The Morning Report – August 5th 2026 Edition
Summer Reads
1
Country People
Out now
Daniel Mason follows up North Woods with a mischievous campus novel set at a prestigious college in southern Vermont. When a scholarly couple (she’s a visiting professor and he’s 12 years late on his PhD) stumbles upon a bizarre—even ridiculous—local legend, they soon discover it might not be just a legend after all.
2
The Great Wherever
Out now
At 32 years old, Aubrey Lamb is stumbling through adulthood. When an expected proposal turns out to be a break-up, the impulsive and heartbroken woman decides she needs a fresh start. And she happens to inherit her father’s share of a Tennessee farm that’s rich in family secrets and apparently occupied with ghosts that help narrate in this sweeping family portrait.
3
The Simp
Out now
Inspired by a comically unreasonable real-life advertisement published by a wealthy New York art world family seeking a personal assistant, this wild novel follows an unemployed actor named Raj who gets hired, on false pretenses, for a similar role by an unnamed “Hollywood Family” in Los Angeles. The gig is an absurdist walk through a landmine of affluent domestic chaos, identity politics, and petty Angeleno grievances.
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