Can’t get to sleep on hot summer nights? Andrea Pilot, from Stauffacher English-language book store in Bern, talks to WRS’s Alex Helmick about three novels tied to the theme of zombies. She starts with a classic from American author Stephen King, Pet Sematary. She also likes World War Z, by Max Brooks, the son of Mel Brooks, the comic movie director. A collection of individual accounts of people who recall a “Zombie war,” the book critiques how governments and individuals react to crises, Pilot says, with the author saying “everything is true but the zombie part.” Writer Isaac Marion, meanwhile, offers an unusual zombie love story:

• Pet Sematary by Stephen King
• World War Z by Max Brooks
• Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Juan Canales, from the English section of the Payot bookstore in Geneva, talks about three non-fiction works that inspire readers to think deeply about the state of their political systems. The Nobel-prize winning economist Amartya Sen looks at group identity and violence in his latest book. From the 94-year-old resistance fighter and concentration camp survivor Stephane Hessel, Time for Outrage is a classic call to democratic action that may have influenced the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Meanwhile, Canadian Naomi Klein, famous for her anti-globalization activism, compares the actions of  ’disaster capitalists’ to shock therapy:

• Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny by Amartya Sen
• Time for Outrage! by Stephane Hessel
• The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein

Helen Stubbs, from the OffTheShelf English bookstore in Geneva, decides on a news-related theme as the British phone-hacking scandal dominates world headlines. Tom Rachman’s novel about a 1960’s English newspaper in Rome is garnering rave reviews, while Evelyn Waugh’s Scoop is an entertainingly witty classic. The third book is not a novel about news, but is a quick read and will help you save time in more ways than one:

• The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
• Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
• How To Save An Hour Everyday by Michael Heppel

Matthew Wake from Books, Books, Books in Lausanne considers three books that capture the joys of life, even in difficult circumstances. The first is a novel that takes the form of an exchange of letters between two women during the Nazi occupation. The second is a gothic thriller set in Lausanne and written by an American expat that Wake lauds as a gripping read. The third book is a character study about several punk rockers who revel in the joys of music:

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
• The Watchers by Jon Steele
• A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

School is out and the kids are going to need something to keep them busy. Why not give them a good book to read? Laurence Malè, from the Payout English bookstore in Geneva, offers three novels that she particularly enjoys. One is a story about an alternate world where love is forbidden for young adults. Another is a drama for 11 to 12-year olds about a girl with Asperger’s syndrome who loses her brother. The final choice is a book for children over nine years of age about a boy who relies on an origami Yoda for advice about life:

• Delirium by Lauren Oliver
• Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
• The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

Mark Parkin, from Orell Füssli bookstore in Zurich, reviews a classic thriller written in 1913. The 39 Steps is the masterpiece of John Buchan, a former governor-general of Canada. It involves an innocent man on the run who is chased by both the police and the villains. This book was turned into a film by director Alfred Hitchcock in 1935 and has since been adapted for the stage. The novel also influenced other writers, including the authors of two additional books reviewed by Parkin:

• The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
• Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd
• More Than You Can Say by Paul Torday

Helen Stubbs, from Geneva’s OffTheShelf English bookshop, discusses three well-illustrated books that look at seemingly ordinary but iconic objects that changed the world. A little hardback from Design Museum highlights 50 seminal bags, including John Wayne’s saddle bags and the Chanel 2.55 luxury handbag. Street Art surveys the works of the most famous international graffiti artists and shows how the style of street art is influenced by location, particularly places where war or poverty is prevalent. New London Style, meanwhile, is a collection of photos of unique, derelict buildings refurbished in a way that reflects modern UK interior fashion:

• Fifty Bags That Changed the World, by Design Museum
• Street Art, compiled and introduced by KET
• New London Style, by Chole Grimshaw (Photographs by Ingrid Rasmussen)

Helen Stubbs, from Geneva’s OffTheShelf English bookshop, talks about three publications that deal with the love of books. The first one, People of the Book, by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldin Brooks, tells the story of a bookmaker. The second is a non-fiction work by celebrated authors Umberto Eco and Jean-Claude Carrière who argue that books still have a future in an electronic age. The third is a picture book that attempts to reignite the flame in youngsters for elegantly bound, fine-paper publications:

• People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
• This is not the End of the Book by Umberto Eco and Jean-Claude Carrière
• It’s a Book by Lane Smith

Mark Parkin from Orell Füssli bookstore in Zurich talks about three first-attempts that turn out to be captivating. Rupture is a disturbing story surrounding a school shooting that ends tragically, but is so well written that Parkin could not put it down. Award-winning screenwriter and journalist Bauer’s first novel is a psychological thriller between a boy and his uncle’s murderer. Finally, A.D. Miller, former Moscow correspondent for the Economist, turns out a “brilliant” first novel about love and corruption in the Russian underground: 

• Rupture by Simon Leli
• Blacklands by Belinda Bauer
• Snowdrops by A.D. Miller

Juan Canales from Geneva’s Payot English bookshop chooses three volumes which combine neuroscience and philosophy to try to answer core questions about human existence:

• Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives, by David Eagleman
• Who Am I? and If So, How Many? A Journey Through Your Mind, by Richard David Precht
• The Biology of Belief, Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles, by Bruce H. Lipton

In this special edition of Speed Read, Diccon Bewes from Stauffacher’s English bookshop in Bern makes his last three recommendations for the show. He is heading off to pursue writing adventures outside the bookshop. As a parting gift, he recommends three reads that are the first written novels for each of the authors:

• Moonlight in Odessa by Janet Skeslien Charles
• The Bells by Richard Harvell
• The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller