Summer is here, and that means it is time to publish our official Kodan Reading List for the summer 2022. You can access previous lists here (2020) and here (2021).

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. Only requirement was that the books can’t have anything to do with our work!

So, here it is, The List. These books will definitely get your summer vibes on.

Osmo Someroja from Tampere recommends Station Eleven, a post-apocalyptic story by Emily St. John Mandel. Osmo elaborates: “I have not watched the HBO miniseries, but the book is really good. Might hit differently now that we've had a pandemic of our own, so that's why I am recommending it.”

Osmo also recommends Kuoleman pidot, a visual novel by Tuuli Hypén and Tuomas Myllylä. “This visual novel is illustrated by my dear friend Tuuli. Some of the characters are familiar to me from the roleplaying sessions we had when we were students, so I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of adventures they are facing nowadays.”

Jesse Lankila has a thing for detective stories and mystery novels as they always make for good summer reading. For this summer Jesse recommends two books:

Lightseekers by Femi Kayode: “I have had African crime novels as a Christmas wishlist item for a few years now, as they give me a nice little window to countries I otherwise know so little about. My sister found me this prize-winning piece of Nigerian Noir that has already sent me on a few Wikipedia trips after the first chapters.”

Vapauden vahdit by Virpi Hämeen-Anttila: “Hämeen-Anttila has a thing for the 1920s, and I'm loving the piety she has put into bringing the epoch to life. This is the ninth book in her Karl Axel Björk series, and while the mysteries are usually decent, my main interests are getting yet another glimpse of life a century ago – and to the latest developments in the protagonist's private life!”

Nikolas Kohvakka, our software developer and our recruitment specialist for this summer, is not toying around: “I’m hoping to have enough time to get through Väinö Linna’s 'Täällä Pohjantäden Alla' trilogy during the summer. Got the book last year already but haven’t gotten around to it yet.” Good choice, Nikke!

And finally, a book about animals breaking the law. Arto Österman tells us more: “I'm planning to read 'Fuzz - When Nature Breaks the Law' by Mary Roach. I have read Mary Roach's Bonk before, and her writing is fun and pop-sciency. I chose this book because the topic sounds so out of anything I normally read."

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