They're short (and we mean short), intense (imagine a novel crossed with a haiku), and mesmerizing (whether they're illuminating a single moment or a whole life).

Books populate our aloneness, transport us to other areas and other places, and give us face time with characters (Scout Finch! Jay Gatsby! Isabel Archer!) who seem more real than a lot of the people we know. Vince Passaro, on how it begins.

If you're like us, you have a list of books you want to read (poolside, of course) by summer's end. What's at the top of your list? Tell us in the Comments!

Toni Morrison talks about writing and her novel Love.

Read chapter one of Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz, one of O's bounteous books of summer 2009.