When you love to read, it doesn’t matter what time of the year it is. But there’s something extra special about summer, and Memorial Day weekend always feels like the official kickoff. Spend your long weekend with these seven Memorial Day Weekend books that’ll get you excited for the summer stretch ahead.

The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald

This debut novel from Christina McDonald is a gripping, suspenseful unveiling of events. After Olivia falls off a bridge, her mother is left to grieve. Olivia is brain dead, yet must remain on life support in order to keep the baby growing inside of her alive. But when her mother notices bruises on Olivia’s arms, it ignites her own investigation into what the police have already ruled an accident, and what Olivia’s mom can’t help but think was something more.


Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The latest book from Taylor Jenkins Reid is a total departure from her others, and this foray into the glammed-up world of rock and roll takes a behind-the-scenes look into a fictional ’70s band, their rise to fame and their mysterious breakup. Told in an oral history format, you’ll fall hard for free-spirited Daisy Jones and get swept up by brooding Billy Dunne, all while eagerly anticipating Reese Witherspoon’s upcoming TV adaption of this groundbreaking book.


99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne

Heat things up with this romantic romp – the perfect beach read to discuss (while blushing) later with your friends. As a child, Darcy falls for her brother’s best friend, Tom, who’s very much off limits for obvious reasons. But no other man ever really measures up, and when a property inheritance from Darcy’s grandmother brings the three of them together again as adults, Darcy decides that it might be time to make Tom 100 percent hers – brother be damned.


Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Alex Claremont-Diaz is the First Son after his mother is elected President of the United States. A true media darling, Alex is charming and good-looking, inspiring his own headlines. But when his fight with Henry, the Prince of Wales, gets published in the tabloids, U.S./British relations suffer, and a fake friendship is formed for some major damage control. As their social media-perfect personas develop into a secret romance, both Alex and Henry must decide how much of their true selves they can really show to the world in this novel by Casey McQuiston.


My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

For some chilling vibes to cool you down, My Lovely Wife is a domestic thriller about the unsuspecting people we call our neighbors. They’re just a normal married couple living in a normal neighborhood doing normal things. Except, to keep their relationship fresh, these functional suburbanites indulge their mutual taste for murder. Told from the husband’s point of view, this book will make you suspiciously side-eye everyone around.


Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith

This YA pick is an endearing story about a high school graduate recently rejected by the love of his life and a girl rejected by her dream college. They spontaneously pair up to take a cross-country train trip, both hopping aboard to try and escape their realities. They’ll find something unexpected in each other, but where that takes them once the train finally stops, is a destination unknown.


The Wartime Sisters by Lynda Cohen Loigman

This sibling rivalry is set against the backdrop of WWII. In the beginning days of the war, two estranged sisters are reunited. Each harbors her own secret, and each takes up residence at the Springfield Armory in New York: one as an officer’s wife and the other as a war widow. Jealousy and resentment keep the sisters at odds until someone from their past forces them together in solidarity to protect their destructive secrets.

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