My Summer TBR Pile – ft. a tower of books which will probably kill me

good morning, cyberspace!

I woke up the other morning to sunshine gleaming through my window, birdsong sparkling through the air, and the sound and smell (yes, smell) of the air conditioner filtering through the house.

In other words, summer is nigh upon us, and I figured it’s time to start plotting out which books I want to read this season!

I don’t know the logistics behind it, but I find that my excitement for reading strengthens tenfold during the summer. It’s like even though my life gets busier, I’m STILL able to find more time to read than I do during the winter/spring. It literally makes no sense, and yet…? I’m oddly okay with this. XD I love reading. I love summer. And sitting out on my front porch with a good book in my lap and a cat clawing at my feet is literally one of the best ways to spend my free time. #selfcare

So! Over the past few days I’ve been scribbling down which books I’d like to read during the summer, and today, I thought I’d share that (rather extensive) list with you all! Obviously it will be a miracle if I even end up reading HALF of the books on this list, but as of right now, I’m confident I can read at least three of them.

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I’m a relatively slow reader, okay, don’t judge me. XD

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MY SUMMER TBR PILE

THE NEWBIES

THE LIGHTNING THIEF by Rick Riordan

Believe it or not, I have yet to finish a Percy Jackson novel. …or anything written by Rick Riordan, for that matter. And I KNOW this is basically an atrocity to all reader-kind, of course, but allow me to explain the why’s behind it:

In a similar vein to the way Harry Potter was frowned upon in many Christian communities when it first came forth (unless you, like my family, realized it’s actually super cool and became lowkey obsessed with it), I always kind of looked at Percy Jackson–which is filled with Greek Mythology–and thought, “huh. blasphemous.” And I’m really not sure why I ever thought this, because it’s just mythology. The concept of such things is actually highly intriguing to most individuals. But there was something about it that made me feel funny, and therefore I stuck to Hogwarts and wizardry and stayed far, FAAAAAAR away from Camp Half-Blood. (because reading about witchcraft is so much more normal than reading about a kid who’s the son of Poseidon [or whoever Percy is related to. I think it’s the fish-dude {anyway. moving on.}])

But now that I’m a little bit older and a little bit wiser, I’ve since realized that I seriously missed out when it comes to the Percy Jackson stories. It’s essentially a classic Middle Grade series, and I–being the odd child that I was–completely passed it by. So now that I’m in my 20’s and clearly much more mature than I was all those years ago, I’m gonna read the book with the fish boy and the fawn kid with the funny boots. (I feel like I’m totally butchering this storyline, but HUZZAH. we shall see just how much of this I got right once I start reading. XD)

PETER PAN by JM Barrie

Believe it or not, despite my severe and unquenchable love for Peter Pan, I’ve never actually read Peter Pan. And this is CLEARLY an abomination which must be fixed immediately. I can’t go around touting a love for something I’ve technically never read, now can I?

(I mean, obviously I can because I’ve been doing it for years now but SHUSH. No one needs to think about this that hard. It’s fine. Everything is totally fine.)

Ahem. Moving on.

KING’S WARRIOR by Jenelle Schmidt (audiobook)

Okay, so this is one that I’m SO SO excited about. Jenelle’s fantasy series, Minstrel’s Song, JUST finished releasing in audiobook format, and it is my desire to read ALL of the audiobooks this year. But specifically this summer. XD

I have 20 minute long commutes to work (both ways), so that’s a total of 40 minutes of drive time every single time I’m scheduled to work. Despite the fact that I normally listen to music on my way to and from the coffee shop, it has since come to my attention that my time may be better spent jamming out to some super cool audiobooks–specifically ones about dragons and fantastical lands and SWORDS AND FIGHTING AND–

….to be honest, I’m a little nervous that I’ll get so emotionally invested in the story that I’ll crash, but eh. It’s fine. At least I’ll be slaying a dragon at the same time. XD

Okay okay, but in all seriousness, I really want to try listening to audiobooks during my drives! If I can listen to my ’tis but a bop playlist with my windows down while screaming Crocodile Rock at the top of my lungs, I’m pretty sure I can listen to an audiobook without anything truly awful happening.

…right? Right.

GEMINA by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kauffman

I read the first book in this series during the very beginnings of the *cough* plague *cough*. And for anyone who has read ILLUMINAE, I’m sure you can understand why reading such a book during a time in which a global pandemic was raging around the universe was scarring to say the least. I am therefore prone to believe that anything which happens in this series will inexplicably come to life and affect my real world whenever I read it. It’s a very terrifying situation I’ve found myself within, my friends.

But alas. We are going to continue along with the series, nevertheless. XD I sincerely apologize to anyone who has read GEMINA and knows the horrors which I’m about to release upon the real world. I simply cannot resist reading this novel any longer, I’m afraid.

THE REREADS

HARRY POTTER YEARS 4-7

Technically these are all rereads, and I SUPPOSE if I wanted to challenge myself less, I could just….delete these from my TBR. But, guys, I’m SO excited to be rereading this series, and I can’t possibly put it down now! My lovely friend, Christine, has been buddy reading these books with me, and it is just such a breath of fresh air for me right now. Getting to re-experience the world of Harry Potter with such a dear friend has been an experience of a lifetime.

I also just finished reading Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, and getting to see Remus and Sirius again made my heart oh so happy! While I love all of the Harry Potter’s dearly, Year 3 is definitely my favorite. There’s something about that book that just fills me with all of the warm fuzzies. XD

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talk to me, peasants!

And there you have it–my summer 2021 TBR pile! I’m absolutely positive I won’t be able to read ALL of these before the sun sets on the last day of summer, but like … a girl can dream, right? XD

So! What kinds of books are YOU planning on reading over the next few months? Pop down into the comments and tell me all about your wildest reading adventures! And until next time, as always…

*flings cookies in the air and disappears*

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