Book World - The Washington Post

(Illustration by Bryce Wymer for The Washington Post)

23 books to read this summer

Whether you’re traveling or catching the sun at home in the coming months, here are books we’ve enjoyed this year that make for good summer reading.

By Washington Post Editors and Reviewers

Perspective

As ‘Succession’ ends, let’s unlock its literary meanings

By Louis Bayard

Review

Why spend your summer reading trendy bestsellers? Try these books instead.

By Michael Dirda

Review

‘On Women’ collects Susan Sontag’s crisp, cutting work about feminism

By Becca Rothfeld

Review

5 escapist novels for your cabana enjoyment

By Karin Tanabe

Review

The joys and challenges of family in four new memoirs

By Jessica Ferri

Sound on! 6 perfect audiobooks to kick off your summer.

By Katherine A. Powers

Our Critics

Ron Charles writes about books and publishing for The Washington Post. For a dozen years, he enjoyed teaching American literature and critical theory in the Midwest. Before moving to the District, he edited the books section of the Christian Science Monitor in Boston.

Becca Rothfeld is the nonfiction book critic at Book World. Before joining The Washington Post, she served as assistant literary editor of the New Republic and worked toward her PhD in philosophy at Harvard, where she focused on aesthetics and the history of philosophy.

Michael Dirda is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post Book World and the author of the memoir “An Open Book” and of four collections of essays: “Readings,” “Bound to Please,” “Book by Book” and “Classics for Pleasure.”

Staff Picks: What Book World critics and editors are reading now

By Washington Post Staff

Fiction

NonFiction

Reviews by Ron Charles

REVIEWS BY Becca Rothfeld

REVIEWS BY Michael Dirda

Summer Reading 2023

(Bryce Wymer for The Post)

23 books to read this summer

Whether you’re traveling or catching the sun at home in the coming months, here are books we’ve enjoyed this year that make for good summer reading.

By Washington Post Editors and Reviewers

Six mysteries for summer readers to solve

By Lisa Levy

Four new works of fiction for your vacation reading

By Annie Berke

5 escapist novels for your cabana enjoyment

By Karin Tanabe

Bite off a hunk of history with one of these new books

By Charles Arrowsmith

Best books of 2022

(Illustration by Adam Simpson for The Post)

The 10 best books of 2022

The Washington Post's picks for the very best fiction and nonfiction works of the year.

By Washington Post Editors and Reviewers

The 15 best book covers of 2022

By Washington Post Staff

50 notable works of fiction

By Washington Post Editors and Reviewers

50 notable works of nonfiction

By Washington Post Editors and Reviewers

The 12 best thriller and mystery novels of 2022

By Nora Krug and Stephanie Merry