Books
July 2022’s Must-Read Book Releases
Human Blues by Elisa Albert - Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, July 5
Told over the course of nine menstrual cycles, this hilarious novel follows singer-songwriter Aviva Rosner, who desperately wants a child but is wary of reproductive technology. She writes about the struggle in her music, which suddenly makes her famous and have to reconsider everything in her life, including what she’s willing to do to conceive.
Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster
GROUPIES by Sarah Priscus - William Morrow, July 7
Penny Lane might object to the title of this debut novel by Sarah Priscus, but certainly not to its premise. Set in 1970s California, Groupies tells the story of Faun, a lovable college dropout who finds sex, drugs, and belonging among a ragtag group of women following a rock band.
William Morrow
Bimboland by Erin Taylor - Archway Editions, July 12
In this debut poetry collection, Erin Taylor writes about socialism and their life as a sex worker, experiences that might best expressed in the gutting line describing how they feel, “powerful yet somehow / nothing.”
Archway Editions
Girls That Never Die by Safia Elhillo - One World, July 12
In her reinvention of the epic poem, poet Safia Elhillo explores Muslim girlhood, shame, and danger, along with conjuring a new world where “slain girls grow into two,” and women escape stoning by birds that carry them away.
One World
The Night Shift by Natalka Burian - Park Row, July 12
Nothing good happens after 2 AM, particularly in a New York City where bars and restaurants contain secret passageways that allow you to jump through time and space to emerge in different parts of the city. Jean starts using them to shorten her commute between her night shifts bartending and work at an upscale bakery — but the shortcuts slowly start to change her personality. When her work friend who first showed her the shortcuts goes missing, she starts to investigate the shortcuts, learning more about herself than she bargained for.
Park Row
Bad Thoughts: Stories by Nada Alic - Vintage, July 12
This collection of relentlessly funny, strange, and biting short stories explores the bizarre corners of the minds of girlfriends of rockstars, wellness junkies, reality TV hopefuls, and nobodies, uncovering the thoughts you didn’t think anyone else had. In one story, a woman obsesses over grazing against a man’s clothed genitals in a grocery store. In another, a woman changes her whole life while relentlessly checking her email to see if she’s accepted into a writing retreat she thinks will change her life.
Vintage
Body Language: Writers on Identity, Physicality, and Making Space for Ourselves, edited by Nicole Chung and Matt Ortile - Catapult, July 12
This candid essay anthology selected from the archives of Catapult magazine includes works from Bryan Washington, Destiny O. Birdsong, and Jess Zimmerman, who write about the pain and pleasure of being in a body, from art modeling as a Black woman to nostalgia for a time when bodies were battered from sports, to the strange beauty of funeral sex.
Catapult
Reward System: Stories by Jem Calder - Farrar, Straus and Giroux, July 19
This collection of short stories has been praised by Sally Rooney, who said it got her thinking “newly and differently about contemporary life,” a feat for an author whose become famous for writing characters who do exactly that. In this short story collection, Calder writes about contemporary life and technology’s constant place within it. Expect stories about lonely people waiting for their lives to start but find themselves swiping and scrolling, looking for any answers.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
CARNALITY: A Novel by Lina Wolff, translated by Frank Perry - Other Press, July 19
A Swedish writer travels to Spain looking for inspiration. She meets a man who gives her more than she bargained more when he accounts a wild tale that includes a shadow internet TV show, a diabolical nun set, and a thread to the storyteller’s own life. Honestly, this novel’s jacket art alone has us hooked.
Other Press