Ok guys so here it is. I am not a big fan of summer. Oh there are things I enjoy about the season, like the longer days and more sunlight, the easy days, the lushness of the outdoors, sunsets, fireflies, summer foods (wow there is more than I thought!), but I am not a fan of heat and humidity. I loathe being hot and sweaty, so so much. I am also one of those people who looks just awful in heat. My face gets red, always has (and so does Wyatt’s and Mermaid Girl’s too..), my hair gets frizzy. I just don’t like it. I don’t like beaches or swimming in lakes or oceans. I am a reallllll bummer about summer.

I do have so many good memories of summer from when I was kid. One of them is the summer that my cousin Brian and I spent riding bikes to the library and checking out Stephen King books. We would check them out, then go back to his house and read them. My mom, a single mom, worked everyday and my brother and I would go to my aunt’s house during the summer while my mom worked. My brother is six years younger than me so he didn’t get to go to the library with Brian and I. Sorry Devin. He was back having fun with our aunt anyway. Brian and I would ride back to his house after, then hole up in the cool darkness of the den, eat snacks, and read Stephen King together. It was a great summer, if a little spooky. Since then, I have always equate summer reading with spooky books. No beach reads for me, I guess. I do mix it up here and there, because I can no longer just binge scary like I used to, but I will forever think of summer reading and scary books together.

That being said… here is my tentative summer reading list, which I think is a nice eclectic mix of genres.

So many scary/thriller books! I can’t wait to read What Lives in the Woods, since it is set in Michigan in a town I have been to many times. I love Saugatuck, it is such a neat little artistic community. That one will be fun.

I also have quite a few that are summer camp themed – one of my favorite settings. I realize I am a bit of a sucker for a setting, and I think I am going to do a post on that in the future. There are just places and cities that make me immediately pick a book up, and summer camp is one of them. (I also love summer camp themed movies, just saying) You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight, When She Was Me, and The Last Time I Lied all involve summer camp and I am super excited about it.

I have been on a mission to find “own voices” books by authors with disabilities about characters who disabilities, especially when the representation is “casual” and You Never Know by Connie Briscoe came across my radar. The main character in You Never Know has an hearing impairment, as does Connie Briscoe. I have been compiling a list for Wyatt as well, to have in our own home library, starting with middle grade and working my way up to YA. It is important that books are mirrors as well as windows.

The Berry Pickers has been on my TBR for a little while, and I am looking forward to finally getting to it. I actually think I am going to listen to this one on audio. At the Pond is another that has been on my list; it was hard to find here so I caved and bought it for myself so that I could read it. I think it will be perfect summer reading!

I will be honest, the cover is what drew me to The Twilight Garden, as well as the word twilight. I can be so weird. But that cover is beautiful! I keep seeing Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies all over the place, and Italy is another setting that I love. Plus, it’s a cozy! Wolfsong by TJ Klune is another I have been eyeballing far too long, and I just feel like this summer is the perfect time to pick it up. And finally – The Easy Life in Kamusari. I started reading a bit of Japanese Literature this year and this one was one of those suggested reads, like if you liked this then you will like this – and after reading the blurb, I decided I probably would like it indeed!

So many! And I am sure that I will add in some older middle grade books, from decades ago because I love them. Looking at this list, I really don’t think I will get to all of these. When did my list get so long for the summer?? I will give it the old college try though!

I probably won’t start these for another week or two still, as I have to finish my spring TBR still!

When do start thinking summer? In June, after Memorial Day? Or on the first day of summer, June 20?