Question 20 - Summer Reading

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

Does your summer reading tend to be different from your usual reading? Do you make a loooong summer reading list? (I'm guilty of that one!) Do you pick books with a summer theme? Or ones that are easily picked up and put down for when you're sunning yourself on a beach?

[Gavin]

We don't even have 4 seasons were I live, so even if I wanted too... but even so, in general I just read what I feel like reading.

[Amber]

No. I read what I want to read. :-)

[dely]

Yes, it is a little bit different because I live at the sea and during the summer I go nearly every day on the beach.
I use to leave a book in my cabin and in these last years I prefer to have a collection of short stories because they are really comfortable to read under the sun. They are short so I can read just one without leaving a story midway.

[Bridget]

I read more new releases in the summer. Many of the books published in May and June seem to peak my interest. I'm very excited about quite a few books coming out and am worried that I will really break the bank this summer!

[Roseanne]

I tend to read more during the summer. I read what I normally read but I like to throw some beach reads into the mix.

[Kassandra]

I think I read what I normally read during the rest of the year but I do have a couple of authors that I like that tend to release their new books in the summer. These books happen to be pretty great beach reads! Other than that, I just try and read as much as I can while outdoors.

[Melissa]

Life is busy during summer, so I end up reading less, but always what interests me. January and February are my perfect weather and favorite reading months. :)

[Cindy (BKind2Books)]

Not really - maybe when I was younger and had actual summer vacations, it was different. Now I just read what I normally do and try to whittle down my enormous TBR pile.

[Tracey]

Not for me because work goes all year around for me.

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

I got so deeply in the habit of summer reading as a kid that it has carried on throughout my life. The weather starts to warm up, and I immediately think "SUMMER READING LIST!" :P

[♞ Pat]

I have a harder time reading during the summer - mostly because I spend a LOT more time outside with my horses, riding & showing. I don't pick a theme - more try to catch up on books that I've wanted to read all year and haven't gotten around to.

[Heather]

I find I read less in the summer, there are too many things to be done outside while the weather is nice. But saying that, I still have a book with me wherever I go, so if I get a few minutes down time, the book will be opened and the sun enjoyed!

[Shreya]

Nope. But my reading speed picks up in summer as it's too hot to go out in the daylight.

[Keya]

I have a long list of books that I want to read. So it does'nt really differ from my normal reading ,i just read more than usual . So basically i give myself a goal as in a number as opposed to actual genres ,or authors if that makes sense.

[Susan]

I don't tend to make lists, I pick up what I like the look of or if I'm reading a series I'll continue that for as long as the funds last. I'm going on a beach holiday next week. The first one in 10 years. I've got City of Heavenly Fire,Gone Girl,Life After Life, so genres are mixed. I try to save books of 500+ pages for when I have a few days off.

[Amy]

no i keep going through the books on my shelf that i havent read.

[Brenda (aka Grandma)]

There's not any difference for me, except that I'm more likely to spend free time outdoors instead of reading-- or sometimes thinking I should be :)

[Holly, That Geeky One]

I have the summer off, so I read like mad! Plus me and my parents have done a really lazy 2 week holiday every year, where we basically do nothing apart from laze in the sun and read continually for 14 days! It's so relaxing!

The next few years though, I'll hopefully be travelling like wild in the summer. So I'm not 100% sure how much reading I'll be able to get done!

[Holly, That Geeky One]

I have the summer off, so I read like mad! Plus me and my parents have done a really lazy 2 week holiday every year, where we basically do nothing apart from laze in the sun and read continually for 14 days! It's so relaxing!

The next few years though, I'll hopefully be travelling like wild in the summer. So I'm not 100% sure how much reading I'll be able to get done!

[Roseanne]

Some of you have said you spend more time outside during the summer and that is why you don't read as much. I just read outside. I take a book to the beach, the pool or wherever I go. Doesn't anyone else read outside?

[Brenda (aka Grandma)]

Roseanne, I do like to read outside in a perfect spot, but it just doesn't happen very often. I'm not around a pool or beach, but I love sitting next to a river listening to the water.

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

Roseanne wrote: "Some of you have said you spend more time outside during the summer and that is why you don't read as much. I just read outside. I take a book to the beach, the pool or wherever I go. Doesn't anyone else read outside?"

Me! I sit on my porch reading for hours.

[Holly, That Geeky One]

Surely that's really uncomfortable, Faye?

There's nothing like sitting outside and reading a book in the sun! (I definitely wouldn't recommend sitting out in the rain)

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

Holly wrote: "Surely that's really uncomfortable, Faye?

