2) The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

One of the “classics” I’ve set myself as summer reading, and much the shortest of them (the others being Little Women, Crime and Punishment and Don Quixote). Yes, a very good short novel, with the setting of 1920s New York and Long Island vividly described, including barely surreptitious widespread use of alcohol and a surprising amount of promiscuity, but overlying this a much more interesting story of personal aspiration. Strongly recommended.

ObBalkans: Gatsby had a war medal awarded to him by the King of Montenegro.