June is for new chapters and honoring the legends in our lives. This list brings together a great selection of adult and teen fiction and non-fiction. Whether you’re looking for a gripping thriller for a new 🎓 graduate’s summer break or a heartfelt memoir for 👔 Father’s Day, these hand-picked titles are the perfect companions for the sunny days ahead.
Fiction
A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself / Peter Ho Davies 👔
A raw, autofictional novel exploring the complexities of fatherhood, guilt, and marital pressure. Centered on a couple who abort a first pregnancy due to poor prenatal tests, they later grapple with the traumatic, high-stakes birth of a son. This vulnerable, darkly comic narrative offers an unprecedented look at fatherhood, the daily labor of marriage and the shifting tides of affection when faced with life-altering decisions and uncertain futures.
Other formats: ebook (Libby); ebook (hoopla); audio (hoopla)
The Engagement Party / Darby Kane 🎓
Twelve years after college, friends reunite on a remote Maine island, but their celebration turns deadly when secrets resurface about a murder during their graduation weekend. As a storm strands them with a corpse, the group must confront their buried past and a vengeful tormentor.
Other formats: audio (Libby) ebook (hoopla); audio (hoopla) udio (hoopla)
Going Home / Tom Lamont 👔
After a sudden tragedy leaves a toddler without his mother, three deeply unprepared men step in to care for him — Téo, his difficult father, and his unreliable friend. Back in his childhood neighborhood, Téo still struggles for his father’s approval while navigating love and responsibility. As they fumble through grief and caregiving, their imperfect attempts at connection slowly form an unexpected, fragile kind of family.
Only Son / Kevin Moffett 👔
In 1982 Florida, a nine-year-old struggles to understand his father’s death as the adults around him offer conflicting, often unhelpful lessons. His father slowly fades into myth. Twenty-five years later, now a husband and father himself, he’s still piecing together the loss of his own father while trying to parent. A discovered journal sparks a road trip that retraces his father’s past, helping him better understand his father and himself.
Other format: audio (hoopla)
Head of Household / Oliver Munday 👔
This short story collection explores modern fatherhood through flawed, searching men navigating divorce, money struggles, and shifting ideas of masculinity. From awkward school outings to unexpected side hustles, each story captures fathers trying — often imperfectly — to stay present for their kids while holding onto their own identities. By turns funny and raw, the collection paints a candid portrait of men redefining what it means to be a father today.
Florida Palms / Joe Pan 🎓
Three recent high school grads take a summer job with a moving company run by one boy’s father, only to discover it’s a front for a drug operation. Drawn in by fast money and bad choices, they spiral into a dangerous world of crime, addiction, and violence. As things escalate, they’re forced to confront whether they can escape — or if they’re destined to follow the same destructive path.
The Devil’s Daughter / Danielle Steel 🎓
After graduating magna cum laude from MIT, kind-hearted Billie attempts to reconnect with her estranged, manipulative younger sister, Mickie, in Los Angeles. While Billie works in a pathology lab, Mickie pursues a dangerous lifestyle, involving a shady surgeon. This story highlights the clash between the two sisters as Mickie’s reckless pursuits, fraudulent schemes, and narcissism threaten to destroy both their lives, forcing Billie to confront the danger.
Other formats: large print, ebook (Libby); audio (hoopla)
Welcome to Beach Town / Susan Wiggs 🎓
Nikki Graziola, a scholarship student in an elite California town, shocks everyone at her graduation by abandoning her speech to expose a dark secret involving her best friend’s death. The accusations create a massive scandal, driving Nikki into exile for years. Now, a grown woman, she returns to the tight-knit community, facing her past to rebuild a future filled with love and redemption.
Other formats: ebook (Libby); audio (Libby); ebook (hoopla); audio (hoopla)
End of Active Service / Matt Young 👔
Back home in Indiana after leaving the Marines, Dean Pusey struggles to adjust to civilian life and avoid the memories of war he can’t fully escape. As he builds a new life with Max and their daughter, he tries to become a better man and father. But guilt, trauma, and the haunting presence of a fallen friend blur reality, forcing him to confront what he’s been carrying — and what it means to move forward.
Killer House Party / Lily Anderson 🎓
A group of recent graduates plans an unforgettable party in a long-abandoned mansion after one sneaks the keys. But what starts as a wild celebration quickly turns terrifying when the house traps them inside and reveals its horrors. As the walls close in and reality twists, their only goal becomes survival — if the mansion lets any of them leave at all.
Nonfiction
Father Time: A Natural History of Men and Babies / Sarah Blaffer Hrdy 👔
This thought-provoking book challenges the idea that caregiving is primarily a mother’s role, exploring how and why more men are becoming active fathers. Drawing on evolution, biology, and modern research, it shows that close contact with babies can reshape men’s brains and behaviors in profound ways. Blending science with history, it reveals that nurturing fatherhood is not just cultural — it’s deeply rooted in our biology and reshaping what it means to be a father today.
Other formats: ebook (Libby); audio (Libby)
Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class / Noam Scheiber 🎓
A recent graduate reflects on a generation of college-educated workers who expected opportunity but instead faced debt, underemployment, and frustration with corporate America. Over time, this disillusionment fuels organizing efforts at companies like Apple and Starbucks, where workers begin unionizing and pushing back against the status quo. Following one grad organizer and others, the story captures a growing, lasting revolt shaped by economic pressure, workplace inequality, and shifting social and political realities.
Things My Son Needs to Know about the World / Fredrik Backman 👔
A father reflects on the overwhelming, funny, and sometimes humbling experience of raising his son, sharing personal essays and advice for life ahead. As he navigates sleep-deprived days, mistakes, and moments of wonder, he also looks back on falling in love with his partner and building a life centered on family. Blending humor with honesty, he offers lessons on growing up, masculinity, and what it means to be a present, imperfect father.
Other format: audio (Libby)
Becoming Baba: Fatherhood, Faith, and Finding Meaning in America / Aymann Ismail 👔
Description automatically generatedThe son of Egyptian immigrants grows up navigating faith, identity, and prejudice in post-9/11 America. Influenced by his parents — especially his father’s relentless work ethic — he balances tradition with his own path as a journalist. Falling in love and starting a family forces him to reflect on what it means to be a man, a Muslim, and ultimately a father, as he shapes the values he’ll pass on to his children.
