There’ still time for summer reading. Eva and I wanted to get in some planned reading this summer and created a book challenge for ourselves. You are welcome to join us! At the bottom of the post you will find a button to print or download this challenge.
National Book Lover’s Day is August 9. How will you celebrate it? I might celebrate by reading a book while watching the Pacific waves roll in! Our 30th wedding anniversary is very near August 9.
Read A Book
Set in a place you’d like to visit. I am torn between Iceland and Australia. I’ve read books about Australia and even had a pen pal from there years ago. But I’ve also read descriptions of Iceland’s northern lights that made me cry. I checked my bookshelf and decided to go with a book I already had on hand – In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson.
With a summery cover. You may think of beaches or islands. But summer means tall grass and prairie winds to me. I plan to read A Passable Cook by James Jesser.
About a trip. In a Sunburned Country will fill two challenge requirements. I have only read 17 books so far this year. I’ve had more action than reading it seems, and a couple of these books are long. So I’m being realistic.
From a Little Free Library. If you haven’t stopped at one of these before, you are in for a treat. One of my goals is to stop at Little Free Libraries that I happen to see while traveling. The book I am reading for this prompt is Bridge to Haven by Francine Rivers. It’s completely out of my usual genre. I got it from a Little Free Library on Finley Point, near Flathead Lake, Montana.
When you pick up a book at a Little Free Library, be sure to donate three of yours so someone else can enjoy them.
Share your ideas about summer reading in the comments.
— Liz
More Summery Reading Ideas:
So She Reads 
3 responses to “Midsummer’s Reading”
So far for me, summer reading has looked like a bunch of Wendell Berry, while working through two books on writing. (one being Anne Lamott’s exceptional “Bird by Bird.”)
Your challenge sounds quirky and summer-y, and my mind is already whirring with options for at least two categories, so I just might have to give it a go.
Hi Cathy, The weekend got away from me before I could reply. I don’t think I’ve read Bird by Bird, but I have seen it quoted in so many books that it feels like I’ve read it. I want to. I loved Hannah Coulter. The sweet melancholy was just what I needed at the time.
So far I have read The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jonassen. It takes place in Iceland in the winter. A thriller, which I have never read before. I looked up the description of thriller to see if I wanted to continue. One thing I learned was the hero in a thriller faces the embodiment of evil and one example was Little Red Riding Hood. Ok, maybe I can handle that. There was a twist at the end that left me feeling like all was not as it seemed. On to the next book!