Summer Beach Reads
How to pick the perfect beach read: get a book and go to the beach!
Reading for Life
I grew up in a household where we were constantly asked what book we reading and if we needed to go to the library to get new books. As a child, the end of the school year meant the beginning of the library summer reading program that commenced with my mom driving us to the Western Springs Village Library to sign up for the summer reading program and get our first stack of books for the summer. So many of my childhood memories involve time spent at the library searching the shelves for a new book to get lost in.
The Library Book
I recently read The Library Book by Susan Orlean, the author of The Orchid Theif (another amazing book), and found myself walking down memory lane with the local libraries of my past. Like the L.A. Central Library in Susan’s book, my memories of the Western Springs (WS) library were not just of checking out books for the summer reading program. As Orlean points out in her book, the library was a place of gathering where movies were shown and holiday crafting activities took place (I still have some of my art projects from the library). When I became older, the library was a place that my friends and I gathered to work on school research projects. Whenever we moved, signing up for a library card was one of the first things we did. It is a tradition that I have carried into my adult life, having belonged to libraries as far as Louisiana and Virginia thanks to all of my work travels.
Going Digital
I have not bought a book in over 10 years thanks to Overdrive digital libraries. As an avid reader, you can imagine home much money I would have invested in books in the past three decades if it were not for my library card! Having the Overdrive app on my phone to not only take the current book that I am reading with me where ever I go, but to have multiple books on a device that fits in my pocket would have been mind blowing to the little girl checking out a stack of 12 books at the WS library c.1989. I think my only complaint about OverDrive is that they need to get more copies of popular books. Sometimes I am #400 in the hold line on 1 of 4 copies of a book, which is a bummer, but if I really wanted to read that particular book sooner than later, then Amazon can usually hook me up instantly with the e-book or audio book I desire.
Not Just for Kids
Last summer, I discovered that the Santa Barbara Public Library has an adult summer reading program! For every book that you log into your library summer reading account as having read, you are entered into a drawing for gift certificates to local restaurants and bars, which is definitely my kind of summer reading incentive! The 2019 adult summer reading program starts today, June 1st, so sign up and start logging those books!
A Good Read
When I am in search of a good book to read, I usually start in OverDrive by looking at other books written by authors whose books I have read and liked. I also use the Costco Connections Magazine’s book section to look for titles to add to my reading list.
In the past year, I have gotten into Reese’s Hello Sunshine Book Club. While it is rare that I am able to get current month’s book club book from OverDrive, I am at least able to put it on my hold list and enjoy it a few weeks later than the rest of the Hello Sunshine Book Club.
I also follow some of my favorite authors on Instagram and add the books that they post about reading to my reading list. My thought process is that if an author I like is posting about a book they are reading and recommend, then I will probably enjoy that book, too!
Recommendations
Check out the Posh4Pennies Book Club for books that I have read, loved, and can’t stop reccommending!
