This has been a stressful summer to live through, politically speaking, and it doesn’t feel like the tension is going to break anytime soon. But life goes on, with these long summer days feeling normal and not normal, surreal and not surreal. I’m always on the lookout for summer reads that are also smart—books that feel weighty enough for me to care about, but are entertaining enough for the pool or the beach, or just a long, hot Saturday spent in the air conditioning.