May 26, 2025

Good morning. It's Memorial Day. As summer (unofficially) begins, Elisabeth Egan of the Book Review presents a few great reads. Read more about the history of the holiday.

But first, some news: Trump delayed 50 percent tariffs on the E.U. until July. He also criticized Putin for this weekend's attacks on Ukraine, calling him "absolutely crazy." And Venezuela's governing party claimed victory in disputed elections.

A man in shorts reading a book on a pier, seen from the stomach down.

At Christopher Street Pier, Manhattan. Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York Times

Dive in

By Elisabeth Egan

I'm a writer and editor at the Book Review.

Readers, get ready: Summer books are here. These are the novels destined to grow plump with pool water. They're the memoirs, biographies, histories and mysteries to lose yourself in while slathered with sunscreen or sitting strategically downwind of an air conditioning vent. They'll whisk you away if you can't escape and ground you when you're far from home. They're best served with Popsicles, peaches, soft-serve, ice water and lemonade. Cold beer, too.

For some of us at the Book Review, summer reading is our Super Bowl and Oscars Night. We search for new and clever ways to wax rhapsodic about the joy of turning pages in the sun — or during a July thunderstorm or in a hammock or by the light of a campfire. (To be honest, hammocks make me queasy, and I've only slept in a tent once.) Beach reads are my bailiwick, and I've written about them so many times I now have to cross-reference previous dispatches to find out if I've already opined about my favorite chair (Adirondack), sunglasses (cat eye) and soundtrack (seagulls).

But when Memorial Day weekend rolls around, I'm grateful all over again to toil in the realm of Slip 'n Slides rather than stadiums or red carpets. There's that stillness and lull, that sweaty, sandy, chlorinated, blueberry-scented sense of a break, even for those of us who are long out of school. Life's requirements loosen, the box fan gets lugged down from the attic, books beckon.

The Book Review has lists of 31 new novels and 21 nonfiction books to carry you through the summer. Here are a few I'm excited about:

Romance and thrills

On the fiction front, I predict that Taylor Jenkins Reid's "Atmosphere" will catch a big wave this summer, with its clandestine love story set in a 1980s space mission.

Amy Bloom's novel, "I'll Be Right Here" is as comfortingly titled as her debut story collection, "Come to Me," and follows a group of friends over decades and generations, beginning in postwar Paris. (Speaking of interesting jobs, one character works as a masseuse to the writer Colette.)

Finally, I have my eye on "Our Last Resort" by Clémence Michallon, whose last thriller, "The Quiet Tenant," stoked my insomnia at a lakeside rental with a shed not unlike the one where her protagonist was chained to a radiator. This time Michallon follows two cult escapees to a luxury hotel in the Utah desert. What can go wrong in a place with high thread-count sheets? A lot, apparently.

Moms and classic rock

On the nonfiction side, "How to Lose Your Mother" by Molly Jong-Fast, is funnier than it sounds, and a tender, honest account of caring for an aging parent who happens to be famous. (Jong-Fast's mother is Erica Jong, author of "Fear of Flying," among other trailblazing and autobiographical works.)

I'm also looking forward to Sophie Elmhirst's "A Marriage at Sea," about a married couple who, in the 1970s, were stranded on a tiny rubber raft in the ocean for 117 days, and Peter Ames Carlin's "Tonight in Jungleland," about the making of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" album.

And because it too has a Jersey Shore angle, I'm curious about "Baddest Man" by Mark Kriegel, which follows Mike Tyson's complicated, often troubling journey from Brooklyn to Atlantic City and beyond. It sounds like an intriguing accompaniment for my "Rocky"-style workout, a leisurely stroll on the beach with occasional lunges for pretty shells.

For more: Looking for a new book to read? Let us help you find one.

THE LATEST NEWS

Tariffs

President Trump Kenny Holston/The New York Times

President Trump said he would delay imposing 50 percent tariffs on European Union imports until July 9.
Trump's new tariff threats against Apple show that the company's chief executive, Tim Cook, may no longer have much influence over the president.

Foreign Policy

Trump rebuked Vladimir Putin over escalating attacks in Ukraine and said that he was considering further sanctions on Russia. Trump wrote on social media, "He has gone absolutely CRAZY!"
The head of NATO wants little drama next month's annual summit. That may not be possible with Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky in attendance.
Trump's recent statements about China and Russia suggest a vision for a world in which each of the three so-called great powers dominate their own sphere of influence.

Immigration

A boat filled with people wearing life vests.

Migrants going from Panama to Colombia. Federico Rios for The New York Times

Thousands of Venezuelans migrants, targeted by the Trump administration, are choosing to self-deport. They face a perilous journey home.
The Republicans' domestic agenda faces a difficult path in the Senate after two fiscal conservatives said they would seek significant changes.

Trump has expressed hostility toward civil rights protections — unless those measures are used to remedy what he sees as the disenfranchisement of white men, Erica Green writes.

Middle East

Smoke billows in Gaza after an Israeli airstrike.

In northern Gaza. Bashar Taleb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

An Israeli airstrike killed at least seven of a Palestinian doctor's children.
In Israel, Yaron Lischinsky, the 30-year-old man killed in a shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, had a quiet funeral.
After Israel said that a private organization would deliver aid to Gaza instead of the usual aid groups, the head of the organization resigned. He said it wouldn't be possible to deliver the aid neutrally and independently.
An American was charged with trying to firebomb a U.S. Embassy office in Tel Aviv.

More International News

Venezuela's government claimed an overwhelming victory in regional and legislative elections. Critics called the election a sham orchestrated by President Nicolás Maduro.
Young women in South Korea are disappointed that the upcoming presidential election is largely ignoring gender-equality issues.

OPINIONS

Peter Orszag, a budget director under President Obama, argues it's time to worry about the national debt.

We need to stop being weird about people eating alone at a restaurant, Callie Hitchcock writes.

Here are columns by Michelle Goldberg on a new movie from the creator of "Succession" and Nicholas Kristof on how to counter Trump.

Catch up on the biggest news, and wind down to end your day.

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ONE GREAT READ

Illustration by Paul Sahre

American men are getting worse at friendship.

Only 26 percent of men reported having six or more close friends, a 2024 survey found. Polling for a similar question in 1990 put the figure at 55 percent.

"Your dad has no friends," John Mulaney said during an opening monologue on "Saturday Night Live." "If you think your dad has friends, you're wrong. Your mom has friends, and they have husbands. Those are not your dad's friends."

A writer feels this in his own life. He once had a rich world of male friendship, but he now has a more isolated adulthood. He uses his personal experience to explore a broader phenomenon. Read the story here.

SPORTS

N.B.A.: The New York Knicks overcame a 20-point deficit to take Game 3 and narrow the Indiana Pacers' series lead to 2-1.

Indy 500: Alex Palou won the race for the first time, beating Marcus Ericsson.

Hockey: The U.S. won its first men's World Championship since 1933 in dramatic fashion, beating Switzerland 1-0 in overtime.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Muhammad Ali stands over Sonny Liston in a boxing ring, swinging his arm and shouting.

Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston. Neil Leifer/Sports Illustrated, via Getty Images

Sixty years ago, when Muhammad Ali caught Sonny Liston with a sharp right 1 minute and 44 seconds into their title bout on May 25, 1965, a few things happened in quick succession. Liston hit the mat. Ali hovered over him, shouting, "Get up and fight, sucker!" And, Neil Leifer, a 22-year-old freelance photographer, tripped the shutter of his camera. Read about what many say is the best sports photo ever taken.