adventure into a smart and sober reflection on that production, working on a show and the "golden age" of Chicago theater (which he defines as 1980-1995).

"Between You and Us" (WaterBrook) by Kendra Broekhuis. In this Milwaukee writer's novel, a woman lives alternative versions of her life where she experiences a loving relationship with either her husband or her daughter, but not both.

"Birding to Change the World: A Memoir" (Ecco), by Trish O'Kane. Ornithology meets environmental activism in O'Kane's book, which includes the work she did to preserve Madison's Warner Park as a home for birds while she was earning her doctorate at the University of Wisconsin.

“The Blues Brothers: An Epic Friendship, the Rise of Improv and the Making of an American Film Classic” (Grove/Atlantic Monthly Press), by Daniel de Visé. This blow-by-blow accounting of the making of “The Blue Brothers” movie (including an infamous scene shot in Milwaukee) also serves as a dual biography of John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd.

"The Brides of High Hill" (Tordotcom), by Nghi Vo. The new entry in a Milwaukee writer's exceptional fantasy series. A traveling cleric accompanies a young bride-to-be to the dilapidated estate where she is to be married. Hint: Some scary things are happening.

"Broiler" (Soho Crime), by Eli Cranor. An exploited worker at an Arkansas chicken plant strikes back with a kidnapping, which leads to other brutal events in Edgar winner Cranor's crime thriller.

"A Chance Meeting: American Encounters" (New York Review Books), by Rachel Cohen. Grounded in research, seasoned with mild speculation, Cohen writes about real meetings and encounters between American literary, artistic and public figures from 1854 through 1967. To mention a few names: Matthew Brady, Willa Cather, James Baldwin, Richard Avedon. Her deftly written essays interlock in fascinating ways.

"Chaos in Kinshasa" (Catalyst), written by Thierry Bellefroid with artwork by Barly Baruti, translated by Ivanka Hahnenberger. In this intense graphic novel, a Harlem street thug at the Ali-Foreman "Rumble in the Jungle" in 1974 gets mixed up in a lethal coup attempt.

"Chasing the Stars: How the Astronomers of Observatory Hill Transformed Our Understanding of the Universe" (Wisconsin Historical Society Press), by James Lattis and Kelly Tyrrell. In this friendly book for general readers, the authors explore the role University of Wisconsin researchers and the Washburn Observatory have played in 20th century astrophysics.

“Cocktails With George and Martha: Movies, Marriage and the Making of ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’” (Bloomsbury), by Philip Gefter. In retrospect, casting newlyweds Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor as the battling spouses in Edward Albee’s searing drama seems like a no-brainer. Gefter shows it was anything but in this richly told history.

"Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil" (Tor, on sale June 18), by Ananda Lima. After a woman has a thing with the devil, she keeps writing stories and keeps running into him. Brazilian writer Lima, who lives in Chicago now, will speak at 6:30 p.m. June 25 at Boswell Books.

"Dear Readers and Riders: The Beloved Books, Faithful Fans, and Hidden Private Life of Marguerite Henry" (Trafalgar Square Books), by Lettie Teague. Henry, author of "Misty of Chincoteague" and many other horse-centered books for children, was a Milwaukee native. Teague's biography includes a substantial number of photos as well as choice letters from Henry's fans. Teague will speak at 6:30 p.m. June 5 at Boswell Books.

“Desperately Seeking Something: A Memoir About Movies, Mothers, and Material Girls” (St. Martin’s Press, on sale June 18), by Susan Seidelman. Seidelman made her filmmaking debut with “Smithereens,” a DYI indie that debuted at the Cannes Film Festival; her first Hollywood movie, “Desperately Seeking Susan,” rode and fueled Madonna’s skyrocketing career. She gives the inside stories on those, and on a life just ahead of the pop-culture curve while still trying to comprehend it, in this personable (and tune-filled) memoir.

