This Month

Ah, the summer-reading list — the time-honored compromise between escapism and willful optimism. Whether your strategy is to reach for the nearest page-turner as you head out the door, or carefully assemble a bunch of meaning-to-reads, we've got you covered. Unwind with a heady, hardboiled classic from Borges' buddy Bioy Casares, or catch up with buzzed-about fiction by Rivka Galchen and Saša Stanišić. A history of the thesaurus will keep your brain sharp, while an oral biography of Chris Farley elevates the lowbrow. We've also got four sections of short reviews for you to sift through, with magazines and travel yarns, short stories and beach reads — grab one and settle in.