End of Summer Readalikes

Summer isn’t quite over yet! Coffee shops may be debuting their fall drink menu but according to the calendar we have a whole month left of summer. In honor of the dog days of summer, here are some of the most-read books of the past few months. If you’ve already read the hottest titles, we’ve got readalikes for them too. So pick up a book and enjoy the summer sun while it lasts!

Click on the title to request the print book, or check out the digital collection.

If you liked Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand

Mysterious wealthy newcomers, the Richardsons, have bought a lavish house. But when it burns to the ground and their employee goes missing, the island is in for plenty of drama.  

Try Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum

None of them would claim to be a particularly good person. But who among them is actually capable of murder?

If you liked The Housemaid is Watching by Freida McFadden

“You must be our new neighbors!” Mrs. Lowell gushes and waves across the picket fence. I clutch my daughter’s hand and smile back- but the second Mrs. Lowell sees my husband a strange expression crosses her face. In that moment I make a promise. We finally have a family home. My past is far, far behind us. And I’ll do anything to keep it that way.

Try The Wrong Family by Tarryn Fisher

Before moving in with the Crouch family, Juno thought Winnie and her husband, Nigel, had the perfect marriage, the perfect son–the perfect life. Only now that she’s living in their beautiful house, she sees the cracks in the crumbling facade are too deep to ignore.

If you liked Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo

Julia Ames, after a youth marked by upheaval and emotional turbulence, has found herself on the placid plateau of mid-life. But Julia has never navigated the world with the equanimity of her current privileged class. Having nearly derailed herself several times, making desperate bids for the kind of connection that always felt inaccessible to her, she finally feels, at age fifty seven, that she has a firm handle on things.

Try Sandwich by Catherine Newman

While on her family’s yearly escape to Cape Cod, Rocky, sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, relives the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers, coming face-to-face with her family’s history and future and accepting she can no longer hide her secrets from the people she loves. 

If you liked This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune

Lucy is the tourist vacationing at a beach house on Prince Edward Island. Felix is the local who shows her a very good time. The only problem: Lucy doesn’t know he’s her best friend’s younger brother. Lucy and Felix’s chemistry is unreal, but the list of reasons why they need to stay away from each other is long.

Try The Catch by Amy Lea

In a last-ditch effort to rescue her brand from the brink of irrelevance, Boston fashion influencer Melanie Karlsen finds herself in a rural fishing village on the east coast of Canada. The only thing scarier than nature itself? The burly and bearded B and B owner and fisherman, Evan Whaler

If you liked The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan

On a secluded bluff overlooking the ocean sits a Victorian house, lavender with gingerbread trim, a home that contains a century’s worth of secrets. By the time Jane Flanagan discovers the house as a teenager, it has long been abandoned. Twenty years later, now a Harvard archivist, she returns home to Maine following a terrible mistake that threatens both her career and her marriage.

Try Malice House by Megan Shepherd

Deciding to illustrate a disturbing, secret handwritten manuscript from her late Pulitzer Prize-winning father, aspiring artist Haven Marbury is plunged into a nightmarish world when a monstrous creature appears.

If you liked The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways. Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor.

Try Chef’s Choice by TJ Alexander

When Luna O’Shea is unceremoniously fired from her frustrating office job, she tries to count her blessings: she’s a proud trans woman who has plenty of friends, a wonderful roommate, and a good life in New York City. But blessings don’t pay the bills. Enter Jean-Pierre, a laissez-faire trans man and the heir to a huge culinary empire–which he’ll only inherit if he can jump through all the hoops his celebrity chef grandfather has placed in his path. 

Happy reading!

-Melinda

Summer Recap Readalikes

Summer reads season isn’t over yet! Here are the top five books logged during our summer reading program. If you’ve read these popular picks, not to worry-we have a readalike matched with each one. What’s a readalike you ask? A readalike is a book suggestion that has a similar style, storyline, or general vibe as a book you have already read and enjoyed.

Want more readalikes? We love to offer suggestions that are similar to your fav reads, so stop by the Library for more readalike suggestions.

Happy Place by Emily Henry

Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college–they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now–for reasons they’re still not discussing–they don’t. They broke up five months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman

Hired to write a profile on the movie star who is her number one celebrity crush, Chani has a whirlwind weekend with the actor and is still questioned about it ten years later despite her own successful career.


The Whispers by Ashley Audrain

Everything is fabulous at a catered barbeque until the picture-perfect hostess explodes in fury because her son disobeys her.  Everyone at the party hears her exquisite veneer crack–loud and clear.  Before long, that same young boy falls from his bedside window in the middle of the night. 

The Majesties by Tiffany Tsao

Gwendolyn and Estella have always been as close as sisters can be. Growing up in a wealthy, eminent, and sometimes deceitful family, they’ve relied on each other for support and confidence. But now Gwendolyn is lying in a coma, the sole survivor of Estella’s poisoning of their whole clan.


The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren Sparks fly when Fizzy, a romance writer and Connor, a documentary filmmaker join forces to craft the ultimate Hollywood love story–but only if they can keep the chemistry between them from taking the whole thing off script.

One To Watch by Kate Stayman-London

Frustrated by a lack of body diversity on her favorite reality show, Bea, a plus-sized fashion blogger uses an unexpected invitation to star in the show to bolster her career, before unexpected romance complicates her prospects.


Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena’s a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks. So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece.

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

The beautifully ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is completely silent one weekday morning, until a woman’s terrified scream echoes through the room. Security guards immediately appear and instruct everyone inside to stay put until they determine there is no threat.


The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.

Shadow Sister by Lindsay Marcott

Ava grew up in a haunted mansion, envied by all her friends. But when her mother died mysteriously there, the thrills of Blackworth Mansion became nightmares. Ava never accepted that her mother perished from natural causes, but no one would believe her.

Happy reading!

-Melinda