It’s summer and I’m reading! IT’S SUMMER and I’m REEAAAADIIIINGG. (Sing to the tune of “I’m in a store and I’m SIIIIINGING.”)
Anyways, what is all of this big deal about (AIR QUOTES) summer reading?
Legitimate question. Before we go into this, look at this bee. Isn’t he cute? He likes summer reading and he flew into my shot to be the star of this whole thing.
Thank you, bee. Back to me.
Okay, well, I did think about this for a minute and I think the difference between what I read in the summer and what I read other times of the year is basically that I like to read fiction and funny memoirs in the summer. I think that is all.
I’m not really sure why I do this; there’s something ingrained in me from childhood that novel-reading is for vacation. An air-conditioned library in the heat of summer that makes me want to finish all my chores so I can crack open a juicy novel.
(This isn’t a juicy novel, it’s a book about minimalism. I started a Savers pile five pages in.)
Anyways.
As I grew out of the juvenile fiction section, I started to become less enthusiastic about fiction because the novels for adults often contain dark and/or sexual content. I really work hard to find novels that fit my standards. The fiction I read this month was okay in that regard, but not uplifting enough to really recommend it, due to the content. Sorry about that.
So how do I find time to read? This is what I usually get asked when I start talking about books.
It happens because I love to do it. I just have a compulsion to open books and see what they say inside. Occasionally I will spend a day reading a stack of books while I let everything else in my life implode for the next twenty-four hours. It’s just something I’ve learned that I need to do to be a happy person.
I am also a CRAZY FAST reader. I’m technically a peruser of text, to be honest. Poetic books KILL ME. I am not the kind of reader who has patience to stop and “savor” chapters. Here is what happens when you tell me to slowly read a book of poetry one poem at a time…or similarly, some deep book where I should only read one chapter every week.
That’s also why I’m a horrible book club member.
My husband also wants me to tell you that I have a special ability to completely block out my surroundings when I read. This is both scary and awesome. As in, oh, a city bus has crashed into my front room. That is tragic. But I didn’t know because I was reading.
I am sure this is a survival skill acquired from being born the eldest of seven children. In all seriousness, reading is the one leisure activity that is easy for me to stop and start during the day and that I can do while my kids are happily playing around me. Unlike a device with a screen, my kids seem more at peace with paper and ink.
I should have put links to these books. And yet, I didn’t. Because I’m lazy and am very distracted at the thought of eating gelato in bed while I clear my camera roll from beach pictures.
Summer is really making this blog go downhill.
But there’s Google, Amazon, Modern Mrs. Darcy’s site and the library card catalog all waiting for you here on the Internet, at your very fingertips. Don’t forget to make the lemon basil water. It’s really good.
If you enjoyed this post, I think you’ll love my free download, The Ultimate Homeschool Mama Book List!
For an archive of I’ve read through the years, you can go here. To see all of the curated book lists on my blog in one place, click here.
To receive short reviews and recommendations of what I’m reading each month, sign up for my newsletter.
