10 books you should read in June, including Questlove's hip-hop memoir, a reality TV history by a Pulitzer Prize winner, and a new romance from Brynne Weaver

Release date: June 4, 2024

Publisher: Counterpoint

Why not kick off Pride month with a book with a protagonist who reclaims his identity as a queer Jewish immigrant in 1950s Hollywood? As a Hungarian immigrant working as a studio hack writing monster movies in 1950s Hollywood, George Curtis (born György) must navigate the McCarthy-era studio system filled with possible communists and spies, the life of closeted men along Sunset Boulevard, and the inability of the era to cleave love from persecution and guilt. But when a famous actress offers George a writing residency at her estate in Malibu to work on the political writing he cares most deeply about, his world is blown open. Soon she’s carrying George like an ornament into a class of postwar L.A. society ordinarily hidden from men like him. If you enjoyed the Showtime series Fellow Travelers and are looking for more queer stories that blend the personal with the political, The Future Was Color should fit the bill nicely.

Release date: June 4, 2024

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

If you haven’t heard of the “Birds Aren’t Real” movement, what have you been doing with your life? What do you think all those birds sitting on the powerlines are doing all day? Charging their batteries, of course. Because, like all birds, they’re actually surveillance drones in disguise sent by the Deep State to keep tabs on us private citizens. Sure, there may be scoffers who would have you believe this is all just a fake conspiracy created by pranksters to poke fun at actual conspiracy theorists and their stubborn resistance to facts and logic. But isn’t that a conspiracy theory in itself? “Bird Truthers” Peter McIndoe and Connor Gaydos include evidence to support their very real and super normal beliefs in this new manifesto, which contains charts, illustrations, activities, and leaked government documents. Whether or not you’re one of the faithful, it promises to be a fun read at least.

Release date: June 4, 2024

Publisher: Zando

The second book in the Ruinous Love Trilogy, after last year’s Butcher & Blackbird, features a brand new dark romance to dig into. Told in the same dual narrative style, Leather & Lark is the story of Lachlan, a leather worker who’s secretly a contract killer (and the older brother of Butcher & Blackbird’s Rowan), and Lark, a singer-songwriter with some pretty big secrets of her own. This one’s got lots of juicy romance tropes, including fake marriage, enemies to lovers, and the ever-popular grumpy/sunshine dynamic. If you haven’t read the first book, don’t worry about being lost with this one. Although the books take place in a single interconnected world, each volume in the series features a stand-alone love story. Weaver writes her killer characters hot and heavy, and doesn’t hold back on the blood and gore, so be aware this series is not for the faint of heart.

Release date: June 11, 2024

Publisher: William Morrow

Paul Tremblay’s award-winning book The Cabin At The End Of The World was the basis for last year’s Knock At The Cabin, so he knows a thing or two about the horror movie genre (not that his books weren’t already proof enough). His latest psychological thriller, Horror Movie: A Novel, has been described as a twist on the “cursed film” genre. When a Hollywood studio sets out to make a big-budget reboot of a notorious 1990s slasher the one surviving cast member gets caught up in the hype and way in over his head. As the dangerous secrets of the original production start to come to light, he finds himself losing touch with reality and slipping back into the past. But he’s determined to make the new film a success, no matter the cost. It sounds like this one will really mess with your head, in the best kind of way.

Release date: June 11, 2024

Publisher: AUWA

Part memoir, part historical narrative, this book chronicles the first half-century of hip-hop from the point of view of one of its most accomplished figures and biggest fans: Questlove. The co-founder of the Roots traces the history of the musical genre through his own personal journey, from growing up in a musical family in Philadelphia to becoming a Grammy-winning musician and an Oscar-winning filmmaker, as well as a successful author, producer, and entrepreneur. In Hip-Hop Is History, he highlights both the forgotten but influential gems and the undeniable chart-topping hits—and weaves it all together with the stories no one else knows. Written by a fan for fans, this would make a good addition to any music-focused library.

Release date: June 11, 2024

Publisher: MCD

Robin Sloan, the author of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore and Sourdough, has a new book out this month that takes place 11,000 years in the future yet, according to the publisher, still somehow exists within the Penumbraverse. You’ll have to read it to find out exactly how. Sloan is fond of sending his characters off on epic quests, and this time is no different. His protagonist Ariel is called to explore a world full of unimaginable glories and challenges: unknown enemies, a mission to save the world, a girl. Narrated by a sentient artificial intelligence responsible for keeping records of the entirety of human history, the novel is an enticing cocktail of fantasy, science-fiction, and action-adventure. Sloan hasn’t yet attempted anything on this kind of scale before, but he knows how to tell a complex story that keeps you turning pages, so it feels like it’s easily within his skill set.

Release date: June 11, 2024

Publisher: William Morrow

This book isn’t even out yet and the rights have already been acquired by A24, with plans to turn it into an Apple TV+ series executive produced by David E. Kelley and starring Elle Fanning and Nicole Kidman. That’s a pretty solid recommendation already. But what’s it about, you ask? It’s about Margo Millet, the daughter of a Hooters waitress and a former pro wrestler, who has an affair with a college professor that ends with her pregnant and broke. As an unemployed single mom, her options are limited, but when her estranged father comes back into her life she hatches a scheme to make money on OnlyFans by sharing his wrestling-based writing advice with her followers. It sounds like a plot created by Mad Libs, but we can’t say we aren’t intrigued.

Release date: June 18, 2024

Publisher: Dutton

This highly anticipated new mystery thriller is loaded with the kinds of twists and turns and complex storytelling fans have come to expect from the author of Final Girls and The Only One Left. It begins with Ethan, who is haunted by the abduction of his best friend Billy while they were camping out in a tent on his front lawn as kids. After 30 years, Ethan returns to his childhood home and starts to notice strange things happening in the middle of the night. The mysterious occurrences prompt Ethan to investigate what really happened that night, a quest that reunites him with former friends and neighbors and leads him into the woods that surround the neighborhood. The closer he gets to the truth, the more he realizes that no place—be it quiet forest or suburban street—is completely safe. Sager has been associated with the relatively new marketing term “summer suspense,” and it’s not hard to see why. His novels breezily reel you in and before you know it, you’re hooked.

Release date: June 25, 2024

Publisher: Hogarth

Julia Phillips captivated readers with her debut novel Disappearing Earth, a finalist for the 2019 National Book Award for Fiction. That’s a tough act to follow, but Phillips has proven she’s up to the task. Her latest book, Bear, is about two sisters who live together with their ailing mother in a rundown house on a resort island off the Pacific Northwest coast. They’re both stuck in minimum-wage jobs serving the wealthy tourists who visit the island, but they have plans to sell the house and leave once their mother dies. Those plans are upended when a large bear appears near their home, and their very different reactions to it cause a rift between the sisters. Loosely based on the Brothers Grimm fable Snow White And Rose Red, the book is somehow grounded and highly symbolic at the same time.

Release date: June 25, 2024

Publisher: Random House

Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Emily Nussbaum dives deep into the history of reality TV in this extensively reported book, from its humble game-show beginnings to the pop-culture force of nature it eventually became. Through interviews with creators and insiders, Nussbaum takes you through seven decades of television history via four paths of reality innovation—game shows, prank shows, soap operas, and clip shows—that united in the Survivor format, sparking a tumultuous Hollywood gold rush. A must-read for fans of the genre, it casts an affectionate yet critical eye on the shows that made it what it is today.