The Best Summer Reads, as Recommended by the Book Review

New York Times

14-07-2025

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An exploration of New York City's past. A beloved novel about a group of women in the publishing industry in the 1950s. An oral history of an indie rock band's 'iconic' third album.
No summer is complete without a scintillating read. And who better to ask for recommendations than The New York Times Book Review team? To kick off the summer, Times Insider asked writers, editors and other members of the Book Review to choose the reads they'll take to the beach, barbecue and every place in between. Below are their responses, which have been edited for clarity.
Joumana Khatib, editor and writer of the Books newsletter
What book are you reading this summer?
'After Julius,' by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Why do you love it?
I'm enjoying it so much that I am planning to graduate to Howard's 'The Cazalet Chronicles,' the multibook series for which she is best known. I stumbled upon Howard only recently — criminally recently — and admire her ruthless social observations and wit. I think she captures the experience of precarity, whether emotional, financial, social, in incredibly fine detail.
Who do you recommend it for?
Anyone who appreciates the dramatic potential of a weekend in the countryside.
Jennifer Harlan, service editor
What book are you reading this summer?
'The Best of Everything,' by Rona Jaffe
Why do you love it? This novel had been in my to-read stack for years but moved to the top when both Jennifer Egan and Candace Bushnell sang its praises for our Read Your Way Through New York City project. The book was published in 1958, and there are plenty of fun midcentury details — the fashion, the luncheonettes, the shockingly cheap apartments — but it also feels remarkably modern.
You follow five young women who meet while working at a publishing house, and the ways they navigate love and sex and bad dates and heartbreak and awkward office parties all feel totally at home in this century. It's moving and very funny, and perfectly captures what it feels like to be a young woman making a life for herself in the city.
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