Play Book Tag discussion

The voting was a bit closer than I expected, but the win was definitive. The tag for next month is:

summer

Please share your reading plans and recommendations below.

Remember, for the regular monthly reads, the book can be shelved as "summer" on Goodreads, or be a book that is not yet shelved that way but you feel should be.

One way to find books to read for this tag is to please visit:

https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...

We encourage people to link to additional lists below if they find them.

Happy Reading!!!

Great. I have already picked my first book to read next month, soon as I return from a short holiday.
Summerlong by Peter S Beagle.

It's one of the very few titles from his list that I haven't read yet.

Here are some additional lists:

https://lithub.com/50-of-the-greatest...
(note some of these have the theme of summer and some do not)

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

I am planning to read:

My Friends by Fredrick Backman. I know we have a lot of interest in a buddy read.

Run for the Hills, the new book by Kevin Wilson. I loved and recommend Nothing to See Here. Most of his books seem to have summer tags, fun, and aren’t in the romance genre.

Long Island by Colm Toibin. This is a follow up to Brooklyn, which fits as well. Both books are partly set in Ireland in the Summer.

Maybe
Summer of '69 by Todd Strasser. I started this for the hippie prompt for Play Harder. I liked it but chose a nonfiction book instead. This was a dramatic year.

And/or
Summer of '69 by Elin Hilderbrand. She seems to be the queen of summer books, so now might be the time to try one.

Planning on:
Audible:
narrated by Andy Serkis

The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King

I have so many which I might read, but here are a few on my list:
American Ramble: A Walk of Memory and Renewal
Treeborne
A Drop in the Ocean
A Sting in the Tale: My Adventures with Bumblebees
The Getaway
You, Me & the Sea

Here are quite few recommendations:
Romance-
The Little Cottage on the Hill
Chasing the Sun
That Camden Summer
When We Believed in Mermaids
The Little Shop in Cornwall

Fiction
Mornings with Rosemary
Dancing with Dragons
Golden Girl
One Summer Day in Rome

Travel
Where the Falcon Flies: A 3,400 Kilometre Odyssey From My Doorstep to the Arctic
Bicycling with Butterflies: My 10,201-Mile Journey Following the Monarch Migration
The Tenth Island: Finding Joy, Beauty, and Unexpected Love in the Azores
The Fallen Stones: Chasing Butterflies, Discovering Mayan Secrets, and Looking for Hope Along the Way

I just started Other Birds, definitely a summer tag. I will have it finished before June however.

I am considering Deep Creek by Dana Hand or The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton. I think both of those will meet my definition of summer tag.

I ordered like 8-10 books from the library including My Friends, and they are all astonishing wait lists.... Have Happiness for Beginners out of the library, and other than that, we will see what comes first... or maybe I see if any of these 8 are available for the speed read. Might do that for the My Friends Buddy read....

Booknblues wrote: "I have so many which I might read, but here are a few on my list:
American Ramble: A Walk of Memory and Renewal
Treeborne
A Drop in the Ocean
[book:A..."

The two books set by the coral reefs in Australia sound particularly appealing to me. I always thought I’d see them one day. I hope it’s not too late.

NancyJ wrote: "Booknblues wrote: "I have so many which I might read, but here are a few on my list:
American Ramble: A Walk of Memory and Renewal
Treeborne
[book:A Drop in the Ocea..."

I read Dancing with Dragons and liked it, so I thought I would try another of her books, A Drop in the Ocean. Dancing is the more recent. It is set at the other end of Australia.

Well, I just read It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey....

I don't think any of my F2F book club books will fit ... but we'll see.

Perhaps ironically, I plan to read Pet Semetary (a creepy Stephen King book that takes place primarily in fall and winter) as my tagged summer read. I guess some people (myself included) think that horror books are fun summertime reading.

