The Books Briefing: What to Read This Summer (A Far-From-Complete List)

(Naomi Elliott)

Many a summer-reading list will recommend books to read at the beach, but that model leaves out a lot of warm-weather reading habits. Perhaps you’d like to lie on the grass and leaf through Mary Oliver’s poems about the wonders of the natural world, or pull back the curtain on the political apparatus behind every president’s public image with David Greenberg’s. Maybe you’d like to tour mid-century Paris with Françoise Gilot, who spent a dramatic decade as Pablo Picasso’s partner and muse. Or maybe you want a fast-paced literary thriller for your plane ride, in which case Lauren Wilkinson’s —“which zigzags across time and space”—may be just right for you. Here are just some of the books staffers are enjoying and looking forward to this summer.