Category: Summer Reading List

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: Summer/Sabbatical Wrap Up

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: Summer/Sabbatical Wrap Up

Posted on by Jaymie

If reading was a numbers game, this summer would be a fail.

For the last six or seven years, I have maintained a reading pace of a book a day or more. I have blown through the family reading challenge most years (although not in 2018). And I have long lists of great summer reads.

Not this year.

I read 11 books in June. I’m on pace to hit that or maybe do one or two better in July. Twenty-two books in 60-some days is way off my usual pace.

And it’s going to be okay. It has to be because that is my reality. And really, no one cares other than me.

So I will celebrate the great books I read and look forward to even more great reads as 2021 continues. Here’s the wrap up for summer 2021. (You can read back through my summer plan here – and then laugh at how naïve I was!)

Family Reading Challenge

None of us finished. Not one. I read 1 of my five (a re-read from my favorite series). My husband has finished 3. The teen has read nothing.

BUT…. We have decide to extend our deadline into mid-August. My husband is committed to finishing all five of his books, and the teen says he is going to read at least one by the new deadline. I’m not sure what I will do. I am enjoying my ARC reading since I shifted some things around, so we’ll see.

 

ARCs

In my start-of-summer post, I posted 23 book covers of some of the ARCs I need to be reading. Of course, this was before my July sabbatical (more on that in a minute). Of those pictured, I read 10 and DNF’d another (Did Not Finish). I’m on pace to finish at least 17 ARCs (well, two were DNFs) during these two summer months by the time this posts. Not bad. Not amazing, but not bad.

 

Sabbatical

One thing that was NOT on my radar when I posted my summer reading plan 8 weeks ago was my July Sabbatical. You can read about it here.

This is one of the best decisions I could have made for myself and my mental health. I relished the freedom to read – or re-read – or not read. And I might even be tempted to do it again. I needed this break desperately. And it gave me some time to consider the future.

This blog is very important to me. I’ve poured a LOT of time and a lot of myself into it. But I’m changing things up to make it more sustainable with my new responsibilities.

  • I am keeping Book News on Mondays. Doing book research on new releases is one of my favorite activities. I refuse to give it up. I might include fewer books going forward, but this was one of the driving factors I had for creating The Neverending TBR in the first place. So it stays.
  • I am keeping reviews for adult books on Wednesdays. This is not changing. For the last couple years, I have often posted *two* adult reviews a week because I have had such a surplus. But I am committing to myself that I am only going to post one a week for awhile. This means I have to fight against the feeling of being “behind.” And reviews won’t always post near their release date any more. And until I get “caught up,” I have to be okay with that.
  • I am moving my reviews of books for kids and books for teens/young adults to Fridays. Some weeks the review will be for a middle grade book and other weeks it will be a YA graphic novel and another week it will be a picture book. But one review a week, like the adult reviews, just to help me maintain my peace.

So, that’s the scoop. Generally 3 posts a week, two reviews and Book News. I don’t know if I’ll keep doing Saturday Smorgasbord. We’ll have to see what evolves over time. But this pace feels far more manageable than 3 to 6 reviews a week like I have been doing for the last few years.

I think the highlight to my summer reading has to be the re-reading I have enjoyed. There are few things as soothing as reading a favorite book – it’s like hanging out with an old friend.

 

So, what did you read this summer?

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My Summer Reading Plan 2021

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My Summer Reading Plan 2021

Posted on by Jaymie

As weird as 2020 was, I was feeling like 2021 would be an even harder year to pull off our annual Summer Reading Challenge, but my family was committed to keeping up the tradition. We’ve made some changes again this year to reflect a busier season. We also changed up our incentive system. In the past, the “reward” for finishing was higher for the first person done than for the second or the third person. This was a dis-incentive for the person who read the least/slowest. And that person, year after year, would just give up. So this year, the “prize” for completion is the same for everyone. We all feel much better about that.

Our Summer Reading kicked off Monday May 31st and will end on July 31 – 62days of reading. Here are the details for 2021. (You can read about past years here.)

Family Reading Challenge

This summer we are each choosing 2 books for each of the other members of the household to read for a total of 4 books each. Then each of us is also choosing a personal reading selection. The only stipulation was that picture books would not count. But anything else – graphic novel, a re-read, a new book, one that’s been languishing on a TBR pile – was fine.

