I've realized something about my reading habits: once the days start growing longer and we all emerge from the winter doldrums, I read any book I can find with the word "summer" in the title. And that's what I keep reading all summer long.
It's no surprise why: I grew up in a summer resort town; with the warm weather came my summer friends and my summer jobs. From Memorial Day to Labor Day each year, I basically got to live a whole different life, and now I love books with characters who get to do the same. My recent summer reads have included:
- Summer Sisters by Judy Blume (I reread it every year...that's my actual pool-soaked, sun-faded, dog-eared copy!)
- A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams
- Summer by Edith Wharton
- Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
- The Last Summer (Of You and Me) by Ann Brashares
...I could go on :)
Anyway, I wondered if anyone else had a certain type of book they flocked to during the summer months. And they do!
Mike's quintessential summer read has to involved magic or fantasy somehow. Last summer was The Book of Lost Things – this year it’s The Magicians trilogy.
Julia saves her summers to read THE book. You know -- the book everyone's talking about that year, or the book she's been dying to read. It's usually hardcover and huge. "I park it by my bed in my family's mountain house and read it all vacation," she says. What's this year's pick, you ask? In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume.
Gina, a fellow Jersey Shore gal like me, likes to read certain kinds of books while she's hitting the beach there: the hot new thriller of the year (last year, it was Gone Girl; this year, it’ll be Girl on the Train); fallen-from-grace celebrity biographies; and classic Stephen King novels (Carrie, Pet Semetary, Firestarter, Christine...his shorter ones). Talk about a diverse mix!
Brittany saves her summers for reading for anything that's light, funny, and quick, like Bossypants by Tina Fey or anything by Chelsea Handler.
For Kristen, summer means Harry. "There were many summers that I spent anxiously awaiting the next Harry Potter release and then sitting by the lake, reading it cover to cover!"
And Megan is a lady after my own heart: she says, "If I’m being honest, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I first got into the series over the summer AND it’s all about summer vacation, friendship, vacation, camp, denim…" (And she's right. It's such a great series!)
What's your quintessential summer read?
