“To acquire the
habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost
all the miseries of life.”
— W.
Somerset Maugham
Summertime.
Perhaps I’m old-fashioned, but these lazy days call for the simple
pleasures of books. (Though I regret, for many adults in our time,
“lazy days” never really exist in any season...). We
take books with us on vacation, to read in the car, at the beach, or
whenever we find a moment to kick back and relax. We subject our
children to local public libraries and their summer reading programs.
We hope, often in vain, they’ll pick up some titles from the
suggested summer reading lists sent home at the end of the school
year (though I’ve not seen one since the “Before Times” prior
to the covid pandemic). Do
kids still read books over the summer? Is summer reading still a
thing in a culture increasingly focused on its cell phones and
other electronic devices?
(A
discussion for another time, perhaps.) In
musing on the fleeting joys of summer reading, I thought I might make
a few recommendations for titles which
reflect my own interests in history and gaming; books I’ve read in
the past Hobby
Games Recce readers
might also
enjoy.
