Kjell Ola Dahl’s summer reading picks
I read Norwegian fiction mostly so I have to search a bit to find what is translated into English. Among those I found I recommend The Therapist by Helene Flood, a tremendous psychological thriller, and The Seven Doors by Agnes Ravatn, a nice mix of whodunnit and psychological thriller. Or you could pick up something by Gunnar Staalesen, e.g. Wolves in the Dark or Fallen Angels. Get these and you’ll be fully entertained this summer.
Simone Buchholz’ summer reading pick
Department of Mind-Blowing Theories – Tom Gauld
If you need one thing to mentally survive the last complicated part of this f***ing pandemic, then it’s the hilarious smartness of Tom Gauld’s brain and pen, and all his crazy assistants (only God knows who they might be).
David F. Ross’ Sumer reading picks
My summer reads are perhaps a bit narrow in terms of subject matter; all include music as a route to the good life before the inevitable come-down; ambition and loss; young idealism and obsession, etc. Perhaps they’re a bit stereotypically male. Perhaps not.
Kitchenly 434 – Alan Warner
What the butler saw. The undisciplined life of globe-spanning seventies rock god Marko, as viewed from the perspective of Crofton, the ever-faithful ‘help’, who tends to Kitchenly Mill Race, Marko’s rambling Tudorbethan pile.
Who They Was – Gabriel Krauze
This is a blisteringly authentic debut that has drawn favourable comparisons with A Clockwork Orange for its depiction of young men growing up and blowing up in the pressurised urban war zones of a big city. Longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize.
Utopia Avenue – David Mitchell
The first David Mitchell book I’ve read (although not sure why I’ve avoided the others for so long). A story founded on the intoxicating notion that the future will be shaped by young people and the power of music. Hope I die before I get old? Yep, fucking right on!
Lilja Sigurdardóttir’s summer reading picks
I have to recommend that people postpone reading until they have finished watching Katla on Netflix. (Blowing my own trumpet here!) But after that I think people should go for some of the amazing Orenda books on offer; next on my reading list is Simone Buchholz’s Hotel Cartagena. I love the Chastity Riley series. She is one of my fave characters, and there is something Chandleresque about Simone’s writing that is so cool.
My current read is The End of Her by Shari Lapena. She is the queen of domestic noir and I really enjoy her books.
