The European quarter is empty, businesses are closed, and MEPs are gone — it’s the perfect time to catch up on your summer reading.
There’s no one left in the bubble to impress. So put down that dull policy non-paper (who came up with that name?) you pretended to enjoy, and treat yourself to something actually fun. And if you need some inspiration?POLITICO brings you book recommendations from officials, readers, our own reporters, politicians and other bubble insiders. If you’d prefer to listen to this article, you can do so in the latest episode of the EU Confidential — where you’ll also find a complete list of our book tips.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative, doesn’t take a break from foreign policy, even in her reading choices. She recommends picking up Peter Hopkirk’s “The Great Game,” a historical book accounting the 19th-century power struggle between the Russian and British empires in Central Asia, as well as “Do Not Disturb” by journalist Michela Wrong, which delves into the political landscape of Rwanda.From across the Atlantic, Kallas suggests a book called “The Situation Room” by George Stephanopoulos, an adviser to former U.S. President Bill Clinton and co-host of Good Morning America, and author Lisa Dickey. And for a deep dive into how modern authoritarian regimes work, she points to Anne Applebaum’s “Autocracy, Inc.“Glenn Micallef, the EU Culture and Sport commissioner, told POLITICO he is reading “I Giorni di Vetro” (“The Days of Glass”), a book by Nicoletta Verna about the lives of two very different women set in Italy during the rise of fascism. Micallef also recommends a collection of short stories from Pierre Mejlak, an author from Malta, called “What the Night Lets You Say.”From Sweden, Minister for EU affairs Jessica Rosencrantz recommends “Human Acts” from Nobel Prize winner Han Kang. The book draws from the Gwangju uprising, a series of student-led demonstrations in the 1980s against the dictatorship that were brutally suppressed.Your POLITICO Confidential host, Sarah Wheaton, recommends reading a poetry collection, “There Lives a Young Girl in Me Who Will Not Die,” from Danish author Tove Ditlevsen. As an American living in Europe and going back to the U.S. for holidays, Sarah also recommends a popular book, “I’m a Stranger Here Myself,” by Bill Bryson, who details his readjustment to American culture after 20 years in England. If you care to read something really different, check out “H is for Hawk” from hawk enthusiast Helen Macdonald. A book that Sarah describes as “genre-bending” is partly a nature writing story, partly a spiritual journey, and partly a biography of Arthurian novelist T. H. White that Macdonald wrote as she was trying to tame a hawk she got while dealing with grief when her father died.
Dionisios Sturis, POLITICO’s Confidential producer, advises reading Olga Tokarczuk’s latest book, “The Empusium.” This time, the renowned Polish novelist has written a horror story set in a health resort in the Silesian mountains, inspired by Thomas Mann’s “The Magic Mountain,” and told in a collective “we” voice. Dionis also recommends Elizabeth Strout’s “Tell Me Everything,” a book that combines the art of storytelling and small-town drama.
Sarah Wheaton and Dionisios Sturis contributed to this report.
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