What Does Summer Reading Mean?

When I was a kid, there were probably few words I wanted to hear less than “summer reading.”

Summer was supposed to mean freedom. No school. No homework. No required anything.

And then summer reading lists showed up.

Here were these books I was supposed to read, complete with the subtle implication that if I didn't read them, I was somehow wasting my summer.

That never felt right to me.

Because summer reading, at least the way I think about it now, is supposed to be fun.

Maybe even a little indulgent.

The Summer Reading I Picture

When I think about my ideal summer reading experience now, I have a very specific picture in my head.

I'm probably on vacation, reading a rom-com. The weather is perfect, that magical temperature where you aren't sweating through your clothes but you also don't need a jacket. I have a fancy mocktail in my hand, and my family is somewhere nearby having a great time.

They're happy.

I'm happy.

And, most importantly, nobody needs anything from me.

That last part might actually be the most important ingredient.

There is something wonderful about getting completely absorbed in a book when you have temporarily stepped outside of your normal responsibilities.

But here's the thing: I don't think a summer read actually has to look like that.

Summer Doesn't Have to Mean “Light”

Summer reading tends to get lumped into a very specific category: beach reads, rom-coms, breezy mysteries, something entertaining that won't require too much emotional heavy lifting.

And I get it.

Sometimes life is already dark enough. Sometimes you don't want your entertainment to make you think about your problems. You want something funny or romantic or completely ridiculous that lets you disappear for a while.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But I also think some of the best summer reads are the books that completely consume you.

This summer, I've read books like Weyward, The Hacienda, and The House of Shadow and Bone. None of those immediately scream “summer read” to me in the traditional sense.

They're atmospheric. They're darker. They're immersive.

And they worked.

Because maybe the point isn't that a summer book has to be lighthearted. Maybe it just has to make you want to keep turning the pages.

Sometimes You Don't Need a Beach. You Need an Escape.

For me, one of the biggest parts of a great summer read is escapism.

And escapism can look very different depending on the person and the day.

Maybe it's a romance that makes you feel like you're falling in love.

Maybe it's a fantasy that drops you into a world you've never seen.

Maybe it's a boarding school in Alabama that takes you straight back to being a teenager.

That last one happened to me this summer with Looking for Alaska.

It transported me to an Alabama boarding school, but it also transported me back to a very specific emotional place: teenage friendships, first loves, uncertainty, intensity, and all those feelings that seemed enormous when you were young.

It wasn't necessarily a traditional summer read.

But it gave me exactly what I think a great summer book should give us:

A chance to be somewhere else for a while.

Read for the Mood You're In

I think this is where we sometimes make reading more complicated than it needs to be.

There are so many lists telling us what we should be reading. Bestsellers. BookTok favorites. Summer reading lists. Goodreads goals. The books everyone says you absolutely cannot miss.

And those can all be wonderful resources.

But you don't have to read the book everyone else is reading.

You don't have to read 50 books this year.

You don't have to choose the “perfect” book.

Sometimes you just need to ask yourself:

What do I need right now?

Maybe life feels heavy and you need something funny.

Maybe you want romance.

Maybe you want to be scared.

Maybe you want something dark and atmospheric.

Maybe you want to learn something.

Maybe you want a book that completely takes over your brain for three days.

All of those are valid reasons to pick up a book.

And honestly, sometimes the best thing you can do is pick something without knowing much about it at all.

Go in blind.

Pick up the book because the cover caught your attention. Because the first paragraph pulled you in. Because someone recommended it and you trust them.

There is something exciting about not knowing exactly what you're getting into.

You might discover a new favorite that way.

Your Reading Life Belongs to You

I think this is what I've come to appreciate most about reading.

Reading can be so many different things.

It can be entertainment.

It can be comfort.

It can be education.

It can be an escape.

It can make you laugh, make you cry, make you furious, or make you stare at the ceiling at midnight wondering what exactly you just read.

There isn't one right way to do it.

Maybe your summer reading is The Grace Year. Maybe it's The Sunbearer Trials. Maybe it's Binding 13 or An Ember in the Ashes.

Maybe it's the 400-page fantasy you've been carrying around for three months.

Maybe it's a romance you finish in two days.

Maybe you only read one book all summer.

It all counts.

So as summer starts winding down, I'm not really thinking about how many books I've read or whether I picked the books I was “supposed” to read.

I'm thinking about where those books took me.

Because to me, summer reading isn't really about summer. It's about a feeling.

And maybe that's the best part.

You get to decide what that feeling is.