Current front-runner for the best book I'll read this summer – and not just because of the perfect title – Kathleen MacMahon's The Long, Hot Summer is one of those novels that is poignant and funny, thought-provoking and entertaining, all at once (and much like MacMahon's terrific debut, This is How it Ends). I found myself jotting down lines as I read, like this one: "Relationships between men and women are all about … the balance of power, and if you can't get it right, then it's a fight to the death." This book is about all kinds of relationships, and the struggles within them: between parents, siblings, children, spouses, lovers. It follows four generations of a family convinced they are different from everyone else as they slowly – and often painfully – learn that they aren't so different after all. There are nine character voices in total, but MacMahon more than pulls it off, making each one unique and authentic.