Ah, SUMMER!

Summer!

Long days by the pool, glorious sunshine, the satisfaction of mowing the lawn on a Saturday morning!

Oh, who am I kidding?

I don't know how to work a lawnmower, and when you're a redhead, summer is the time when everything is trying to kill you. The heat. The sun. The bugs. The pollen. It's just one massive red sunburn/rash.

Last weekend we went to Idaho and I was on my parents' ski boat for four hours, covered in sunblock. I got massive burns on my legs and all around my hairline. YAY.
I like to stay indoors, where it's cool, and read. And as all of you know, I also like to set reading goals. The other day on Twitter I saw some authors asking, mystified, why people ask grownups about summer reading, because grownups don't get a summer break. But I would like to contend that we do, in a way. I'll be sitting by the pool because of the children, which means I'll be able to read while they have lessons. There's less running back and forth to school and school activities. Also, I have a babysitter come in the summer so that I can write, and when I have good solid blocks of writing, I like to take reading breaks.

So! Summer reading for adults is totally a thing!

Let's talk goals!

Last year it looks like I read 54 books between June 1st and Labor Day, I see nothing wrong with saying, Let's do that again! Maybe even, dare I dream, 55 books?! Also, though I know it's an impossible dream, I'd like to get my Goodreads To-Read shelf under 300. It's at 328 right now. The trouble is, for every 1 book I read off that shelf, I add 3. Why? Why? Why are there so many books to read?! WHY.

I also want this to be the Summer of the Rereads. I've already reread WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE? (because I now own my own copy) as well as reading THE LAST GURU to the kids. (Love me some Daniel Pinkwater! And so do the kids!) I also now have my shiny box set of IF I STAY and WHERE SHE WENT, and I'm dying for my own copy of THE NIGHT CIRCUS. Not to mention rereading JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL, now that there's a BBC series! So let's say I read at least 30 books off the ol' Goodreads To-Read, and reread at least three favorites? Sounds good, right?

And of course, since we're like, halfway into June already (how did THAT happen?), I've already got a few books under my belt!

So far, since June 1st, I've read:

VERY GOOD LIVES by J.K. Rowling
SHADOWPLAY by Tad Williams
REFLECTIONS by Diana Wynne Jones
ROYAL WEDDING by Meg Cabot
WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE? by Maria Semple
THE LAST GURU by Daniel Pinkwater
ALL BETTER NOW by Emily Wing Smith - This is a memoir by my dear friend Emily, who has suffered all her life from depression, as well as having a brain tumor and a traumatic brain injury when she was just eleven years old. The book won't be out for several months at least, but is WONDERFUL and I cannot recommend it enough!

I'm currently reading the kids FAT MEN FROM SPACE and FINNIKIN OF THE ROCK for myself. So we're off to a great start!

Also, some exciting news: SILVER IN THE BLOOD comes out on July 7th! So many events planned for the summer! A launch at The King's English on the 7th! An event at The Provo Library on July 29th! And ILA on the 18th! Plus a blog tour and giveaways! Keep checking the events page for dates and times!

Happy Summer Reading!