Our summer reading tips for you

Tip from Nik Niethammer:

SO AS NOT TO DESPAIR

«Without humour, family life would be unbearable,» says Johann König. It gets exciting when you sound out the progress of the children's understanding of irony. «Dad, where do the shoes go? "Well, think about it. In the toilet!» If the child then says: «No, in the shoe bin», the progress is recognisable, «but if it hurries towards the toilet, you should run after it.»
I love Johann König. The German comedian is the best in his field, a great observer and linguistic virtuoso. Now the father of three has written an incredibly funny book about life with his organ pipes: full of words («At home, there's sometimes shouting. But not often. Three times a month at most. Otherwise the effect fizzles out») and detailed («Dad, why have you cut a circle in the top of your hair? I look at my daughter and think about knocking her down in the heat of the moment with a well-directed palm strike. Then I remember that this is officially forbidden and laugh along artificially»). King's unshakeable love for his children shines through again and again in his hilarious descriptions of daily despair. A comforting, wonderful book!

Tips from Claudia Landolt:

TO READ ALOUD AND GIGGLE

We all know it: growing big and strong is a real goal for children. As big as the wolf, for example. Because in the picture book «I am the strongest in all the land!» he runs through the forest, always with the intention of being confirmed that he is the biggest, the strongest and the most fearsome. All the animals in the forest agree with him: The bunny, the seven dwarfs and the piglet. Only a strange animal called Quabbelwabbel stands in his way and is cheeky and self-confident. It's really funny how kindergarten children enjoy the nosy answers of the little toad called Quabbelwabbel. A marvellous read-aloud book with a funny punchline that wonderfully stages the theme of «big and strong».

SPY NOVEL FOR TEENAGERS

Author Charlie Higson is convinced that every boy wants to be like James Bond. That's why he invented a story about a boy who is still called James and not yet James Bond, who has lost his parents in an accident and is sent to an English boarding school where he has to deal with a nasty classmate called George. But that's not all: shady things are going on at George's estate, where his father is a lord and a real creep. Researchers are developing a serum that is supposed to give superhuman powers. James sets out to put a stop to the biocriminal. A different kind of detective and boarding school story that boys aged 12 and over will enjoy reading in one go.

THE SUMMER IDYLL: BARE FEET IN THE TALL GRASS

What is friendship? How do you grow up? And what happens to mothers when children grow up? Zsusa Bank's wonderful novel tells the story of growing up and the friendship between three children, Aja, Seri and Karl, and adds the friendship triangle of the children to that of their mothers. The eighteen years of childhood and youth are told as if they were a seemingly eternal childhood summer. This idyll is replaced by events that reveal ruptures, losses and rivalries. A novel of longing with depth.

Tip from Leo Truniger:

FOR THE WEEKEND WITHOUT CHILDREN

Madame Michel, 54, a widow, has been a concierge in a posh Parisian neighbourhood for half her life and does everything she can to live up to the reputation of her profession: poorly dressed, monosyllabic to disgruntled, stringy hair, «a seventy-kilo toad», as she says herself. She pretends to be like this because she doesn't want anyone to know that she is interested in philosophy, literature, film and music. Paloma, twelve and a half, the daughter of wealthy parents, who wants to leave the ugly and mean world on her 13th birthday, also lives in her house. For the time being, she collects her profound thoughts - and becomes suspicious: "Madame Michel has the elegance of a hedgehog ...". The new resident Ozu, a rich Japanese man, also discovers the «learned and secret princess» in Madame Michel. It is refreshing to see how the two women, who are actually kind-hearted and fragile, talk wittily or bitterly about people and their appearances and how the world could be a better place.

Tips from Bianca Fritz:

FOR HOLIDAYS ON A SWISS FARM

As a newcomer to Switzerland, I am currently devouring books that bring me closer to the Swiss soul. Blanca Imboden's very easy-to-digest romance novel «Schwingfest» provides an instructive insight into two Swiss worlds that are otherwise rather closed to city dwellers: that of the wrestlers and that of the farmers. We bet you won't be able to read this book without wondering whether the tinkling of cowbells harms the animals. And develop an urgent desire to watch all the throws and tricks live in the sawdust? A little warning if you are actually reading the book on a farm: The subtitle «In love with a farmer» could lead to misunderstandings.

FOR THE FAMILY DISCUSSION

Smartphones are addictive, unproductive and unhappy - the conclusion of this book put me off reading it for a long time. Someone who has become really, really fond of this little work and leisure device doesn't want to know that exactly. And then, on holiday, I read it after all. Alexander Markowetz impressively shows which mechanisms ensure that we simply HAVE to look at our mobile phones. He explains impressively that the constant interruptions mean that a state of flow, which would be so important for our work and being together with our family, can no longer materialise. As a convinced always-online woman, Markowetz gave me a lot to think about. I now have a new app that asks me: «Do you really want this?» every time I unlock my mobile phone. That can be quite annoying. But thanks to this and other specific tips from Markowetz, I have been able to reduce my average smartphone usage time considerably. This book is a great basis for a family discussion about common rules for mobile phone use.

TO THINK ABOUT AND FOR A GOOD CAUSE

Last but not least, I would like to recommend an e-book that I know better than any other because I have published it myself. Popular authors such as Franz Hohler, Patrick Tschan, Zora Debrunner and Felicitas Pommerening write stories about a feeling that everyone knows: the feeling of being somehow foreign, yes, somehow wrong. This book is intended to arouse compassion for the situation of refugees - and every cent collected goes towards aid projects for refugee children. The stories are so short that they can also be read during the brief respite on holiday between swimming in the pool and the drama over the broken sandcastle. I told Worldvision Switzerland more about the project here.

Tip from Irena Ristic:

SMOOTHLY WRITTEN THRILLER FOR HOT DAYS AT THE BEACH

Tall, hairy and one-legged - Cormoran Strike is the protagonist of this mystery. A loner, broke, with a rough exterior and a soft centre, Strike is a multi-faceted man. His somehow crumpled sexiness goes down well with the ladies. The war veteran and ex-military policeman ekes out a living as a private detective in London. When a famous model falls to her death, he is tasked with uncovering the truth. The case is his financial salvation, but Strike has no idea that his investigations will put him in great danger himself. The fact that Robert Galbraith, alias J. K. Rowling, wrote «The Cuckoo's Call» first put me on the trail of the private detective. I liked the plot, the story is written in a flowing style - the ideal holiday read. A crime thriller in the good old British tradition, slowly building up suspense and focussing on mood and atmosphere without bloodshed.