#309 Unleash your inner bookworm – reading recommendations for summer

Summer holidays are coming soon – whether you’re heading abroad, having a staycation or just taking a little easier, we believe there’s nothing better than relaxing with a great book.

This week we’ve rounded up team recommendations for summer reading. From forbidden love and murder mysteries to healthy habits and memoirs – there’s something for everyone. 

Happy reading, 

Your Majesty ⚔️

1. The Binding by Bridget Collins – recommended by Karen Carr

Forbidden love blended with fantasy, history and reality. A captivating story set in an alternative world where painful memories are wiped and bound in the pages of books. Bookbinder apprentice Emmett Farmer’s life changes when he meets and forms a connection with Lucian Darnay.

2. Let's Become Fungal! by Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodríguez ––recommended by Katie Gill

Networks, community, collaboration and behaviour – learnings from, yes you read it correctly, fungi and mycelium. Explore twelve fascinating teachings and see how this ecological wonder challenges and inspires your ways of thinking. 

 3. Breath by James Nestor – recommended by Jennifer Pereira

To breathe is to live. However, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly – and it’s having dire consequences on our health. Journey from choirs to ancient burial sites to discover how small corrections can significantly improve your breathing and health. 

4. Why We Sleep by Mathew Walker – recommended by Ben Culpin

If you’re looking for some good post-holiday habits, then getting more sleep is a great one. From decades of research and scientific insights, find out how and why you need sleep, plus its incredible health benefits – improve learning, mood and energy levels, and prevent diseases. 

5. Duplicity: My Mother’s Secrets by Donna Freed – recommended by Sara Keegan

After the death of her adopted mother, Donna sets out to find her birth mother, however uncovers a shocking truth — she was the daughter of a pair of infamous con artists. This fast-paced and thrilling memoir tackles questions of motherhood and identity and nature vs nurture. This leads us nicely to Sara’s complementary recommendation… 

6. A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly – recommended by Sara Keegan  

This book is referenced in Duplicity as the fictional story of a murder the aforementioned con artists aimed to copycat in a life insurance scam – what a follow-up. A rich and beautifully balanced portrayal of two women, their potential and the risk of it being buried under societal and familial responsibilities. 

7. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt – recommended by Georgios Athanassiadis

From a “play-based childhood” to a “phone-based childhood”. A defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech — and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.

8. Girl in a Band: A Memoir by Kim Gordon – recommended by Nils Mengedoht  

As a founding member of Sonic Youth, Kim Gordon’s memoir is a tale of girlhood, womanhood and her role as an icon in 80/90s New York. She shares her remarkable story in this frank and fascinating account. 

9. Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh – recommended by Sarah Warsaw

This one is for the crime thriller lovers. “The serial killer isn’t on trial, he’s on the jury”. Join con-man turned defence lawyer Eddie Flynn as he gets to the bottom of this dizzying plot. Packed with twists and turns – you won’t be able to put it down. 

10. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami – recommended by Maximilian Berndt

A mesmerising mystery story about friendship — after randomly being abandoned by his best friends, Tsukuru Tazaki couldn’t form intimate connections with anyone. Until he meets Sara, who finally has some answers to what happened with his friends all those years before.

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”

— C.S. Lewis

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