Summer Reading--It's Back!

In case you couldn't tell from the weather, it's time for summer reading again.  Time to get yourself, your teens, and your wee ones back into the library, sign up for the summer reading program, and get some good books to read.

Maybe I was a weird perch librarian in the making, but I always loved summer reading when I was a kid (and yes, I did participate in my local library's summer reading program every year).  Three months of no school and no teachers telling me what I needed to read meant that I could dive into any book my little heart desired.  And with both of my parents busy working, books not only entertained me and kept me out of trouble, they also improved my reading skills, though I didn't know it at the time.

As an adult, I read books of my choosing throughout the year, but summer reading just has its own special feel to it.  I think of reading a good, engaging book sitting in the shade of my back patio with a light breeze blowing, or under a tree by the lake with the water gently lapping, or by the oceanside with the scent of salty air filling my nostrils.  Summer is just a great time to slow down and relax with something good to read.

And if you're looking for some new good reads this summer, allow me to offer the following suggestions:

• Adults--Inferno (Dan Brown), A Step of Faith (Richard Paul Evans) And the Mountains Echoed (Khaled Hosseini), Life Below Stairs (Alison Maloney), The End of Your Life Book Club (Will Schwalbe)
• Teens--The Diviners (Libba Bray), Mila 2.0 (Debra Driza), The Fault In Our Stars (John Green), Out of The Easy (Ruta Sepetys), The Program (Suzanne Young)
• Kids--The Book Boat's In (Cynthia Cotten), Little Cub (Olivier Dunrea), There Was a Tree (Rachel Isadora), Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping (Melanie Watt), Penguin On Vacation (Salina Yoon)

Happy reading from the perch!