A look at this week's new releases: 'Not Okay,' 'Amber Brown,' 'Honor Society' and more

For many people, summer is for savoring books.

With audiobooks, you can enjoy the latest celebrity biography or literary sensation on a road trip or long plane ride. What could be better company for a long solitary stroll in nature than immersing yourself in a four-century-long saga or listening to the intimate yet humorous confessions of comedians while on an extended train ride?

These aren’t the typical beach reads — instead, you’ll find food for thought and in-depth looks from entertainment icons, latest works from literary stars and hard-to-put-down page-turners.

Here are some recent hot titles perfect for vacations and downtime this season.

One of the most popular modern poets of the past few years, Ocean Vuong made a splash with his 2016 collection “Night Sky With Exit Wounds,” which won the T.S. Eliot prize.

After six years spent working on other projects — including his 2019 debut novel, “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” — his long-awaited second collection, “Time is a Mother,” published this year to acclaim. Vuong narrates himself, and the rhythm of the author’s voice over the course of the 1-hour and 43-minute audiobook makes it easy to savor the imagery of his words.

Emily St. John Mandel writes complex, time-jumping novels and her latest is no exception. Set over four centuries, “Sea of Tranquility” explores the stories of four different people who are connected by a single event in a forest.

It’s a lot to wrap your head around, but the narration for the audiobook version — provided by Arthur Morey, Dylan Moore, John Lee and Kirsten Potter — helps to make it more accessible. And as the timelines begin to merge and the narrators bleed into other sections, it helps convey the sheer ambition of what Mandel is attempting.

Few actors are more beloved than Bob Odenkirk, a brilliant comedian who ended up becoming a brilliant dramatic actor. His new memoir tells the story of that transition, beginning with Odenkirk’s early years at Second City, his work on the acclaimed “Mr. Show” and the phone call that would change his life by offering him the part of Saul Goodman on “Breaking Bad.”

It’s a hilarious, clear-eyed look at working in Hollywood, and Odenkirk brings his wit and comedic timing to the narration.

Molly Shannon concluded a successful 2021 on television (starring in the comedies “White Lotus,” “The Other Two” and “I Love That For You”) with a memoir — "Hello, Molly!" — that is just as enthralling to read as she is to watch on screen.

Shannon’s book is at turns depressing and hilarious, giving insight into a true legend of comedy, from her days on “Saturday Night Live” to the most difficult days of her life. Her writing style is playful, and she narrates the audiobook with all the charisma you’ve come to expect from the comedian.

No matter how much you liked Otessa Moshfegh’s “My Year of Rest and Relaxation,” it’s possible the author’s new novel “Lapvona” may be harder to swallow.

Set in a medieval village where filth and sickness is as commonplace as air, Moshfegh tells a gruesome story of religion, sexual deviance and cannibalism. The story follows a young, deformed boy named Marek who becomes heir to a terrifying lord. Moshfegh takes the freakiest and most unsettling bits of her previous novel and pushes them to a breaking point in “Lapvona.”

Narrated by Nigerian actor Weruche Opia (seen in HBO’s “I May Destroy You”), “Honey and Spice” is a salacious and entertaining debut romance novel from journalist and cultural critic Bolu Babalola. She uses fiction as a means to explore the current state of Black British society without sparing a moment of drama or sex appeal.

And although the story of Kikiola Banjo — a student broadcaster in an unpredictable romance — is interesting enough on its own, Opia gives so much life to the narration that you won’t want to put it down.

When recently married Ariel wakes up in her Lisbon hotel room, she’s surprised to find her husband is gone. Ariel is a small-town bookshop owner and mother of a young teen whose quiet life doesn’t seem like the stuff of international intrigue. But as she appeals to the American embassy and Portuguese police for help, it turns out Ariel and her husband have been keeping secrets from each other.

This engrossing mystery combines the beauty and history of Lisbon with the story of an American couple who turn out to have more secrets than either could imagine.

Twins Sam and Elli were successful child actors, riding high until their paths began to diverge sharply as teenagers. Flash-forward more than a decade later, when over-achieving Elli fails to return from a mysterious retreat in Ojai, and Sam, who’s just beginning to finally get her life back together in L.A., is called in by their mother to help figure out what’s going on behind her twin’s perfect-seeming facade.

With lots of sharply observed details and themes that echo the practices of recent cults, “I’ll Be You” is a thoroughly entertaining contemporary California novel.

Nicolas Cage, who has starred in classics such as “Con Air,” “Face/Off,” “The Rock” and “Mandy,” has cemented himself as a national treasure in Hollywood.

Written by critic and journalist Keith Phipps, “Age of Cage” is a detailed, intimate record of one of this generation’s most electric screen presences. The book paints a colorful portrait of the enigmatic icon by analyzing Cage’s expansive filmography and the transformation of film itself throughout his career. As much a story about Hollywood as it is about a movie star, “Age of Cage” is a must-listen for Cage fans.

The story of how George Miller’s 2015’s tour-de-force action film, “Mad Max: Fury Road,” was made is a saga unto itself.

“Blood, Sweat & Chrome” showcases a deep, compelling examination, including more than 130 interviews with creators and admirers. The story begins long before the film’s inception and continues through the grueling 2012 location shoot in Namibia. With a highly challenging production, this chronicle of Miller’s miraculous masterpiece is a turbocharged tale, behind the scenes of one of the most astounding films ever shown on the big screen.