Summer reads
A new collection of our most beach-friendly articles
Welcome to Summer reads, our guide to a season of great reading. Journalists at The Economist enjoyed reading these books on holiday. You might, too. Our summer issue featured five special stories from 1843 magazine, our sister publication. We’ve also sifted through our pages to find some of our other most enjoyable, luminous and thought-provoking articles. In the selection on this page, our writers suggest the best books to read on everything from money-making to mountaineering. Our columnists explain why there’s a new economics of fertility; and how the office romance fizzled. Our correspondents investigate how a free Hong Kong became a police state; and take you into the Alaskan wilderness on a hunt for the forces that will sustain the oil economy. Scroll down for much more. We hope this collection carries you through a brilliant summer.
Stephanie Studer
US digital editor
If you want... to discover our Summer specials
1843 magazine | The cruise that will get you chased by the Chinese coastguard
China is bullying its rivals in the South China Sea. For some tourists, that makes it a perfect holiday destination
1843 magazine | How to get rich (Taylor’s version)
Think you know the story of how Taylor Swift took on the music industry? The reality is more complicated
1843 magazine | How the Proud Boys are prepping for a second Trump term
They led the charge on the Capitol. What next?
1843 magazine | Marwan Barghouti, the world’s most important prisoner
There’s one Palestinian who could help end the conflict. He’s in an Israeli jail
If you want… to expand your mind
The surprising upside of climate migration
To adapt to climate change, people will move. The results will not be all bad
Do tips make for better service?
The evidence is mixed—and the practice varies widely across the world
How Microsoft could supplant Apple as the world’s most valuable firm
It hopes to seize on AI to transform the future of work
Richer societies mean fewer babies. Right?
A guide to the new economics of fertility
If you want… five perfect books on (almost) any topic
Five books about Iraq, a cradle of civilisation and catastrophe
What to read to understand the country’s recent history—and its ancient beginnings
Five books on the best approaches to being an investor
What to read to understand how to make your money grow
Five of the best books on climbing mountains
The books and a documentary that capture the pull of the peaks
Five novels that imagine dictatorship in America
A gripping way into thinking about democracy under threat
If you want… to gorge on food writing
Liquorice flourishes in salty soils of the dried-up Aral Sea
Karakalpakstan is the sweet root’s new production hub
How to eat to 100
Dan Buettner’s book explores America’s healthiest cuisines
How Provençal rosé became the summer tipple par excellence
When temperatures rise, wine-drinkers think pink
Chinese food is more diverse than Western eaters might think
In “Invitation to a Banquet” Fuchsia Dunlop celebrates the cuisine’s spread and savour
If you want… to escape to another world
Finding aliens means studying new sorts of planet
But the places extraterrestrial life can be looked for are not the places it is most likely to thrive
Tuvalu plans for its own disappearance
Is a country still a country if it sinks?
War in space is no longer science fiction
Inside America’s celestial struggle against China and Russia
Romantasy brings dragons and eroticism together. At last
Novels starring hot fairies are selling millions of copies
If you’d rather… get to know this one better
Can you put a price on the wonders of nature?
Advocates of pricing such creatures as whales have one very good argument on their side
The deadly journey to the Gulf
Migrants from Ethiopia to Saudi Arabia risk drowning, extortion and violence
How a free and open Hong Kong became a police state
It was a long time in the planning
The Alaskan wilderness reveals the past and the future
The oil flows more slowly, the climate changes more quickly
If you want… to gen up on artificial intelligence
AIs will make health care safer and better
It may even get cheaper, too, says Natasha Loder
Three reasons why it’s good news that robots are getting smarter
They are becoming more capable, easier to program and better at explaining themselves
Could AI transform life in developing countries?
Optimists hope it will ease grave shortages of human capital
How AI could change computing, culture and the course of history
Expect changes in the way people access knowledge, relate to knowledge and think about themselves
If you want… to read what everyone else is reading
Packing for your summer holiday? Take these books published in 2024
The best titles of the year to date
Why southern Europeans will soon be the longest-lived people in the world
Diet and exercise, but also urban design and social life
Gut bacteria may offer a treatment for autism
A common probiotic holds the key
Meet the incels and anti-feminists of Asia
They threaten to make the region’s demographic decline even worse
If you want… relationship advice and love The Economist
Why people have fallen out of love with dating apps
Tinder and Bumble are struggling as singles refuse to pay up
Sexual problems can wreck lives. Yet remedies are often simple
Doctors and schools should be franker about pleasure
Polyamory is getting slivers of legal recognition in America
Searching for rights in a monogamous world
The decline of the office romance
Fewer romantic relationships will be forged at the water cooler. That is a shame
If you’re… an omnivore and just want to be surprised
Christian Californians may have a solution to America’s obesity
Lessons in longevity from Seventh-day Adventists
God™: an ageing product outperforms expectations
An economist tries to explain religion
The third-largest exporter of television is not who you might expect
After America and Britain, Turkey is the biggest seller of scripted shows
Can playing cards help catch criminals?
A novel idea for solving cold cases comes with high-stakes risks