A wise man once said, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies (...) The man who never reads lives only one.” That wise man isn't just any old wise man, he is the author and creator of Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin [Dances with Dragons]. So why live just one life? Live all the lives you possibly can within the endless summer of lives that are books.

While summer is the season to enjoy lazy hazy days and late nights without consequence, it doesn't mean that your head should be left lazy and hazy, too. On the contrary, summer daze are the best days to keep the senses sharp with some brain food. Going to the beach? Bring a book. Escaping to the mountains for a retreat? Bring a book. Enduring a ten hour cramped car ride with your family? For your sanity, bring a book. See where we’re going with this?

We've asked our staff members for some summer reading recommendations that span a wide variety of tastes and genres to help you on your way. Already have a laundry list of reads? Share it with us below! (Bonus points if you also mention which Third Man Books release has been your favorite so far.) And when summer is over, maybe you’ll already have a head start on a winter list to read by the fireplace.

Love,
Third Man Books Dept.

Jamie G.

Slightly Out of Focus by Robert Capa

I always admired war photographers and wanted to do it for a profession at one point in time. It didn't work out, so here I am living vicariously once again...

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Sarah S.

Four Novels of the 1960s: The Man in the High Castle/ The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch/ Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?/ Ubik by Philip K. Dick

Was told 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' was a must read, I'm on 'The Man in the High Castle' right now though, alternate history if the Axis powers had won WWII.

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Jess R.

Hellfire by Nick Tosches

For the music history buff who appreciates a little drama. I love the way Nick Tosches writes... he recounts Jerry Lee's wild past in such a beautiful way that it almost reads like fiction. But, of course, it's all very real! My coworkers will not be surprised by my recommendation; I tell everyone who buys Jerry Lee's live album to look up this book.

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Christina G.

The Essential Wrapped in Plastic: Pathways to Twin Peaks by John Thorne

"For thirteen years, Wrapped In Plastic magazine studied the celebrated television series, Twin Peaks, and the follow-up feature film, Fire Walk With Me. Many of the important essays and interviews from those pages have been revised and reorganized for The Essential Wrapped In Plastic: Pathways to Twin Peaks. The Essential Wrapped In Plastic is a work of critical analysis and historical reporting. The core of the book is a detailed episode guide that reviews each chapter of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s landmark series (which originally aired on ABC television in 1990 and 1991). These reviews are supplemented by comments from actors, writers, producers and other creative personnel who provide intimate and first-hand remarks about Twin Peaks."

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

"When Carrie Fisher recently discovered the journals she kept during the filming of the first Star Wars movie, she was astonished to see what they had preserved—plaintive love poems, unbridled musings with youthful naiveté, and a vulnerability that she barely recognized. Today, her fame as an author, actress, and pop-culture icon is indisputable, but in 1977, Carrie Fisher was just a teenager with an all-consuming crush on her costar, Harrison Ford."

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Joshua G.

Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage by Stephanie Coontz

Just when the clamor over "traditional" marriage couldn’t get any louder, along comes this groundbreaking book to ask, "What tradition?" In Marriage, a History, historian and marriage expert Stephanie Coontz takes readers from the marital intrigues of ancient Babylon to the torments of Victorian lovers to demonstrate how recent the idea of marrying for love is—and how absurd it would have seemed to most of our ancestors. It was when marriage moved into the emotional sphere in the nineteenth century, she argues, that it suffered as an institution just as it began to thrive as a personal relationship. This enlightening and hugely entertaining book brings intelligence, perspective, and wit to today’s marital debate. Source: Amazon.

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Cody S.

The Utopia of Rules by David Graeber

how fun, a book about the pangs and complications of bureaucracy and governmental hoops we all experience jumping through. i actually stole it off of gillis' desk after swank lent it to him. it might seem redundant for an anarchist to complain about paperwork for 250 pages, but it's a lot more than that, touching thoughtfully on feminism, structural violence, power dynamics and the like. dense, engaging, but fun enough to read by the pool, like i did.

Lost in the Cosmos by Walker Percy

i was given this book by a friend of mine in new orleans who is an atheist that studied theology at loyola university. i read it in about 2 days and i have been recommending it to absolutely everyone i talk to about books. it's my new bible. analyzing the self, reentry to daily life problems after flighty enlightenment, why carl sagan is so lonely, and it's got the best charts. "if a poet commits suicide, it must be because their poems are good, not bad. who ever heard of a bad poet committing suicide? the reader is only a little better off."

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Ryon N.

Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan

Surf or no surf this is an interesting perspective of growing up in the 60’s with the social and cultural upheavals going on at the time. Throw in some waves, adventure and LSD – all tied together by the art form of surfing. Solid summer reading.

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Chet W.

