A “perceptive, affectionate, and often very funny” novel about old college friends at a thirty-year reunion, by the author of The Things They Carried (Boston Herald). From a National Book Award winner who’s been called “the best American writer of his generation” (San Francisco Examiner), July, July tells the story of ten old friends who attended Darton Hall College together back in 1969, and now reunite for a summer weekend of dancing, drinking, flirting, reminiscing—and regretting. The three decades since graduation have brought marriage and divorce, children and careers, hopes deferred and replaced. This witty, heart-rending novel about men and women who came into adulthood at a moment when American ideals and innocence began to fade, a New York Times Notable Book, is “deeply satisfying” (O, the Oprah Magazine) and “almost impossible to put down” (Austin American-Statesman). “A symphony of American life.” —All Things Considered, NPR

The author reccounts his youth as a Jewish child in Poland before the second World War.

In her groundbreaking and most politicized collection, Kathleen Ossip takes a hard look at the U.S.A. as it now stands. She meditates on our various responses to our country—whether ironic, infantile, righteous, or defeated. Her diction is both high and low, her tone both elegant and straightforward. The book’s crowning achievement, its anchor, and its centerpiece is the poem “July.” In a generous fifty pages, Ossip recounts a road trip from Bemidji, MN, to Key West, FL, with her daughter riding shotgun. Inspired by images that flick across their car windows and nurtured by intimate conversation and plenty of time to think, the poem has an entertaining cinematic sweep. There are poems based on bumper stickers, the names of churches, little shops. Traveling tests her beliefs, and Ossip fully discloses her doubts and confusions. Ossip is an unconventional, mighty magician with words.

"With prose that positively vibrates and characters who defy expectation, Kelly Simmons brings us straight to Nantucket, into the bright, beating heart of this one-of-a-kind family, and never lets us go."—New York Times bestseller Kate Moretti, author of The Vanishing Year and Blackbird Season The last word in families is lies... Any one of the perfect Warner family could have been behind the accident. Each of them had a problem that threatened to tarnish more than their old-money silver. Having spent the past three decades' worth of summers on Nantucket, the Warners are as much a part of the island as the crust of salt on the ferry. But this year is different: Tripp is no longer the father he was, and it becomes clear that nothing—not the beams that hold the house together, and not the values the family clings to—can survive the ravages of time. When their Nantucket summer tradition turns to tragedy, the creaky old house swirls with suspicion. Even in a perfect family, there are just so many reasons to want someone gone. With no easy answers as to how, why, or who, the Warners must face another frightening question: do they really want to know the truth? A tense family portrait of secrets, lies, and inevitable change, The Fifth of July will ensnare any book club fond of beautiful beaches and ugly drama. Also by Kelly Simmons: Where She Went One More Day

A politician’s past war crimes are revealed in this psychologically haunting novel by the National Book Award–winning author of The Things They Carried. Vietnam veteran John Wade is running for senate when long-hidden secrets about his involvement in wartime atrocities come to light. But the loss of his political fortunes is only the beginning of John’s downfall. A retreat with his wife, Kathy, to a lakeside cabin in northern Minnesota only exacerbates the tensions rising between them. Then, within days of their arrival, Kathy mysteriously vanishes into the watery wilderness. When a police search fails to locate her, suspicion falls on the disgraced politician with a violent past. But when John himself disappears, the questions mount—with no answers in sight. In this contemplative thriller, acclaimed author Tim O’Brien examines America’s legacy of violence and warfare and its lasting impact both at home and abroad.

Picnics! Singing! Fireworks! It's time to celebrate the best day of all--the Fourth of July! Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli and award-winning illustrator Larry Day join forces to celebrate America's birthday, the Fourth of July. A responsible little boy who's eager to do his part wakes up joyful and ready to celebrate his favorite day of all. But there's a lot of work to do--pies to be baked, deviled eggs to be filled--and the boy has lots of jobs to complete before he can enjoy the fun . . . the world's best picnic! Face painting! A band concert! And then, after what seems like the longest wait ever . . . he can kick back and enjoy the fireworks with the rest of the country. This delicious and spirited book celebrates small town America and is full of nostalgia for times gone by, yet absolutely of the moment.

On July 1st, 1913, four very different men are leading four very different lives. Exactly three years later, it is just after seven in the morning, and there are a few seconds of peace as the guns on the Somme fall silent and larks soar across the battlefield, singing as they fly over the trenches. What follows is a day of catastrophe in which Allied casualties number almost one hundred thousand. A horror that would have been unimaginable in pre-war Europe and England becomes a day of reckoning, where their lives will change forever, for Frank, Benedict, Jean-Batiste, and Harry. Elizabeth Speller once again sublimely captures the dangerously romantic atmosphere of war-torn Europe in her latest novel that will leave critics and readers astounded.