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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