This week, we’re taking a breath. EU Confidential is stepping away from summits, trade battles, and late-night trilogues — and turning to something more refreshing: books.

Host Sarah Wheaton is joined by audio producer (and self-confessed book nerd) Dionisios Sturis for this special summer reading edition. From sharp political non-fiction to playful fiction, poetry and literary escapes, we’re sharing what EU insiders are packing in their holiday bags — and what they think you should read this summer.

You’ll hear from:

-Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat

- Jessica Rosencrantz, Sweden’s minister for EU affairs

- Glenn Micallef, Commissioner for intergenerational fairness, youth, culture and sport

- And from listeners and colleagues with their own smart, silly, brainy and bloody picks

We also speak with Jeroen Reijnen, author of "Big in Brussels" — an insider’s guide to surviving (and thriving) in the EU bubble.
So pour yourself something cold, put your phone on silent, and dive in.
And here is our summer reading list:

• 
  Bonjour Tristesse – Françoise Sagan


• 
  Killing Thatcher – Rory Carroll


• 
  Do Not Disturb – Michela Wrong


• 
  The Great Game – Peter Hopkirk


• 
  The Situation Room – George Stephanopoulos


• 
  Autocracy, Inc. – Anne Applebaum


• 
  I Giorni di Vetro (The Days of Glass) – Nicoletta Verna


• 
  Dak li l-Lejl Iħallik Tgħid (What the Night Lets You Say)– Pierre J. Mejlak


• 
  The Vegetarian – Han Kang


• 
  Human Acts – Han Kang


• 
  Tatendrang (Urge for Action) – Theresia Töglhofer


• 
  The Spy Who Came in from the Cold – John le Carré


• 
  Perfection – Vincenzo Latronico


• 
  Prague – Arthur Phillips


• 
  Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf


• 
  Common Sense: A Political History – Sophia Rosenfeld


• 
  I Want to Go Home But I’m Already There – Róise Lanigan


• 
  The Redbreast – Jo Nesbø


• 
  The Kingdom – Jo Nesbø


• 
  The Kindly Ones – Jonathan Littell


• 
  The Empusium – Olga Tokarczuk


• 
  Tell Me Everything – Elizabeth Strout


• 
  There Lives the Young Girl in Me Who Will Not Die – Tove Ditlevsen


• 
  Notes from a Big Country / I’m a Stranger Here Myself – Bill Bryson


• 
  H is for Hawk – Helen Macdonald

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