It’s been an unusually soggy spring in Houston—the kind that makes hot summer days feel far away, even though I know those 101-degree scorchers are looming right around the corner. I could do without the heat and humidity of the South, but one thing I can’t do without is plunging into a pool of great summer reads.

There's just something about them.

Even without a beach nearby, I’ve spent summer days on the sand in Nantucket, Lake Michigan, Greece, and beyond—without ever leaving the comfort of...