Well Read: The 5 Books You Won't Be Able To Put Down This July

If you've ever dreamed of taking a year off of your life to sleep, you can relate to the unnamed narrator in Ottessa Moshfegh's stunner of a new book. With an enviable job and great apartment, the protagonist seems to have it all, but she suffers from depression. She gets her psychiatrist to prescribe her sleeping pills and then spends the larger part of the year drifting in and out of wakefulness. Though it's a somewhat strange premise, this decidedly modern literary novel reads as a conversation about mental health, terrorism, attachment, and relationships. If you're looking for a unique page turner that will make you think, this is your new novel. My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh (July 10)

Amanda Stern has been anxious for as long as she can remember, and in her new memoir, she captures the experience of panic with visceral, pulsating realness. Alternating between past and present, Amanda details the growing anxiety of America through her own experience while weaving in a richly portrayed, fascinating portrait of New York's bohemian Greenwich Village scene of the 1970s and '80s. If you suffer from anxiety or are simply curious about the experience, it's a must-read. Little Panic: Dispatches From an Anxious Life by Amanda Stern (June 19)

Struck by a bout of insomnia, Cass Coyne lies awake at night thinking that maybe her happy life isn't quite as happy as she thought. To jump-start her relationship with her husband, she suggests they take a six-month "intermission" from each other. In a time when open relationships and other less traditional dynamics are becoming more common, this is a fun beach read that explores the many ways we can love and be loved. The Intermission by Elyssa Friedland (July 3)

If you've ever had a conversation about how the French just get things right, you've likely cited Pamela Druckerman. The American expat shot to fame with her best-seller Bringing Up Bebe, and in her new book, she turns her eyes to grown-ups, with a French-lensed exploration of what it means to be 40. From her cancer to arm cellulite, the essays in this collection vacillate between laugh-out-loud funny and contemplative and raise important questions about aging in a world that puts youth on a pedestal. There Are No Grown-Ups: A Midlife Coming-of-Age Story by Pamela Druckerman (May 29)

Edited by Kevin Allison, founder of the wildly successful RISK! podcast, this collection features stories from Dan Savage, Aisha Tyler, Marc Maron, and many more about the biggest risks they took in their lives. From out-there tales of cannabalism and almost murder (yes, really) to provocative stories of identity and gender, this collection will make you gasp out loud and perhaps inspire you to live a little larger. RISK! by Kevin Allison (July 17, 2018)