SIZZLING BEACH READS

What better way to relax than with a great book, a cold drink and a reclining lounge chair? From Nigeria to Nebraska, Mesopotamia to Mississippi, travel the world without leaving your backyard with the literary itinerary below.

- MARION WINIK

FAST-PACED SATIRE

Plays Well With Others by Sophie Brickman

"Mother Inferior" Anne Lewin is a sassy New York City-based advice columnist who gets completely sucked in by the insanity of the elite kindergarten admissions process. Three kids under 5, a workaholic husband and a vicious, canny archrival add up to hell for her-but heavenly hilarity for readers. $28

FAMILY DRAM-COM

Sandwich by Catherine Newman

Her annual summer week in Cape Cod takes on unusual poignancy for Rocky-partly because of menopause, sure, but also because of the power of her feelings for her aging parents; her adult children; her sweet husband; her cat, Chicken; and a few sad secrets she's lived with for too long. Books with this one's warmth and humor are truly rare. $27

EPIC HISTORICAL FICTION

There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak

Braiding the stories of three narrators over millennia and continents, following the path of a single drop of water, this powerhouse author has poured her soul and her knowledge into a rapturous feat of storytelling. From the shores of the Tigris River in antiquity to a houseboat on the Thames in 2018, immersive adventure beckons. $30

JULY BOOK CLUB PICK

Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner