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June 6, 2025

The New York Times

	By Joumana Khatib

Dear readers,

My colleague Sarah Lyall, who reviews thrillers for us, has done the generous service of rounding up the best books in the genre published so far this year. And she’s taken care to select a good mix: books with unforgettable characters, say, or that ones that promise jaw-dropping plot twists.

Personally, I’m intrigued by “Your Steps on the Stairs,” written by the Spanish literary superstar Antonio Muñoz Molina and translated by Curtis Bauer. Based on Sarah’s recap — a man settles in his new home in Lisbon and waits for his wife to join him, hoping the new apartment will be a refuge in a calamitously unsteady world — I picked up a copy last night. “Reading this book feels like hearing a constant alarm ringing in a neighbor’s house,” Sarah says. “You’ll want to read the ending more than once.”

On the subject of fictional endings that bear rereading: This month’s Book Club selection is “Mrs. Dalloway,” by Virginia Woolf, which I’ll be discussing with my colleagues on our podcast at the end of June. Be sure to pop into the comments and share your observations and impressions of the book; we may mention your comment on the episode (which will be released June 27). Time to go flower shopping!

As always, please feel free to tell us what you’re currently reading. You can email me and my colleagues at books@nytimes.com.

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LOOKING FOR YOUR NEXT READ?

Editors’ Choice 10 New Books We Recommend This Week Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

24 Books Coming in June Fiction by Taylor Jenkins Reid and V.E. Schwab; a memoir of a year without sex; new thrillers from James Patterson and S.A. Cosby; and more.

31 Novels Coming This Summer Taylor Jenkins Reid heads to space, Megan Abbott climbs a pyramid (scheme) and Gary Shteyngart channels a 10-year-old. Plus queer vampires, a professor in hell and an actress’s revenge. By Miguel Salazar and Laura Thompson

21 Nonfiction Books Coming This Summer How did streetwear become high fashion? Why are there so many serial killers in the Pacific Northwest? Prize-winning writers tackle these questions, while memoirists consider celibacy, spycraft and Erica Jong. By Miguel Salazar and Laura Thompson

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times.

THIS WEEK IN THE BOOK REVIEW

David Gwinnutt/Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York and DACS, London, all rights reserved ‘The Cole Porter of Literature’: Writers and Artists Remember Edmund White In these reflections, colleagues, friends and admirers recall his risk-taking, his generosity and his insatiable taste for gossip.

Christian Fleury Nonfiction Britain’s Premier Nature Writer Cries Us a River “Is a River Alive?,” the new book by Robert Macfarlane, is gorgeously written but also windy and sentimental. By Jennifer Szalai

Sophia Deng Fiction The Risky, Reality-Bending Thriller You Need This Summer In “The Catch,” struggling twin sisters are forced to rethink their lives after the reappearance of their mother, presumed dead for decades. By Danez Smith

Pablo Amargo Crime Fiction Filled With Dark Passages and Dark Hearts Our columnist on the month’s most notable releases. By Sarah Weinman

Fiction A Biotech Start-Up Promises Immortality. Is It All a Fraud? In Austin Taylor’s novel “Notes on Infinity,” the speed of success prevents undergraduate founders from reflecting on, let alone fixing, an original sin. By Rebecca Scherm

THE BOOK REVIEW PODCAST

The Book Review S.A. Cosby on the Appeal of Small-Town Crime Stories In “King of Ashes,” the novelist again returns to rural Virginia as a setting, with a hero who has to face the family he once fled. 39 MIN LISTEN

ETC.

Rebecca Clarke By the Book Susan Choi: ‘I Feel I’ve Read Nothing but Great Books Recently’ The list includes “Heartwood,” “Other Worlds,” “The Wall” and “The Fact Checker.” Her own new novel is “Flashlight.”

Ben Hickey Before They Were Famous: Do You Know the Early Jobs of These Authors? Try this quiz on how five authors made a living before their literary careers took off. By J. D. Biersdorfer

Anna Read Children’s Books Mine! Mine! Mine! Children’s Books About Greed In the novel “Peachaloo in Bloom,” the selfishness belongs to one man. In the picture book “The Wanting Monster,” it belongs to us all. By Adam Gidwitz

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