30 awesome summer reads that will help you escape 2020

This year, we must travel in our minds. So pick one of these 30 reads to be transported to another world

EW York beaches might not be open this summer, but that doesn’t mean beach reads have been canceled (you just might have to read them on a nice sunny bench somewhere). Take a look at some of the hottest releases of summer: a mix of juicy page turners, thrillers and fun romps.

Friends and Strangers J. Courtney Sullivan (f iction, Knopf )

After decades inNewYork City, Elisabeth and her husband have just moved to a small New York town. A new mom, Elisabeth is struggling to acclimate to her new life while keeping constant tabs on the Brooklyn Moms Facebook group back home (as for the moms in her new town, she can’t decide whether to befriend or mock them). She begins a friendship with her babysitter, a college student struggling with debt. Extremely timely.

Barcelona Days Daniel Riley (f iction, Little, Brown)

Whitney and Will took a “timeout” from their long-term relationship before taking the next step to engagement. They decide to give each other three “hall passes”; on the last night of a summer trip to Barcelona, they’ll sit down and tell each other about it. But when a volcano erupts, grounding travel in Europe, they find themselves trapped in Barcelona, befriending a strange, vaguely sinister new couple, and mulling the direction their relationship has taken.

He Started It Samantha Downing (f iction, Berkley)

Ever go on a road trip from Hell? This family has, twice. From the author of “My Lovely Wife” comes this dark and dirty thriller about a group of siblings and their significant others, all on a trip to collect on their late grandfather’s estate. Grandpa had a sick sense of humor: Before they collect, they must all embark on this cross-country car trip that harkens back to a terrible trip taken in childhood.

Survivor Song Paul Tremblay (f iction, William Morrow)

Massachusetts has been overrun by a rabies-like virus with a terrifyingly short incubation period of about an hour. Once people are infected, they roam through the streets, trying to bite as many people as possible. A total page turner.

The Party Upstairs Lee Conell (f iction, Penguin Group)

A sharp debut novel about a day in the life of a New York City building. The super’s daughter — who grew up in the basement of the Upper West Side co-op — is back home, newly graduated from college, with no job having materialized despite plenty of student debt. Her friendship with a girl “upstairs” — privileged Caroline — unearths long-held class tensions and issues of privilege.

The Heatwave Kate Riordan (f iction, Grand Central Publishing)

Sylvie Durand has been called back to her family home in the South of France. It’s a place that evokes bad memories, and she’s hoping to sell the house quickly and be done with it. But as she wanders the village with her teenage daughter during the summer heatwave, the past rears its head.

The Golden Cage Camilla Läckberg (f iction, Knopf )

Faye has been the perfect Swedish trophy wife to Jack, who made billions while Faye kept their beautiful Stockholm home and raised their daughter. But when Jack callously divorces her and remarries his mistress without paying her a cent, Faye decides it’s time for some glorious revenge. A fabulous, frothy novel.

Under Pressure Robert Pobi (f iction, Minotaur Books)

A series of high-tech explosions has terrorized New York City, including a blast at the Guggenheim Museum which kills 702 people who were attending a private tech event. Was there one target in the crowd, or was it random? Lucas Page, a former FBI agent and astrophysicist, steps in to help his imperiled city.