Ann Patchett’s Summer Book Picks: 3 Must-Reads Plus the Bestseller She Couldn’t Finish

Bestselling author Ann Patchett is an open book. She doesn’t keep secrets…at least about the books she enjoys reading. She’s well known for publicly sharing her book recommendations. The Whistler author recently sat on the National Writers Series stage and talked candidly for 90 minutes to a sold-out crowd about all things books. She revealed three books you should read now—and even confessed which popular book she recently tried to read but didn’t finish. Here are Patchett’s new (and newish) book recommendations that you should enjoy this summer.

Want a well-crafted novel? Try ‘The Reservation’ by Rebecca Kauffman

Sometimes Patchett is surprised by a book. A title she isn’t expecting to love, one she would never pick off the shelf herself, until it comes highly recommended by a trusted source. “[There’s] a book that I finished yesterday, hardback book, just out a couple of months, called The Reservation by Rebecca Kauffman,” explained Patchett. “Emma Straub, who owns [the store] Books Are Magic, and I did an event together a couple of weeks ago. She recommended it to me. It’s the kind of book I mean I would never pick up.”

But what did Patchett think once she delved into the pages of this 2026 novel? “It was so good and it’s about one night in a restaurant in which John Grisham has a dinner reservation. And it’s about every single person who works in the restaurant and their life and what they’re bringing to this moment when the most famous customer they’ve ever had is going to come in.” Her review? “It was so well written. I enjoyed it so much. I can just go on and on and on.”

Need some inspiring nonfiction? Check out ‘Who Is Government‘ by Michael Lewis

Patchett is known for writing famous essays as well as novels. So she recommended a 2025 book of essays to the crowd, strongly urging them to read it ASAP. When asked, “If you could make everyone in this country read one book for the 250th anniversary of the nation,” what would it be? Patchett answered with Who Is Government by Michael Lewis, now out in paperback.

Patchett, who is the 2026 recipient of the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction, explained, “I beg you, all of you, go out and read Who Is Government? It is the most heartwarming, uplifting book about people who have jobs in the government that you can’t imagine, who are living their lives as the truest kinds of public servants.” The behind-the-scenes jobs covered in Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service may just change how you look at your nation and the world.

How about a fascinating memoir? Dive into ‘Book of Lives’ by Margaret Atwood

“My favorite Canadian author is everybody’s favorite Canadian author, Margaret Atwood,” said Patchett. “And that gives me a great opportunity to say, I read her memoir. I listened to it. It was 25 hours long and I did not speed it up. She reads it. She is so funny, so deadpan.” Patchett added, “I’ve met her on several occasions, and I always think, ‘What a drag it must be to be Margaret Atwood, because it would be like being Einstein in a Montessori school all day long.’ Like she’s so much smarter than any of us, and she’s very gracious about it.”

Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts came out in paperback this year. Across 600 pages, Atwood tells her life story, revealing the moments that colored and informed her literary masterpieces, including The Handmaid’s Tale.

The book Patchett didn’t finish: ‘Yesteryear’ by Caro Claire Burke

Patchett, who owns Parnassus Books in Nashville, is the poster girl for a well-read reader. “I probably finish on average five books a month. I probably start and dump another 20, by which I maybe read one page, and maybe I read 10 and sometimes I will read 200… and I want to go no farther.”

But she’s found that abandoning a book is also a necessary skill. “I am a much friendlier and more generous reader than I was before I owned a bookstore,” she said. “It used to be, if I read something, I would think, ‘I don’t like that. Oh, it’s junk. I don’t like it. It’s no good.’ Now, when I read something, I think, ‘It’s not for me.’”

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So will the woman who is an open book reveal a story that she abandoned recently? Yes! And it’s a popular bestseller, no less. Patchett explained, “A perfect example of that is Yesteryear. I am 62. I don’t watch television. I’m not on social media. I had never heard the phrase ‘trad wife.’” She explained, “A friend of mine sent me that [book] galley six months before it came out. I got to page 50 and I was like, ‘This was not written for me.’ It seemed snappy. The writing seemed good, but I missed the boat before the boat even left.” So what does Patchett do when she gives up on a story? She gifts it to another worthy reader. “Then I will pass it on to somebody else in the bookstore. So that’s what my reading life is like.”

The novel Yesteryear is about a modern-day social media influencer named Natalie, building an empire and amassing a fortune by promoting a perfectly filtered version of reality as a traditional wife and mother on a farm. But when she wakes up one day and finds she has somehow been transported to the historic life she’d been promoting, she must figure out how to survive or escape and find her way back to whatever she thought reality once was.

Bottom line: There’s plenty of time left this season to find your favorite summer read. And there are plenty of great book titles out there to enjoy this August, with the help of Ann Patchett’s endless book recommendation inspiration.