June 2026 Picks for Higher Education

Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less, showcases his wit, sophistication, and deep knowledge of focaccia in this tale of a young man who takes an unspecified job with a charismatic elderly Baronessa at her crumbling villa in the Tuscan hills. A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR: People, TIME, Esquire, Oprah Daily, Lit Hub, Seattle Times “No one writing in English is funnier or more charming than Andrew Greer. Every sentence in this novel sings.” —David Sedaris, author of Happy-Go-Lucky “An absolute delight.”—Elif Batuman, author of Either/Or“Such a sunny book.”—Kate Atkinson, author of Shrines of GaietyAn aspiring archivist determined to begin a “serious” life after an undistinguished undergraduate career takes up residence in the Italian countryside. Here, he becomes the all-purpose assistant to the Baronessa, known to her friends as Coco, a defiantly youthful and naturally flamboyant woman of ninety-two. Amid a chaotic and colorful milieu of gin-swilling princesses, incomprehensible handymen, roaming boarhunters, nuns, and other local wildlife, our young man does his best to catalog the villa’s extensive collection of art and antiques—although he notices that things seem to go missing from right under his nose.Despite himself, he tumbles into an affair with a married man, complicating his future plans considerably. And when the Baronessa loses someone close to her, he becomes an unwitting accomplice in the acceleration of Coco’s great and final plan: to locate the love of her life and be reunited before it’s too late. Told with the signature wit, charm, and humanity that made Less an international phenomenon, Villa Coco is a dazzling, sun-soaked ode to life itself, a meditation on how seriously we ought to take ourselves, and a bawdy Mediterranean ballad about becoming who we’ve always wanted to be.

A sweeping family saga about inheritance and the enduring legacy of Southern Black cowboy culture, from the acclaimed author of Redwood Court, a Reese’s Book Club Pick

A mother becomes obsessed with finding the cure to a mysterious ailment that is spreading throughout her New England town in this kaleidoscopic novel about love's capacities in a changing world.

“A masterful and unforgettable debut.” —Paul Beatty "Elegant and deeply felt." —Charles Yu “A book I have been waiting for all my life.” —Crystal Hana Kim A radiant portrait of a young woman caught between cultures, and what is lost and found in the struggle to succeed.