Enough books to spend the whole summer at the beach. Who needs a job, anyway?
Now that it’s officially summer, we’ve compiled summer reading lists, articles, and recommendations from around the Web to guide you and your family through a happy summer full of books. Grouped by age, the lists include everything from classics to guilty pleasure reads, so there’s no excuse for heading to the pool empty handed.
KIDS
- Family Education has reading lists galore, grouped by age and category. Whether you’re looking for the perfect book for a two-year-old or “Folklore and Fairy Tales,” they’ve got you covered.
- The New York Public Libraries Summer Reading 2010 site is a hub of book recommendations that spans ages and genres. It’s not the easiest site to navigate, but its “Booklists” links lead to long lists with thorough descriptions.
- If your child has already made his or her way through the library and is looking for something new, MetroKids features the 48 best children’s books of the past 12 months (originally selected by The Horn Book). Arranged by reading level, the list leaves classics behind and offers a refreshing taste of recent children’s literature.
TEENS
- The “Ultimate Teen Reading List” at TeenReads is designed to inspire teens to keep reading when school’s out. It’s updated frequently and includes authors as diverse as Ray Bradbury, John Green, Scott Westerfeld, and John Steinbeck.
- The New York Public Library includes teens in its Summer Reading 2010 site with several young adult booklists. From graphic novels to “Favorite Teenage Angst Books,” the lists reach out to all types of teen readers.
ADULTS
- For adults that like to keep their summer reading literary, NPR offers a list of “Summer Books That Make the Critics’ Cut.” Literary critics John Freeman (editor of Granta), Laura Miller (book reviewer for Salon), and Troy Patterson (Slate) suggest six summer books that will transport you without damaging your literary street cred.
- Then there are those of us who agree with NY Times book reviewer Janet Maslin, who wrote, “Memorial Day marks the start of a special season: the time to stop lying about what you read for fun.” In response, NY Times online readers confessed their summer reading behavior to the Arts Beat blog post, “Summer Books: What’s in Your Beach Bag?“
- Fans of the Oprah Book Club will enjoy the “2010 Summer Reading List” from O: the Oprah Magazine. The list features a mix of historical fiction, nonfiction, and realism to appeal to a broad range of readers.
- And if you see summer as an opportunity to catch up on all the great books you haven’t had the chance to read, look to the Millions’ “Best Fiction of the Millennium (So Far).” The list gives a quick rundown (voted on by readers) of the hottest titles of the past decade, from Cloud Atlas to Gilead.
There are, of course, more reading lists out there, but these offer a ton of selection and should be enough to get you started. Don’t forget the sunscreen!
*************
Want to know more about us? Check out “What is Books & Authors and Why Should You Care
