The books of summer ...

... or In praise of the holiday tome . (Hat tip, Vikram Johri, who notes: "Despite what the papers might suggest, for most readers, the pleasures of holiday reading do not lie simply in abandoning oneself to solitary escapist fantasy, but in doing something beyond the limits of everyday life. It is a time to allow oneself to be stimulated and provoked - to have all those discussions and those thoughts that one is usually too tired or too harassed to pursue.")