20 sizzling summer books: Jennifer Weiner, David Sedaris, Michael Mann's 'Heat 2' and more

What qualifies as a “summer book”? Sizzling romances? Bubbly rom-coms? Thrilling page-turners?

We say it’s any good book released when the weather is warm and the drinks are cold. And this summer is looking to be a hot one, literally and literarily. Sure, there are tantalizing beach reads from masters of the genre Jennifer Weiner and Elin Hilderbrand. There are also vulnerable nonfiction books from Marvel star Simu Liu and essayist David Sedaris, a steamy romance from Akwaeke Emezi and a decades-in-the-making follow-up to the 1995 crime film “Heat” written by Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner.

If you're looking for more titles to add to your to-read pile, here are the 20 books we can’t wait to read this summer (on the beach or otherwise).

Text with the USA TODAY newsroom about the day’s biggest stories. Sign up for our subscriber-only texting experience.

'The Summer Place,' by Jennifer Weiner

Release date: May 10.

From the master of the summer beach read comes the story of a family in all its messy glory forced to face its issues – secrets, misunderstandings, regrets and unhealed wounds – as a Cape Cod beach house wedding looms.

'We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story,' by Simu Liu

Release date: May 17.

The star of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” tells his own origin story of growing up a Chinese immigrant in Canada, battling cultural stereotypes and defying expectations to forge his own path.

'This Time Tomorrow,' by Emma Straub

Release date: May 17.

In this delightful take on time travel tropes, Alice wakes up on her 40th birthday and suddenly finds herself not 40, but 16. With the perspective of her 40-year-old self, Alice relives her 16th birthday in 1996, with a changed view of her dad.

'The Island,' by Adrian McKinty

Release date: May 17.

A newly married couple go to Australia on a working vacation to bond their blended family and end up with an invitation to Dutch Island, which is usually closed off to visitors. They go, and what they find makes them regret it in this high-concept, white-knuckle thriller from the author of “The Chain.”

'Sleepwalk,' by Dan Chaon

Release date: May 24.

Will Bear is a henchman with a bruised heart, living off the grid with no ties and running errands for a mysterious and powerful operation. One day, he gets a call on one of his burner phones from a woman claiming to be his daughter, and she needs his help.

'You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty,' by Akwaeke Emezi

Release date: May 24.

National Book Award finalist Emezi (“The Death of Vivek Oji”) pens a seductive love story. Feyi Adekola lost the love of her life to an accident five year ago, and now she’s ready to date again. Things get complicated, though, when she becomes infatuated with her perfectly nice new boyfriend’s father.

'Happy-Go-Lucky,' by David Sedaris

Release date: May 31.

The revered essayist returns with his first new collection of personal pieces since 2018’s “Calypso,” covering the pandemic years, his father’s death and a battle-scarred America.

'Woman of Light,' by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

Release date: June 7.

This multi-generational historical tale set in the American West from the author of “Sabrina & Corina,” a National Book Award finalist, tells the story of Luz “Little Light” Lopez, a tea leaf reader and laundress who begins to have visions of her ancestors and the forces that have threatened her indigenous family.

'The Hotel Nantucket,' by Elin Hilderbrand

Release date: June 14.

Hilderbrand, who has perfected the romantic beach read, returns with a summer scandal at a Nantucket hotel, where fresh off a bad breakup, general manager Lizbet Keaton struggles to revive the storied but struggling business – and to write her own second act.

'Flying Solo,' by Linda Holmes

Release date: June 14.

After a canceled wedding, Laurie Sassalyn returns to her small Maine hometown to handle the estate of her great-aunt Dot, and uncovers a family secret that sends the near-40-year-old on a journey of self-discovery.

'Lapvona,' by Ottessa Moshfegh

Release date: June 21.

Little Marek, an abused and motherless shepherd boy in a village beset by disasters, is put through a spiritual test in this grotesque medieval tale from the unsparing author of “My Year of Rest and Relaxation.”

'On Rotation,' by Shirlene Obuobi

Release date: June 21.

Ghanaian American Angela Appiah is a model immigrant daughter, with a spot in an elite medical school and an enviable boyfriend. But when she bombs a test, gets dumped and starts to fall for the wrong guy, will she lose her strict parents’ approval?

'Take No Names,' by Daniel Nieh

Release date: July 5.

Wanted man Victor Li has a good gig going, breaking into the storage units of the recently deported. One day, he makes a killer find: a rare gem valuable enough to transform his life. But he’ll need to go to Mexico City to sell it, and there discovers the gem is part of a much larger scheme.

'Normal Family: On Truth, Love, and How I Met My 35 Siblings,' by Chrysta Bilton

Release date: July 12.

Every family is uniquely dysfunctional in its own way, but Bilton’s might take the cake. In her fascinating memoir, the author writes of her unconventional upbringing and discovering her father had sired dozens of children.

'Sister Mother Warrior,' by Vanessa Riley

Release date: July 12.

This sweeping, historical novel brings to life the Haitian Revolution through the experiences of two real-life women: Marie-Claire Bonheur, the first Empress of Haiti; and Gran Toya, an African-born warrior who helped lead the rebellion to drive out the French.

'Kismet,' by Amina Akhtar

Release date: Aug. 1.

Akhtar turns her sharp wit on the wellness community and its dark secrets in a thriller equal parts vicious and funny. Lifelong New Yorker Ronnie Khan is seduced by socialite wellness guru Marley Dewhurst to Sedona, Arizona, to find her best self, and finds instead a series of gruesome murders.

'The Many Daughters of Afong Moy,' by Jamie Ford

Release date: Aug. 2.

What if trauma was literally part of your DNA? The author of “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” makes generational trauma literal in his striking new novel, in which a woman struggling with mental illness is forced to seek radical help when her daughter begins exhibiting symptoms passed down through generations of Chinese women.

'The Last White Man,' by Mohsin Hamid

Release date: Aug. 2.

White people wake up to discover their skin has turned dark and must face the personal and social repercussions of the change in this latest novel from the Booker Prize-nominated author of “Exit West.”

'Heat 2,' by Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner

Release date: Aug. 9.

Mann, the Oscar-nominated director of the 1995 film “Heat,” teams up with Edgar Award-winning author Gardiner for a crime novel that continues the classic film’s story, exploring the gritty world of international crime organizations and the agents who investigate them.

'I'm Glad My Mom Died,' by Jennette McCurdy

Release date: Aug. 9.

Landing a hit show seems like an actor’s dream come true, but for former child star of Nickelodeon’s “iCarly,” it was a nightmare in large part to her overbearing mother, whose calorie restrictions and oppressive management contributed to eating disorders and addiction. McCurdy tells her story with candor and, judging by the eye-catching cover, the darkest of humor.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: David Sedaris, Jennifer Weiner, Michael Mann: 20 sizzling summer books