Dostoyevsky on the beach: one author's suggested summer reading list

Is Einstein permitted on the beach?

My senior year in high school, my friends and I rented a beach house for spring break. We did the usual: listened to music too loud and too late, consumed a lot of unhealthy crap, and built a miniature model of Stonehenge on the beach out of driftwood. During the down time, I read Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. My friends laughed when they saw what I'd brought along for spring break reading. Some of them still laugh about it today. That's how I learned you're supposed to read light, mindless drivel on the beach.

I've still never learned that lesson. Sure, I read all sort of things, not all of them Edifying or Improving, but I don't think of reading as topographical. My reading is mostly needs-based, and little opportunistic.  

As spring comes to a close I've just finished reading HHhH, the acclaimed novel by Laurent Binet that tells the story of an act of great resistance during World War II while also exploring the challenges of writing historical fiction. Very readable, and very recommended. I'm following that up with The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad, set in the no-longer-faraway corner of the world where Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan meet. I'm about halfway in and it's completely captured my imagination.  

Also on my to-read list for this summer: 

• O, Democracy by Kathleen Rooney 
• Nigerians in Space by Deji Bryce Olukotun 
• Turtle and Dam by Scott Abrahams 
• Nevada by Imogen Binnie 
  

 
Yes, I'll probably pick up the latest Inspector Lynley mystery from Elizabeth George too, since I've read all the others, though I may not admit it on Goodreads. I'm always on the lookout for more stuff to read. If you have any summer reading suggestions, do let me know. 

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