This summer’s best books, selected by Sarah McNally of McNally Jackson bookshop.

Located in the heart of Nolita in Downtown Manhattan, McNally Jackson is our go-to neighborhood spot to find our next novel or short story. Check out these summer favorites from founder and owner of McNally Jackson herself, Sarah McNally.

The Mars Room, by Rachel Kushner

Rachel Kushner explores the poor female experience and the dystopian reality of a double life sentence in her thrilling new novel that feels more like a stab in the back than a break of the heart. The story, riddled with violence and devastation, will have you holding your breath released only by brief moments of Kushner’s brilliant humor.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation, by Ottessa Moshfegh

Spend the summer under the influence, with this intoxicating new novel from Ottessa. The story follows a young woman who has everything she could ever want and at the same time nothing at all. Dejected by her superficially perfect life, she finds herself dragged down a rabbit hole of narcotics, abetted by an unscrupulous psychiatrist.

Kudos, by Rachel Kusk

Kudos is the third book in Rachel Cusk’s trilogy. Throughout the series the main character — a writer and divorced mother of two named Faye—largely remains a mystery. More than a protagonist, she is a vessel through whom the riveting stories of unique characters pour. It is through her that lives unfurl in a showcase of literary genius.

Florida, Short Stories, by Lauren Groff

Lauren Groff’s short stories unfold against the damp, mysterious and unkept backdrop of the Florida. The simplicity of life in the Sunshine State, often dismissed as a cultural vacuum, is charged with intense human emotion and psychological experience that Groff captures with laser sharp precision.