-Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to kick off
our second annual "Tonight Show Summer Reads."
Now, here's the way it works.
So, we did it last summer, and it was fun.
I'm gonna show you five books, tell you about them,
and then you're gonna help me choose which one
we're gonna read together.
So, I have not read any of these books.
-None. -Yeah.
So if you don't like them, it's not my fault.
-No. -Well, it is, kind of, I guess.
-'Cause you picked them. -I did pick these.
I picked them out of like -- -Great summer read books.
-I think this is a good summer read.
These are great choices, any one of them.
-Any one of them.
-I'm excited to read any one of them.
You walk around the beach, holding this book.
-Holding it. -At the airport, yeah.
People -- yeah, exactly. This is five books.
We narrowed it down to five, so here we go.
First one. It's called "Ask Again, YES."
-Ooh. -By Mary Beth Keane.
"Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope
are two rookie cops working in 1970s, New York City.
They become neighbors, and their kids become close friends.
But one night, something shocking happens
that will affect their families for the next 40 years.
-Ooh. [ Audience "Oohs" ]
♪♪ Yes.
-I'll stand up and hold it like I'm on the beach.
-Yeah. [ Laughter ]
Okay, now you're at the beach. [ Cheering ]
-Be careful! Be careful of those waves!
[ Laughter ]
-Wow!
♪♪
-All right, "Ask Again, Yes." -"Ask Again, Yes."
-"Ask Again, Yes," Mary Beth Keane.
-First up. -That is two families
grew up together, something shocking happens.
One family has to move away.
Then the kids get back together later...
-Ooh. -...try to figure it out.
This next one is called "The Chain"...
-Ooh! -By Adrian McKinty.
It's a thriller. Okay?
Listen to this. "Your phone rings.
A stranger has kidnapped your child.
To free them, you must abduct someone else's child."
-Ooh. [ Audience "Oohs" ]
[ Laughter ]
-"Your child will be released
when your victim's parents kidnap another child.
You are now a part of the chain."
-Ooh! Chains.
Where you at now? -Be careful!
Be careful of those waves! [ Laughter ]
They're dangerous! They're dangerous waves!
♪♪
[ Laughter ]
-"The Chain." -So beachy.
-Yes, very beachy. -Yeah.
-Summer reads are what we're looking for.
Those are two right there. -"Chain."
-This next one is called "Fleishman is in Trouble."
Some applause. -Fleishman.
-Taffy Brodesser-Akner is the author.
She writes for "New York Times Magazine."
I've read a bunch of her articles, very funny.
Good writer. This is her first book.
"Toby Fleishman's ex-wife drops off the kids early
for the weekend, then suddenly disappears."
-Ooh. -"As he struggles to balance
his life in her absence and find out where she went,
he starts to realize that maybe he hadn't been seeing his life
and his marriage clearly all along."
-Ooh. [ Audience "Oohs" ]
-"Fleishman is in Trouble." -"Fleishman is in Trouble."
-Yeah, yeah. These are all happening books.
-These are all happening, happening summer books.
-Yeah. Oh, here, this one's good.
This one called "The Gone Dead."
Yeah. By Chanelle Benz.
This is her first novel.
It's a mystery, kind of like a true-detective
type of feel to this one here.
"Billie James inherits her childhood home in the South,
where her dad died a long time ago.
When she goes back, she hears a strange rumor
that she herself went missing on the day her father died."
-Whoa.
-"As the mystery intensifies, she finds out that
this forgotten piece of her past could put her in danger."
-[ Sinister laugh ] "Gone dead."
-That's "The Gone Dead." So, we have four now.
-Four now. This is the final book.
-This is the final of the five books.
-Your light summing reading. -Yeah.
[ Laughter ]
-You picked these out. You picked all these books out.
-I chose -- yes. I did.
-Are you okay?
[ Laughter ]
-Why? -Seem a little murdery.
[ Laughter ]
That's all I'm saying, just a little.
-But that's what people want to read.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a summer read, yeah.
-Summer read, you want like "The Gone Girls."
-Yeah. Sure. Yes, yes.
-You want the thing where you're like, "Yeah, get into it."
-Yeah.
[ Laughter ]
You want to talk about anything?
