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Summer is technically already over, but you might still have a holiday ahead of you. In this post, I’m sharing a mix of Dutch and mostly English books that I read this summer, still need to finish, or still want to start.
It’s a follow-up to my 2022 Summer Reading List and 2025 Summer Reading List.
De IJsprofeet
For more than 10 years now, I’ve been doing “Wim Hof breathing.” That’s deep breathing exercises before taking an ice bath or doing something exciting. A few years ago I also took a Wim Hof course, an afternoon on the pier in Scheveningen. This book came along in my backpack on holiday, but I didn’t get past the first few pages. I’d like to learn more about the Wim Hof phenomenon, and I’m looking forward to reading more about his life in “De IJsprofeet” (The Ice Prophet) by Robert van de Griend and Anneke Stoffelen.
The Secret of Secrets
I didn’t finish The Ice Prophet because I got distracted by “The Secret of Secrets” by Dan Brown. Once again, main character Robert Langdon is caught up in a thrilling adventure. The story takes place in Prague, and I’m looking forward to visiting the city again, since Dan Brown set his story in places that actually exist. Robert Langdon’s girlfriend is researching deep consciousness — dream travel, out-of-body experiences and near-death experiences. In Prague there’s an underground bunker where research is being done into controlling these experiences for espionage purposes. That’s ostensibly the ultimate secret. What stood out to me was our need for connection with one another — connection on a soul level. Something we now try to achieve by connecting with others over the internet.
Intensive Care
While browsing a bookstore during my holiday, my eye fell on the book “Intensive Care” by Dr. Suzanne Crow. She writes about her training as a pediatrician and her experiences in the children’s emergency department, where mostly babies and teenagers come in. She writes about miracles, hope and loss. The loss of her own child encourages her to provide even better care to the children and their parents. These are beautiful stories, and I hadn’t quite finished the book before I got back from holiday. Highly recommended.
Straight Up
Ruby Tui was one of the star players of the Black Ferns, New Zealand’s national women’s rugby team. She has a New Zealand mother and a Samoan father and grew up in Wellington. “Straight Up“ is her autobiography, in which she talks about her childhood in a tumultuous family. Her parents split up, and she writes about her relationship with her father, despite the fact that he didn’t have much time for her and would leave her waiting in the car while he was at the pub. She also writes about her adventures with the Black Ferns and her rugby career. Ruby Tui is an author, has a podcast, and has appeared on various TV shows in New Zealand.
The Penguin History of Aotearoa
This book was recommended to me by my Kiwi friend James. It’s about the history of New Zealand, or Aotearoa (the long white cloud). It’s a must-read for anyone who wants to know more about how and why the Māori came to New Zealand. Remarkably, this wasn’t all that long ago (in the 13th century) — before that, New Zealand was uninhabited. Abel Janszoon Tasman did discover New Zealand on 13 December 1642, but it was the English who were the first to actually go ashore. “The Penguin History of Aotearoa“ by Michael King is a hefty book that covers the arrival of the Māori in New Zealand, how they lived, their spirituality and the wars, but also the arrival of the English, French and Dutch in New Zealand. It feels like a textbook to me, full of details I’d like to use for my haka workshops. Incidentally, Māori means “normal” in Dutch (or “ordinary” in English).
On the bookshelf
My new Kiwi friends also recommended the following books, which I bought right away but haven’t read yet: “Being Pākehā Now“, also by Michael King, and “Making Peoples“ by James Belich.
What are you reading, or which books do you plan to read this summer? Let me know in the comment field below. The other readers of this article and I are looking forward to reading from you!
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