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