12 of the Best Books of July In Every Genre

This sapphic literary novel made a big splash when it was published in the UK, and now it’s finally making its North American debut. In 1990s Ireland, teenage Lucy is slowly realizing her desires don’t match the life she is expected to live. She is falling in love with her best friend, Susannah, but she is determined to hide it. Just before graduation, she finally confesses to Susannah, and they start a beautiful, heart-wrenching, secret relationship. When Susannah wants to stop hiding, though, Lucy is forced to make an impossible choice. —Danika Ellis

In the description of this book, it is being compared to Murderbot, Firefly, Thelma & Louise, Ex Machina, and This is How You Lose the Time War. Those are some big shoes, and I’m already sold! But if you need to know more, it’s a sapphic sci-fi adventure about a space treasure hunter named Wylla who finds a piece of tech that changes her life. It’s an AI mask, HAWK, and the consciousness of the woman who wore it is somehow still alive inside it. The truth behind how this could have happened sends Wylla and HAWK across the stars in search of answers. — Liberty Hardy

Black feminist philosopher Lindsey Stewart examines the history of conjure women: enslaved women who used their skills to treat illnesses. From their first appearances on plantations to the practices people still use today, Stewart follows the long-lasting impact of these women and the traditions they shared with their communities. — Kendra Winchester

Once-powerful witch Sera Swan lost her magic abilities and was thrown out of her Guild after she resurrected her great-aunt Jasmine. Now she runs an inn with her no-longer-dead great-aunt and a talking fox, while also searching for a way to restore her powers. And then the answer arrives on their doorstep: guest Luke Larsen, a curmudgeonly historian who knows the spell for restoring magic. But Sera will have to convince him to help her and keep it hidden from the Guild if she wants to be witchy once more. —Liberty Hardy

Amélie is trapped in a loveless and violent marriage. Sahara is the enslaved woman that Amélie’s husband brings back from one of his many journeys. Together, the two women will learn to fight back and seek happiness on their own terms. — Eileen Gonzalez

And this is a collection of historical manga, about master craftsmen and the heart and soul that they put into the works that they create. Sounds relaxing! This won the 2024 New Creator Prize at the 28th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. —Liberty Hardy

Isla Bestia is a place of partying, music, consumption, beasts, and excess, a place that lures people in and doesn’t let them go. Sofía is a freedwoman from a nearby island who travels to el Carnaval de Bestias to find her twin brother, who has been missing for five years. But can she resist Isla Bestia’s siren song and unravel the mystery behind the place? Or will she be lost to the place too? — Liberty Hardy

At Stanford University in 1917, Cora Trent meets Indra Mukherjee, an Indian revolutionary new to California. Their connection grows as they attend local protests, soon leading to a hasty marriage as America is drawn into the war in Europe. But as their ambitions diverge, and Indra awaits orders from a German spymaster, they struggle to maintain their relationship and their freedom. —Rachel Brittain

For fans of mysteries and magical realism!

Malamar Veracruz has built a life for herself after her sister Elena disappeared. Now there’s a new missing person case in El Valle and Mal’s visions of a local legend, a horse-headed woman, start to mix with her need to find answers about the missing girls… — Jamie Canaves

This one is pitched as Bridgerton meets The Davenports and looks like a perfect summer read.

Stella Sedgwick was banished from etiquette lessons, and she knows that making a career as a writer in 1860s England is hard enough. Add that she’s got dark skin and that she’s female? Nearly impossible.

Then, a proposition. The former employer of Stella’s late mother wants to bequeath Stella one of the estates. The thing is, in order to avoid a complicated legal battle, Stella must marry someone. With her cousin by her side, Stella is thrust into the upper crust of London, where she finds herself with rekindled feelings toward a childhood best friend.

The relocation to London also gives Stella not only the opportunity to pick up her mother’s old advice column. It unearths so many secrets that she can hardly keep up. —Kelly Jensen

This picture book is a fantastic read both for neurodiverse kids and their families, and for neurotypical readers who want to understand more about ADHD. Bessie is a young girl who loves her neurodivergent brain and thinks of her quick, buzzy thoughts as a head full of bees. When she starts at nursery, Bessie realises that the other kids don’t have heads full of bees, and feels that she needs to keep hers to herself—but this soon makes the bees feel overwhelming. With the help of her Granny, Bessie learns to negotiate the new situation and share her unique way of thinking with the other kids. — Alice Nuttall