Well, it’s July. Perhaps you’ll be doing some reading on a beach this month; alternately, you might be seeking to find a place, any place, with air conditioning to start turning pages and delving into something. The range of books we’re excited about this month encompasses everything from punk-influenced fiction to thoughtful meditations on national issues to acclaimed works in translation. What follows is a selection of the July books we’re looking forward to the most.

Mozos: A Decade Running With the Bulls of Spain, Bill Hillmann
(July 7, Curbside Splendor)

Bill Hillmann’s novel The Old Neighborhood was a favorite around these parts, and we’re looking forward to his new book, which leaps across the Atlantic to zero in on another of his interests: running with the bulls.

The Next Next Level, Leon Neyfakh
(July 7, Melville House)

Leon Neyfakh’s nonfiction has encompassed everything from pop culture to criminal justice. In this book, he chronicles his friendship with rapper Juiceboxxx, and along the way meditates on art, sincerity, and the cost of following your dreams.

The Invaders, Karolina Waclawiak
(July 7, Regan Arts)

Karolina Waclawiak’s debut novel How to Get Into the Twin Palms was a keenly-observed story of characters trying, and often failing, to connect, in various pockets of Los Angeles. Her followup is a take on class and privilege set in a Connecticut town; we’re eager to see her gaze trained on a decidedly different milieu.

The Small Backs of Children, Lidia Yuknavitch
(July 7, Harper)

In the latest book from Lidia Yuknavitch, she delves into the aftermath of conflict and tragedy, showing how one image can impact the lives of numerous characters. Given Yuknavitch’s talent for delving into the unexpected, we’re looking forward to seeing her work on an even larger canvas.

Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
(July 14, Spiegel & Grau)

Fans of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s writing got an unexpected gift when publisher Spiegel & Grau decided to move up the publication date of his new book Between the World and Me. Given that Coates is arguably America’s leading public intellectual right now, we’re looking forward to reading this a little earlier than we’d expected.

Confession of the Lioness, Mia Couto
(July 14, Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

In Mia Couto’s surreal and visceral novel, a small community in rural Mozambique is beset by a series of lion attacks. Their reaction forces several characters to reckon with their pasts, with surprising results, as this book proceeds towards a haunting conclusion.

About a Girl, Sarah McCarry
(July 14, St. Martin’s Griffin)

The first two books in this loose trilogy blended a knowing take on the Northwest’s punk scene with riffs on Greek mythology, finding an impressive balance between the specific and the timeless. Both were compelling and neatly arranged, and we’re looking forward to seeing what’s in store for the third.

All This Life, Joshua Mohr
(July 14, Soft Skull)

Joshua Mohr’s latest novel follows a selection of disparate characters brought together in and around San Francisco in the wake of a surreal and tragic event, weaving in observations on gentrification and the bleaker side of online personas.

Lovers on All Saints’ Day, Juan Gabriel Vasquez
(July 21, Riverhead)

As the international profile of the Colombian writer Juan Gabriel Vásquez grows, this collection of short stories should be of interest to many, whether they first started reading him via his award-winning The Sound of Things Falling or did so even earlier.

‘I’, Wolfgang Hilbig
(July 28, Seagull Press)

2015 looks to be a big year for readers of the German writer Wolfgang Hilbig; later in the fall, an English translation of his novel The Sleep of the Righteous will be released by Two Lines. This summer brings with it his novel ‘I’, a book about Communist-era surveillance, identity, and a David Bowie doppelganger.

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