One of the things I hope we'll do together in the Read With Us Summer Reading Lounge is question some of the assumptions we carry around about books and reading. So my question this week is:
What makes a book "summer reading"?
When someone says they're looking for a good summer read, most of us probably have an idea of what that means. But when you stop and think about it, it's surprisingly difficult to define.
Is it the setting? A book that takes place at the beach, on vacation, or during a long hot summer?
Is it the tone? Something light, fun, and easy to read while sitting on a porch or beside a pool?
Is it the pacing? A page-turner that keeps you reading long after you planned to turn out the light?
Or maybe it's nostalgia. Perhaps a "summer read" is whatever reminds us of childhood summers when school was out and we had long stretches of time to disappear into a book.
It could even be marketing. Publishers and booksellers certainly have ideas about what belongs on a summer reading list, and every year we see displays filled with the latest beach reads, thrillers, romances, and family dramas.
It could simply be reading that happens in the summer.
But I wonder if summer reading is really much more personal than that.
For some people, summer is the season when they finally have time to tackle a long classic they've been putting off for years. For others, it's the perfect time for mysteries, romance novels, memoirs, graphic novels, or rereading old favorites. Maybe a summer read is simply any book that arrives at the right moment.
I know my own definition has changed over the years. There was a time when I would have said summer reading was light and entertaining, like when I used to check out ten Nancy Drew mysteries from the library. Now I'm not so sure. Some of my most memorable summer reading experiences have involved books that were thoughtful, challenging, or even a little difficult.
So I'm curious:
What makes a book feel like summer reading to you?
Are there certain genres you gravitate toward in the summer?
Do you intentionally choose lighter books, or do you read whatever appeals to you?
Can a serious or literary novel be a perfect summer read?
What's the best "summer reading" book you've ever read, and what made it feel that way?
As always in the Read With Us Summer Reading Lounge, there are no wrong answers and no reading rules. Read what you want, when you want, and tell us about it. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
I like this question because it gets at one of the themes of the Lounge: challenging the idea that there is a "right" way to read or a particular kind of book we should be reading at any given time.
I hope you're enjoying hanging out in the Read With Us Lounge so far. Be sure and visit Kym and Carole to see what they're talking about today.
These are great questions, Bonny! I used to feel very differently about "summer reading" because of the no pressure to read anything but what you want to read! The summer vacation reading and library summer reading challenge reading... such delight. Now I read what I want to read all the time... so is there a way to recapture that "summer reading feeling"? For me... there are books that will always be "summer reads" and I do revisit them every summer. E.B. White's Charlotte's Web is a book that I have read dozens of times and it never, ever feels old or stale. It is the book that can take me back to that very first time I read it... about a zillion years ago for a library summer reading challenge. The other book is one I first read a several years ago for a Book Bingo square, Pat Conroy's Beach Music. It is the perfect summer read as well... one that takes you away from the here and now into the pages of Conroy's novel. I have re-read Conroy's novel a number of times (though not as many as Charlotte's Web) and it still "takes me away" and pulls me along on the journey with Jack and Leah. And perhaps that is exactly what a summer book is supposed to do...
ReplyDeleteI feel a perfect summer read is totally up to the reader. For this reader any genre is a great summer read. The very best book I read in summer was A Suitable Boy, a 1400 page family saga about 4 families in India in 1952. It had tension, romance, politics, and everything else you might imagine in a book. I read with a couple of friends and we broke it into 3 sections (June, July, and August) and all three of us loved every word. I also enjoy books that are lighter (Ann Patchett makes perfect summer reading) but all in all the best summer reading is a book you can get lost in.
ReplyDeleteFun question. Like Kat, I read whatever I want to. But, looking back and remembering summer days of my youth, I often chose "big" books to read under the shade of a tree in the back yard: Gone With The Wind, Hawaii, Atlas Shrugged, etc. I also remember when we would go to Vermont for a month scouring the bookshelves at the camp my Mom's friend Jennie owned. I would pull any book off the shelves and immediately fall into another world. That is where I discovered "The Girl of the Limberlost" by Gene Stratoon-Porter. Likewise, at my Grandparents, every room had lots and lots of book. I loved staying in the "North Bedroom" with bookshelves close to the bed and a good light. I would also pull off books to read to my younger brother (My Friend Flicka was one of them).
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure the books I read in the summer change so much as my location does. In the summer I love to read on the deck or in the backyard or in the camper or at a pond or the beach. But I'm still going to read whatever becomes available for me either from Libby or NetGalley. It could be a big literary fiction piece, it could be a potential bestseller, it could be a classic. I do think it's fun to read thrillers in the summer, though. I'm not sure exactly why but a creepy book def appeals to me at this time of year.
ReplyDeleteSummer reading used to mean strictly reading for enjoyment for me, because during the summer I was freed from having to read books someone else chose for school. And often it meant a page-turner, something that was very entertaining and quick moving but not necessarily fine literature. These days, I don't see much of a difference in what I read during the summer versus any other time of year, though perhaps I do a little more of it because there are some lulls in the action at work.
ReplyDeleteSummer reading used to be books set at the beach but now I just read what I want, when I want and made a list of books I want to read this summer knowing I can add any I want as they pop up. I usually have one book (fiction, etc) either on the kindle or physical and then I am also reading a short stories book or memoir as time allows when I have a few minutes.
ReplyDeleteI probably should have asked what was summer reading like as a kid. I'm not sure that it's possible to capture that feeling as an adult, but reading whatever you want is a great start.
DeleteI never understood the summer books for beach reading. I live at the beach and it's a wet, dirty place. It's the last place I would bring a book. Sand manages to get into all your nooks and crannies. I don't need it falling out of a book days later.
ReplyDeleteI like beach books but I'm less fond of the actual beach. I don't need sand in any nooks or crannies, mine or a book's.
Deletea summer read for me is being at the beach or hanging out in my back yard on the patio and reading an easy book that I can pick up and put down with a very very light plot. It can contain some humor but I guess for me is the easy reading lots of dialogue and little to no descriptions anything in particular.
ReplyDeleteSince retiring, summer reading proceeds much the same as other times of the year. While working and raising children, summer meant more time to read. I used to make a Summer Reading List and buy a few used books from Powells. Some were books that required a little more concentration and others were not. Usually I included some nature writing and nonfiction. When I retired I started making a TBR list for each of the four seasons. I keep track of what I actually do read - some of the list and some titles not on the list.
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