“I can tell it’s gonna be a tearjerker.”

As a Senior Editor at BuzzFeed, I cover books and politics, and I also created the daily vocabulary-boosting word game SAT Scramble.

Jenna Bush Hager told Today.com that she chose this book because it feels like a perfect beach read. "This is a novel about the people who have known us our whole lives and the ties that really bind us. It made me think of my own oldest friendships. I know you will love this one just as much as I do."

The book follows the daughter of a famous writer who goes to a resort in Massachusetts to try to write a book of her own. There, she hits it off with a guy, but his friend group keeps getting in the way. Honestly, so relatable. 

Belletrist is a book club started by Emma Roberts and her best friend Karah Preiss. Readers are calling this book "creative," "mesmerizing," and "heartbreakingly beautiful."

In Voyagers, two friends who believe they were abducted by aliens as children race to reunite as adults when a mysterious "signal" from outer space interferes with life on Earth. As someone who grew up on The X-Files and is a sucker for stories about friendship, this book is calling my name. 

On Service95, Dua wrote, "Free revealed things to me about a country I know and love well. The history is so recent, but the lived experience has changed so much in just one generation. What an era to live through, what an education to share."

Free is a memoir about growing up in Albania as the People's Socialist Republic of Albania came to an end, and the country broke into a civil war. Ypi was 11 years old when these profound changes shook her country, and the isolated Stalinist society began to open up to the Western world. In her review on Service95, Dua teased that there is an entire chapter about a neighborhood feud breaking out over an empty Coke can that was seen as a status symbol. Color me intrigued!

On Instagram, Reese Witherspoon shared why she chose this book, writing, "Celebrating America’s 250th with a story about one remarkable woman." 

A Founding Mother is a novel based on the life of Abigail Adams, wife of the second president of the United States and mother to the sixth president. As first lady, Abigail Adams advocated for women's rights and opposed slavery, and she served as a close confidant and advisor to her husband. This book follows her journey from raising children in the midst of a revolution to her role behind the scenes in shaping American history. 

On Instagram, one member wrote, "Loved this book and how it explored familial ties and expectations."

S.A. Cosby is known for his gritty, southern crime novels, and this is no exception. It follows two fathers, one white and one Black, after their sons get married and are later murdered. They're out for revenge, but they also have to face their prejudices to get it. 

On Instagram, they describe the book as "a rollicking, lyrical novel about a year in the life of a family as they strike out into the unknown (aka Vermont), leaving all the comforts of home behind."

In Country People, a California family heads to rural Vermont so the father can finish his Ph.D., but he gets distracted by his eccentric neighbors and a strange local legend that just might be true. I love the sound of this story, but is it bad that I'm most tempted to get it because of that cover?

On her website, Katie wrote, "This literary thriller will have you turning the pages until the very end as it takes you from the streets of Soho to the dangerous summit of Mount Kilimanjaro."

I've read this one recently as well, so here's my review: This was a suspenseful new spin on the old 'two women in love with the same man' thing. It unfolds in alternating chapters and two timelines. In one, wealthy Park Avenue empty nester Gretchen finds her life turned upside down when her husband Richard is arrested for murdering Frankie. 

The other timeline takes place earlier and follows Frankie, a younger artist with a past she'd like to forget, who randomly joins Richard's friend group on their hike up Mount Kilimanjaro with deadly consequences. I loved how this book kept me guessing right until the end, when all the clues fell perfectly in place together. I didn't know much about Mount Kilimanjaro before reading this, and I loved getting to go on this journey vicariously.

On Instagram, TeaTime says this is one of Dakota's favorite books. 

Originally published in 1931, The Waves follows a group of friends as they grow up from childhood into middle age. Known as a modernist masterpiece, the book's lushly poetic prose explores the ways our past informs our present and raises questions about the meaning of life. Woolf is definitely not an easy read, but in my experience, when I'm able to actually focus, her work is totally worth the effort.

On her website, Oprah said this book "will make you consider the extraordinary power and devotion of a mother's love in a whole new way."

Little Wonder is the story of a food delivery worker in Beijing whose son, her "little wonder," is a musical prodigy. She works hard to support him and his gift. Then, they're horribly separated in a chaotic crowd, and she embarks on a desperate search to find her son again. I can tell it's gonna be a tearjerker.

On Instagram, Natalie described this book as "a compact, unsettling look at desire and repression in a closed community."

This book tells the story of a bisexual army captain whose life in a small army base in the 1930s is upended when his wife has an affair. It was scandalous when it was first published in 1941, but now it's known as a prime example of McCullers' deft storytelling and work with themes of alienation and unrequited love. As someone whose sad girl era was defined by McCullers' book The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, this just shot to the top of my TBR.