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Slowing Down for Summer

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Written by: Kelly on June 8, 2015.
Summer has been the time I’ve always used to “catch up” with things, in part because summer always meant Summer Reading Club at the library, which was frantic, fast-paced, and energy zapping. I’d find it incredibly therapeutic to spend free time speeding through book after book in order to be ahead of the reading game. I wanted to be well-read for when fall approached so I could write about the newest and hottest, as well as be prepared to give great reader’s advisory on those new titles.
This is the second year, though, I haven’t been at a library during the summer. I…can’t say I miss it much. I certainly miss working with the teens, and I definitely miss the opportunities afforded in working with people and books, but I don’t miss things like the over-programming, the stress about budgeting, about bureaucracy, about time and energy and being “on,” even when I felt completely and utterly “off.” 
Whereas last summer I was new to my job and learning the ropes, this year, I’m firmly into my routine and my projects. I know how much time is needed to accomplish the necessary things, as well as how much time I have to work on new things. Being away at BEA was an opportunity to think a lot about what I want for this summer, and in reflecting, I realized how valuable summer is not for getting ahead, but instead, for slowing down. 
I’m not going to spend this summer trying to plow through things. I’m not going to pile my to-be-read plans with miles-high stacks of everything coming out this fall so I can be the first to talk about it or know about it. 
Instead, I’m slowing down and investing in reading those back list titles that I’ve always intended to read but have yet to pick up.
I want to slow my roll — and my role! — a bit. There are so many things to know, to read, to think, to reflect, and to share. And the truth is, as much as I’d love to be ahead of the game where I can be, it’s important to realize that this is a thing I can’t and can never control. I don’t have the time to be first, and my prioritizing of energy over time management means that sometimes I don’t have the reserves in me to give everything I want to do the attention it deserves immediately. What’s best for me, I realize, is having a plan but allowing myself plenty of opportunities to be flexible within that plan. 
Despite having read abundantly in middle and high school, despite majoring in English, despite my library science background, there are still so many classics, especially more contemporary titles, I’ve missed out on. I’ve never read Toni Morrison, for one, and this summer I’m changing that, picking up The Bluest Eye. I’ve never read Margaret Atwood’s classic The Handmaid’s Tale, despite knowing how many books I adore reference it or are modern takes on the story. I’ve yet to crack open Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah, even though it’s a book I admire on my shelf every single time I walk by, thinking about how much people I know absolutely adore it. 
There are less “classic-y” titles on my reading plans agenda this summer, too. I just picked up one of Megan Abbott’s earlier noir titles, This Song Is You, after reading and thinking about this great piece on the rise of feminist noir (I read and enjoyed the Larssen series, even though the writing itself left so much to be desired). I’ve got Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects to get through, as well as Night Film, which I think I talked about reading months and months ago. Maybe now is the time to follow through with that plan. 
A handful of unread Haruki Murakami titles are sitting on my shelf, too. I’ve always loved his strange, surreal, magical worlds. I want to fall back into one. 
I went through a big phase of buying backlist YA titles over the last couple of years, too, and I’m eager to dive into them headfirst. Bad Apple by Laura Ruby is one, as well as Rebecca O’Connell’s Myrtle of Willendorf (a recommendation from Liz from years ago I bought and let languish on my shelves) and Laura Kasischke’s Boy Heaven — I read Feathered years ago and still think about it. I admit to never having read S. E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, despite having read some of her other work, and perhaps it’s time to break that tradition, and I should certainly pick up one of the Francesca Lia Block bind-ups I’ve got on my shelf, too. I’m also still working through some Sarah Dessen backlist; I think I have just three left. 
Do I admit here, too, that perhaps I need to finally sit down and read Harry Potter from beginning to end? I made it to book 5 or 6 one summer while I was teaching middle schoolers about Shakespeare — they pressured me to — but it’s become such a cultural reference point that I feel obligated to revisit with a different, perhaps more excited, mindset. 

