5.16.26 | 📚 9 Highly Anticipated Novels On My Summer Reading List
Nine new releases for your 2026 summer reading list (and mine!). Plus, how to care for yourself each week of your cycle and a playlist for your springtime garden parties.
Nine new releases for your 2026 summer reading list (and mine!). Plus, how to care for yourself each week of your cycle and a playlist for your springtime garden parties.
Welcome to The Weekend Edit, a Saturday ritual from The Good Trade featuring our top 10 reads of the week and a note from one of our editors.
My reading nook in our new home, between the kitchen and the garden, my happy place!
Happy Saturday!
I can’t believe next weekend’s Memorial Day holiday is the unofficial start of summer. The timing of my maternity leave falls nicely between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and I’m looking forward to a summer of (hopefully!) slow mornings, popsicles by the pool, and snuggling a newborn in our new home.
Last postpartum, I read voraciously in those early months of breastfeeding, so I’ve started putting together my reading curriculum for this summer — all highly anticipated new releases, many from beloved authors. I was especially sensitive to heavy books during my last postpartum period, so this list leans somewhat lighthearted and summer-friendly.
My 2026 summer reading list:
Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune — Released May 5, 2026. A best-friends-to-lovers summer romance set against the misty beaches and rainforests of Tofino. After a woman is left at the altar, she ends up taking her honeymoon with her longtime best friend. Let’s see how this turns out. 😜
Land by Maggie O’Farrell — Releases June 2, 2026. I would read absolutely anything Maggie O’Farrell writes. Her newest novel is a sweeping historical story set in post-Famine Ireland, following a father and son working on the British Ordnance Survey. I’ve been learning more about my own Irish heritage recently, which makes the themes of identity and belonging especially intriguing.
Alan Opts Out by Courtney Maum — Releases June 2, 2026. An ad exec who bombs the biggest pitch of his career decides to forgo capitalism and live off the land of his suburban Connecticut home. It’s billed to be a sharp and funny satire about burnout, ambition, modern parenting, and opting out of the endless performance of contemporary life. Count me in. ...
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