LabLit.com, you may have noticed, has been in a bit of a summer hiatus. But after a few weeks of sun, wine, introspection and reading, normal service has now resumed with the publication of The beautiful hypothesis by writer, poet and retired scientist Roddie McKenzie. Do real-life PhD mentors sometimes live vicariously through their students, and project all sorts of weird neuroses upon them? We couldn’t possibly comment…

I heartily enjoyed my summer reading – less than I would have liked due to the presence of a high-octane toddler in my life now, but still satisfying.

I devoured All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, which deserved all the prizes and praise that has been showered upon it. I’d classify as Lab lit lite, as the two scientist characters leave a scant science footprint in the prose, but mostly it was just a beautifully written tale of war-torn humanity.

As a guilty pleasure, I finished off Zoë Ferraris’ detective trilogy (lab lit lite again) which began with Night of the Mi’raj. Verdict? Great murder mystery and an interesting insight into the hidden world of Saudi, but ultimately an unsatisfactory romantic resolution for our scientist heroine.

Finally, I dabbled in some fun science fiction in the form of All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders – a bit fluffy but much recommended as a summer read.

So what have you all been reading?