10 Of The Most Anticipated Book Releases Of June 2020

The top books coming out this month to add to your "to read" list.

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The top 10 book releases of June 2020.
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The top 10 book releases of June 2020.

If you feel like quarantine has impacted your sense of time, the best new books coming out this month may further add to the confusion. While typically reserved for the Halloween season, June’s list of new book releases is heavily stacked with thrillers, mysteries and tales of horror.

ICYMI, we’re teaming up with the literary experts at Goodreads to bring you each month’s most anticipated books of the year. If you’re looking for a new twist on a classic mystery plot, check out “The Guest List” by Lucy Foley, “Mexican Gothic” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, or “Home Before Dark” by Riley Sager. You might recognize one book on this list: “Death In Her Hands” by Ottessa Mosh was previously scheduled for April publication, but is now publishing June 23. It and Max Brooks’ “Devolution” are new and captivating takes on the horror genre.

There are new book releases for those who don’t need any more horror in their lives, too. “The Light of Days” by Judy Batalion is the can’t-miss nonfiction tale of Jewish women resistance fighters in WWII. It has already been optioned by Steven Spielberg.

As more states open up, be sure to check out how you can support your local independent bookstores.

Below, check out our guide to the most anticipated books of June. And don’t forget to browse our roundup of May’s newest book releases as well as April’s most anticipated book releases.

Take a look:

1
“The Groom Will Keep His Name” by Matt Ortile
Amazon
“As we meet and mate, we tell stories about ourselves, revealing not just who we are, but who we want to be. Ortile recounts the relationships and whateverships that pushed him to confront his notions of sex, power, and the model minority myth.” Check out Matt Ortile’s witty group of essays on moving from Manila to Las Vegas, and how his journey toward radical self-love has unfolded. Read more about it on Goodreads, and grab a copy on Amazon.

Expected release date: June 2
2
“The Guest List” by Lucy Foley
Amazon
Lucy Foley takes the classic murder-mystery setup and transplants it into a new setting: A luxe wedding between a rising movie star and magazine publisher off the coast of Ireland. When a body shows up following the nuptials, mystery unfolds: Who did it and why? Was it the bridesmaid? The groom? The wedding planner? Check out “The Guest List” for an Agatha Christie-like thriller about how a perfectly planned wedding goes terribly wrong. Read more about it on Goodreads, and grab a copy on Amazon.

Expected release date: June2
3
“The Vanishing Half” by Britt Bennett
Amazon
“The Vanishing Half” finds twin sisters after 10 years living in different worlds: One has returned to their hometown with her black daughter; the other twin sister secretly passes as a white woman with her husband across the country. Goodreads calls this much-anticipated novel by New York Times bestselling author Britt Bennett “immersive and provocative, compassionate and wise.” Read more about it on Goodreads, and grab a copy on Amazon.

Expected release date: June2
4
“Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre” by Max Brooks
Amazon
“World War Z” author Max Brooks is back; however, this time there’s no zombies — just bigfoot. “Part survival narrative, part bloody horror tale, part scientific journey into the boundaries between truth and fiction, this is a Bigfoot story as only Max Brooks could chronicle it — and like none you've ever read before.” Read more about it on Goodreads, and grab a copy on Amazon.

Expected release date: June 16
5
“The Last Train to Key West” by Chanel Cleeton
Amazon
Three women find themselves heading to the Florida Keys for Labor Day weekend in 1935. While they’re each there for different reasons — for the honeymoon of an arranged marriage, to regain wealth lost in the Wall Street crash — their paths cross in unexpected ways. Chanel Cleeton’s historical fiction novel takes place just days before the infamous 1935 Labor Day Hurricane sweeps through the area. Read more about it on Goodreads, and grab a copy on Amazon.

Expected release date: June 16
6
“28 Summers” by Elin Hilderbrand
Amazon
When Link’s mother is on her deathbed, she asks him to call a number on a scrap of paper in her desk drawer. When he dials the number, he uncovers the story of a one-weekend-per-year affair between his mother and a man she met years ago. Read Elin Hilderbrand’s latest romance to explore the “dramatic ways this relationship complicates and enriches their lives, and the lives of the people they love.” Read more about it on Goodreads, and grab a copy on Amazon.

Expected release date: June 16
7
“Death In Her Hands” by Ottessa Mosh
Amazon
"Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn't me. Here is her dead body." When the elderly and widowed Vesta Gul stumbles across this note while walking her dog in the forest, she becomes instantly obsessed with the mysterious Magda and what happened to her. However, how reliable is Vesta herself? Can her narration on events really be trusted? This “metaphysical suspense” novel will keep you questioning until the very end. Read more about it on Goodreads, and grab a copy on Amazon.

Expected release date: June 23
8
“The Light of Days” by Judy Batalion
Amazon
Judy Batalion — the granddaughter of Polish Holocaust survivors — tells the relatively unknown story of a brave group of Jewish women who became resistance fighters during WWII. Batalion’s riveting book tells the story of the “ghetto girls” who “flirted with German soldiers, bribed them with wine, whiskey, and home cooking, used their Aryan looks to seduce them, and shot and killed them. They bombed German train lines and blew up a town’s water supply. They also nursed the sick and taught children.” “The Light of Days” also includes 20 black and white historical photos. Read more about it on Goodreads, and grab a copy on Amazon.

Expected release date: June 23
9
“Home Before Dark” by Riley Sager
Amazon
When Maggie Holt was very young, she and her parents moved into Baneberry Hall, a Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. Her family spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night. Maggie is too young to remember anything, but her father published their experience in a book that became a worldwide phenomenon. Twenty-five years later, Maggie heads back to Baneberry Hall to restore the mansion after her father dies. While there, however, certain experiences make her wonder if her father’s book was actually more fact than fiction. Read more about it on Goodreads, and grab a copy on Amazon.

Expected release date: June 30
10
“Mexican Gothic” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Amazon
When Noemí receives an urgent but enigmatic letter from her newlywed cousin, she heads to High Place, the family house of her cousin’s menacing yet alluring English husband. Set in 1950s Mexico, this gothic horror follows the glamorous but tough Noemí as she digs deep into the dark history of High Place and the mysteries it contains. Read more about it on Goodreads, and grab a copy on Amazon.

Expected release date: June 30

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