You ever notice a strange trend in book covers? Like suddenly every book that catches your attention is purple or has trees on it?
Well for the last couple of weeks the books that have caught my eye all have flaming covers.
So in the spirit of this blazing hot summer, I decided to create a list for my fellow book lovers! Something similar to those bookstore and library displays that read “I don’t remember the title, but the cover had fire on it.”
(A quick shout-out to all the beautiful flame-like covers that didn’t quite make the cut, like one of my new favorite covers of all time, Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell.)
So relax, kick back by the pool, and grab some aloe vera for these scorchers!
Fire Exit by Morgan Talty
Charles Lamosway has watched Elizabeth’s life unfold from across the river that divides them. From the day she came home from the hospital over 20 years ago, Charles has kept secret that she is his daughter — but no more. Now, it’s been weeks since he’s seen Elizabeth, and Charles is worried. As he attempts to hold on to and care for what he can, he becomes increasingly haunted by his past. Forced to confront a lost childhood on the reservation, a love affair cut short, and the death of his beloved stepfather, Charles contends with questions he’s long been afraid to ask. Is his secret about Elizabeth his to share? And would his daughter want to know the truth, even if it could cost her everything she’s ever known?
Island Witch by Amanda Jayatissa
Being the daughter of the village demon-priest, Amara is used to keeping mostly to herself. Influenced by the new religious practices brought in by the British Colonizers, the villagers who once respected her father’s craft have turned on the family — yet still seem to call on him whenever the need arises. Now someone — or something — is viciously seizing upon men in the jungle. But instead of enlisting Amara’s father’s help, the villagers have accused him of carrying out the attacks himself. As she tries to clear her father’s name, Amara finds herself haunted by dreams that eerily predict the dark forces on her island. And she can’t shake the feeling that it’s all connected to her own dark past.
The Borrowed Hills by Scott Preston
In early 2001, a lethal disease breaks out on the hill farms of northern England, emptying the valleys of sheep and filling the skies with smoke as they burn the carcasses. Two neighboring shepherds, Steve and William, lose everything and set their sights on a wealthy farm in the south. As their sheep rustling leads to more and more difficult decisions, the struggles of the land are never far away. Steve’s only distraction is his growing fascination with William’s enigmatic and independent wife, Helen. When their mountain home comes under the sway of a lawless outsider, it is left to Steve to save himself and Helen in a savage conflict that threatens the ancient ways of the Lakeland fells.
This Book Won’t Burn by Samira Ahmed
Forced to move after her father abruptly abandons her family, Noor Khan starts the last quarter of her senior year at a new school. Reeling from being uprooted and deserted, Noor is certain the key to survival is to keep her head down and make it to graduation. But things aren’t so simple. At school, Noor discovers hundreds of books have been labeled “obscene” or “pornographic” and are being removed from the library in accordance with a new school board policy. Even worse, virtually all the banned books are by queer and BIPOC authors. Noor can’t sit back and do nothing, but challenging the status quo just might put a target on her back. Can she effect change by speaking up? Or will small-town politics — and small-town love — be her downfall?
Only If You’re Lucky by Stacy Willingham
At the end of freshman year, when shy and careful Margot is chosen by the magnetic, bold and dangerous Lucy Sharpe to room with her, Margot can’t say no. And so Margot finds herself living in an off-campus house with three other girls — Lucy, the ringleader; Sloane, the sarcastic one; and Nicole, the nice one — the three of them opposites but also deeply intertwined. It’s a year that finds Margot finally coming out of the shell she’s been in since the end of high school, when her best friend Eliza died three weeks after graduation. Margot and Lucy have become the closest of friends, but by the middle of their sophomore year, one of the fraternity boys from the house next door has been brutally murdered… and Lucy Sharpe is missing without a trace.
The Night Ends With Fire by K. X. Song
The Three Kingdoms are at war, but Meilin’s father refuses to answer the imperial draft. To escape her father’s plans to sell Meilin to a violent husband to feed his opium addiction, Meilin disguises herself as a boy and enlists in her father’s place. In the army, Meilin’s relentless hard work brings her recognition, friendship — and a growing closeness with Sky, a prince turned training partner. With the future of the Three Kingdoms hanging in the balance, Meilin will need to decide whom to trust — Sky, who inspires her loyalty and love; the sea dragon spirit, who offers her true power with a deadly price; or an infuriating enemy prince who makes her question everything she once knew — about her kingdom and about her own heart.
How Can I Help You by Laura Sims
No one knows Margo’s real name. Her colleagues and patrons at a small-town public library know only her middle-aged normalcy, congeniality and charm. They have no reason to suspect that she is, in fact, a former nurse with a trail of premature deaths in her wake. She has turned a new page, so to speak, and the library is her sanctuary, a place to quell old urges. That is, at least, until Patricia, a recent graduate and failed novelist, joins the library staff. Patricia quickly notices Margo’s subtly sinister edge, and watches her carefully. When a tragic incident in the library bathroom gives her a hint of Margo’s mysterious past, Patricia can’t resist digging deeper — even as her new fixation becomes all-consuming and sends both women hurtling toward disaster.
While We Were Burning by Sara Koffi
After her best friend’s mysterious death, Elizabeth Smith’s picture-perfect life in the Memphis suburbs spirals out of control, causing her to hire an assistant to keep her world from hurtling off its axis. In comes the composed and elegant Brianna. But Elizabeth’s obsession is catching, and Brianna quickly becomes accomplice rather than diversion. Why? Because Brianna has questions, too… She wants to know why the police killed her young Black son. Why someone in Elizabeth’s neighborhood saw him and thought to call the police. Who she can hold responsible for his death. As the two women hurtle towards the truth, it becomes clear that neither of them is who they claim to be. This scorching debut is as heartbreaking as it is thrilling, examining the intersection of race, class, female friendship, and the devastating consequences of everyday actions.
