AFTERNOON DELIGHT

Is there anything better than a summer afternoon spent reading? Yes: a summer afternoon spent reading – with a drink in hand. HANNAH-ROSE YEE curates the best books for hot afternoons.

- HANNAH-ROSE YEE

A thing I will never tire of talking about, or writing about, or shouting at someone at the pub over a plate of chips and an ice-cold beer about, is a summer read. Hot days and a big, chunky tome to crack open and swim around in go together perfectly for me. Like Elizabeth and Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice (a great summer read). Like Inspector Adam Dalgliesh and crime solving in any of PD James’s murder mysteries (fantastic summer reads). Like Tina Brown and gossiping about the royals in The Diana Chronicles – which might just be the best summer read of them all, if you care about the royal family, or insider newspaper tidbits, or even the broader landscape of celebrity culture in the ’80s and ’90s, which, naturally, I very much do. I love reading and I love a good book. But I love reading a good book even more when the weather is warm, the days are long and I have nothing but time to marinate in both. It’s the kind of indulgence that summer is made for: achievable, yet deeply satisfying. So go on – indulge.

NON FICTION

TASTE: MY LIFE THROUGH FOOD STANLEY TUCCI (FIG TREE, $45)