5 books by authors with ties to Philadelphia to take to the Shore

Chick lit. Sentimental advice. Crime dramas.

Authors with ties to Philadelphia have hot entries in all of these literary categories this summer.

Here are five books for you to get into between strolling the boardwalk, eating ice cream, and jumping the waves.

Southwest Philadelphia native Angela Nissel is one of the writers behind the salty humor on ABC’s Mixed-ish and Scrubs, and Hulu’s serial adaption of the 2021 novel The Other Black Girl. In April, she released her third book, Good Grief, Pass the Bread, Mom Is Dead. The 224-page memoir is dark, humorous, heartbreaking, and heartwarming. Two things Nissel did in life that upset her mother: left Christianity and ended up in a psychiatric ward. Years later, Nissel finds herself caring for a mother she couldn’t please.

On the three-year anniversary of her horrific kidnapping, true crime writer Olivia Cruz is scheduled to meet up with friend Zoe March, but Zoe never shows up. When Olivia receives a chilling text with just one word — “Run” — she realizes she’s walking into a deadly trap. You Can Tell Me, released this month, is the first installment of the latest crime series from South Jersey-based author Melinda Leigh. Leigh, a Wall Street Journal best-selling author, former banker, mom, and new grandmother, has written eight series that together have sold more than 16 million copies.

This summer’s must-read New York love story is from two writers who call Philly home. Bethlehem native Ashley Wren Collins and West Philadelphian Jordan Rockwell both attended the University of Pennsylvania in the early 2000s, but didn’t know each other. More than 20 years after their graduation, Collins and Rockwell connected at a mutual friend’s wedding and began dreaming up the love story between Joanna, an aspiring New York writer, and Logan, a finance scion. The result is a fast-paced, dual-perspective love story.

Today host Sheinelle Jones is a Philadelphia native and a former cohost on Good Day Philadelphia. Now, she’s an author, too. The mom of three released her first book, Through Mom’s Eyes: Simple Wisdom from Mothers Who Raised Extraordinary Humans in April, named after her popular Today segment. The collection of heartfelt, hard-won life lessons features the motherly wisdom of mothers who raised celebrities like Lin-Manuel Miranda, Lady Gaga, and Steph Curry. Included in the book is Jones’ own journey through modern parenting — last year she lost her husband of nearly 18 years, Uche Ojeh, to glioblastoma — while finding joy in the small things.

This debut novel by former University of Pennsylvania footballer Steven M. Rubin explores how hypochondria, and the obsessive fears that come with it, can shape someone’s life, no matter how much they try to run. Fans of books with dark psychological twists like the 2012 thriller Gone Girl will enjoy this story about a young man whose fear of cancer reaps horrific life consequences.