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Check This Out: Find your next read from our sizzling summer recommendations

Rachel Barenbaum with a stack of books by New England authors.
Jessica Hunt
/
NHPR
Rachel Barenbaum with a stack of books by New England authors.

We’ve gathered together some favorite authors to offer their suggestions for summer reading, including Jayne Allen, Chris Bohjalian, Katherine Center, Sara MacLean, and Zibby Owens.

In addition, host and author Rachel Barenbaum has some books from New England authors to recommend.

Jayne Allen
Jayne Allen

From Jayne Allen:

  • "Die for Me" by Shirlene Obuobi
  • "The Revelation of Dionne Daphne" by Mara Brock Akil
  • "The Best Man: Unfinished Business" by Malcolm D. Lee with Jayne Allen
Katherine Center
Chandra Wicke Photography
Katherine Center

From Katherine Center:

  • "One and Only" by Maureen Goo
  • "The Other Bennet Sister" by Janice Hadlow
  • "The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lyon" series by Beth Brower
Chris Bohjalian

From Chris Bohjalian:

  • "The Things We Never Say" by Elizabeth Strout
  • "The Shampoo Effect" by Jenny Jackson
  • "Single Girls" by John Searles
  • "Villa Coco" by Andrew Sean Greer
  • "Country People" by Daniel Mason
  • "The Amateur" by Chris Bohjalian (Aug. 4)

From Zibby Owens:

  • "When Lemons Give You Life" by Anna Johnston
  • "Forty Love" by Jane Costello
  • "Crash Into Me" by Robinne Lee
Sarah MacLean
Chandra Wicke Photography
Sarah MacLean

From Sarah MacLean:

  • "Every Version of You" by Nathalie Messier
  • "Lady X" by Molly Fader
  • "Just for the Season" by Rachel Griffiths
Host Rachel Barenbaum
Jessica Hunt
/
NHPR
Rachel Barenbaum

List of local authors:

  • "Evening Begins the Day" by Jessica Brilliant Keener
  • "Liar's Dice" by Juliet Faithfull
  • "What Remains of You" by Kimberly Hensle Lowrance
  • "In Wonderland" by Joyce Maynard
  • "The Given-Up Girl" by Ellen Rockmore
  • "The Author Weekend" by Laura Zigman
  • "Last Night at the Disco" by Lisa Borders
  • "Notes on Surviving the Fire" by Christine Murphy
  • "The Forest Becomes Her" by Julie Carrick Dalton
  • "Last Seen" by Christopher Castellani (also "Leading Men")
  • "Summer of Love" by Kerri Maher
  • "Murder Your Darlings" by Jenna Blum
  • "Courtship in Purgatory" by Robert B. Perreault
  • "While We Were Silent" by Alex Myers

Check This Out is proud to partner with The PEN/Faulkner Foundation and Zibby's Bookshop to champion new voices in literature.

Rachel Barenbaum is the author of the critically-acclaimed novels Atomic Anna and A Bend in the Stars. She is a prolific writer and reviewer. Her work has appeared in the LA Review of Books, Harper’s Bazaar, and more.
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