Solaris by Stanislaw Lem

A science fiction classic exploring first contact. In this case, the alien is an ocean on the planet Solaris. The book asks what is sentience, how can we communicate with others if we can’t first communicate with ourselves, and is communication with an alien life form even possible. Solaris was also made into a 1972 movie of the same title by Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky— who might be my favorite filmmaker. Being that summer temps are reaching near 100, the book about a possibly sentient ocean, made into a movie by Tarkovsky, and titled Solaris must be a hot pick.

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Chloe C.

Blue Nights by Joan Didion

I picked this up from a garage sale after having read The Year of Magical Thinking, thinking that it might have the same dose of perspicacity and neuroticism that I love in her writing with less of the tragedy. Such did not turn out to be the case, but if you read this while it’s hot enough outside, nobody will even notice you’re crying.

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Todd V.

Ansible for DevOps by Jeff Geerling

Advanced Swift (updated for Swift 3) by Chris Eidhof & Ole Begemann

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Zach E.

Meet Me in the Bathroom by Lizzy Goodman

An oral history of New York City's rock music scene in the 2000s (includes contributions from Ben Blackwell and Jack White). If you are a fan of Please Kill Me this should be your next book.

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Daniel D.

The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence by Carl Sagan

A conversation about the human brain; its history, evolution, and physiology. Spectacular analysis of how different our brains are compared to the brains of the majority of organisms.

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Brett M.

Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello

I’d somehow made it up to the point of buying this book having only heard the Elvis Costello hits, and didn’t know a thing about his back story. Super interesting to read portions of the book while sifting through the deep cuts, and other music of contemporaries. Different way of reading a story, different way of listening to records for the first time. For me anyway. Far out.

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Jessica B.

Letterman: The Last Giant of Late Night by Jason Zinoman

I would really love to end each of these Icky Trump days watching a snarky Letterman monologue. This book is helping to fill the void.

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Mike D.

Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams

More known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy, Last Chance to
See was a collaboration between Adams and the BBC on animals from
around the world that were about to become extinct. The scientific
information may be a bit dated (this came out back in '89), but his
observations on traveling through Zaire, Madagascar, Indonesia, etc
read more like a humorous travelogue.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

Southern gothic creative non-fiction murder mystery that takes place
in Savannah, Georgia. I'm always into checking out books where the
city and all of its eccentric residents are a character itself.

Forever Rumpole by John Mortimer

A collection of short stories about a London barrister from the 1960s
and all the clients he has to defend. This is as far as I've gotten so
far. :)

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Kim B.

Mood Indigo by Boris Vian (french) translated by Stanley Chapman

This book was a gift from my best friend. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a good love story. Fun fact: made into a film directed by Michel Gondry (director of “Fell in Love With a Girl" “City Lights" by TWS) starring Audrey Tautou that I’m waiting to watch 'til after I finish the book!

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Kelsey H.

I am slowly but surely reading the graphic novel Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons (DC Comics). My first ever graphic novel experience and it's pretty great! (Shout out to Christina for the copy).

And when I'm feeling studios, I'm also reading Bauhaus Conflicts, 1919-2009 Controversies and Counterparts by Hatje Cantz. It's about the German art school founded by Walter Gropius - there was a lot of opposition to the modernism that was taught / practiced. It was also very politically expressive during a freaky time in Berlin.

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Roe P.

The Richard Peabody Reader

Edgar Miller and the Hand-Made Home: Chicago's Forgotten Renaissance Man

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Dave B.

The Rise, The Fall and The Rise by Brix Smith Start

Last summer I read Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys.:A Memoir by Viv Albertine. So good!!! This summer I thought I would read another memoir by another one of my favorite guitarists. So far so good. If only I could look forward to one by Larissa Strickland of the Laughing Hyenas for next summer.

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Ben Blackwell

X by Chuck Klosterman

I plan on reading this, a collection of CK’s magazine writing, whenever the two child-aged weasel’s in my house give me the time. I mainly just wanted to say I got Chuck to sign my copy and in doing so gave a copy of The Blue Series book to him. He replied “Wow…this is an awfully expensive present” and I replied “Think of it as the young band handing a demo tape over to their heroes.”

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Evan H.

Miss Lonelyhearts & The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West

Two irony-laden novellas that explore personal identity and detachment in 1930s Los Angeles. The former centers on an advice columnist who struggles with his parallel identities, and the latter on a painter who finds inspiration and eventual tragedy in the emptiness of Hollywood.

Worth noting, in The Day of the Locust (published 1939), there's a character named Homer Simpson. Coincidence? Idk, I haven't googled it.

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Randy C.

Vinyl Technologies WarmTone Operations Manual

Title accurately describes the plot.