Summer Reading

I was thinking this week about summer reading choices and what to recommend to you all, which led me to pondering why we choose books in our "summer reading" selection. 
First, I began looking at various lists, of which the world of the internet holds in abundance.  Everyone has a summer reading list from the intellectual one on Publisher's Weekly, the more specific lists on Amazon or Barnes & Nobles, various magazines' lists such as the Real Simple one we loved,  and of course Oprah even has one, to the various lists that TedTalks produced by some of it's biggest contributors.  One thing I noticed about all of these lists is that they seem like random and eclectic selections of titles.  My summer reading list...well, to be honest, it is really just the pile of books I have not had time to read that I shove together or check-out all at once in hopes that I can get through some of them.  And yes, my list is more as random as any other that I found. 
This led me thinking what exactly makes a good summer read.  Well, to start with, it has to be something that one can pick up easily, get into quickly, be enjoyable and maybe even light in spirit, and definitely has to include an element of escapism.  In other words, you have to be able to get lost in it.  Just like when you were a child and summer vacation meant lazy days of sunshine, laughter, and adventure, a true summer read should have the power to allow you to escape, to run away from your life for even a few hours.  So, I have three simple yet firm rules for what truly qualifies as a summer read:

1. It cannot be about work - leave your job behind and all of the things you have to do daily and get lost.
2. It cannot be serious - now I know that some of you are already debating this one because some may think of Proust or Shakespeare as serious reading while others think of Stephen King or Koontz as serious...or maybe even that geology text you should be catching up on before school starts again this fall.  The bottom line is, it cannot be serious for you.  If you are bracing yourself before reading it, whatever the title is, it's too serious to be for summer.
3. It must include the sigh of satisfaction - Oh yes, I am serious about this one.  Whatever the story is, if it makes you laugh, cry, or just smile, when the last page is turned, there should be a sigh of satisfaction.  Now this one is very important.  Without the sigh, you will not be able to return to life, work, or the pleasures of summer happily.  And summer should be about enjoying life.  So, only books that will leave you satisfied should be truly called Summer Reads.  This means no series, nothing too long that you must keep trudging through without the completeness and satisfaction of finishing something good.

Now, to be fair, not all of your books will fall into this category.  The deal is that you need to include in whatever you are reading this summer a handful of true summer reading material.  I promise, you will be glad that you did.

And now that we've established what a summer read is, you are probably waiting with bated breath to find out what our list is....
Well, there isn't one.  I know.  I know. You've been faithfully reading along and now to be left hanging...I would not do such a thing.  Instead, every couple of days throughout the summer, we will be sharing here some of the best reads by category.  This way, you can browse through the lists and choose titles to your heart's content.  We'll highlight some fantastic authors, new releases, and titles you may have missed that all fall into our summer reading rules.  So stay tuned right here for much, much more to come.

And just to get you started, check out any of the titles shown here of some of our most popular check-outs for your summer reading selection.