Summer’s a cruel season. What you think will be a time filled with carefree days of whimsy somehow snowballs into a never-ending to-do list of exasperating travel plans, tried-and-failed crash diets, and al-fresco dinners you can’t get out of. Oh yeah, and you also have to go about your day-to day responsibilities . . . in 90 percent humidity.

So is it any wonder, despite our best efforts, that we don’t always have the best answer to the ultimate summer conversation starter, “Have you read anything good lately?” And with summer’s close just five weeks away, your go-to excuses can start to wear a little thin–especially now that when you mention Girl on the Train, people think you’re talking about the movie.

It’s time to move to fresher literary waters, and VF.com is here to help you up your bookshelf (and small-talk) game in the final stretch of the season. Here are five books whose pages you should be turning:

Sweetbitter (Knopf) by Stephanie Danler

(The Tasteful Beach Read)

This is the book everyone–from your in-the-know publishing friend to Sarah Jessica Parker to your own mother– is raving about this summer. Debut author Stephanie Danler tells a story of a young woman, Tess, who gets a job at a top Manhattan restaurant and discovers the world of restaurants as much as she discovers herself. It’s an original story similar to Danler’s own—she spent her early 20s at Danny Meyer’s Union Square Café—and with sexy narratives of men and food, it’s sure to make your mouth water in more ways than one.

The Romanovs (Knopf) by Simon Sebag Montefiore

(The Nonfiction Telenovela)

Unless you’re a mega history buff, settling down with a book spanning 300 years of Russian rule might not sound like your cup of tea. But trust us. Starting in 1613, the year the family came to power, and ending in 1918, when the Russian Revolution overthrew them, the nonfiction’s tales of murder, luxury, foiled plots, and searing ambition bring the three-century saga to life. Plus with characters from Peter the Great to Tolstoy to Lenin coloring the pages, this gripping read will leave you all the wiser (or at least armed with a few winning anecdotes.)

Before the Fall (Grand Central) by Noah Hawley

(The Summer Plot Twister)

The publisher claims that the creator of Fargo’s new novel is the thriller of the year. That’s a grand statement –but also an accurate one. Before the Fall will seize you on the first page and never let you go, as you follow the story of a plane crash and the complicated and confusing investigation about why it happened.

The Fire This Time (Scribner) edited by Jesmyn Ward

(The Current-Events Commentary)

James Baldwin meets Ta-Nehisi Coates in this relevant and timely look at race in America today. Edited by the National Book Award-winning Jesmyn Ward, the book collects essays and poems about race from major black authors of the moment, from Mitchell S. Jackson to Edwidge Danticat. The Fire This Time focuses on issues of the past, the situation of the present, and the predicament of the future in a penetrating approach to one of the nation’s greatest issues.

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo (Gallery) by Amy Schumer

(The Best Summer Memoir)

To describe The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo as “candid” might seem like a cliche, but this is Amy Schumer’s memoir after all. The book is as open as she is–discussing everything from work, fame, and men– creating a comedic piece that is literary, reflective, and most of all, truthful.