New month, new books! Book Light is our Dandelion Chandelier curated list of the most-anticipated new book releases every month, and next up is July 2022. So what are the best new new novels, poetry and essay collections, memoirs and other non-fiction books to read coming out in July 2022? Our intrepid team has been exploring and here’s what we found: 21 new book releases coming soon that we cannot wait to read.
what are the most anticipated new novels and non-fiction book releases for July 2022?
Wondering what to read in July 2022? We’ve surveyed the landscape, and rounded up a list of the best new books coming this July.
new novels and poetry July 2022
There are a number of buzzed-about debut novels on the way this month, including works from Isabel Kaplan, Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, Taymour Soomro and Felicia Berliner. And beloved novelists are back with new books, including Bruce Holsinger and Leah Franqui.
new memoirs, essay collections and other non-fiction books July 2022
The new non-fiction releases in July 2022 include several memoirs from a diverse group of women. An investigation of the world of salmon fishing and farming. An account of the first meeting of 35 half-siblings sharing the same sperm donor for a father. And a history of six women who were responsible for programming the world’s first computer.
The best most anticipated new novels, poetry collections and non-fiction book releases to read among the books coming out in July 2022.
the best new novels and non-fiction books coming in July 2022
Here’s our pick of the top new book releases of July 2022 – novels, poetry and essay collections, memoirs and other non-fiction – that we cannot wait to read. Pre-order your favorites now!
new book releases July 5, 2022
1. NSFW: A Novel by Isabel Kaplan.
NSFW is a debut novel about a young woman trying to succeed in Hollywood without selling her soul. She takes an entry-level position at a leading TV network – but as she climbs the ranks, she confronts the harsh reality of actually creating change from the inside. Ultimately, she must decide what to protect: the career she’s given everything for or the empowered woman she claims to be.
2. Life Ceremony: Stories by Sayaka Murata.
Life Ceremony is the first story collection translated into English from the acclaimed novelist and author of Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings. It promises “tales of weird love, heartfelt friendships, and the unsettling nature of human existence.”
3. The Displacements by Bruce Holsinger.
The Larsen-Hall family of The Displacements is the very picture of privilege: happily married couple, one an artist and the other a successful professional, two healthy kids and a new luxe apartment in Miami. But when a Category-6 hurricane roars ashore, everything collapses. Their home, their income, and their emotional security. Displaced to a FEMA mega-shelter, how does such a family survive? Or not?
4. Kaleidoscope by Cecily Wong.
The protagonists of the new novel Kaleidoscope are the Brightons. The biracial Chinese American family that built Kaleidoscope: a glittering, ‘global bohemian’ shopping empire sourcing luxury goods from around the world. When a catastrophic event dismantles their world, the youngest daughter sets off across the globe with an unlikely companion to seek truths about the people she thought she knew best.
5. Self-Portrait with Ghost: Short Stories by Meng Jin.
Self-Portrait with Ghost is comprised of ten thematically linked stories written during the turbulent Trump and pandemic years that explore intimacy and isolation, coming-of-age and coming to terms with the repercussions of past mistakes. Moving between San Francisco and China, this is a meditation on “what it means to live in an age of heightened self-consciousness, seemingly endless access to knowledge, and little actual power.”
6. Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore.
The author of Oona Out of Order is back with what seems sure to be another bestselling novel. In Acts of Violet, we’re immersed in the world of iconic magician Violet Volk, who 10 years earlier performed her greatest trick yet. She vanished. And she hasn’t been seen since. Her dutiful sister Sasha leads a quiet life with her daughter, Quinn. But when a podcaster decides to make his name with an exclusive interview with Sasha on the tenth anniversary of Violet’s disappearance, what has been invisible slowly comes to light. The publisher notes that this is a “story of fame, deception, and forgiveness that will make you believe in magic.”
7. honey & spice by Bolu Babalola.
Here’s everything you need to know about the new novel Honey & Spice. “Kiki Banjo has just made a huge mistake. As an expert in relationship-evasion and the host of the popular student radio show Brown Sugar, she’s made it her mission to make sure the women of the African-Caribbean Society at Whitewell University do not fall into the mess of “situationships”, players, and heartbreak. But when she kisses Malakai Korede (the guy she just publicly denounced as ‘The Wasteman of Whitewell’) in front of every Blackwellian on campus, she finds her show on the brink.” The solution? The two embark upon a fake relationship to salvage their reputations. Bridgerton fans, take note. The fake relationship rarely stays that way . . .
8. Florida Woman: A Novel by Deb Rogers.
Unafraid of the swamp? Then definitely pick up Florida Woman, a slyly comical new novel set during a long hot summer at a wildlife center for exotic monkeys in Florida. Jamie has been sent there as punishment for a prank that went viral (and that happened to be illegal). At first, the Atlas rescue center seems like a benign animal rescue operation. But there’s something sinister at work in this untamed stretch of palmettos and bogs.
9. The Falcon’s Eyes by Francesca Stanfill.
The historical novel The Falcon’s Eyes is set in France and England at the end of the twelfth century. Sixteen-year-old Isabelle, determined to escape her stifling life in provincial France, longs to be like the polarizing queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. When her arranged marriage to a nobleman obsessed with falcons begins to take a dark turn, she channels the spirit of her royal heroine and sets out on a bold and perilous path.
10. Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare.
In the new mystery-thriller Miss Aldridge Regrets, a mixed-race young nightclub singer is passing for white in London and flailing economically and emotionally. Then a stranger offers her the chance of a lifetime: a starring role on Broadway and a first-class ticket on the Queen Mary bound for New York. A murder at her nightclub makes her eager to accept – but then a chillingly similar incident occurs on the high seas.
11. Our Gen by Diane McKinney-Whetstone.
Billed as “a mashup of a Black Golden Girls and Melrose Place,” Our Gen (short for Sexagenarian) is set in the eponymous upscale fifty-five-plus community in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Four residents of color become fast friends. But beneath the fun and froth, storms gather. And painful secrets emerge.
new book releases July 12, 2022
12. The Night Shift by Natalka Burian.
Here’s the pitch for the new novel, The Night Shift. “Hidden behind back doors of bars and restaurants and theaters and shops all over New York City are shortcuts—secret passageways that allow you to jump through time and space to emerge in different parts of the city. No one knows where they came from, but there are rules—you can only travel through them one way and only at night.”
Say no more, We are So. All. In.
13. Big Girl: A Novel by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan.
In the debut coming-of-age novel Big Girl, a young Black girl in Harlem finds that the adults in her life have no interest in the desires that consume her: for love, for freedom and for validation. So those unmet longings are directed toward food. Between African dance classes, Weight Watchers meetings, hip hop music and her nearly all-white prep school, it turns out that even a city as big as New York can’t contain a defiant and determined soul forever.
14. A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin.
Perfect for those who have already binge-watched all available seasons of Bridgerton comes A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting, the tale of a scrappy young heroine who throws herself into the London Season to find a wealthy husband. Her main target sees her for what she really is, and is determined to foil her plan. Until their relationship takes a turn.
15. Harry Sylvester Bird by Chinelo Okparanta.
The author of Under the Udala Trees and Happiness, Like Water returns. In her new satirical novel Harry Sylvester Bird, a white man desperately wants to escape his racist, xenophobic, secret-keeping family. When he finally moves to New York City, he falls in love with a Nigerian woman. What could possibly go wrong?
16. sister mother warrior by Vanessa Riley.
Sister Mother Warrior is a novel of the Haitian Revolution based on the true-life stories of two extraordinary women: the first Empress of Haiti, Marie-Claire Bonheur. And Gran Toya, a West African-born warrior who helped lead the rebellion that drove out the French and freed the enslaved people of Haiti. It sheds new light on the often-overlooked history of the most successful Black uprising in history.
17. Other Names for Love by Taymour Soomro.
Other Names for Love is a debut novel about a boy’s life-changing summer in rural Pakistan. Sending his son to the family’s feudal estate in upcountry, Pakistan, Rafik hopes to toughen up his sensitive boy, to teach him about power, duty, family―to make him a man. He enlists Ali, a local teenager, in this project, hoping his presence will prove instructive.
Instead, over the course of one hot, indolent season, attraction blooms between the two boys. Decades later, Fahad is living abroad when he receives a call from his mother summoning him home. His return will force him to face the past.
18. Groupies: A novel by Sarah Priscus.
Among the groupies in the new novel Groupies are: a doting high school girl at war with her mother. A drug-dealing wife and new mom who longs to be a star herself. And a cynical mover-and-shaker with a soft spot for the band’s bassist.
19. The Great Man Theory by Teddy Wayne.
The author of Apartment is back with another novel of men struggling to behave like . . . men. The Great Man Theory finds Paul – author of The Luddite Manifesto, recently-demoted adjunct professor and doting Brooklyn dad – finds his life spiraling downward. In a desperate moment, he concocts a plan to right the world’s wrongs. And establish a new place for himself in it.
20. Crying in the Bathroom: A Memoir by Erika L. Sánchez.
With Crying in the Bathroom, the celebrated author of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter returns with a memoir-in-essays. She recounts her adventures growing up as the daughter of Mexican immigrants in Chicago in the nineties.
21. The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras.
The memoir The Man Who Could Move Clouds. is a moving account of a young girl growing up in Colombia. As a child, she witnessed her mother telling fortunes and her grandfather, a renowned curandero (or healer), predicting the future, healing the sick, and moving clouds. The author was unsure of her place in this world until a head injury caused her to have amnesia—an experience that her family believes may be key to her accessing her own magic.
22. Normal Family: On Truth, Love, and How I Met My 35 Siblings by Chrysta Bilton.
23. Fashionable Masculinities: Queers, Pimp Daddies, and Lumbersexuals, edited by Vicki Karaminas and Adam Geczy.
Perfectly timed with this year’s V&A Museum exhibit in London – Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear – comes this essay collection. In Fashionable Masculinities, 20 leading scholars and commentators share their take on what “masculine style” means today.