-Which one are you leaning towards?
-Which one? Me? -Yeah.
-"The Chain."
[ Laughter ]
-You want -- You like "The Chain"?
-I like "The Chain" and the cop one.
-What would you do with "The Chain"?
Would you abduct another child? -Sure.
[ Laughter ]
-Think about it for a second. -I'd do it anyway.
No ending to the book. [ Laughter ]
-Need you to think about it for a second.
-I got a van. -All right, the last book.
[ Laughter ]
-"You like candy?"
[ Laughter ] -Hey, stop, stop!
Stop abducting children. It's a terrible thing.
-Don't do that at home. -Do not do that at home.
-Don't abduct -- -Don't do it anywhere, yeah.
-Don't do anywhere. -Yeah.
This last book I like -- "The Silent Patient."
-He gets killed. -Alex Michaelides.
What?
-No, I just wonder who gets killed in this one.
[ Laughter ]
-It just happens to be a theme --
I didn't say if someone got killed in this one.
-Oh, okay. I just want to know.
Kidnapped...
-Something might go down. -All right.
-This one, yes, someone does get killed.
[ Laughter ]
So, it's called "The Silent Patient."
You're gonna dig this. -All right.
-Okay? This is a first-time novelist.
Like, a psychological thriller.
"Everyone thought Alicia Berenson
was a happily married artist with the perfect life.
Then, one day, she murdered her husband."
[ Laughter ]
♪♪
This is what people want to read.
-Yeah, it's reading. Yeah, I'm with you.
I'm with you 110.
-"She murdered her husband and never spoke again."
-Ooh. [ Audience "Oohs" ]
-Including the cops, everything. -Definitely.
-She didn't -- -"Did you murder --"
-"Mnh-mnh. I'm the silent patient."
[ Laughter ]
-"So then, a psychotherapist becomes obsessed with the crime
and why she did it, but he quickly discovers
that nothing about this case is as clear cut as it seems."
-Ooh. That seems good.
-And then I heard there's a real...
-Spin-a-roo in there? -There's a plot --
There's a little plot twisty thing in it.
-Ooh. -That's what I'm hearing.
Anyway, those are the books, the five books.
"Silent Patient," "The Gone Dead,"
"Fleishman is in Trouble."
-They're all very nice covers.
-They are good covers. -I'm gonna judge them.
-I could hold all of them and walk on the beach with these.
-Yeah, you look cool in each one.
-So, I want you guys to choose which book will be this year's
"Tonight Show Summer Read."
Go to tonightshow.com/summerreads
to find out more about --
Are you laughing at "slash"?
[ Laughter ]
No, Slash -- -Oh, Slash.
Not slash, like murder. -No.
[ Laughter ]
-I'm just wondering.
-No, it's not all about murder.
I guess, well, murder...
Oh, yeah. Murder, right?
[ Laughter ]
No, it just says her dad died.
-He was murdered. -He was murdered.
[ Laughter ]
"Fleishman is in Trouble," there's no murder.
-Well, that we know of. -She disappears, the wife.
Yeah, we don't know.
-Was she murdered? -I don't know.
-Okay. -I haven't read any of these.
-"The Chain." -"The Chain," definitely murder.
-Unless -- -Oh, unless everyone
keeps abducting people. Yeah.
If you -- keeps abducting children, everyone will be okay.
-Yeah. [ Laughter ]
Light. Yeah. -Not what I meant.
But you know what I mean. -But you know what I'm saying.
-You know what I'm saying. It's "The Chain."
-It's "The Chain," man. -Part of the chain.
-It's not the normal thing. -This guy's got a good story.
He was an Uber driver, and he wrote this book.
-Wow. [ Audience "Oohs" ]
-Yeah. Anyways, so that's that.
-Chain. -That's "The Chain."
And then "Ask Again, Yes." -Ooh.
-Did you guys have a favorite so far?
[ Cheers ]
[ Cheers louder ]
[ Cheers ]
-Wow!
All right. So, those are the things right there.
Go to tonightshow.com/summerreads
to find out more about these books
and vote for the ones that you want to read.
Voting's open now. [ Cheers and applause ]
We'll announce the winner next Thursday.
We'll pick the book and all read it together.
It's gonna be fun.