By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  Summertime and vacation conjure images of spending time with a light novel – a “beach read” – to while away the time and recharge the brain’s batteries.

But what if someone wanted to read something a little more substantive to learn about South Carolina’s history or politics?  Or read a great novel that inspires?

At the top of the history list should be “The Palmetto State: The Making of Modern South Carolina,” a 2009 examination of modern South Carolina history by Jack Bass and Scott Poole that gives context to everything going on today.