May 14, 2021
Is Summer Reading Season a Thing?
*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
Is Summer the Super Bowl of Your Reading Life?
Do you read more in the summer?
Do you have a preferred genre for summer reading?
Do you have a favorite reading season?
Do you like to read
By the Pool?
At the beach?
On your porch swing?
Snuggled on a cozy couch?
Hunkered down in the AC?
On a park bench?
When my children were young, I could only read late at night (and paid for it the next day). When I was earning my degrees, I didn’t read for pleasure at all. When I taught, summer was definitely my reading season. During the school year, I was preoccupied with lesson plans and grading papers and I was afraid to start a book because I’d get lost in the book and neglect my other responsibilities.
Now that I’m retired, I read every day….I read late at night….I read in bed in the morning. Summer is no longer my main reading season because every day is summer for me now!
An online book club I’m a member of puts out a Summer Reading Guide and it’s a big deal as members seriously plan their summer reading. (a shout out to MMD book club members who are reading this!)
Do you plan your summer reading? Do you consider summer your main reading season or are you more of a winter reader? Or do you read evenly all year and perhaps a bit more on vacation? Or maybe you only read while on vacation?
If you’re a summer reader, what type of books do you like to read in the summer? Do you continue reading your preferred genres or are you looking for something different for summer? Do you pack more books than clothes for a summer vacation? Oh, just me?!
In the summer I continue reading what I usually read for the most part. However, I think that when I take a book to the pool or beach, I like to take a lighter read. That way if I’m interrupted by children or conversation or people watching, I’m able to look up and easily take a break. In other words I probably wouldn’t grab my next intense and heavy histfic. I’m looking for light (but thoughtful) women’s fiction, light memoirs, or essay collections.
With the qualification that ANY book you read at the beach is a BEACH read, here are 20 LIGHTER titles that I’ve read and would recommend for beach (or vacation or backyard) reading this summer. I hope some of these newer and older titles might appeal to you (titles are links to my reviews or Amazon affiliate links):
- Castle of Water by Duane Hucklebridge (castaways+survival+slow burn romance+unputdownable)
- The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley (quirky+quaint small town+slow burn romance)
- People You Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry (rom-com+witty banter+friends to lovers)
- Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin (food+revenge+slow burn romance+You’ve Got Mail vibes)
- Lost, Found, and Forever by Victoria Schade (a rescue dog+slow burn romance)
- Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow by Jessica Redland (hedgehogs+slow burn romance…this is the first in a series)
- The Great Escape From Woodlands Nursing Home by Vicky Zimmerman (nursing home antics+friendship)
- The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner (mystery+thriller+earthquake)
- The Windsor Knot by S.J. Bennett (cozy mystery+royal family)
- The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honneysett by Annie Lyons (multigenerational friendship)
- The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (a book about books+slow burn romance+found family)
- The Switch by Beth O’Leary (multigenerational+slow burn romance)
- Beachside Beginnings by Sheila Roberts (small community+slow burn romance+friendship)
- The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay (bookstore+friendship+forgiveness+slow burn romance)
- The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin (light WW11 histfic+London+lovable characters+books+slow burn romance)
- Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor (light histfic+romance+perfume)
- The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal (siblings+mother/daughter+family drama)
- Radar Girls by Sara Ackerman (light WW11 histfic+Hawaii+friendship+slowburn romance ….available 7.27.21)
- The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman (humor+books+family drama)
- Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer (epistolary+slow burn romance + light histfic)
- How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry (books+friendship+community+slow burn romance)…oops…that’s 21!
I could go on! I hope you found an idea here!
Happy Summer Reading Book Friends!
QOTD:
Is Summer a big reading season for you?
Happy Reading Book Buddies!
“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke
“I love the world of words, where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes
“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
“I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection! Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley, Top Shelf Text
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Unless explicitly stated that they are free, all books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library.
Book Cover and author photos are credited to Amazon or an author’s (or publisher’s) website.
© ReadingLadies.com
Fabulous post Carol! I’m like you and read everyday. Sometimes I read more thrillers in the summer because it doesn’t feel so creepy! 😂
Thanks Nicki! That’s a good idea to read thrillers in the warm safety of summer!
I agree with everything you said, including the not reading while working. I became a readaholic (is that a word) once I retired and especially after my husband passed away and I was by myself. I do like to read lighter, summery stories by the pool in my yard, but will read a bit heavier story if I know no one else is coming over. I always do Christmas in July, so will read Christmas stories then to cool me down in the hot weather. 😅🎅
I need to try Christmas in July some year! Yes, retirement is wonderful for the reading life….and to pass the loneliest of days.
My reading doesn’t change according to the season so I can be found reading books set in wintry conditions while I’m enjoying blue skies and warm breezes. I’m not a beach or pool goer so any summer reading is done in my garden lounger or on park bench.
Reading in the garden is lovely! 🙌🌼🌿🌸🍃📚
I generally read the same in the summer as I do the rest of the year. However, if we are going on vacation, I will choose something a little lighter, so that if I am interrupted I can easily get back into the story. I have taken heavier reads on vacation and always regret it.
The biggest change for me is that in the summer I like to sit on my front porch to read.
Thanks for the suggested reading, Carol! Looks like a good list.
Front porch reading is fun! I have a hanging basket swing on my porch 🙌 Happy summer reading!
I tend to read more in winter, Carol. The days are shorter and I can’t get out into the garden so much. Happy summer reading. ❤📚
I understand when the garden calls!
I’ve always longed for lazy days of summer for more reading time, even as a child. Can’t wait!
The best! Do you have a long summer break?
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Great post! I read the most in the winter because I’m a cold weather hibernator! In the summer I am always working outdoors and doing things, but I listen to a ton of audiobooks while outside!
Thanks Athena! Thankful for audio books!
I don’t change my reading habits in the summer!
I don’t any more but when I was teaching summer was a significant reading season!
I love to read anywhere, summer or winter. But the books can’t be too easy, those so called “beach reads” really bore me. Doesn’t mean you can’t read a chunky, heavy book on the beach, right?
I’m not a typical beach read reader! Anything goes in my beach bag!
No, you’re not. Though I always say anything we read on the beach is a beach read, even if it is Ulysses. LOL
Agreed! 🙌💯
As I am retired, the season has little effect on my reading habits. Thanks for an interesting post Carol.
Thanks Lynne! Yes, retirement is great for the reading life!
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Thanks Lili! 😍🙌
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