We are less than 2 weeks away from Memorial Day, the unofficial start of Summer and the Summer Reading lists will start coming fast and furious, so best to get ready now.
Before we dive in, please take a look at this recent article from CNN on the "Birth of the Beach Read."
I wanted to remind you about the PW Summer Reads which came out back in early April. I wrote about it as an awesome resource here. One of the reasons I love the PW Summer Reads is because they make access to years of those lists available on every page, in the header. Click through to see.
Below I will link a couple of the Summer Reading Lists that are already out, but I need to make a very important point about EVERY Summer Reading List-- they are all for books that will be out this summer, but are not available yet. This is extremely important for you to remember as you use these lists to help patrons.
Readers are going to start coming in any day, excited to have more time to read, excited to do your Adult Summer Reading Programs-- whatever the case, they are going to ask for these books, and you are going to have to be the one to tell them that the lists they are seeing everywhere are for books that are not available yet.
Look we know that these lists are meant to generate excitement about books that are coming soon, but the average reader does not understand that they are not out yet. If they see a book on a list, they expect you to have it. We need to be ready in a couple of key ways.
First, we need to know what those lists are and be ready to take holds on those books. And of course, use them to check and make sure everything that is being heavily promoted is actually on order.
Second, and more important for you to know, all of these Summer Reading Lists are not a new phenomenon. The last 2-3 years of lists need to be your go-to resource for these readers right now.
Let me elaborate a bit on that second point. Yes, they will come in asking for the current hot Summer picks, but you need to understand that they bring in these lists because they see these titles as vetted and worth their limited reading time. It is a way for them to start the RA conversation with you. Yes, some times they are excited about a favorite author's latest book, but more often than not, they bring in these lists because the shear number of possible books to read is overwhelming and they need a smaller universe of books to chose from.
The book world knows this and hence, Summer Reading Lists.
But here's the thing, there is no way these readers got to every Summer Reading pick from last year, or the year before. All you have to do is acknowledge that you are aware of the 2024 lists, and then make displays, lists, and direct even suggestions to readers (in person or online) of Summer Reading Hot Picks with titles you DO have on the shelf right now. Titles from those same places but from the last 2-3 years.
So, I am going to alert you to a few of the lists that are worth your time throughout the summer AND provide you with 2-3 backlist years to give you dozens of great suggests for a wide range of readers. But first, visit the PW Summer Reads database to start because it is all there for you on one page.
Also, tomorrow is Library Reads Day and that list will be for June 2024. Remember to use their archive for the top picks from library workers from the summer months of the last few years. Talk about sure bets. These are the titles that library workers were most excited about and you can simply click on any summer month from any year you want here.
Two other big lists are already out as well.
- Goodreads Guide to Summer Reading with lists in a variety of categories and genres.
- Backlist access-- which they don't make easy but I used my own archive to find the links: 2023, 2022
- Barnes and Noble Summer Reading 2024-- very broad list with a lot of categories and includes older titles.
More will be coming, including one of my favorites, the LitHub Ultimate Summer Reading List (a list of the titles on the most lists)-- 2023 and 2022 are here and you can include those in your Summer Reading promotion RIGHT NOW.
So while the curse of list will start coming in a few weeks, get ready now. Have your 2023, 2022, and 2021 Summer Reading picks ready to have out on a "Summer Reading 2024" display right now. Put lists yup online, promote summer reading on your social media. Make these titles easy for your readers to find and start reading. They will thank you.
For more ideas and lists, use my tag for "Summer Reading." I will be tagging more lists all summer as they become available.
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