summer reading
I sipped my iced vanilla latte as we waited for the cake we had just bought at Martine’s to be ready. After a few minutes, I heard one of the employees call out, “Read more books!” I was delighted. Because that’s what I’d asked to be piped onto the strawberry champagne cake, everyone in the shop got a directive to read more books.
The cake was for my pizza party back in July, which Loui and I hosted as a reward for our friends who finished Bailey’s 2026 Summer Reading Challenge. The challenge was detailed on invitations that doubled as summer reading logs: Do three bookish things (from reading a book to getting a library card to buying a new journal), write them down, then be rewarded with pizza!
This, of course, was reminiscent of the Pizza Hut Book It! program from our youth. I wanted to reclaim some of that magic this summer. Our party included pizza, of course; a station to take a book recommendation or leave a book recommendation; and making your own bookmarks. It was a lot of fun and might have to become an annual event. And I encourage you to host your own Summer Reading Challenge next year (and check to see if your local library has one, too)!
Here are a few of my favorite entries from our attendees’ reading logs:
Has read Dr. Seuss’s sleep book more than I can count (my sister-in-law, for our niece)
Attempted to read books to the Belle but never got to complete any because she wanted a different book (my brother-in-law, also for our niece)
Read Oathbringer (our friend who brought the gigantic tome to the party to prove it)
Read my first manga, Frieren (me)
Journaled at the Richmond Public Library (my friend and fellow journal-keeper)
And since summer is officially coming to a close this week, here are some of my favorite reads from June, July and August:
Returns and Exchanges by Kayla Rae Whitaker: This is the second novel by a Kentucky author whose first book I first read in college. It’s about a family who owns a grocery story chain.
My Friends by Fredrik Backman: I listened to and enjoyed this book as an audiobook. It’s a lovely novel about lifelong friends.
Angel Down by Daniel Kraus: An astonishing (and disgusting) book about war and an angel who gets shot down during battle.
Fields of Asphodel by Callie Rowland: This is a debut novel by a Kentucky author. I’ll forever love a novel that retells or is inspired by a Greek myth, like this one about the daughter of Hades and Persephone.
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones: Loui had long wanted me to watch the film, so I finally read the book first. Then I watched the movie and was amazed by the visuals but hated some of the changes made to Sophie, the main character. Don’t take away a woman’s witchiness.
And now it’s time to fall into a good book.