Summer is almost here (though my spring playlist is still in development…) and I’m starting to think it might be a good idea to plot out my summer reading for the first time since—well, childhood. I usually just pick up whichever book calls to me from my shelves or the stacks of books scattered around my house, guided by my mood. That's because I’ve learned that trying to read something when I think I should, or when I can’t be bothered to take the time to really consider which book I need in a particular moment is a losing game. I won’t, in fact read it at all: after starting and getting a few pages in, I wind up abandoning it. I’ll worry that I’m off reading, that I’ve lost the taste for it for a spell. Then I'll realize that it’s just that I’m off reading that book in that moment, leaving me to heave a sigh and put in the effort to find the right one.
A summer reading list is full of possibilities, just like the season. It will narrow my options, but with the giant TBR piles I’m working from—both in physical form in my house and in my Goodreads “Want to Read” list—maybe setting limits for a few months isn’t such a bad thing. And I can still choose from my list based on however I happen to feel on any given long and luxurious, hot summer day.
Here’s my list; I’ll let you know how I do.
The Dead Romantics, Ashley Poston
Book Lovers, Emily Henry
Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus
The No-Show, Beth O’Leary
The Last Chance Library, Freya Sampson
Our Crooked Hearts, Melissa Albert
The Sentence, Louise Erdrich
The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams
For the Throne, Hannah Whitten
The Magician’s Assistant, Ann Patchett
