As MobyLives prepares to take its August hiatus, my thoughts turn to summer reading. As Henry Ward Beecher puts it:

There is a temperate zone in the mind, between luxurious indolence and exacting work; and it is to this region, just between laziness and labor, that summer reading belongs.

Laziness clearly does not apply to the summer reading regimen of Frances Evangelista who has pledged to read all 42 books in the “Art of the Novella” series and review them on her Nonsuch Book blog. Others have joined her in her Novella Reading Challenge and we encourage you to as well!

But what to drink while you read?

The San Francisco Chronicle blog lists “Five Great Summer Books (and What to Drink While Reading Them).” For example, it suggests that Studs Turkel’s Working goes well with a “Rusty Nail.” Turkel’s collection of interviews and oral histories “is about a search … for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying.”

The “Rusty Nail” is about a search for some Drambuie and a lemon:

1 ½ oz Scotch
½ oz Drambuie
1 twist of lemon peel
Pour over ice; garnish with lemon twist.

I’ll add my own summer drink / book combination to the list: Geoff Dyer‘s Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi, a novel about searching for sex in Venice and spirituality in Varanasi, respectively. In both cities, the protagonist gets what he is looking for, but with bittersweet results. The book is perfect for summer, because both locales in the novel are scorching hot and feature a distinctive drink. In Venice it’s the Bellini, downed in abandon by the art-viewers of the Venice Biennale, and in Varanasi the drink is Bhang Lassi, a marijuana-infused drink known to bring on holy visions.

The recipe for Bellini:

1 part white peach puree

3 parts Prosecco

And a recipe for Bhang:

1/2 Ounce cannabis
2 Cups warm whole milk
1/2 Cup sugar
1 tbsp Coconut milk
1 tbsp Almonds, chopped
1/8 tsp Ginger, powdered
1 Pinch garam masala
1/2 tsp Grenadine
1 Cup water

Bring water to a boil in a teapot and add cannabis to it. Brew for about 7 to 10 minutes, then strain. Gradually grind the strained cannabis along with 2 tbsp of milk, repeat this process several times. Strain the milk into another bowl and keep aside. Add a little more milk to the cannabis and grind it along with the almonds, repeat this several times. ?Remove the cannabis and pour the milk, coconut milk, grenadine and boiled water into a container. Combine ginger, sugar, and garam masala with it, keep stirring. Bhang Lassi is ready to serve.

Over the course of August, I encourage readers (myself included) to post in the comments on the summer books and drinks they have consumed.

Happy reading to you all and see you in September.