Every summer as a kid, I was a proud member of the public library summer reading club. I’d fill up my little booklet, give my summaries to the librarian (shout out to Miss Blake, who I still remember fondly), and collect whatever reward the library gave out at the time depending on how many books I’d read.
And yes, they were usually a lot of them.
As an adult, when I first moved out of my parents’, I went and got a public library card. And every summer, I’d load up my reading list, checking out 10, 12, 14 books out with ambitions of reading time.
Of course, that reading time got eaten into once I married and had my son. It’s hard to find time to read, although it gives me great pleasure to share with him the stories of Encyclopedia Brown – which are the exact same stories I’d read when I was his age. And to my amazement, I remember some of the solutions for his cases.
Today is the first official day of summer. And yes, my local library has a book club for adults. You only have to read 5 to be entered into a drawing for a prize – there are no guaranteed prizes for number of books read. It’s not quite the same kind of magic.
But I’m going to dedicate this summer to reading and regrouping and finding my place as a reader and a writer. I’ve checked out quite a few books I’m excited to start reading. And I still have the ever growing TBR pile at home. Join me?
Some titles on the pile:
- Conversations on Writing – Ursula K.Le Guin
- Save the Cat Writes a Novel – Jessica Brody
- A Study in Scarlet Women – Sherry Thomas
- The Belles – Dhonielle Clayton
- City of Ghosts – VE Schwab
- City of Brass – S.A. Chakraborty