IT’S A DAY of rest, and you may be in the mood for a quiet corner and a comfy chair. We’ve hand-picked the week’s best reads for you to savour this Sunday.

1. Eastern Germany Welcomes Wave of Reverse Migration

Maximilian Popp explores the rising trend of people returning to eastern Germany, having left years ago for jobs and a better life in the west (Der Spiegel):

Yet another characteristic of the typical returnee is that he aims for a profession that is compatible with his personal life, and he’s willing to accept less income in return. There are also many young families among the west-to-east migrants. They value the wide range of opportunities for children in the east, where it’s also easier to find day care slots.

2. George Zimmerman: Prelude to a shooting

Chris Francescani speaks to neighbours, friends and colleagues in a bid to shed light on the man at the centre of a highly-controversial US murder trial (Reuters):

By the summer of 2011, Twin Lakes was experiencing a rash of burglaries and break-ins. Previously a family-friendly, first-time homeowner community, it was devastated by the recession that hit the Florida housing market, and transient renters began to occupy some of the 263 town houses in the complex.

3. The woman who edited Nuts magazine

Former associate editor of Nuts Terri White describes her enthusiasm for her work at the ‘lads mag’ - and her changing view of the industry (The Observer):

As the sound of jazz filled the air in the office that night I diligently got on with the task at hand. It was slow. It was laborious. It was tedious. It was decapitating topless women.

4. A rumbling of things unknown

Jacqueline Rose writes about the US civil rights movement and its seemingly-unlikely connection with Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe (London Review of Books):

How can we explain this? At the very least it should suggest that, wherever Monroe belongs – and there is an argument for saying she never belonged anywhere – it isn’t in the expected place.

5. After the dance: A 1952 murder mystery in Broken Hill

Jack Marx explores an unsolved murder in a New South Wales outback town and discovers that even after 60 years, no one wants to talk about it with someone from out-of-town (The Monthly):

The collective psyche says you don’t talk about business that’s not yours – or, more specifically, somebody else’s. You can mine for all sorts of elements here, just not information.

6. The Ayatollah under the bed(sheets)

Karim Sadjadpour writes about the politics of sex in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the regime’s fixation on sex (Foreign Policy):

Because religion is politics in a theocracy like Iran, uninformed or antiquated notions of sexuality aren’t just confined to the bedroom — they pervade the country’s seminaries, military barracks, boardrooms, courtrooms, and classrooms.

…AND A CLASSIC READ FROM THE ARCHIVES…

In February 2008, Joshua Davis wrote for Wired about a professional ship salvaging team and the extreme lengths they went to when trying to save a stricken cargo ship:

Trepte has already moved into Johnson’s bunk — “he won’t be needin’ it,” Trepte says. But a numbness seems to have gripped Habib. Maybe he should send his team home before any more lives are lost. Maybe it’s time to abandon the Cougar Ace.

MORE: The best reads from every previous Sitdown Sunday >

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