“Rather than being defined as a gender, masculinity has now become a style that can be worn and performed, as traditional and normative codes of masculinity are modulated and manipulated. These original essays cover terrain and subjects as varied as pop star Harry Styles, rapper and producer ‘Puff Daddy’ Sean Combs, lumbersexuals, spornosexuals, sexy daddies, and aging cool black daddies.”
24. Salmon Wars: The Dark Underbelly of Our Favorite Fish by Catherine Collins and Douglas Frantz.
As you consider tossing a salmon steak on the grill this summer, perhaps pause and read this enlightening and entertaining new non-fiction book about the salmon trade. Salmon Wars, written by a Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent and a former private investigator, might change the way you think about fish. As the publisher notes, “we are told salmon is healthy and environmentally friendly. The reality is disturbingly different.”
25. Why Didn’t You Tell Me?: A Memoir by Carmen Rita Wong.
This memoir of a mixed race LatinX and Chinese American girl growing up in New York City is a meditation on family secrets, race and how mothers and daughters can fail each other. Throughout her life, Wong believed that she knew her own origin story. But it was only in adulthood that she learned the truth. And by then, it was almost too late. When her mother passed away shortly after, the author was left with an anguished question: Why didn’t you tell me?
new book releases July 19, 2022
26. after the hurricane by leah franqui.
Santiago is the shining star of his migrant family—the one who made it out and struck it rich. But he is a haunted man, plagued by trauma, bipolar disorder, and alcoholism. He’s lost contact with Elena over the years and returned to San Juan to wrestle his demons alone. Then Hurricane Maria strikes, and Santiago vanishes. Desperate to know what happened to the father she once adored, Elena returns to Puerto Rico,
27. the daughter of doctor moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night returns with a retelling of the classic The Island of Doctor Moreau.
28. shmutz by Felicia Berliner.
In the debut novel Shmutz, we meet Raiz, a young Hasidic woman on a quest to get married. Just like almost all the other women in her Brooklyn Hasidic community, she anticipates an arranged marriage. There’s just one small problem: she’s secretly addicted to online porn. Can being sexual and spiritual coexist happily in one young woman? Hmmm . . .
29. Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story by Lis Smith.
Any Given Tuesday is a memoir in which we follow the political operator from her earliest experiences as a college-aged intern to her days as a trusted adviser and confidante to some of the most high-profile politicians in the country—including her star turn as senior adviser on Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign.
30. Dirtbag, Massachusetts: A Confessional by Isaac Fitzgerald.
The gonzo memoir Dirtbag, Massachusetts is quite a thrill ride. Time notes that the author “used to work at a biker bar, and he’s the author of the children’s book How to Be a Pirate. He’s been an altar boy and a ‘fat kid.’ He’s also had stints as a firefighter and smuggler.” If that sounds like someone whose company you’d like to keep, you should definitely take the plunge.
new book releases July 26, 2022
31. The Boys by Katie Hafner.
Add another novel to your growing collection of pandemic-inspired fiction. In The Boys, newlywed Ethan fears becoming a father. But when his wife Barb brings home two young brothers for them to foster, he falls in love with them. When the pandemic hits, he becomes obsessed with providing a perfect life for them. But instead of bringing Barb and Ethan closer together, the boys become a wedge in their relationship.
32. an honest living by Dwyer Murphy.
The best most anticipated new novels, poetry collections and non-fiction book releases to read among the books coming out in July 2022.
In this debut novel from the editor-in-chief of Crimereads, we get a fantastic mashup of books, sex and crime. What could be more fun on a hot summer day?
An Honest Living is the story of how an underemployed Brooklyn lawyer and amateur private eye finds himself investigating a crime involving a reclusive literary superstar and her bookseller husband. Expect “a series of deceptions involving Joseph Conrad novels, unscrupulous booksellers, aspiring flâneurs, and seedy real estate developers.”
33. The Half Life of Valery K: A Novel by Natasha Pulley.
The most anticipated new books coming out in July 2022.
In 1963, in a Siberian prison, former nuclear specialist Valery Kolkhanov has mastered what it takes to survive. But one day, all that changes: Valery’s university mentor steps in and sweeps him from the frozen camp to a mysterious unnamed city. It houses a set of nuclear reactors, and surrounding it is a forest so damaged it looks like the trees have rusted from within. expected to serve out his prison term studying the effect of radiation on local animals. But as Valery begins his work, he is struck by the questions his research raises. Why is there so much radiation in this area?
34. Proving Ground: The Untold Story of the Six Women Who Programmed the World’s First Modern Computer by Kathy Kleiman.
The best most anticipated new novels, poetry collections and non-fiction book releases to read among the books coming out in July 2022.
Proving Ground is the true story of six pioneering women, tasked with figuring out how to program the world’s first general-purpose, programmable, all-electronic computer–better known as the ENIAC— even though there were no instruction codes or programming languages in existence. The author met with four of the original six ENIAC Programmers and recorded extensive interviews with the women about their work in the hope that this work will help restore these women to their rightful place in the annals of technological revolutionaries.
most anticipated new novels and non-fiction books coming in July 2022
That’s our take on the best most anticipated new novels and non-fiction book releases to read among the books coming out in July 2022. What’s at the top of your list this month, dear reader?
