Summer 2025 Hitlist: movies, book and more

Summer officially arrives on Friday with the summer solstice. It brings with it long hot days, warm nights, outdoor concerts and baseball…but also, summer reading lists and blockbuster movies.

There’s a lot of new books and films on the horizon – great picks to stock in your beach bag or escape the summer heat.

On this episode we’re getting recommendations from our favorite critics about the new books and movies they’re most looking forward to this season.

Summer Reading Picks

Vox’s Constance Grady suggests:

1. Flashlight by Susan Choi
2. A Marriage At Sea by Sophie Elmhirst
3. If You’re Seeing This, It’s Meant for You by Leigh Stein
4. A New New Me by Helen Oyeyemi
5. The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar
6. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos

Listeners suggest:

1. Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown
2. Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
3. Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead
4. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
5. Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
6. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
7. Antidote by Karen Russell
8. The Women by Kristin Hannah

Summer Movie Picks

Rotten Tomatoes’ Jacqueline Coley suggests:

1. Jurassic World Rebirth
2. The Fantastic Four: First Steps
3. Together
4. In The Mood for Love
5. 28 Years Later
6. F1