10 Must-Read Books For Every Summer Reading List

(CBS) - It's that time of year when grabbing a book on your way out the door is essential, because you wouldn't want to risk missing any outdoor reading opportunities. Yet with buzzy new books coming out every week, it can be difficult to decide which ones to pop into your beach bag first. The team at Simon & Schuster (a ViacomCBS Company) is here to help make the choice easier by sharing a few of their summer favorites from superstar authors like Stephen King and Jennifer Weiner, plus exciting debut novelists like Zakiya Dalilah Harris and T.J. Newman.

That Summer by Jennifer Weiner

Named an Editor's Pick and a Best Book of May at Amazon and a Best Book of May at Goodreads, readers will flock to Jennifer Weiner's new novel That Summer. While Daisy's driving carpools, Diana is chairing meetings. While Daisy's making dinner, Diana's making plans to reorganize corporations. Diana's glamorous, sophisticated, single-lady life is miles away from Daisy's simpler existence. When an apology leads to an invitation, the two women meet and become friends. But, as they get closer, we learn that their connection was not completely accidental. As the Washington Post put it in their review: "Weiner has made a major literary career out of writing engrossing popular novels that take women seriously. One of her signature strengths as a writer is her ability to realistically depict how people change in body and soul… Weiner seems to steadfastly believe in the saving grace of humor, the ability of time to open up possibilities and the strength of female friendship." —Karlyn

Billy Summers by Stephen King

Ready for more Stephen King? His latest novel, Billy Summers is a must-read thriller. Billy Summers is a decorated Iraq war veteran turned killer-for-hire with a conscience. He only targets the bad guys, but Billy wants out. Before he can retire, though, he agrees to one last job…which changes everything. Join Billy on his road to redemption in this fast-paced story about love, luck, and fate. —Zoey

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

If your club loves gripping mysteries, THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME should be next on your list. Hannah's husband, Owen, disappears, leaving her with his sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey, and a note reading, "Protect her." As the mystery of Owen's disappearance grows increasingly peculiar, Hannah quickly realizes that her husband is not the man he said he was, and his daughter may just be the only link to finding out his true identity. As Hannah and Bailey set out to uncover truths, an evocative family drama unfolds. Prepare to be shocked. —Holly

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

Called a "brilliant debut" by Vogue and a "genre-bending evisceration of workplace privilege" by Entertainment Weekly, The Other Black Girl follows twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers who is tired of being the only Black employee at the book publishing company where she works, Wagner Books. Fed up with the isolation and microaggressions, she's thrilled when Harlem-born and bred Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. They've only just started comparing natural hair care regimens, however, when a string of uncomfortable events elevates Hazel to Office Darling, while Nella is left in the dust. As Nella starts to spiral and obsess over the sinister forces at play, she soon realizes that there's a lot more at stake than just her career. —Milena

Falling by T.J. Newman

It's impossible to resist a concept like "Speed, but in the air" or (in the words of author Don Winslow) "Jaws at 35,000 feet." Falling, by former flight attendant and debut author T.J. Newman, is the definition of a white-knuckle thriller. The book drops you into a terrifying but all-too-realistic scenario, one in which you've just learned that your pilot for a flight to New York is in a compromised position. As it turns out, his family was kidnapped mere minutes before boarding, and now he's got exactly one choice: Crash a plane with you and 143 other passengers on board to save his family, or land the aircraft safely, knowing his family will be killed. Once you pick up this novel, you won't be able to put it down. —Heather

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

When single mom Jess decides it's time to dip her toe into the online dating waters, she decides to try out GeneticAlly, a new app that uses DNA to find your perfect match. But when the app finds her an unheard-of 98% compatible partner, she's dismayed to discover it's the jerk she sees every day at her local coffee shop.... Come for the opposites-attract love story, but stay for the rich, emotional character development between Jess and her best friend, her fraught relationship with her mother, and her challenges as a mom introducing a new love interest to her daughter. This New York Times bestselling writing duo has taken their work to the next level with The Soulmate Equation! —Abby

Life After Death by Sister Souljah

The long-anticipated sequel to Sister Souljah's million-copy New York Times bestseller The Coldest Winter Ever is here! In the first novel, Winter goes from young, wealthy daughter of a prominent Brooklyn drug-dealing family to a woman serving a lengthy prison sentence. In the follow-up, Winter serves her time and is thrust into a new world. Life After Death is a heartwarming, heart-burning, passionate, sexual, comical, and completely original adventure. Raw, shocking, soulful, and shameless, true fans won't let Winter travel alone on this amazing journey. —Milena

The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel

It feels like there are new World War II-era novels cropping up every month, but the one I'm most excited about is The Forest of Vanishing Stars, from New York Times bestselling author Kristin Harmel. This novel is set in a little-explored corner of history, based loosely on stories like that of the Bielski brothers, who fled to the forests of Poland and lived there, eluding the Nazis for years. In this novel, a young woman abducted and raised in the forest uses her survival skills to help a group of refugees—and they, in turn, connect her with a missing part of her history. This one's perfect for readers of Kristin Hannah, with fascinating facts about living off the land that may remind people of Where the Crawdads Sing. —Abby

The Startup Wife by Tahmima Anam

Clever, insightful, and funny. Those are the best words to describe Tahmima Anam's exploration of startup culture and marriage in The Startup Wife. Upon reuniting with Cyrus, her high school crush, Asha Ray—known for her brilliance in coding and ability to transform artificial intelligence—is inspired to develop a new algorithm, abandon her PhD program, and get married on a whim. Together Asha and Cyrus start developing a highly successful app that becomes one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. Suddenly introduced to the pressures of fame and notoriety, Asha finds herself in the shadow of her husband. With satirical humor, Anam highlights issues of romance, ambition, and gender inequality. —Zoey

White Ivy by Susie Yang

For those looking for a smart, suspense-filled thriller this summer, look no further than Susie Yang's debut novel White Ivy. Ivy Lin is the daughter of Chinese immigrants, living in the suburbs of Boston. She is desperate to fit in with her classmates and to win the heart of the wealthy Gideon Speyer, and thus with her grandmother's help learns to steal and pilfer from yard sales and secondhand stores to accumulate the trappings of a suburban teenager. When Ivy is caught by her mother, she is sent to China and is convinced her chance with Gideon is over. Years later, when a surprise encounter brings Ivy and Gideon's sister together, Ivy makes her move to enter the Speyer clan, stopping at nothing to achieve her goals. A slow-burning, twisty novel, White Ivy will have you hooked until its shocking conclusion. —Sharon

Want more recommendations? Visit SimonandSchuster.com to see what else is new this month.