Andrew Zimmerman, author of Alabama in Africa: Booker T. Washington, the German Empire, and the Globalization of the New South, recently told us that he has been reading some “especially good books” this summer, and we’re excited to share them with you! According to Andrew, you must read:

1) Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall

Andrew’s take: “This is a fantastic novel about a man pursued by a purely conceptual shark that can maul him on the level of language and identity.  It is a fascinating retelling of Moby Dick via Jaws to an audience that is too familiar with those narratives to believe in real fish anymore.”

2) The Possessed by Elif Batuman

Andrew’s take: “It is an academic comedy-like memoir that does not display the contempt for scholarship that many academic comedies do. Its topic is the study of Russian literature and, among other gems, it makes brilliant connections between Isaac Babel’s Red Cavalry stories and King Kong.”

3) Roger’s Version by John Updike

Andrew’s take: “The struggling theologian meets bright-eyed and bushy-tailed evangelical computer scientist device is a little too schematic, but, like most Updike, it is brilliant social realism, if from a perspective with which it is sometimes difficult to sympathize.”

Thanks for the recommendations, Andrew!

If you’ve read these books or have suggestions of your own, let us know on the PUP blog, friend us on Facebook, or Tweet us.

Make sure you come back tomorrow for more books to add to your reading list!