Summer Reading Lists: Some Karen, Some Don’t

Summer Reading Lists

Summer reading lists. Have you ever asked a friend or local librarian for ideas about what to read next? Well, here’s my little contribution to the conversation.

Summer is the busiest time of the year at a public library due, in large part, to a little phenomenon called “SUMMER READING.” Librarians the country over have been preparing for months to open our doors for masses of summer visitors who will stream in seeking entertainment and reading materials to keep their minds sharp during the long summer days.

It’s the kind of thing that, as a librarian, fills you with excitement & dread.

Seriously, summer is a lot of work for a library. This year many libraries across the country are sharing the same summer theme “Exercise Your Mind: READ!” and will be focusing their activities around the idea of exercising mind & body through reading.

I’m often asked for summer reading lists and I’ve scoured the internet as well as my own library collections for titles to recommend to kids & adults. “Teresa, the Wonderful Rainbow Dancer“ has asked me to share some of those lists here with you and I’m thrilled to comply.

Now, I could just list books but that would make this post monstrous, so I’m going to link to books lists on the web that I think you find useful.

CLEAN READS: I follow the Logan Utah Library on Facebook & Twitter because they are local and cool. They recently posted their book list page. They’ve done a great job. Take a gander at this clean reads list and maybe peruse some other lists too.

CLASSICS: This list comes from an awesome book store called Abe’s Books. I particularly love this list because it lists books across several age groups and includes classic non-fiction too. Add to this that it shows the books with their vintage covers and it’s a feast for the eyes as well as the brain.

100 BEST PICTURE BOOKS: This list was complied a few years ago by one of my favorite librarian blogs, A Fuse #8 Production. Elizabeth Bird is a children’s librarian at the New York Public library. She asked the librarians who read her blog to vote for their picks for best children’s picture books. The list is fantastic! It’s a great list for parents to use as a resource their kiddos.

100 BEST CHILDREN’S NOVELS: Fuse #8 also compiled a list of chapter books that is wonderful. It’s a great resource for read alouds.

GRADED READING LISTS:  Every summer the Association for Library Services to Children creates some great summer reading lists. The ALSC is a division of the American Library Association who, among other things, select the best books each year and award them Caldecott, Newbery, Seuss, etc. medals. I love trying to guess each January which books will win. I’m rarely right. 😉

BOOKS BY GRADE LEVEL: If you ever get a chance to explore the City Library in Salt Lake City, Utah–take it. The architecture is so cool and the library itself quite modern. Their website is also great and the children’s section of the site has some fabulous book lists by grade level, subject, culture and more.

BEST 100 YOUNG ADULT BOOKS: Time magazine compiled several book lists a few years ago. It’s a good list although it seems a little skewed towards tween readers rather than YA for me.

100 BEST YA BOOKS: NPR has a really great Young Adult list and it includes some of my favorite YA authors/novels.

2016 NOTABLE BOOKS: This is an adult list put out by the American Library Association of notable books published this year.

100 BEST NOVELS OF ALL TIME: Modern Library composed this list years ago. What I find interesting about this particular list is that it’s split into the 100 novels chosen by the Modern Library, as well as the 100 novels chosen by the readers.

100 BEST SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY: NPR creates several lists. This one is worth checking out. I enjoy fantasy & science fiction so it’s fun for me to see how many of these I’ve read (24).

SMITHFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY LISTS: Last of all, here’s a list of books from my very own library. We have lists with specific books required for different schools as well as librarian favorites.

I hope you have a wonderful summer exercising those brain muscles.

Reading is proven to reduce stress, improve memory, strengthen thinking skills, as well as improve your focus and concentration.

On your mark, get set, READ!