Today’s the big day! We’re welcoming you to join us on a metaphorical reading retreat with the release of our FIFTEENTH annual MMD Summer Reading Guide!
We wish you a summer reading season full of abundance, ease, and joy with our 2026 MMD Summer Reading Guide. Our Guide goes out to our member communities and a la carte purchasers at 10:00am EDT this morning, kicking off my favorite reading time of the year. (If you have opted in for the Guide but don’t see it in your inbox, please visit the help section on modernmrsdarcy.com/SRG. If you’re reading this after 10:00am, no worries—our Guide will be ready when you are!)
For fifteen years now, readers have relied on this Guide as a reliable gateway to summer reading joy and satisfaction. We always say that summer’s too short to squander on books that aren’t right for you, or aren’t right for you right now. Our Guide includes books I personally love (and have read every word of, sometimes more than once). In the Guide, I’m not parroting publishers’ marketing copy or telling you what I hope each book is like; I share my personal experience with every single book. I don’t want to convince you to read anything in the Guide; instead, I want to empower you to choose those titles likely to deliver standout reading experiences for you in this season.
Not every book is right for every reader; of course that’s true for the titles in the Guide as well. That’s why in every description I give you the information you need to help you decide if that book sounds like a good fit for you. I discuss what every book is about, what makes it interesting and unique, and what it might feel like to read it.
This year’s guide includes 35 titles. That’s a lot of books—and that’s why every year since 2014, I’ve narrowed the choices down to a fraction of that for my fellow minimalists and decision haters. Our new Minimalist Summer Reading Guide features six selections.
For these minimalist titles, I strive to select a variety of titles across many genres that keep you turning the pages but also have serious substance. You could inhale these titles quickly but find yourself thinking about them for weeks, months, or even years to come. And while they may feel easy to read, the minimalist titles are consistently thought-provoking and discussable.
I hope you enjoy this short and sweet summer list!
Want the full 2026 MMD Summer Reading Guide?
Visit the Summer Reading Guide HQ page to get our full 2026 Summer Reading Guide, along with Unboxing access (if you hurry, you can still attend live!).
Our two Unboxings are today at 1:00pm and 8:00pm Eastern time. In our live sessions (lasting approximately 1 hour 40 minutes), I share every title in the Guide, why I chose it, and why you might want to read it (or not!). We hosted our first Unboxing way back in 2018. These conversations are meant to be casual, interesting, and honest reader-to-reader talk about good books. We’ll share the Unboxing video beginning tomorrow, May 15, for anyone who can’t attend live (or anyone who just wants to watch again and again); that recorded Unboxing will be included with purchase for anyone who accesses the Guide beginning May 15.
In 1865, not long after The Great Hunger ravaged the land and its people, skilled laborer Tomás and his son Liam traverse a remote part of Ireland, mapping the land for the British colonizers. But their work is thrown off course when Tomás stumbles into an enchanted copse—and comes out a changed man. In myriad inventive points of view (an unborn baby, the family dog, a skylark, a house), O’Farrell tracks the impacts as they tumble down through decades and across continents, changing the lives and fates of Tomás and his family. I relished the enchanting details: the intricacies of travel, the love of music, the maps. This is a stunner. Out June 2. More info →
This soulful suspense asks: can we ever truly know the ones we love? In 2010, Carrie marries Johan on a Thailand beach, deeply in love though she hasn’t known him long. But before the wedding night is over, authorities raid their wedding and arrest Johan for smuggling drugs. He begs her to leave him in prison, move back to the U.K., and go on with her life. Flash forward to 2022: Carrie, remarried with young twins, stumbles upon the shocking news that Johan is alive and well in his native Sweden. She needs answers—and as she investigates the past, she realizes how many secrets from back then still control her present. I inhaled this in two days. Out May 19. More info →
In this smart, sweet, and soulful tale, a big-hearted, deeply loyal woman named Dolly returns to her coastal hometown for the summer to help her struggling family. But their struggles go from bad to worse when a house fire damages their roof, and they need cash, fast. When Dolly crosses paths with Stewart Whitfield, handsome local “royalty” who has struggles of his own, an unconventional solution to both their problems presents itself: they’ll fake date for the summer and everybody will be happy. But then Dolly catches feelings. I loved the irrepressible Dolly, her rapport with her bestie, the slow-burning love story, the family fish business. This one goes down easy in the best sense. Out May 26. (This is the Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club June 2026 selection.) More info →
Mira had always looked out for her beloved half-sister Joy, nine years younger. But in the wake of a breathtaking betrayal, Mira fled to London to put needed distance between them, though it broke her heart to leave behind her loving father as well. Now Mira is back in Brooklyn, and Joy is pushing for things to be “okay” again—but how could they be? I ate this up: it’s juicy, delicious, atmospheric, and messy in the best way. I queued up the numerous referenced songs and mapped scads of real locations. It shines bright for its minor characters, platonic and romantic love stories (not just the love triangle at its core), literary world setting, and believable exploration of how the sisters seek to move forward. Out June 2. (This is the Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club July 2026 selection.) More info →
In Patchett’s graceful latest, 53-year-old Daphne reunites with a man who once loomed large in her world: her former stepfather Eddie, who was briefly married to her mother when Daphne was nine. Eddie vanished from her life after the two were in a terrible car wreck and Daphne never understood why. The joyful chance reunion gives them an opportunity to make up for lost time, and for Daphne to finally make sense of the past. This wistful tale explores the agony of impossible choices, the limits of love, and how we make peace with our loved ones. Set in the world of publishing and steeped in books and art, it’s a shoe-in for my Best Books of 2026. Out June 2. More info →
A powerful multigenerational saga about inheritance, a family farm, and meddlesome family ghosts. Things are tough for 32-year-old Aubrey: she’s broke, fresh off a break-up, fighting with her sister, and grieving her father’s death. But things start looking up when she learns her father bequeathed her his share of his family’s Tennessee farm. But little does she know, the farm is haunted by four hilarious, opinionated family ghosts who are deeply invested in that property—and, by extension, Aubrey. As Aubrey travels to Tennessee to connect with her father’s family and—to their horror—contemplate selling her share to a developer, the ghosts unspool the history of the land and how they came to haunt it. I ate up this debut. Out July 7. (This is the Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club August 2026 selection.) More info →
What are you most excited to read this summer?
If you find something great in this Minimalist Guide or our full Summer Reading Guide, would you spread the book love? Our hashtag is #MMDSummerReading. (Follow me on Instagram at @annebogel, the podcast at @whatshouldireadnext, and Book Club at @mmdbookclub for summer reading goodness all season long.)
I’d love for you to get your Guide now. But if you want to wait to hear more about what Unboxing is like, stay tuned: I’m unboxing the Minimalist Guide on What Should I Read Next? this coming Tuesday, May 19.
Happy summer, and happy reading!
Anne
P.S. If you don’t yet have the full 2026 MMD Summer Reading Guide and you’re either a Book Club or Patreon member or you purchased a la carte, we want to help you get your Guide! Please don’t comment here; instead, please visit modernmrsdarcy.com/SRG and check out our help section.
