Next Monday's the longest and shortest day of 2010. Northern or Southern hemisphere, somehow the midyear encourages us to slow down. Lazy days of summer, cozy nights of winter. No better time to explore the whole new world of a good book about the world. (Or a title about staying home -- 'the staycation' -- like this New York Times travel reads round-up suggests.)

We're pleased to feature a reader reply, the latest happenings at the site including a hybrid life reading list you can help build, and breath-taking sagas for Father's Day.

+++++ YOUR THOUGHTS

Let us know what you'd ask the expat+HAREM community.

A reader answers May's question:

Global values are intuitive human ethics, says Peter Adams, an energy worker and global nomad in Istanbul. Autonomy, community, divinity...plus shared explanations of suffering.

Yet interpretations of morality vary across culture, and fuel maddening conflicts like America's current culture war. See how.

Think you know your own moral foundation? Get a profile here (and donate your details to science).

+++++ AT expat+HAREM

Moving homebase: this month sees a new blog series called Founder's Desk. First entries are a year's worth of posts from my cultural producer blog on themes like culture and history, self-improvement and the struggle for identity -- from one family to entire hemispheres. So pleased to finally be in the company of expat+HAREM's guest bloggers, it's good to be home!

A new slideshow highlights our favorite (and wish-listed) titles about interaction with the world. Suggestions -- these are all about women -- come from the expat+HAREM community, and fans of expat, emigree and travel lit in our hybrid life writing #LitChat on Twitter. Tell us your favorite titles.

In this post by "a former queen of multi-tasking", one woman aims to recreate a rural pace of life in a Turkish metropolis of 15 million. (We'll be watching this time-bending experiment closely!)

Tons of other new material at the site: defining the hybrid lifestyle and the release of our Dialogue2010 podcast, plus a whole summer of art love in the Istanbul culture capital web carnival.

Guess we're due for a vacation too!

+++++ AROUND THE WORLD & AROUND THE WEB

Reconnoiter like the ballsiest explorers. Oceans! Mountains! Poles! Experts in "natural and cultural destinations", Longitude booksellers curates a hardy list of new and classic adventure titles for Father's Day.