As the summer approached, now is the time to get your reading list in order. Here are a few books to enjoy at the beach or anywhere you happen to vacation this year.

For those interested in archeology, The Nation And Its Ruins: Antiquity, Archaeology, and National Imagination in Greece (Classical Presences) and Archaeology and the Senses: Human Experience, Memory, and Affect (Topics in Contemporary Archaeology) by Professor Yannis Hamilakis are both widely acclaimed and have been translated into many languages. Hamilakis is the Joukowsky Family Professor of Archaeology and Professor of Modern Greek Studies at Brown University’s Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, as well as the Modern Greek Studies Program (Department of Classics). A renowned Mediterranean archaeologist whose research and teaching concern Greece from prehistory to the modern day, but always with an eye on and in the context of the broader Mediterranean, and invariably with global and discipline-wide relevance, he received his PhD in Archaeology from the University of Sheffield (UK) in 1995, having previously studied History and Archaeology at the University of Crete. Hamilakis lectured in Lampeter at the University of Wales from 1996 to 2000, and then moved to Southampton, where he rose through the ranks as Senior Lecturer (2002) and Reader (2008), before being promoted to Professor of Archaeology in 2010. He has also co-edited ten volumes and published over 170 journal articles and book chapters in various languages.

In case you missed these titles from previous articles, here are a few self-help and history titles to add to your list. For most people, fighting the effects of aging might include eating right, exercising, and slathering on the sunscreen. The most important factor in how well a person ages might just be how we think about growing older. After hearing for years how young he looks, doctor and author Chryssanthos Chryssanthou put pen to paper and published How to Keep Young: A Prescription to Achieve Ageless Aging. The prescription does involve eating right, exercising, no smoking, and moderate alcohol consumption, but it also involves thinking about ourselves and aging in more positive ways.

My Detroit, Growing Up Greek and American in Motor City by Dan Georgakas provides unique insights into the Greek-American experience. The prolific author, academic, poet, political thinker, and TNH contributor shares the details of his life honestly and offers a bit of social commentary as well.

The Memoirs of General Makriyannis, 1797-1864 translated into English by H.A. Lidderdale was published by the Oxford University Press in 1966. A hero of the greek War of Independence, Yannis Makriyannis rose to the rank of general and led his men to many victories. He wrote his memoirs in the years before some of the most dramatic events of his later life including his incarceration, death sentence, and then pardon, occurred, though even by the end of 1850, when he completed his Memoirs, he had a great deal to share about his life and times. The book is an extraordinary achievement not only for recounting an incredible life story but also because Makriyannis wrote the original in Demotic Greek, giving readers the chance to experience the language as it was spoken at the time. It was first published in Greece in 1907, and garnered little attention until an article appeared about Makriyannis during the German occupation in World War II. After that, Makriyannis’ popularity as a historical figure, writer, and hero of the War of Independence grew. Nobel laureate Giorgos Seferis called Makriyannis one of the greatest masters of Modern Greek prose.