by George Giannakos and Robyn Yager | Slowing down a little and breaking out a good book is never a bad idea. But what to read? You could walk into any bookstore and roll the dice on a recent release, but here’s another option: pick up a book that you last put down 5, 10, or 20 years ago. For the next book in Scout’s Read It (Again) series, I’ve picked an Ernest Hemingway gem: The Sun Also Rises. It details the halcyonic exploits of a lushy group of American and British expatriates who head from Paris to Pamplona to take in the Festival of San Fermín. Unsurprisingly, it has been continuously in print since it was first published in 1926.

Why You Should Read it Again: It’s never a waste of time to (re)read Hemingway, so why not read the book that started it all: The Sun Also Rises. Set in 1920’s Paris and Spain, Hemingway takes you through several country sides and towns alongside endless glasses of wine and heat that will set the mood perfectly for the summer we’ve all been waiting for. The opening line, “Robert Cohn was once middleweight boxing champion of Princeton”, is the perfect precursor to Vancouver’s upcoming Aprons for Gloves event.

Pair With: A bottle of red wine. Since so much of the story takes place under the influence of this beverage, it would be difficult not to grab one yourself. If wine isn’t your thing, or you’re looking for something cold and refreshing, why not try a drink named after the author? The “Hemingway Daiquiri” or “Papa Doble” (same drink, different name) is the quintessential summer consumable, containing white rum, lime, grapefruit juice, with a dash of maraschino. The Pourhouse in Gastown makes them perfectly and with the 20’s inspired atmosphere it might be as close as you’re going to get – locally – to the spirit of Papa himself.