I will be reading one TBR book (Enchanted, selected at random) and one favorite (Alien Nation, also picked at random) chosen by my teen. My husband chose Star Trek Picard: The Dark Veil and the new book by Stacey Abrams, While Justice Sleeps, for me to read. My personal choice book will be Star Trek Discovery: Wonderlands which just released in May.

For my teen I chose Kill the Queen, a favorite from 2018. I also gave him some YA books to choose from, and he picked The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. He’s enjoyed some of her other books in the past, plus he enjoyed the Westing Game feel of the description.  My husband chose the first Orphan X book as well as The Gray Man, two thrillers, for my son to read.  Then my son chose Quantum Prophecy: The Awakening, an old favorite, for his personal choice book.

For my husband, I chose Alien in the House which is his next book in the Kitty Katt-Martini/Touched by an Alien series that I adore. He usually gets one of those each year. This is one of my most favorite books in the series, so I am eager to have him read this one. I also chose The Blacksmith Queen for him. It’s a favorite from 2019 AND 2020 for me. I hope he gets a kick out of them. My teen chose the latest Baldacci book, A Gambling Man, for my husband to read this summer as well as Star Wars: Thrawn: Treason. Then my husband picked up one of my favorite John Scalzi novels, Redshirts, as his personal choice for the challenge.

#Bookaday

I have been doing the Bookaday summer challenge for 6 or 8 years now, but that was when I was off for the summers. I’m actually starting a full time job this summer, so I’ll be happy to stay on top of my ARC reading and the five books I have for the challenge. Therefore, I won’t be doing #bookaday this year.

 

ARCs

Speaking of ARCs, I have over 60 review books to read between now and the rest of the year, many of them releasing this summer. Here are some of the ones I’ll be reading and discussing in the coming months. And while there are other books I’d like to get to as well, the ARCs are my priority. We’ll see how many I get to!

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My Summer Reading Plan 2020

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My Summer Reading Plan 2020

Posted on by Jaymie

I wasn’t sure, with 2020 being what it has been so far, that my family would be on board for our annual Summer Reading Challenge, but they were both actually more excited than I was. I think a lot of that has to do with our decision last year to do a re-read of the original Percy Jackson and the Olympians series this summer. We are all looking forward to spending time in that world again.

Our Summer Reading kicks off today and will end on July 31 – 56 days of reading. Here are the details for 2020. (You can read about past years here.)

Family Reading Challenge

We decided that this summer each of us will read the original Percy Jackson novels again. It has been ages since we have read the whole thing, although my teen re-reads them periodically. My husband and son each have their own sets. I’m going to just download them from the library.

In addition to Percy, we are picking one challenge book for each of the other people in the family.  My teen has challenged both my husband and me to re-read The Red Pyramid, the first book in the Egyptian mythology series by Rick Riordan. My husband has challenged me to read the third book in the Orphan X series. I read the first book in the series earlier this year (♥♥♥♥), and my husband thinks one of the characters in the third book will appeal to me.  I gave my husband five books to choose from, and he decided to read Undercover Bromance as his challenge book. I challenged my teen to read Millenneagram. It’s a true challenge, because he generally rolls his eyes at me when I talk about the Enneagram. I hope he finds this book a quick and interesting read. Finally, my husband is challenging our teen to read Head On by John Scalzi, the sequel to the book he had him read last summer – Lock In – which our son enjoyed.

Last summer, with the 7 Harry Potter books, the two family choice books for each person took us to 9 total. Since there are only 5 Percy Jackson books, we each chose two books for ourselves. The only requirement was that they had to have been previously unread.

I chose Absolutely Truly, a middle grade mystery that has been out for awhile and that I have had on my TBR shelves for years. My second choice is another middle grade mystery. City Spies by James Ponti just released this spring. Every month I put it on my reading list, and every month I don’t get around to it. This summer I’ll finally get my chance to read it. My son will be reading the second and third books in the Cat in the Stacks mystery series. He read the first one a couple summers ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. This challenge gives him an excuse to dig into them. (Classified as Murder – ♥♥♥♥♥ – is one of my favorites in that series.) My husband chose two books off of his TBR shelves, Artemis and Over Watch.

