Summer is here, and that means that it’s time to publish our official Kodan Reading List for summer 2021. You can access last year’s list here. 

As a company, we want everyone close to us to have a relaxing summer. And what better way to relax than read something nice? 

And because we have a company full of active readers, we asked our developers and designers for some reading recommendations. These books will definitely get your summer vibes on:

Tommi Jalkanen (developer), is planning to expand his knowledge of vegetarian Japanese food options. He recommends a brand-new book called Okazu - japanilaista kasvisruokaa by Marjo Seki and Heikki Valkama. “For finding some fresh new vegetarian food options,” Tommi summarizes his recommendation.

Jan Ruusuvuori (developer) aims to be bored during the summer. “I recommend Tylsyyden ylistys by Juha T. Hakala. This book is a necessary reminder to kick back and embrace boredom, because it's awesome and does wonders for creativity. I like to revisit this book every now and then for renewed inspiration.”

Reetta Ingström (developer) goes for both quantity and quality. She recommends six different books, ranging from Nobel winners to modern Finnish classics: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived by Adam Rutherford, The Gospel of the Eels: A Father, a Son and the World's Most Enigmatic Fishby Patrik Svensson, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami, The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro and Neljäntienristeys (Where Four Roads Meet) by Tommi Kinnunen. These books will definitely take your mind off of the ones and zeros.

Ville Yli-Knuutila (designer) is planning to spend his summer in a galaxy far, far away: “I’ve been reading a lot of Star Wars novels and comics during the spring and it’s been really fun. The Star Wars books and comics have much more depth than the movies and TV series, so they are very enjoyable for more adult audiences as well - or at least for me! This summer I’m going to continue my adventures among the stars, and one book that I really recommend is a short story collection called From a Certain Point of View. It includes short stories about the iconic moments of Star Wars movies, but from the perspective of the background characters.”

Ilari Tuominen (developer) is going straight in at the deep end with his recommendation. He recommends The Case Against Reality by Donald D. Hoffman. The blurb on the cover says it all: “Read this book carefully and you will forever change your understanding of reality.”

Othman Azil (developer) finalizes our list by recommending Good Economics for Hard Times: Better Answers to Our Biggest Problems by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo. “This one really made my complexity-craving mind explode! I also hope that I have time to read Project Hail Mary, a new sci-fi novel by Andy Weir.”

And that’s it. Have a super-relaxing summer. See you in August!