Seven summer books for smarties  June 25, 2012 at 8:57 PM ET
Duane Hoffmann / file / Can summer reading make you smarter?
Definitely!  Just because it's summer doesn't mean you have to
turn your brain off. And just because it's a science book
doesn't mean it has to be boring. If you're trying to beat the
heat, here are seven recently published or soon-to-be-published
books that will keep your brain purring along even when you're
at the beach — or inside your air-conditioned heat-wave
hideaway.  "2312": This is the only fictional work on the list,
but it's a doozy. This 576-page novel from Kim Stanley Robinson
(who's best-known for his Mars Trilogy) is a crime-and-politics
thriller set in an era when humans have colonized most of the
solar system. There's even an asteroid-mining angle, which fits
well with the recent revelations about Planetary Resources' plan
to build a trillion-dollar industry. Some reviewers say the book
meanders too much, but isn't that part of the appeal of a summer
read? "2312" is one o