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The July fiction continues: Julie Buntin’s much anticipated follow-up to Marlena is out today, Sigrid Nunez’s new collection drops, along with Jem Calder’s I Want You To Be Happy . There’s a multitude of nonfiction as well, such as Pamela Colloff’s true crime investigation and Lucy Schiller’s deep-dive into aging in America. Have a great reading week!

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Sigrid Nunez, It Will Come Back to You: The Collected Stories

(Riverhead)

“Nunez injects these stories with a deep tenderness and a wry sense of humor, all the while challenging our conceptions of what it means to live an ordinary life.”

–Harpers Bazaar

Julie Buntin, Famous Men

(Random House)

“Haunting and knife-bright , Famous Men renders womanhood with unsettling clarity and reckons with the absolute ache of becoming.”

– Kiley Reid

Pamela Colloff, Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast

(Knopf)

“Incendiary, emotionally devastating. [This] is a feat of dogged reporting, bravura storytelling, and clear-eyed moral conscience.”

– Patrick Radden Keefe

Jem Calder, I Want You to be Happy

(FSG)

“An irresistible novel that asks complex questions about contemporary life and refuses easy answers. I couldn’t stop reading.”

– Sally Rooney

Catherine Ostler, The Renoir Girls: A Hidden History of Art, War & Betrayal

(Atria)

“Profoundly moving … With consummate skill and impressive research, Ostler tells the story.”

–Daily Mail

Nathaniel Rich, Cloudthief

(MCD)

“[A] rambunctious, thoroughly entertaining heist novel.”

–Harpers

Lucy Schiller, Aging Out: An Exploration of Caregiving, Community, and How Americans Grow Old

(Flatiron)

“A luminous work of nonfiction reportage woven into a spiritual autobiography—a meditation on time, loss, and love.”

– Richard Preston

Silvia Moreno-Garcia, The Intrigue

(Del Rey)

“A pulpy noir–telenovela mashup that would make James M. Cain jealous.”

–Los Angeles Times

Alyssa Shelasky, Sex Diaries: Real-life Stories of Non-Monogamy and Polyamory

(Random House)

“An absolute gift—not just for the polycurious, but for anyone interested in relationships, desire, and the raw beauty of human vulnerability.”

– Molly Roden Winter

Catherine Cho, The Devoted

(Washington Square Press)

“Cho’s writing is sensuous, with a transportive quality that draws readers into the world of her characters with immediacy.”

–Library Journal

Nephi Craig, Our Knives Will Save Us: Dispatches From a White Mountain Apache Chef

(Penguin Press)

“A poignant ode to reclaiming one’s culture.”

–Publishers Weekly

Ryan Effgen, Make Nice

(Knopf)

“Engaging and charming, perfect for your own summer vacation.”

– Elin Hilderbrand

Lauren Collins, They Stole a City: Wilmington’s White Supremacist Coop and the Families Who Live with Its Legacy

(Penguin Press)

“An excellent new history out this summer that considers how the past lives in the present.”

–Harpers Bazaar

Stephanie Soileau, Should the Waters Take Us

(Doubleday)

“Filled with unforgettable characters, breathtaking scenes, fascinating time jumps, and a setting so precisely rendered that it’s palpable.”

– Patrick Ryan

Dan Werb, Our Wild Familiars: How Animals Are Adapting to Cities and Reshaping the Natural World

(Crown)

“Dazzling insights into the cohabitants of our daily lives.”

–Kirkus

Emily Doyle, Please Don’t Touch the Body

(Bloomsbury)

“Doyle blends humor and the bewildering with more emotionally sobering stories in her debut collection.”

–Alta

Elizabeth H. Winthrop, Conviction

(Grove)

“This potent novel about prejudice and the constraints of challenging the status quo will move and captivate readers.”

–Publishers Weekly

Imogen Willetts, Up All Night: A World History of Nightlife

(Grove)

“Gloriously overstuffed and delicious entertaining … A history full of brio and bluster and plenty of wonderful nocturnal stories.”

–Booklist

Oana Aristide, Astronaut!

(W. W. Norton)

“Oana Aristide’s skill as a storyteller glimmers in every deftly navigated twist and turn, and introduces us to remarkable characters in the grip of a tired totalitarianism they may (they hope) finally be able to put to rest.”

– Jennifer Croft

Christian Kracht, trans. by Daniel Bowles, Air

(Liveright)

“You read Kracht for the experience of reading him. You read him and wonder.”

– Nell Zink

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Despite all the high-flying action roles, intricate stunt work, and engaging characters Tom Cruise has tackled in his decades-long career, the actor says that his upcoming role in Digger could be his biggest challenge to date.

The satirical comedy, directed by acclaimed Mexican filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu, sees Cruise play an eccentric and elderly oil tycoon called Digger Rockwell in a disaster movie of epic proportions. With heavy prosthetics and a delicate paunch, it's a transformative role for the Mission: Impossible star.

“There's nothing better than to physically and metaphorically stand on the edge of a cliff and go, ‘Let's do this,’” says Cruise, chatting to a group of international journalists – including GamesRadar+ – about working with Iñárritu. "I trust you, and whatever we're going to do, I know this is going to be a hell of an experience. Let's come together and let's do it. Let's all do it."

The Top Gun actor is thoughtful, excited and contemplative as he talks at a trailer launch event on the Warner Bros. Studios lot in Burbank, California. "I have never had something that could challenge me in this way," he explains. "And neither has Alejandro when we went in – ever. When you see this film, it's totally original."

If you've seen the Digger trailer , you'll know the story is about an environmental emergency that could lead to catastrophic destruction on a global scale – and the colorful vocabulary of the lead character seems to be rubbing off on Cruise.

"The director sets the frame and the lenses and the lighting," he says. "It's really my favorite thing. Alejandro, he shows me… He's like, 'I want you to look like this.' I'm thinking, 'This guy's got f*cking balls.' And I'm like, ‘I can't wait. Let's go.'"

(Image credit: Warner Bros) In tackling the titular role in Digger, Cruise considered his past projects in depth: "When we're looking for characters, we're looking for humor, drama, certain constructs… How do we communicate this? Whether it's Les Grossman [in Tropic Thunder] or Interview With The Vampire, Collateral or Risky Business, I'm always asking, 'How do I communicate this?' The physicality, the makeup… That is stuff that you find as you are learning how to communicate."

The actor's enthusiasm steps up a beat as he continues to explain the development of the character of Digger Rockwell: "You really have to understand the tools. It's not one size fits all. You have to find the communication, the lenses, the color of the makeup. The level of detail of making a film like this is... [What is the] color of the cowboy boots? What are my shorts like? The sets, the color of the sets? They're beautiful on every single level, and it's all very... You look at the taste of this man. It's very special."

During the event, which was held inside the plush Steven J. Ross Theater, Cruise went on to talk about his commitment to cinema and his love of watching movies amongst film fans. "First of all, I am the audience," he tells us. "I love movies. I love all kinds of movies. I love going to opening weekend. I like being there with an audience."

With a broad smile beaming across his face, he continues: "I want people to be immersed in the movie, so whatever it takes to tell that story. And it takes all of us. Making movies is a beautiful thing because it's all of us together. Really, it is very special."

Alongside Cruise, the cast of Digger includes Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller, Jesse Plemons, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Emma D’Arcy.

Digger releases in theaters on October 2. For now, check out our guide to all the other most exciting upcoming movies .

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Poland has begun construction of a 10 billion zloty (€2.3 billion) deepwater port and container terminal in the city of Świnoujście, near the German border.

Named Cape Pomerania, the project is intended to strengthen Poland’s role in European maritime trade and create a major container hub for Central and Eastern Europe. The facility will also be designed for both civilian and defence use.

⚓ Startujemy z największą portową inwestycją w Polsce.

🚢Rozpoczyna się realizacja Projektu Przylądek Pomerania – największej inwestycji w ponad 75-letniej historii Zarządu Morskich Portów Szczecin i Świnoujście oraz jednej z największych inwestycji portowych realizowanych… pic.twitter.com/r2gJ9DjAb5

— Ministerstwo Infrastruktury (@MI_GOV_PL) July 13, 2026

Speaking at the launch of construction on Monday, infrastructure minister Dariusz Klimczak hailed Cape Pomerania as “the largest port investment in Poland’s recent history”, saying that it would help the country “compete with Europe’s leading ports”

Deputy infrastructure minister Arkadiusz Marchewka said the terminal would serve not only Poland but also markets including eastern Germany, and the landlocked Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Hungary, reports Business Insider Polska.

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The port, which was first planned under the former Law and Justice (PiS) government, will include a 17-metre-deep basin and a 1.3-km-long main quay capable of handling up to three ocean-going container ships at the same time, including two vessels measuring up to 400 metres in length.

It is expected to have an annual handling capacity of 2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), the standard measure of container capacity. For comparison, all current Polish ports handled a combined 3.9 million TEU in 2025 , which was a record level.

In December last year, Poland’s largest port , in the city of Gdańsk, completed an expansion of its own, increasing its annual capacity by almost 1.5 million TEUs to reach 4.5 million TEUs.

Poland's ports handled a record amount of cargo in 2025, driven by strong growth in container traffic (which was up 18%) and imports of liquefied natural gas (up 32%) https://t.co/nOFmqaB0Wj

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) January 28, 2026

The planned port in Świnojście will use zero-emission cargo-handling technologies and shore power systems to reduce emissions and noise. It will also be built to support both civilian and military operations, reports the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

Construction has begun with the building of a technical access road and supporting infrastructure. The work, which will provide access for heavy equipment and construction crews to the offshore site, are expected to take 10 months. Construction of the terminal is then scheduled to be completed in 2030.

Associated infrastructure work includes deepening the 70-km approach channel, building more than 3 km of new railway infrastructure and creating 186 hectares of reclaimed land in the Bay of Pomerania.

Gdańsk in Poland has become the EU’s fifth-busiest port, overtaking Algeciras in Spain and HAROPA in France, the latest @EU_Eurostat data show.

Meanwhile, national data show that Poland’s ports reported record financial and operational results in 2024 https://t.co/q4QFf8df2G

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) January 15, 2025

However, the project, which is located within a protected natural area, has also faced some opposition from environmental groups and local residents in both Poland and on the German side of the border.

Last year, a Warsaw court rejected a legal challenge from German and Polish green groups, which had argued that the port could cause significant environmental damage.

Monday’s inauguration of construction work was met with a small protest from Świnoujście residents, who said the port could threaten tourist attractions in the coastal city.

Demonstrators carried banners calling for an end to the “concreting of the Baltic Sea”, while one of them told local broadcaster Radio Szczecin that the project would “barbarically destroy the most valuable areas on the right bank of Świnoujście”.

A German group, Lebensraum Vorpommern, has filed a further legal challenge against Poland's plans to construct a deepwater shipping terminal near the border with Germany.

It claims the project "will lead to an environmental catastrophe"

https://t.co/vIg1qjt1Jq

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) March 28, 2025

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Przylądek Pomerania materials