With the recent publication of Dennis Cooper’s visual treatise, Zac’s Haunted House, Claire Fallon at the Huffington Post wonders, “If you write a novel in GIFs, is it still a novel?” No—no it is not.

Do you love to read? Is summer your favorite time of year? Does reading a good book on the beach or in the park under a bright blue sky bring you limitless joy? Here, the 25 best novels to read during summer.

Always remember the comic rule of three, budding memoirists.

On September 16, John Darnielle—best known as the singer/guitarist and essential constituent of the band the Mountain Goats—released his debut novel, Wolf in White Van. A day later, the National Book Foundation announced it had been nominated to the long list for the 2014 National Book Award for fiction.