There’s something quietly magical about summer reading. Maybe it’s the long, light-filled evenings that invite us to linger outside with a book in hand. Or maybe it’s the way a good story can feel like a little vacation of its own—no travel plans required.
At the Golden, BC, branch of the Okanagan Regional Library, the Summer Reading Club is in full swing.
While it’s designed primarily for kids, its purpose is powerful: to help prevent the “summer slide,” a term educators use to describe the drop in literacy skills that can happen when children are away from the classroom for weeks on end. The club makes reading fun, social, and rewarding—exactly how it should be.
And while the kids are tracking their pages and collecting their stickers, I’ve noticed something quietly satisfying in my own reading habits lately: I’m reading more than I ever have before.
In fact, not long ago, I realized that more than a week had gone by and I hadn’t turned on the television once. Not even for the background hum of news or reruns. I was too deep in stories—swept away by bold characters, curious histories, and the occasional life lesson disguised as adventure.
I read both fiction and nonfiction, but I’ve discovered that my heart beats a little faster for historical fiction, especially the YA (Young Adult) kind.
There’s just something about those fast-paced, emotionally honest narratives that pulls me in. Add a little adventure to the mix, and I’m hooked. Give me a gutsy protagonist, a forgotten era, and a race against time, and I’ll read the hours away with a strong cup of coffee growing cold beside me.
I sometimes wonder what my reading preferences say about me. Maybe I’m still that kid who read under the covers with a flashlight, hungry for escape and discovery.
Perhaps I’m drawn to the courage and resilience of characters navigating challenges much larger than themselves. Or maybe, like a lot of us, I’m just trying to make sense of the present by peering through the lens of the past.
Whatever the reason, I know this much: reading has become one of my greatest joys. It stretches the imagination, sharpens the mind, and, perhaps most importantly, it reminds us that we are never truly alone.
Somewhere out there, someone else has wrestled with the same questions, faced the same fears, or dreamed the same dreams.
So here’s to a summer of reading—for the kids discovering the joy of books for the first time, and for the grown-ups rediscovering that joy all over again.
If you need me, I’ll be in the lounge chair on the front porch—with my nose in a book, and the TV off for just a little while longer.
While the library is an excellent choice, I also recommend the local bookstore, Four Points Books. Their selection is excellent, and the manager sometimes often book reviews:
Book Review: Famous Last Words
Book Review: The Treasure Hunters Club
Book Review: The Heiress
