Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books That Make Me Think of Summer & Tell Me Something Tuesday: Do you have any summer plans? If not, what would you like to do?



Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. 

Dropping in to say hi and attempt to participate in this week's Top Ten Tuesday. Though we are supposed to share books on our summer to-read lists, I have been in such a reading lull that there seemed to be no value in talking about the same books again. However, I would love to share something I heard while listening to a book yesterday that will forever change how I approach reading. 

While listening to Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman in my car, my ears immediately perked up when he said that instead of seeing the unread books in our TBR piles as sitting in some collection bucket to be emptied, we should treat our TBR piles like a river-- a flowing stream of possibilities you can dip into and choose what you feel like reading, letting the rest float on by. Why have I not thought of this before? Just think how freeing that would be. 

In honor of this new enlightenment, I am simply sharing books that make me think of summer, because vacation is inching closer to reality, and these books make me want to embrace summer even more than I did a week ago.

Top Ten Books That Make Me Think of Summer

1. The Beach Trees by Karen White
2. Sunset on Moonlight Beach by Sheila Roberts
3. Summer of Secrets by Charlotte Hubbard
4. Beach Read by Emily Henry
5. The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
6. A Summer to Remember by Mary Balogh
7. The Summer of Lost and Found by Mary Alice Monroe
8. The Summer Cottage by Viola Shipman
9. The Bookshop by the Shore by Jenny Colgan
10. The Secret Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams

Photo credit to articular on Magnific (formerly FreePik)



Tell Me Something Tuesday (TMST) is hosted by Jen Twimom at That's What I'm Talking AboutTMST is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Participation is optional, and you can leave your comments in the weekly post when you participate. Check it out if you're interested in joining.

Tell Me Something Tuesday asks: Do you have any summer plans? If not, what would you like to do?

My goal this first week of summer is to stay out of jail if someone’s chewing is so loud I might commit a felony. Do I sound stressed? 

In all seriousness, I am looking forward to our annual family trip to the Outer Banks. We leave Friday evening, will stay in a hotel, and then finish the trip to the OBX Saturday. That is the joy of taking two weeks off--well, as off as a totally connected real estate agent can pretend to be. But working from the beach house is definitely different. Now, if I learn how to carry back home some of those vacation boundaries and implement them here, I will be much better off. 

How about you? Any plans this summer? Any day trips? Those can't be overrated. They can often be just what we need. Any family reunions in the plans? Inquiring minds want to know. 

7 comments:

  1. I love reading books set in the summertime! Enjoy your vacation.

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  2. I love that idea of our TBRs to be like a flowing stream <3 helps take some of the pressure off!

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  3. I am sorry to hear you have been so stressed! I hope your vacation is exactly what you need, and you find time to enjoy some reading!

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  4. I read the Colgan and Adams books earlier this year and enjoyed them both.
    Here's my TTT for this week: https://readbakecreate.com/summer-2026-tbr-ten-books-i-hope-to-read/

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  5. I love that analogy about TBRs being flowing streams! I have two TBRs. My short list which is just my next reads, and the other is my giant "all these books sound good!" which I definitely treat as a stream to grab books from when I don't know what else to read!

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  6. I love that analogy about our TBR being like a river to dip into. I hope you decide to read some of those summery books. My summer plans start tomorrow with a 3 day drive to Halifax, Nova Scotia to visit my daughter. I will also be going to many different plays and musicals around Southern Ontario. I hope you have a wonderful summer.

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  7. I hope that you can unwind and destress a bit on your vacation. And maybe find your reading mojo!

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Thank you for your comments and loyal readership.