Summer Books on My TBR

1) The Beach - Alex Garland
2) My Friends - Fredrik Backman
3) After I Do - Taylor Jenkins Reid
4) Iron Flame - Rebecca Yarros
5) Prodigal Summer - Barbara Kingsolver
6) The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
7) The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway

I might add from the lists provided the Alex Garland Book and the Tove Janssen one The Summer Book

From the books I've already read, and I think have more than a casual link to the season, I have selected for a possible re-read:

David Nicholls – Sweet Sorrow
Hakan Nesser – The Summer of Kim Novak
Edith Wharton – Summer (Annotated): Edith Wharton Romantic Classic
L P Hartley – The Go-Between
J L Carr – A Month in the Country
Cesare Pavese – The Beautiful Summer
Sloan Wilson – A Summer Place
Hermann Raucher – Summer of '42
Robert Heinlein – The Door Into Summer
Ray Bradbury - Dandelion Wine
Robert McCammon - Boy's Life
John Crowley – Engine Summer
William Faulkner – The Reivers
P G Wodehouse – Summer Lightning ... or practically anything else by him
Charles Williams – The Hot Spot
Stephen King – Joyland
Fyodor Dostoevsky – White Nights
Graham Joyce – The Year of the Ladybird
Nina George – The Little Paris Bookshop
Taylor Jenkins Reid – Malibu Rising
Ben Aaronovich - Foxglove Summer

I have ‘Prodigal Summer’ by Barbara Kingsolver as well. This sounds like the occasion for it.

I might also try to grab a beach read - it could take my mind off the morning frosts. (Fortunately no snow yet).

I decided to start with The House in the Cerulean Sea

KateNZ wrote: "I have ‘Prodigal Summer’ by Barbara Kingsolver as well. This sounds like the occasion for it.

I might also try to grab a beach read - it could take my mind off the morning frosts. (Fortunately no..."

That book haunted me for a while. At first I was disappointed because I was expecting the two main characters to become friends (I’m not sure they even met). But many scenes and details stayed with me for a long time. It’s not a mindless summer romance, maybe I’d call it a character study.

I like reading against the season when it’s too hot or cold outside. We had a surprise frost this week and had to bring in many plants. Our neighbor had just opened their pool, and used beach towels to cover the plants.

Amy wrote: "I ordered like 8-10 books from the library including My Friends, and they are all astonishing wait lists.... Have Happiness for Beginners out of the library, and other than that, we will see what c..."

I’ve been juggling long hold lists all year. It hasn’t gone smoothly, but fortunately a few summer books I asked for last winter are finally (or again) about to become available. I like your library’s fast track policy. It removes some of the wasted lag time between borrowers.

I might get A Town Called Solace in time for the Strong Women tag. If not, I’ll suspend the hold once again.

Jen wrote: "Perhaps ironically, I plan to read Pet Semetary (a creepy Stephen King book that takes place primarily in fall and winter) as my tagged summer read. I guess some people (myself included) think that..."

I tend to avoid horror books, but Joyland is a Stephen King book that I have enjoyed and it is definitely set in the summer. It is also a 'coming of age' book, and that is not a favorite theme for me either. Yet, somehow Joyland hit a sweet spot. I liked it.

I'm still working on choices for this tag. It's hard not to trip over nostalgic coming of age sagas with a summer setting.

I think I may turn to Ali Smith's Summer. It probably doesn't matter that I haven't read Spring yet.

I also own Prodigal Summer and Other Birds so I have a range of choices to fit my mood and ability to attend.

Jgrace wrote: "Jen wrote: "Perhaps ironically, I plan to read Pet Semetary (a creepy Stephen King book that takes place primarily in fall and winter) as my tagged summer read. I guess some people (myself included..."

I’m considering a horror book too - Boy’s Life from Algernons list. I started it during a simmer vacation in a year when I had no other time to read.

I’m at the same place in Ali Smith’s books! I think it’s probably safe to skip Spring and go right to Summer. It might not hurt to check some reviews - or AI - to see if others agree. I’ll ask.

====
Some say the subtle clues or links between the books enrich the experience. I’m not convinced that the order would matter for me since the time stretch between books has been so long. I do recall having a lot of questions while reading Autumn (about what was going on during those years politically/ culturally). Maybe the other books will help satisfy those questions?