Since prizes worked so well last year, we are going to do that again to help us finish the goal by July 31.

#Bookaday

Teachers, librarians and other book fanatics all over social media (Instagram, Twitter) choose to read a book each day of summer vacation. My #bookaday will run from today to July 31, so 56 books in 56 days. And to help with that I have a Kindle full of Advance Reader Copies and my personal TBR pile for the summer. I haven’t been doing a lot of personal reading lately – I’ve gotten carried away with book requests from Netgalley and those are my priorities every week. I am hoping with more reading time I can find a balance again.

TBR Books

My top priority for the summer is to get ahead on my review copies. These are some of the ones I am most excited to read.

These are some of the new books coming out in June and July that I hope to read.

And finally, I have books on my TBR shelves that I desperately want to get to. We’ll have to see how the summer reading goes!

What are you planning to read this summer?

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My Summer Reading Plan 2019

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My Summer Reading Plan 2019

Posted on by Jaymie

Last summer was something of a summer reading “FAIL” for me even though I read 69 books. I only read 2 of the six family challenge books I was assigned (I finally read a third later in the year). So this year, we are simplifying yet again for the Family Challenge. Here are some of the things I plan to read this summer.

Family Reading Challenge

We decided that this summer each of us will read the entire Harry Potter series again. It has been ages since we have read the whole thing, although my teen and I have re-read single books here and there. I might even read a couple of them from the illustrated versions we bought but haven’t enjoyed yet.

In addition to Harry, we are only picking one challenge book for each of the other people in the family. I gave both my husband and my teen a stack of books to choose from. If we were doing 2 or 3 books, I would have picked myself but I didn’t have “that one” book I wanted either to read. I have challenged my teen to read Powerless and my husband to read Polaris Rising. My husband and I both were thinking of Scalzi’s Lock In for the teen so he assigned that one. My teen chose #MurderTrending for both parents. And my husband chose Long Road to Mercy for me.  He’s always trying to get me to read more Baldacci!

We are also putting in “prizes” for this year, too, to see if that helps us actually finish the goal by July 31.

#Bookaday

Teachers, librarians and other book fanatics all over social media (Instagram, Twitter) choose to read a book each day of summer vacation. My #bookaday will run from June 1 to July 31, so 61 books in 61 days. And to help with that I have a Kindle full of Advance Reader Copies and my personal TBR pile for the summer.

TBR Books

My top priority for the summer is to get ahead on my review copies. These are some of the ones I am most excited to read.

 

These are some of the new books coming out in June and July that I hope to read.

 

And finally, these are some of the books I want to RE-READ this summer. I am craving a re-reading binge like no one’s business. I am hoping to get ahead on as much as I can in June so I can spend July on reading old favorites – some to get ready for sequels (Ash Princess, Kill the Queen, Lady’s Guide…) and the rest just because I love them.

Aliens Abroad
Ash Princess
It’s Not Me It’s You
Kill the Queen
A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder
A List of Cages
The Names They Gave Us
The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You
Polaris Rising
Prince in Disguise
The Way to the Stars

What are you planning to read this summer?

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My Summer Reading Plan 2018

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My Summer Reading Plan 2018

Posted on by Jaymie

Last summer I posted a pretty extensive Summer Reading Plan. This year I’m keeping it simple (for me). I’m continuing our Family Reading Challenge, I’m doing #Bookaday, and I have a Summer TBR collection.

Family Reading Challenge

This will be the third year of the Reading Challenge for my teen and I. Last summer we drew my husband in for the festivities.  This started as a way to convince my teen to read some books I thought he would enjoy but couldn’t get him to try. This year we have only assigned three books to each person, instead of the five we did last year.

These are the six I will be reading; the first three were assigned by my teen. Renegades is the third book in the Randoms series. My son has assigned me each of the books in this series, and I have liked them more than I expected. Both my husband and son have read Ready Player One, and they have been talking about assigning this to me for months. I might also try listening to the audio book since it is read by Wil Wheaton. Neither of us have read the Marissa Meyer Renegades, but it’s been on my list. My husband is a huge Baldacci fan, but I have only read the ones he assigned me last summer so he’s assigned me two new ones. And while I love Jen Hatmaker, I haven’t read anything by her husband, so I am looking forward to reading one of his books.

