Is it summer yet?

Summer reading, summer projects, and book recs

Hey there,

It’s been a while, I know. Sorry about that!

For some reason, April and May are often a bit of a struggle for me. I always feel like I’m crawling across the finish line of the school year with the kiddo. Helping him study for exams and state testing, helping with final projects, going to end-of-the-year band concerts, trying to get his school bag and supplies to hold together and not fall apart for just a few more weeks. It’s a slog. And I’m know I’m not alone.

But we’re almost done and then we have summer!

I’ve noticed that the older I get, the more I lean into the seasons like I did when I was a kid. I like that there’s a rhythm. Just when I’m getting tired of one season (spring here means gorgeous wildflowers but also allergies and tornado warnings and school stress), I get something different.

Summer can mean a lot of things. The Texas heat is no joke, and that’s not my favorite thing. But overall, I like the slower pace of summer. Getting up later, no helping with homework, making food that doesn’t require the stove, reading books with bright covers on lazy afternoons.

You can unclench your teeth and loosen your shoulders for a little while.

Summer reading guides and challenges

And even though I hope to do a lot of relaxing, I also love the idea of a summer project, especially a reading project. I think this goes back to my 80s/90s childhood of participating in Pizza Hut’s Book It challenge, but there’s just something magical about summer reading. And I love that so many podcasters and bloggers do special things for summer reading.

• Sarah of the Sarah’s Bookshelves Live podcast has her Summer Reading Guide (That link is for last year’s since her new one hasn’t released yet.) You also get bonus picks if you’re a Patreon member. I subscribe and I’m never disappointed with the content.

• Modern Mrs. Darcy has her famous Summer Reading Guide. There’s live unboxing videos and a sleek, downloadable digital magazine with the picks. (Patrons only this year, but her Patreon is great)

• Laura Tremaine (of the 10 Things To Tell You podcast) does Stephen King summer every year where she selects a few King books and movies and does a book club with her Patreon members (Sorry these are all Patreon things, but I don’t blame them for charging. These guides and book clubs are a lot of work and creators should be paid for their efforts!)

I love all these guides, and often add a LOT of books to my stack. (You’ve been warned!) It’s also fun to learn whose tastes matches up best with yours.

I also particularly love the idea of picking one author with a big backlist to dive into each summer like Laura’s Stephen King challenge. What a fun way to work your way through an author’s oeuvre.

If you did an author challenge, which author would you choose for a summer deep dive?

If you know of summer reading guides or challenges I’m missing, let me know in the comments! I love these, so there’s always room for more.

I also think it could be fun to build a challenge around something summer-themed. Like books with beaches on the cover or books set at summer camps (horror, YA, etc.) or books about vacations. There are so many possibilities!

I don’t know if I’ll do a specific challenge this summer (I’m stilll doing my yearlong Read Wide challenge) but I will gobble up all of these guides.

I also will pay attention to the Stephen King book club picks. He’s an author who is almost always a hit for me, but for some reason, I let his books languish on my shelf. He is a box I need to check off on my Read Wide challenge as well, so I’m doubly motivated.

And honestly, I could use a boost of energy in my reading life. I’ve been working on a new book (yay for that!) but it’s left me in a fiction-reading rut because I’ve been focusing more on bookish research.

So I’m hoping some of these summer lists and challenges will be a shot in the arm to my reading life.

Book Recs

I do have one exception to my fiction rut. I finished Every Summer After by Carley Fortune last week and I LOVED it. This one has been on my shelf since last summer, but I’m so glad I finally picked it up. It pushed so many of my favorite trope buttons. There was a dual timeline between childhood/teen years and adult years. There’s the friends-to-lovers trope. There’s a sarcastic older brother. There are lakehouses and skinny dipping and just…it’s summer in a book.

My only caveat is that, though this is an adult book, you spend a lot of time in the teen years, so it had some YA vibes. If you’re not into YA, it may be too much. I love YA so it wasn’t a hindrance for me.

Also, if you’re looking for something that isn’t a light summer read but is absolutely gorgeous, I loved the audiobook of You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith.

Smith is a poet, and this is a memoir about her divorce, so not a happy story, but it was so, so beautifully written. And though her divorce is the topic, she covers so much ground about parenthood, midlife, being a writer, etc. that it didn’t feel one note.

I had gotten an early audio copy from Libro.fm (referral link) and I recommend it in that format because the author reads it herself, but I also purchased a hardcover version after I finished the audio. I liked it that much.

Also, I need all memoirs going forward to be written by poets.

Have you read anything great lately?

Summer Motivation for Writers

I also wanted to drop a little note about a summer project I plan to undertake. This one will be for writers (all levels, from aspiring to wizened). I’m calling it The Summer of Love (of Writing). I feel like I and a lot of my writer friends have gotten into a rut, particularly over the last few years, so I wanted to take some time this summer to focus on renewing our energy and love for writing. Because, let’s be honest, sometimes the business side of writing—and the state of the world in general—can drag us down.

This isn’t something you’ll have to TO DO. It’s more about encouragement and remembering why we love(d) to write and be creative.

More details will be released soon, but if you’re interested, sign up for my other newsletter, The Nourished Writer, because that’s where I’ll be hosting this summer event.

All right, I think that’s all I have for you today. I hope you have a great rest of the week!

Roni

*Book links are affiliate links (Amazon, Libro.fm, and/or Bookshop.org), which means I earn a small commission if you buy through my links. Also, I receive advanced listening copies of some audiobooks through Libro.fm’s Influencer program. However, all reviews and opinions are my own.