18 Award-Winning Books for Your Summer Reads TBR List. From thrillers to global memoirs.

As the days stretch longer, there is no better companion than a book that challenges the mind and stirs the soul. The 2025 NYC Big Book Awards and the 2026 Independent Press Awards have curated a collection of global authors for your next TBR list.

Whether you are looking for a pulse-pounding thriller for the beach, a transformative self-help guide in the living room, or a poetic journey into the self, this summer’s reading list offers a plethora of human spirit and great storytelling.

Thrills, Shadows, and Global Stakes

For those who crave high-octane adventure rooted in raw, lived experience, Angela Greenman’s The Child Riddler (Winner, NYC Big Book Award) is an essential pick. Greenman, an international nuclear communications expert, draws from a childhood of homelessness and gang violence to craft Zoe, an elite operative who is essentially a female James Bond. It is a story of a hero who defeats the darkness, written by a woman who did the same in real life.

If your taste leans toward the psychological, Diana Louise Webb’s Last of the Autumn Rain (Distinguished Favorite, Independent Press Award) offers a “surgical precision” of the human psyche. Webb employs Hemingway’s “Iceberg Theory,” focusing on the “why-we-do-it” when humans are pushed to the absolute brink.

Christopher Johnston’s Where You Come From Is Gone (Winner, Independent Press Award) adds a layer of literary gravity to this summer’s list. A first-time novelist who honed his craft under the disciplined influence of Peter Geye, Johnston explores the raw friction between estranged brothers. Drawing inspiration from Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, Johnston’s narrative serves as a study of how characters navigate moral minefields. It is a poignant exploration of the idea that while our origins might be “gone,” the internal scars of where we come from dictate who we become.

For fans of epic and dark fantasy, Michaela Riley’s Labyrinth of Shadows: The Witch's Rebirth Part I (Winner, NYC Big Book Award) and Sara Fanfarillo’s Everlasting (Distinguished Favorite, NYC Big Book Award) provide immersive escapes. Riley’s work is a testament to family legacy and ancestral resilience, while Fanfarillo explores the “strange and shifting realities” of memory and potential.

For the Young (and Young at Heart)

Summer is a season of growth, and several award-winning authors have turned their talents toward nurturing the next generation.

Heidi Solomon-Orlick’s I Have a Voice: A Book of Listening (Distinguished Favorite, NYC Big Book Award) helps children aged 4–9 identify their inner truth. Solomon-Orlick, a powerhouse advocate for women in business, proves that leadership and empathy begin in the nursery.

David Knoll’s Santa’s Kid of the Year (Distinguished Favorite, NYC Big Book Award) is a delightful holiday-themed adventure with a year-round message: “being kind is cool and being a bully is cruel.”

Claudia Daher’s R.A.T.S: Revolutionary Army of Teens (Distinguished Favorite, Independent Press Award) offers a science-fiction lens on social resilience, seeking to fill the “emptiness” many adolescents face with themes of unity and family values.

Memoirs of Resilience and Recovery

Perhaps the most moving entries this year are those that document the triumph of the spirit over systemic and personal trauma.

Ivona Olofsson’s The Soul of War: Ukraine – Where Every Step Tells Their Story (Winner, NYC Big Book Award) is a definitive account of the human face of conflict. As the daughter of Polish WWII survivors and a professional therapist, Olofsson documents the “invisible scars” of war with a poetic yet unflinching lens.

In a similarly brave vein, Maria Engstrom’s Restrained (Winner, Independent Press Award) details her harrowing journey through psychosis as a medical doctor. Engstrom’s memoir is not just a personal account but a professional call to action, advocating for compassionate, dignity-based mental health care. For those seeking spiritual recovery, Nancy W.’s Dear G-d: A Conversation with G-d, While on the Road to Recovery offers a 460-page intimate journey from addiction to healing through honest, daily dialogue with a higher power.

Wisdom for Personal and Financial Growth

If your summer goal is self-reinvention, Dr. Fang Miao’s Love To The Extreme: A Miracle Unfolds (Winner, NYC Big Book Award) introduces the Meta-Cognitive Root Awareness (MCRA) framework. Dr. Miao’s work helps readers move beyond surface-level fixes to find profound personal transformation.

For more pragmatic growth, Dr. Stacker’s Beginner’s Guide to Growing Wealth and Investing is an “instruction manual” for lasting legacy. Drawing from his experience of building and losing a multimillion-dollar portfolio, Stacker focuses on systems over hustle and identity over tactics.

Laura Muirhead also provides two distinct paths for growth: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to My Life, (Winner, Independent Press Award), which reflects on the unexpected twists of a lived journey, and Queen Code: The Book, which offers frameworks for grounded leadership and self-trust.

Art, Poetry, and the Cosmos

For a sensory experience, look no further than Lee Woodman’s Colorscapes. This collection of ekphrastic poetry explores the weight of the color spectrum, from the "Sari Reds" of an Indian childhood to the "Gallery Greys" of the Smithsonian. Similarly, Paris Rosemont’s Barefoot Poetess offers an intimate journey through the human condition, blending cultural identity with the absurdities of the modern world.

In non-fiction, JoAnne M. Spiller’s Visionary Designs by Bill Smith, tj. (Distinguished Favorite, NYC Big Book Award) rescues the history of a forgotten Black jewelry designer from the archives, bringing history to life for a new generation.

Finally, for those who believe it is never too late to start over, Joe Sarkic’s Veil of Dawn's Promise (Distinguished Favorite, Independent Press Award) is a must-read. After leaving a manuscript in a binder for 40 years, Sarkic returned to his craft to create a work of "cosmic expansionism," proving that the "harshest critic"—ourselves—can eventually be won over.