Article By: Cher Collins
Contributing Writer

Just curious if there are other readers out there whose reading habits change when the weather
gets warmer. Audiobooks are perfect for readers who want to keep up but find it harder to sit still
long enough to turn the pages. I listen in the car, while doing housework, and while making
dinner. Well, sometimes. I consider myself lucky that my husband does most of the cooking, but
he listens while he cooks too!
June is upon us and with it come a few big blockbusters just in time for summer. Probably most
notably is the teaming up of powerhouse authors Michael Crichton and James Patterson.
Eruption hits shelves June 3. Before his untimely death in 2008, Critchton left behind the notes
of this passion project and his wife pursued the completion of the project with the most popular
storyteller in the world today. Eruption tells the story of a giant volcano about to erupt and
destroy the big island of Hawaii. Military secrets soon reveal that there is something more
devastating than the eruption itself. The race to save Hawaii – and the world – is on. With one
million copies printed in the first run, this is guaranteed to be waitlisted at the library. Get your
names in now for reserve lists or pre-order status. Anything Patterson is a part of seems to be
successful.
Also, in a shocking announcement from Beach-Read Queen Elin Hilderbrand, the June release
of the aptly named Swan Song will be the last in her beloved Nantucket series. Wealthy
newcomers to the island buy a lavish beach house that mysteriously ends up in flames when
they are throwing a party on their yacht. Drama and intrigue follow when one of their employees
goes missing. Police Chief Ed Kapenash narrates the action as he is drawn into the case,
delaying his well-deserved retirement. Hilderbrand does not disappoint and readers will enjoy
the return of old characters, as well as the typical summer atmosphere on the island of
Nantucket. A fun, final farewell to the popular Nantucket series.
Fantasy fans, if you have been following Rebecca Roanhorse’s Between Earth and Sky series,
you probably already know that the third and final book in the series is due out this month.
Mirrored Heavens wraps up her latest trilogy, earning much acclaim among advanced readers.
Readers will be satisfied with the action-packed, intertwined storylines of Xiala, heir to the Teek
throne and Serapio, the newly crowned Carrion King in Tova. What draws readers into
Roanhorse’s world is the unique setting of the pre-Colombian Americas. As a non-Fantasy
reader, I listened to the audiobook and I was completely enraptured from the very first word.
Roanhorse’s character depth is second only to the incredible world-building throughout her
work. I do recommend starting the series from the beginning with Black Sun, the award-winning
series start and Fevered Star.
Beatriz Williams has made quite the name for herself among historical fiction fans in the past
decade or so. With blockbusters like A Certain Age and The Beach at Summerly, Williams
draws strong, female leads living, struggling and overcoming odds in the often restrictive
expectations of the historical era in which they live. Her newest title, Husbands and Lovers,

features two women connected by a mysterious family heirloom. In 2022, Mallory is a
single-mother desperately seeking a match for her son’s much-needed kidney transplant. In
doing so, she reconnects with her son’s father in the hopes that he is a match for her son.
Mallory recalls the summer of secrets that left her pregnant and also stunned to learn of her own
mother’s adoption from a notorious Dublin orphanage. Hungarian refugee, Hannah finds herself
living in Cairo and married to a wealthy aristocrat in 1951. A passionate affair leads Hannah to
make a heart-wrenching decision that forever changes her life. While readers can easily predict
how the women are connected, there are unexpected twists in the story that will surprise most.
The beautifully flawed characters are developed in alternating chapters for each
woman.Privilege and class drive the plot filled with family secrets, provocative settings and
romance found and romance lost. Husbands and Lovers reaches the shelves on June 25, just in
time for beach reading!
If you’re looking for the next thrill-ride for summer reading, look no further than Riley Sager’s
latest, Middle of the Night. Ten-year-old Billy Barringer disappeared from a backyard sleepover
in 1994. When his best friend, Ethan, returns home thirty years later, he can’t help but feel there
is something mysterious happening at his childhood home and it’s somehow related to Billy’s
disappearance. Sager’s signature suspense builds as the reader also starts to question Ethan’s
frame of mind, both as a 10-year-old and now. The creepy thrills and the bittersweet nostalgia of
childhood memories will leave readers wanting more – all summer long!
However and whatever you read this summer, enjoy it your way. Check out your local library for
adult summer reading programs. Why should kids have all the fun when it comes to earning
a prize for Reading?