"The Downloaded" (Shadowpaw Press), by Robert J. Sawyer. In this Canadian science fiction master's new novel of uploaded minds and space settlement, astronauts and criminals have to find a way to work together after a disastrous event. The Audible audiobook of Sawyer's novel is a full cast production starring Brendan Fraser.

"Familiaris" (Blackstone, on sale June 11), by David Wroblewski. A prequel to Wroblewski's hit novel "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle," "Familiaris" is a mammoth read with Wisconsin and the human-dog connection at the heart of it.

“From the Moment They Met It was Murder: ‘Double Indemnity’ and the Rise of Film Noir” (Running Press/Turner Classic Movies), by Alain Silver and James Ursini. Billy Wilder’s 1944 crime classic “Double Indemnity” didn’t invent film noir, but Silver and Ursini make an excellent case for the movie’s foundational role in this rich, well-written history.

"Hip-Hop Is History" (AUWA, on sale June 11) by Questlove with Ben Greenman. A personal history of the musical genre from one of its great musicians and thinkers.

"I Cheerfully Refuse" (Grove) by Leif Enger. The author of "Peace Like a River" brings his meditative style to a near-future dystopian novel set around Lake Superior.

"I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition" (Penguin Press), by Lucy Sante. A prominent cultural writer braids the story of her later-life transition with an account of the earlier years that shaped her personality.

"Look Away: A True Story of Murders, Bombings, and a Far-Right Campaign to Rid Germany of Immigrants" (Grand Central), by Jacob Kushner. Xenophobic neo-Nazi terrorists stoked anti-immigrant violences in Germany unchecked for years — in the 21st century. Kushner details this real-life horror story with an eye on surging anti-immigrant rhetoric in this country. Kushner, a University of Wisconsin alum, will speak at 6:30 p.m. May 16 at Boswell Books.

"Monsters We Have Made" (Vintage), by Lindsay Starck. Inspired by the Slender Man case, Milwaukee native Starck's literary novel with an undercurrent of horror fiction looks deeply at the parents of one of the perpetrators, who are alarmed about the apparent return of the monster.

"The Moviegoer & Other Novels 1961-1971" (Library of America), by Walker Percy. The first three novels by a one-of-a-kind philosopher-novelist, including his debut "The Moviegoer," a surprise winner of the National Book Award in 1962.

"Music Stories" (Everyman Pocket Classics), edited by Wesley Stace. This winning anthology of classic and contemporary fiction, chosen by a notable writer-musician, covers the gamut of musical situations in killer stories by Ian McEwan, Vikram Seth, Langston Hughes, Dana Spiotta and others.

"My Life in Seventeen Books: A Literary Memoir" (Monkfish Publishing), by Jon M. Sweeney. A spiritually minded bibliophile's account of books that mattered so much to him he carried them around for a long time. "A few of these chapters tell stories of how I organize business and work around locating secondhand bookstores," the Milwaukee writer confesses.

"One Perfect Couple" (Scout Press), by Ruth Ware. In a new suspense novel from the author of "The Woman in Cabin 10," five couples competing in a reality show are trapped on a deserted island with a killer. English writer Ware will speak at 7 p.m. May 24 at Boswell Books in conversation with Milwaukee novelist Carole E. Barrowman. Tickets for this event, at $23.99 plus tax and fees, include a copy of Ware's new book. Get tickets via boswellbooks.com.

“The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story” (Harper), by Sam Wasson. Coppola is the ultimate American dreamer in this passionate portrait of the Oscar-winning filmmaker during two of his most ambitious projects: “Apocalypse Now,” which wrecked him physically, and “One From the Heart,” which wrecked him financially.

"The Price You Pay" (G.P. Putnam's Sons), by Nick Petrie. In the eighth novel in Shorewood writer Petrie's action series, lethal sidekick Lewis turns to Peter Ash for help when shadowy figures comes after Lewis for vengeance. Parts of this book are set in Riverwest and in northern Wisconsin.

"Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring" (Harper), by Brad Gooch. Haring packed an incredible amount of art, music and life into his 31 years., Gooch's sympathetic biography deepens the picture of Haring as a Warhol-like genius.

"Real Americans" (Knopf), by Rachel Khong. Three generations of Chinese-Americans try to find their way in an ambitious novel that touches everything from the Chinese Cultural Revolution to gene editing. Khong will speak at 6:30 p.m. May 15 at Boswell Books, 2559 N. Downer Ave.

"Restoring Prairie" (Cornerstone Press), by Margaret Rozga. Former Wisconsin poet laureate Rozga's new environmentally oriented collection includes a number of poems inspired by the UWM at Waukesha Field Station, a decades-long effort to restore native plants and animals to acres near Waterville Road.

"Strangers No Longer: Latino Belonging and Faith in Twentieth-Century Wisconsin" (University of Illinois Press), by Sergio M. González. A Marquette University professor traces a century of Latino life in Wisconsin, with a focus on the roles played by churches and religious movements.

"Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story" (Akashic Books), by Daniel Rachel. A chronicle of the comet-like record label that brought the world the ska-meets-punk sounds of The Specials, Selecter, Madness and The Beat.

“What Have We Here? Portrait of a Life” (Knopf), by Billy Dee Williams (Knopf). Williams is so smooth on the screen – in star turns ranging from “Brian’s Song” to “The Empire Strikes Back” — that he’s underestimated. But he’s also an artist, a thinker, a lover (yes, he names names) and more, as he shows in this charm-wrapped memoir.

“Wisconsin for Kennedy: The Primary that Launched a President and Changed the Course of History” (Wisconsin Historical Society Press), by B.J. Hollars. The state’s 1960 primary, which set the stage for John F. Kennedy winning the Democratic nomination, is retold by focusing on the stories of the Kennedy clan and the Wisconsin players who rallied to their candidate.

“The World Is Yours: The Story of ‘Scarface’” (Hanover Square Press), by Glenn Kenny. Kenny goes down the rabbit hole on the 1983 crime spectacle “Scarface,” crafting a making-of story with a critical eye and lengthy interviews to get at how a violent, over-the-top remake of a 1932 gangster movie became a touchstone of our time, for good and ill.

New books for children and teens

"Caged" (Kokila, on sale May 28), by Kao Kalia Yang, illustrated by Khou Vue. In this picture book written by a prominent Minnesota writer, a young Hmong girl born and raised in a refugee camp wonders what life could be like outside. For readers 4 to 8 years old.

"Being Home" (Kokila), by Traci Sorell, illustrated by Michaela Goade. A young Cherokee girl and her mother pack up their home in the city and move to the Cherokee Nation Reservation, where they are warmly welcomed. For readers 6 to 10 years old.

"Painting the Game" (McElderry), by Patricia MacLachlan. In the late MacLachlan's final novel, the daughter of a minor league pitcher practices in secret, trying to master the knuckleball. For readers 8 to 12 years old.

"Tales From Cabin 23: The Boo Hag Reflex" (Balzer + Bray), by Justina Ireland. The author of the acclaimed alt-history horror novel "Dread Nation" delivers a spooky story for middle graders. A grieving girl at summer camp finds out that monsters preying on old people in a trailer park are more than legends. For readers 8 to 12 years old.

"Moonstorm" (Delacorte, on sale June 4), by Yoon Ha Lee. In this science fiction novel rooted in Korean culture, a teen and her classmates are rushed into training to pilot robot warriors, only to learn of problems that threaten everything. For readers age 12 and older.

"Brownstone" (Versify, on sale June 11), by Samuel Teer, illustrated by Mar Julia. Teen Almudena is sent to the city to live with her Guatemalan father for the summer, where she copes with a million changes, including the question of how she fits in. For readers 14 and older.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 41 new books for summer reading in 2024