There's nothing like sitting outside and reading a book in the sun! (I definitely wouldn't recommend sitting out in the rain)"

I should rephrase - I sit on a very comfy chair on my porch reading for hours. :P

[Holly, That Geeky One]

Ah, that sounds wonderful! I thought you meant on the floor or decking or something!

[Roseanne]

I wish I had a porch. what a great place to read. I sit on my patio in my back yard.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Well, okay, I really am an enormous geek (In case, you haven't noticed)... I try to pick a topic of study or area of focus and read as much as I can. Like, The Summer of Dead Frenchmen when I read Dumas, Hugo, Flaubert, and Collette. Or my Summer at Sea when I read the Aubrey-Maturin series book after book. Or the summer of The Greeks, when I read or reread mythology, Homer and as many plays as I could lay my hands on. One summer I studied Astrology and learned to draw horoscope charts and one summer I studied Myers-Briggs personality typing. Still another summer, I got a painter friend to teach me Art History because I didn't know anything about it. (So grateful when I visited the Louvre several years later.) And another summer I taught myself to make jewelry from books and internet tutorials.

Some of my summer studies are more successful than others. I didn't get very far with The Summer of the Czars. Russian Lit is somehow inappropriate for the summer. And, I still haven't learned to play guitar.


Generally, I read short stories and poetry during the school year. (Although, now Ido audiobooks during my commute, as well.) So, I started to think of my summer reading as very precious.

[Holly, That Geeky One]

Renee, that sounds absolutely fascinating! Your 'Dead Frenchmen' summer sounds wonderful, and I'm very jealous!

What is your planned theme this year?

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Oddly, I'm thinking about a Summer of the Americans or Americas. Can't decide if I want to focus exclusively on the states or throw in Canadian and South American writers like Atwood and Marquez. Is definitely like to get in some Dreiser and Henry James. Maybe some of the Twain I've missed.

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

Renee wrote: "Well, okay, I really am an enormous geek (In case, you haven't noticed)... I try to pick a topic of study or area of focus and read as much as I can. Like, The Summer of Dead Frenchmen when I read ..."

I can relate, Renee! I love to pick a theme or two for my summer reading. This summer I'm going to try to read as many books as I can from a certain English Literature Students' Book List I found.

[Karen]

We don't have four seasons here. Generally I read whatever I am in the mood for at any time. However, because July/August my lecturing duties are lightest I tend to read more in those months.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

That sounds like a terrific theme, Iasa! I may steal it for another summer.

[Karen]

Iasa wrote: "I think I've decided on an Orient Express theme for this summer's reading since I've always wanted to take a long train journey and have never been able to.

I want to read a book set in each coun..."

I love this idea!

[Holly, That Geeky One]

You'll find a general Summer Reading mini-challenge in the 'Mini Challenges' folder, for anyone else wanting to read a set list or number of books this summer!

You can make more specific themed ones if you wish. :D

I absolutely adore your theme, although I doubt I'll be able to fit it in with my reading :'(

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Ooh! Now I'm thinking Summer of the Scotsmen! I can do the Outllanders and the Waverlys. (Or as many of each that I can fit into the summer.)

[Nancy]

Normally, I read whatever I want, basically, except for my library book club's book choice. I just try to whittle down my TBR list. This summer I plan on reading all of my giveaway books that I have been fortunate enough to win.

[Overbooked ✎]

I find myself reading more "light" books in summer, perhaps it's because I am more out and about and I get interrupted frequently. With a "light" book, I can pick it up and read a few pages, without having to remember where I was up to.

[♞ Pat]

My summer list isn't any longer than usual, but I get fewer titles READ from the list, so maybe I should start making shorter summer reading lists. Except if I did that, I'd not get ANYthing read over the summer.

[[deleted user]]

Nope, it doesn't matter to me what time of year it is. I don't read any more or less or anything different in summer than I do the rest of the year .

[Sarah]

I don't have a summer reading list but I do have a Christmas reading list. Once December starts I tend to pick more holiday type stories and I have to read How The Grinch Stole Christmas at least once every Christmas season. Other than that I just grab what's next off the stack on my nightstand.

[Happy]

I probably read more in the winter to stave off seasonal depression - I'm in the south of England, but it's still farther North than I ever lived growing up, so the long nights are dreary and difficult to cope with. In the summer, I still read a lot, but I don't feel it quite as essential.

[Marina]

I read the same books during the summer as during the other seasons. Also, in the last years, after I started working as a freelancer, I haven't had vacations during the summer, so it's all the same for me.

[Deborah]

There is no seasonal change in my reading whatsoever :)