Editor’s note: One can only watch so many movies on planes and poolside. If you really want to sink into vacation mode, heed the siren song of an absorbing story. Like one (or all!) of these great summer reads from the Desert Companion vault. From true crime to sketch comedy, activist history to Mafia thriller, these blockbuster-worthy tales will carry you away, even if you’re staycating on your couch.
August 2011
Behind the Scenes of an AIDS Activist’s Life
The road to celebrity activism usually goes celebrity then activism. What happens when your activism gives you celebrity status ... at age 12?
By Steve Friess
May 2019
The Woman Who Asked for Too Much
Carmela Soprano, Theresa Giudice, and Erika Jayne have nothing on Virginia Hill, who was much more than America’s first lady of organized crime
By Lissa Townsend Rogers
August 2016
Journeys on Charleston
Travel with our writer along the iconic east-west thoroughfare — sans traffic — for an intimate look at the families and businesses that call Charleston Boulevard home
By Stacy J. Willis
August 2015
One Big Joke
A cadre of world-famous comedians recount how one dirty joke spawned a cult classic
By Julie Seabaugh
October 2015
‘You Never Know Their Real Intentions’
A twisting legal drama explodes after the mysterious death of an art dealer
By Heidi Kyser