I’m feeling way less pressure when it comes to reading now, and a big reason is that I’ve made the conscious decision to not just slow down, but to not feel obligated to read everything that’s new. While that still makes up the bulk of my reading diet, I’m much more intentional about my choices. I’m not picking something up just because. Instead, I pick it up because I’m interested in it; I’m reading far more books across genres and styles not because of that. Perhaps it’s changed how I’m blogging a bit, since I don’t write reviews as much as I once did, but it’s changing my reading life for the better. Choosing to be intentional about reading backlist this summer and slowing down to drink in the words, language, and stories makes me even more excited to discover new favorites.

Without doubt, making this choice will encourage more excitement and engagement with those fall titles when I’m ready for them.

What are you reading this summer? What backlist should I be looking into? I am open to YA and adult fiction, as well as really solid, engaging non-fiction — memoirs by people of color or microhistories are especially appealing to me. Tell me your reading plans and what should be on my radar.

Comments

  1. This is great. I definitely feel like I've put books on the back burner that I was SO excited for in order to read the newest and latest. This summer im going to read a mix of both what I desperately want to read and what is coming out that I want to be a part of the dialogue.

    • This! I'm keeping my reading of the newest/upcoming to things I really want to love and talk about with passion. So it'll be slower, but better because of it. And the time to catch up on the things I've put off or missed is so appealing.

  2. It was great to read this, because it is very similar to my reading goals for the summer. As a children's librarian, I read a ton of children's books (which I adore), but wanted to spend the summer reading adult and teen books I never get the chance to pick up. I'm also trying to read books that take some time to get through and allow me to get lost in their worlds. Murakami is great for that–I should add one of his to my to-read list. I also want to re-read more, which is something I almost never get to do. Cheers to a summer of intentional reading!

    • Yes!! The whole idea of taking the TIME to get lost in the books you've not caught yet is so appealing. I just began the Morrison and for the first time since probably college I'm reading with a pen. It's really refreshing to mark things in a way that's not a quick page fold. An entirely different type of "active" reading.

      If you haven't read Murakami before, a really good starting point might be After Dark, which is quite accessible. It might not be his *best* but it's easiest to fall into. I also love Hard-Boiled Wonderland.

      I began this year with a reread of my favorite book — an adult lit fic title — and it really set a good tone for the year, I think. Rereading can be so rewarding.

    • Thanks for the Murakami recommendation. I loved Hard-Boiled Wonderland (perhaps one of my favorite books ever), but haven't read After Dark yet. Will have to check it out posthaste!

  3. I too am trying to restrain myself from creating a pile that is impossible to actually plow through. I want to take time and enjoy books this summer. It's hard to face the idea that I will not and simply cannot read all of the books that I want to read, but I'm trying to keep my pile under control. I would highly recommend Americanah.

    • Yes! This is exactly what I had to face: I know I won't get through all that I want to, so I really need to just stop pressuring myself, be more intentional, and enjoy the reading AS I'm reading, rather than worrying about what next. Those books will still be there when I'm ready for them.

  4. I felt the same about The Handmaid's Tale, but tried it and couldn't get into it. I am going to try some other classics, like Slaughterhouse Five which I can't believe I'd never read. Good luck with your summer plans of slowing down! I'm trying to read more, but more of what is already on my TBR along with all my e-galleys.

    • I read Slaughterhouse Five in high school and enjoyed it, and I went on to read quite a bit more Vonnegut in college and grad school for fun. Though I haven't touched his work since (I had a really neat moment discovering a signed galley of his while working on an archives project in grad school, so he's always ~had a place in my heart~).

  5. My summer reading pile — which I may or may not get too — is almost all backlist. I'm glad about that too. It's nice to pick up things that lots of other people can read and engage with. And I don't feel like I need to be as methodical because I'm not as worried about a review. Yay for summer slowdowns.

    • Yes! And having made the conscious decision not to worry about reviewing in general has definitely helped me with the slowing down and reading for myself. Like you said, one of the great things about reading backlist is that you do get a level of engagement and discussion with others that you don't necessarily get when you're reading the newest or greatest, and there's something really neat and rewarding about that.

  6. I agree that Margaret Atwood books can be hard to get into, I have not read The Handmaid's tale either, but so far I have found that Oryx and Crake is my fav by her so far. One book I am recommending for a YA summer read is The Dragonfly Guardian by Angela Antaloczy. It is a suspenseful story that I really enjoyed.