Coming of age and the summer you will remember your whole life features quite strongly in my previous list, but I can also feel the temptation to pick up next month a 'beach-read', a feel-good story, something to put me in mind of escaping from town and routine.
I have just watched a re-run of 'Dirty Dancing' on a retro TV channel this week, and I thought: this is exactly the kind of story I am hoping to find in these lists.

I am going with some type of connection to "summer" in the title or as a season. Or, if it is on the list Anita posted.

My options are:
The Berry Pickers
Beautiful Ruins
My Friends
The Idiot
The Beach
I Who Have Never Known Men
Gods of Jade and Shadow
Sweet Sorrow
A Hundred Summers
One Summer: America, 1927

I can recommend:
Kings of the Yukon: One Summer Paddling Across the Far North
Summer
The Narrowboat Summer
The Boys of Summer
The Summer Before the War
Summer Light, and Then Comes the Night
Summer of My German Soldier
The Summer Game

Easy peasy choice for me this month.

Nothing says summer to me like hot summer romances, and two of my go-to authors have new books coming out in the next two weeks.

And they both happen to have "summer" in the title.

Till Summer Do Us Part by Meghan Quinn
Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood.

Joy D wrote: "I am going with some type of connection to "summer" in the title or as a season. Or, if it is on the list Anita posted.

My options are:
The Berry Pickers
Beautiful Ruins

I think you might like Gods of Jade and Shadow, it has that same mash-up that I spoke about in my last review, only add Magical Realism to the mix.

I'm pleased since this was my first choice.

You will love that Joanne - House in the Cerulean Sea!!!

I think there is a Giant Buddy Read planned for My Friends.....

For me, I have quite a few choices. But I am going with The Beach at Summerly by Beatriz Williams, Happiness for Beginners by Katharine Center, and the Amalfi Curse. As well as My Friends. Its also really dependent on what comes in from the library and what happens to fit.

Other possibilities
The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce, new
She's Up to No Good
The Retirement Plan
I'll Give You the Sun
Boy's Life
A Drop in the Ocean
Love and Other Words
Small Mercies

I just read the charming June newsletter by Louise Penny, about awkward moments, meeting the King, and wildfires. I haven’t yet read The Grey Wolf, which begins on a warm August morning. What’s one more book added to my long summer list?

Thousands have been evacuated in Canada due to fires. I hope all our members, friends and relatives are safe.

I join with Nancy to wish safety and blessings for our friends in Canada. May they be safe.

Just got on to both review a book and to share with all of you how deeply excited I am for the tag of summer! I have like 12-15 books I am overjoyed to read!!!!! I feel like a kid in a candy store, like the best Tag, and in JUNE! In the start of summer! I would say its like my birthday, but my birthday is at the exact opposite end, in winter. My only regret is that June is just not long enough to read everything I want to. I may not even get to four of my list of 12-15, although I am actually praying for six... And I still have half a book to finish before my June plan begins! But you have one happy girl here!

First up may be either Three Days in June followed by Happiness for Beginners. Or the reverse. I am joining in the My Friends Buddy Read, which I should set up this morning before moving on with my Day, unless someone else has already done so. I plan to also read the Beach in Summerly, and perhaps Compass will take me to Italy to the Amalfi Curse. I am almost done with my audio, too late for Strong Women, but she - Jordan Marsh was the ultimate of Strong Women. Perhaps i finish it today? But my next audio will be Its a Love Story, which apparently is also a quintissential summer read. After that, I think the audio might be Promise Me Sunshine by my beloved Cara Bastone. There are more on my summer list, the Summer of Songbirds comes to mind, as well as the Edge of Summer. But we shall see how far I actually get.... I have some Compass, Trim, and Play Harder books to knock off as well. In any case - your girl here is completely delighted!!!!

Another GREAT banner, Annapi!

I just noticed that on our homepage it still says

The tag for May 2025 is Strong Women. The upcoming tag for June will be voted on starting May 15th.