These six are for my teen; the first three were assigned by me. I am two books into the Darkest Minds series and I have loved them. I think my son will love the first book. You can read my review of Moxie here. Both my teen and my husband will be reading this one so we can talk about the themes. And while my son has been raised to know that the answer to life, the universe and everything is 42, he is not yet familiar with the source material. This summer, he will be. My son has enjoyed some adult books in the mystery and adventure genres, so this summer he is going to try some Baldacci, Clancy and a science fiction book about Artificial Intelligence.

These are my husband’s challenge books, the first three chosen by me. If it takes me 20 years, one book at a time, I am determined to show my husband the gloriousness that is the Kitty Katt-Martini series. So this year he gets to read book 3. I adored Scalzi’s Lock In, and I think the premise is just the sort of book my husband will enjoy. I am currently waiting for a library hold to come through for the sequel. And he will also be reading Moxie. My son assigned him book two of the Randoms series and both book one and two of the Scythe series. We both have loved this unusual series, and I’m eager to hear what my husband thinks of it.

#Bookaday

Teachers, Librarians and other book fanatics all over social media (Instagram, Twitter) choose to read a book each day of summer vacation. My #bookaday will run from June 1 to July 31, so 61 books in 61 days. And to help with that I have a Kindle full of Advance Reader Copies and my personal TBR pile for the summer

TBR Shelf

These are the books that I have prioritized for the summer in addition to my ARCs I need to read. There’s a mix of non-fiction and fiction, books for kids, teens and adults, as well as new books and books I have been meaning to get to for ages. Two were gifts – one from a former student – and one is a new edition of a book I read years ago.  It’s going to be a great summer of reading!

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD - My Summer Reading Plan

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD – My Summer Reading Plan

Posted on by Jaymie

I am a planner by nature.

I always have a to do list, and I faithfully check things off as they are completed. Summer is a prime time for me to make a few lists.

There’s the list of projects I want to finish while school is not in session. Then I have the list of fun things I want to be sure we do before school starts up again. And finally, I have my summer reading plan.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago in my post about summer reading recommendations, a list or a challenge isn’t a great idea for every reader. For some folks, that would make the reading seem like a chore. But I LOVE a challenge. I was the kid who loved the March of Dimes reading challenge at school or who responded well to a sticker chart. Anything where I could track my achievements.

So I set a reading challenge every year in January, and I have another one that covers my summer reading. Here are some of the things on my 2017 Summer Reading Plan:

#Bookaday

If you are on Twitter, you can find a number of teachers tweeting about their reading year-round, but especially in the summer, with this hashtag. The idea is to try to read one book for every day of your “summer” (and you get to choose what qualifies as “summer). This year, my summer will run from June 5 to July 30, which is 56 days. This is pretty standard for me. It gives me a week or so after the school year ends to do whatever I want, which usually includes some reading, but is less structured for the transition from school year to summer. This also gives me whatever non-school days I can get at the start of August to shift my thinking from summer back to school year. So, my #bookaday goal this summer is to read at least 56 books.  The library is a great resource for #bookaday, although my TBR shelves at home easily hold 56 books.

Classics

I tend to read in pretty rigid categories. I like new books – the newer the better – and I stick with mysteries and fantasy/science fiction with some realistic fiction thrown in. This summer, I am challenging myself to read some classics. In most cases, these are re-reads – books I read ages ago but can’t remember. These are the classics on my list:

  • Sense and Sensibility – I’ve never read Austen, and I don’t like Pride and Prejudice, but I love the Sense and Sensibility movie
  • Jane Eyre
  • Wuthering Heights
  • Wrinkle in Time – I’m going to read the graphic novel
  • Much Ado About Nothing – One of my favorite Shakespeare plays

Family Challenge

Last summer my son and I chose 5 books for the other person to read. He did a fabulous job and read all 5 I recommended. I, however, did not. I ended up only reading 3 in the summer, and picked up a fourth one this spring when he insisted. This summer my husband is getting into the act. We are each choosing 2 books for the other two people in the house. I will be reading:

