Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/556862
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 16 AUGUST 2015 16 News MIRIAM DALLI DON'T judge books by their cov- er, but by their reader… and with summer underway and the White House making Barack Obama's reading list a matter of proto- col (together with his Spotify list – that's his music playlist, baby- boomers), MaltaToday dropped a quick line to the country's leaders to find out which tomes they will be leafing their fingers through, and where they will be taking their summer break. Joining hundreds of other Mal- tese on the sister island, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is spend- ing his August break in Gozo – one can never be too far away from the seat of power – taking with him some sage advice from the feared Blair enforcer and spin-meister, Alastair Campbell, whose Winners: And How They Succeed explores what it takes to be successful and how to get to the top. Muscat's reading choice (no doubt personally signed by Campbell himself) happens to be also this summer's pick for Andy Burnham, the former UK health secretary who is now running for the Labour leadership. Sadly, the contender is unable to over- take frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn, whom we doubt will be tapping into Campbell's advice any time soon. But Muscat won't be switching off completely, having taken with him the site selection report for the American University of Malta (how many pages can it possibly be…?) and, more time-consum- ing, the Budget 2016 preparation reports. Equally telling of our leaders' aspirations is Simon Busuttil's choice of book, Shackleton's Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer by Mar- got Morrell and Stephanie Cap- parell. While opting for a more cosmopolitan getaway in Barce- lona, the leader of the opposition will be reading how Sir Ernest led 27 men in 1914 in a fight for their lives after they became stranded on an ice floe. Every man survived, ascribing it to Shackleton's superb leadership. The book draws on anecdotes and interviews to illus- trate Shackleton's tactics, making it a great guide on management strategies. President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, who hardly takes a break but will be seeking the com- pany of her family, has been dubbed as "a book lover" by her commu- nications office. "She describes reading time as her only space where she can truly find time to get inspired. By her bedside table lies a pile of various books, eagerly to be read," her spokesper- son said. At the moment the President is reading P h i l a n t r o c a p i t a l i s m : How the Rich Can Save the World by Matthew Bishop and Michael Green. The book looks into how today's bil- lionaire philanthropists – one example is Bill Gates – view helping charity as a business: social investors us- ing big-business-style strategies and expecting results and accountability to match. Coleiro Preca is also read- ing Konvinzjoni u Esper- jenza, the autobiography of President Emeritus Ugo Mifsud Bonnici. After presiding the festive liturgy at the Mdina Cath- deral and at Mosta, Arch- bishop Charles J. Scicluna will be enjoying what's left of the Santa Marija week- end at St Paul's Bay, ac- companied by Ernle Brad- ford's The Great Siege Malta 1565. A widely-published academic, the Univer- sity of Malta's associate professor in compara- tive literature, and also Alternattiva Demokra- tika's chairperson Arnold Cassola, boasts the longest and most interesting of reads for these holidays. First up, scratch the European getaway: the professor is slapping on the Nivea on a one-kilometre stretch of beach on a small island in Thailand, packing with him no fewer than four books… in four different languages. "To get away from the political mess I read about daily in the newspapers, such as Electrogas loans and the whole list of lawyers and consult- ants who have had Mr Gaffarena as their client, beach reading is strictly limited to detective sto- ries: James Ellroy's Sei Pezzi da Mille set around the JF Kennedy murder, Patricia Highsmith's Le Meurtrier (French version of The Blunderer) and Jo Nesbo's The Son (translated from Norwe- gian)," Cassola said. "I hope to start Rigu Bovingdon's new book on Franco-Algerian- Maltese poet Laurent Ropà, on my long waits at different airports on the way back." History's victors are top draw for leaders' summer reading President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, who hardly takes a break but will be seeking the com- pany of her family, has bedside table lies a pile of various books, eagerly to be read," her spokesper- Arnold Cassola, Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson Reading: Sei Pezzi da Mille, James Ellroy Le Meurtrier, Patricia Highsmith The Son, Jo Nesbo Laurent Ropa, Rigu Bonvington Holiday: Thailand Joseph Muscat, Prime Minister Reading: Winners: And How They Succeed, Alastair Campbell Holiday: Gozo Charles J Scicluna, Archbishop Reading: The Great Siege. Malta. 1565, Ernle Bradford Holiday: St Paul's Bay Simon Busuttil, Opposition leader Reading: Shackleton's Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer, Margot Morrell & Stephanie Capparell Holiday: Barcelona Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, President of the Republic Reading: Philantrocapitalism: How the Rich Can Save the World, Matthew Bishop & Michael Green Konvinzjoni u Esperjenza, Ugo Mifsud Bonnici Holiday: Quality time with the family