Vacation Mode On: Books to Take You Far, Far Away This Summer

Into the Abyss tells the story of a tragic plane crash and the unlikely bonds forged between the survivors. When a small commuter plane went down in the northern Alberta in 1984, four people survived: the young pilot, a politician, a pioneer, and the cop escorting him. Stranded together in the wilderness, these four men had to work together to stay alive; an experience that profoundly impacted their lives to come. Written with compassion, insight, and nuance by the son of one of the survivors, this book blends investigative reporting with personal narrative.

In The Devil's Highway, Luis Alberto Urrea sheds light on the complicated horrors of the U.S.-Mexico border. He hones in on a single event in May of 2001 when 26 men attempted to cross from Mexico into Arizona through the desert known as The Devil's Highway, and only 12 survived. The tragic events that led to the deaths of these men are part of a much larger story, and that's the story Urrea sets out to tell here. Blending investigative reporting, history, political commentary, and analysis, he offers a riveting yet thoughtful account of the border and the people, in Mexico and the U.S., whose lives are defined by its presence.

New York City is made new in this riveting fantasy from Hugo- and Nebula Award–winner N.K. Jemisin. In The City We Became, five strangers wake up to the realization that the city is coming to life—literally—and taking shape inside each of them, each one representing a different borough. Struggling to understand their new reality, they must work together to save the city (and thus themselves) from a creeping evil determined to destroy it.

A gargantuan, mind-altering comedy about the Pursuit of Happiness in America 

Set in an addicts' halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwed-up family to come along in recent fiction, Infinite Jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our lives; about how our desire for entertainment affects our need to connect with other people; and about what the pleasures we choose say about who we are.

A young Englishman, Nicholas Urfe, accepts a teaching post on a remote Greek island in order to escape an unsatisfactory love affair. There, his friendship with a reclusive millionaire evolves into a mysterious–and deadly–game of violence, seduction, and betrayal. As he is drawn deeper into the trickster’s psychological traps, Nicholas finds it increasingly difficult to distinguish past from present, fantasy from reality. He becomes a desperate man fighting for his sanity and his very survival.
John Fowles expertly unfolds a spellbinding exploration of the complexities of the human mind. By turns disturbing, thrilling and seductive, The Magus is a masterwork of contemporary literature.

Get ready for an absolutely wild ride, because Billion Dollar Whale is one of those stories that feels too absurd to be true. Journalists Tom Wright and Bradley Hope lay out the incredible story of how one man pulled off one of the biggest financial heists in histories, stealing billions of dollars while the financial industry looked on, seemingly oblivious. Full of behind-the-scenes Hollywood glamour, this book takes a hard look at extempore wealth, exposing what those in power will do (and ignore) to keep it.

Organized alphabetically by state, National Parks takes readers on a whirlwind trip to 75 locations, including Denali National Park, Hot Springs National Park, Everglades National Park, Fort McHenry, White Mountain National Forest, Ellis Island, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Zion National Park, Block Island National Wildlife Refuge, Mt. Hood National Forest, and many more.