Our All-Time Favorite Summer Reads

A lot of people love summer for flying through books, but there’s something to be said for spending a few slow weekend afternoons immersed in that classic book you’ve been wanting to read for ages. It doesn’t need to be something super-heavy, like an Anna Karenina–there are plenty of absorbing classics out there that are still heavy on the summer fun. Our personal pick in this department is Patricia Highsmith’s Talented Mr. Ripley.

The Talented Mr. Ripley follows Tom Ripley, a man with a mysterious past and a purported connection to the charming and wealthy but wayward Dickie Greeleaf. Dickie’s father has asked that Tom brings home from the island in Italy where he’s languishing–but Ripley’s intentions are far from pure.

Read the book, then watch the movie with Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow, then tackle the show with Andrew Scott.

Taking a city break in favor of the beach this summer? You don’t even need a ticket to Paris to transport yourself here–Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast is a stunning, evocative novel about the iconic author’s year in Paris. You can practically taste the oysters and champagne, enjoyed at a streetside café.

Science fiction is a very specific genre: if you love it, you love it. If you don’t, you may not even browse that section when you hit the bookstore. But starting your Sci-Fi journey (or should we say odyssey?) with a crowd favorite like Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter, you may just change your mind on the genre altogether.

From Say Nothing to Empire of Pain to his latest work, Rogues, author and journalist Patrick Radden Keefe is emerging as an undisputed master of the nonfiction medium. While every single one of his books (and there are more than just these three) are worth a read, Rogues is a “best of,” a collection of Radden Keefe’s best work since 2007.

If you’re after a story that’ll transport you from the Italian coast to Hollywood and beyond, look no further than Jess Walter’s 2012 novel Beautiful Ruins. The story begins in 1962, when an Italian hotelier sees a beautiful Hollywood starlet vacationing on his island. Fifty years later, the Italian man heads to Hollywood–in search of the starlet he spotted all those years ago.

Sure, summer is a time for relaxation, but if you’re looking to set yourself up for success come back-to-school season, Steven Bartlett is certainly the ticket. The inspiring podcast host of one of England’s most popular podcasts, also called Diary of a CEO, Bartlett has interviewed some of the world’s most successful people–and in his book, he’s distilling and sharing all of the most valuable things he’s learned. You might even skip a summer Friday at the beach to get ahead on your goals after reading this one.