Brightly colored rom-coms with would-be lovers gazing at each other with either flirtation or annoyance are lining the shelves as we head into the unrelenting heat wave. Light fluffy reads with comfortable, formulaic plot lines and character tropes are a great escape when you feel like you’re slowly dying in the humidity soup of an Oklahoma summer. While those books have their time in the spotlight, new releases from other genres are easily overshadowed. If romance isn’t your thing or if you’re looking for something different, then look in the shade from the blockbuster beach reads for these upcoming titles on my “To Read” list.
June in the Garden by Eleanor Wilde (Coming 6/17/2025)
After losing her mother and her home, neurodivergent June visits the father she's never met and after being turned away, secretly takes up refuge in his garden shed, where she forms an unexpected bond with her half-brother.
A beautiful and heartwarming portrait of a young woman who looks at the world differently, June in the Garden encourages others to do the same. Because thinking unconventionally is not a flaw, it's often the key to appreciating the wonder and bloom that surrounds us.
The Compound by Aisling Rawle (Coming 6/24/2025)
Lily--a bored, beautiful twenty-something--wakes up on a remote desert compound, alongside nineteen other contestants competing on a massively popular reality show. To win, she must outlast her housemates to stay in the Compound the longest, while competing in challenges for luxury rewards like champagne and lipstick, plus communal necessities to outfit their new home, like food, appliances, and a front door.
Cameras are catching all her angles, good and bad, but Lily has no desire to leave: why would she, when the world outside is falling apart? As the competition intensifies, intimacy between the players deepens, and it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between desire and desperation. When the unseen producers raise the stakes, forcing contestants into upsetting, even dangerous situations, the line between playing the game and surviving it begins to blur. If Lily makes it to the end, she'll receive prizes beyond her wildest dreams--but what will she have to do to win?
Addictive and prescient, The Compound is an explosive debut from a major new voice in fiction and will linger in your mind long after the game ends.
The Satisfaction Cafe by Kathy Wang (Coming 7/1/2025)
Joan Liang's life is a series of surprising developments: she never thought she would leave Taiwan for California, nor did she expect her first marriage to implode--especially as quickly and spectacularly as it did. She definitely did not expect to fall in love with an older, wealthy American and become his fourth wife and mother to his youngest children. Through all this she wrestles with one persistent question: Will she ever truly feel satisfied?
As Joan and her children grow older and their circumstances evolve, she makes a drastic change: she opens the Satisfaction Caf̌, a place where people can visit for a bit of conversation and to be heard and understood. Through this radical yet pragmatic business, Joan constructs a lasting legacy.
Vivid, comic, and intensely moving, The Satisfaction Caf̌e is a novel about found family, the joy and loneliness that come with age, and how we can give ourselves permission to seek satisfaction and connection at any stage of life.
Darling Beasts by Michelle Gable (Coming 7/8/25)
Gabby, Talia, and Ozzie Gunn, heirs to a media empire, are in trouble. After several bad investments and a major scandal, their father is now trying to restore their family’s good name with a senatorial run. Even worse? He’s demanding they move to California to join the campaign or risk being cut off. With mounting debts, unconventional hobbies, and in the case of Gabby, Portum Bestiae Syndrome—a very expensive condition in which strange symptoms arise and then an exotic animal appears—the siblings don’t have much of a choice. But almost immediately, the Gunns find themselves dodging headlines and the creatures that seem to pop up in the most inconvenient places.
A Dog in Georgia by Lauren Grodstein (Coming 8/5/2025)
Amy Webb is a chef. Or rather, she was a chef. Somewhere along the way she also became a wife and a stepmother and an emergency contact, and the part of her that was a chef disappeared entirely- along with her sense of self. Which is why she is currently in the republic of Georgia, on a mission to find a lost dog named Angel , and, more importantly, the life's purpose she once took for granted.
For months, Amy has escaped by watching Youtube videos of Angel walking the children of Tbilisi to school. When Angel goes missing, Amy volunteers to go find him. The fact that her husband may be having (another) affair and her stepson is away at college probably has something to do with it. Who is Amy, after all, if she's not taking care of other people?
Helping her on this journey of self-discovery is a rebellious teenager, a mysterious and attractive Russian, and several post-Soviet grandmothers. And, of course, the rich food and culture and complicated politics of Georgia itself.
For more upcoming releases on order at the Tulsa City-County Library, check out this list.
