With summer drawing to a close, it's still not too late to settle in with a good book. Even if your summer vacation is looking more like a summer staycation, maybe try picking up one of these books before warming up another season on Netflix.

1. "If I Was Your Girl" by Meredith Russo

Meredith Russo paints an emotionally intense portrait of a young girl, Amanda Hardy, as she moves to a new town and adjusts to a new school. Its simple premise is brought to up eleven by the fact that Amanda is hiding a secret--she is transgender. Amanda's voice is compelling, and the relationships that surround her are fascinating. The story is interspersed with flashbacks that only serve to emphasize what Amanda is feeling in the present.

2. "This is How You Lose Her" by Junot Diaz

This Is How You Lose Her is a story of love, culture, and the bonds between people. Told in short stories, most of whom are from the perspective of Yunior, Diaz weaves a complex, sophisticated narrative; he successfully undertakes an examination of culturally imposed sexism. You won't soon forget Yunior and the other haunting voices in this collection.

3. "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Americanah tells the tale of a Nigerian girl, Ifemelu, and Obinze, her first love. As their country grows less and less stable, Ifemelu and Obinze are forced to separate: Ifemelu goes to college in the United States and starts an eye-opening blog about race, while Obinze struggles with undocumented life in London. Adichie's observations are poignant and powerful, and her sense of pace is never swayed in nearly 600 pages. If you liked Orange is the New Black, you'll probably like Americanah.

4. "Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood

The world Atwood describes in the first book of her trilogy is harrowing and all-too possible. In this first novel of the MaddAddam trilogy, Snowman, once known as Jimmy, grapples with memories of his best friend, Crake, and the woman he loved, Oryx. Atwood's worldbuilding is impeccable and her prose is suitably disturbing. The novel also acts as a scathing commentary on genetic engineering, capitalism, and gender.

5. "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski

The only way to accurately describe this book would be "postmodern". Telling the story of Johnny, a young man who discovered an old man's magnum opus manuscript about a mysterious house and everything concerning it, Danielewski's form is wildly inventive and a bit of a puzzle just to keep up with. However, the desire to solve the mystery will keep the reader returning again, and again, and again.