The dog days of summer are here. You may be sunbathing on a beach, setting up a lawn chair in the shade, or stretching out in a hammock—or, as July 2021 has played out in New England, curling up indoors as the rain pours down outside. Wherever your summer relaxation takes you, you might want to stick your nose in a good book and let the world fade away around you. 

But what should you read?

We asked members of the Northeastern community to recommend their favorite books and tell us why, in their own words, those reads are worthy of a summer day lounging. The suggestions came from students, faculty, and staff across the university. 

The books themselves include riveting novels that someone couldn’t put down, moving memoirs that widened a worldview, timely investigations into human nature, and old favorites that bring readers back again and again.