  • Rebels by David Liss (Book 2 in the Randoms series) – chosen by my teen
  • Planet Thieves by Dan Krokos – chosen by my teen
  • The Innocent by David Baldacci – chosen by my husband
  • The X-Files Origins: Agent of Chaos by Kami Garcia – chosen by my husband
  • I have assigned my son The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson (a book from my TBR shelves)
  • I have assigned my husband Alien Tango by Gini Koch and The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
  • My husband has assigned my son The Haunting of Barry Allen by Clay and Susan Griffith and The Recruit (CHERUB) by Robert Muchamore
  • My son has assigned my husband Randoms by David Liss and Quantum Prophecy: The Awakening by Michael Carroll

Nonfiction

I love learning new things, but I am not a good finisher when it comes to nonfiction. So I am challenging myself to read the following:

  • A Mile Wide by Brandon Hatmaker (My husband recommended this one)
  • The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
  • Sleep Smarter by Shawn Stevenson (I have started this but haven’t finished)
  • Uninvited by Lysa TerKerst (I’ve read this but I want to read through it again)
  • Daring Greatly by Brené Browning

Re-reads

When I was teaching, my students were always so excited about summer break because they could re-read some of their favorite books without penalty. I love to re-read my favorites in January and also over the summer. Some of my re-reads this summer will be:

  • The Fixer and The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (I LOVED The Long Game but I’ve only read it once.)
  • The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde (a nursery rhyme based mystery)
  • StarFleet Academy – The Edge by Rudy Josephs (this is the first in a four book series with the new JJ Abrams cast in mind)
  • Talons of Power by Tui T. Sutherland (this is the most recent Wings of Fire book. I want to read it again before the last book comes out in July)
  • The Amber Photograph by Penelope Stokes (This is one of my comfort books that I read over and over)

New books

Of course, there are all sorts of new releases coming out this summer that I hope to read! If you check out my Book News posts on Mondays this summer, you’ll see some of the ones I am most looking forward to.

 

What are you hoping to read this summer? Do you like a challenge or do you prefer to read whatever comes along?

SUMMER READING Recommendations

Posted on by Jaymie

“Summer Slide” is the drop in reading and math skills that students experience during summer vacation. I pinned a few things on Pinterest about the summer slide. There are hundreds of posts out there on the topic – ideas of things to do and graphics about why the summer slide is a big deal for students. There’s an entire industry built on this concept, and they churn out summer workbooks for students at every grade level. The hope is that students will spend a little time every day to keep their skills up so they start the new school year on track rather than spending the first few weeks trying to recapture what they learned last year. At least in my experience, this felt like just more school to my son, and he despised the workbook no matter what incentive he earned to finish.

As a reading advocate, I am most interested in the reading side of the slide. Kids with no access to books at home have the hardest time when school starts back up in the fall. They may be sun-kissed from hours outside – or pale from hours indoors playing video games – but their reading skills have atrophied over the summer. Donalyn Miller, reading expert, says reading just 4 or 5 books over the summer vacation can help students keep their skills up for the new school year.

How do you get your kids to read over the summer?

Try to keep it FUN. When I was teaching, my students loved summer because they could read books that were under their reading level (sometimes frowned upon during the school year) or books that they had already read. Let your student read what he/she wants in the summer! Enjoy the freedom.

Consider a challenge or make it a game. If you have a kid who responds well to a challenge, set one up. There are many options available online. Last summer, my son and I chose the challenge books for each other. It was fun to read things that I wouldn’t have chosen otherwise that he loved. And it was a great way to get him to read things I thought he would like but he sneered at during the school year. If a challenge or game will make reading feel like a chore for your student DON’T do it. You know your child best and know how he/she will respond.

Take advantage of your local library. Some kids don’t have books at home – and others have read everything they have. The library is a great place to discover new reading materials! If your student has a tablet, look into ebooks from your library. Some schools have started making their library collections available in the summer because they know how important this is for students. See if that is an option from your school district.

To help you out, I have created a PDF of book recommendations for kids at different age levels. The age levels are recommendations. I might change those recommendations for a particular reader that I know well, but these are a starting point. Look at the suggestions with your readers. See which books they have already read. Talk about what they loved about their favorite books. Look at the general suggestions at the bottom of the PDF for other ideas.  Here is the PDF: The Neverending TBR Summer Reading List 2017

 

I hope you and your kids have a terrific summer break. Let me know if you find some great books so I can add them to MY summer reading list!