5 ideas for summer reading

Lately, I find myself reaching for books about the complicated relationship between humanity and nature. Whatever the reason, most of the books on my summer reading list this year touch on what happens when people come into conflict with the world around them. They are: • Lights Out: Pride, Delusion, and the Fall of General Electric, by Thomas Gryta and Ted Mann • Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future, by Elizabeth Kolbert • A Promised Land, by Barack Obama • The Overstory, by Richard Powers • An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System: A Tale in Four Lives, by Matt Richtel Read more about my recommendations at