While there may be three more weeks of summer (or possibly more in Colorado if this heat never lets up), my personal calendar has summer ending on September 1st. The CU semester started on Thursday, August 20th, and we are now well into the Fall 2026 semester.
You may recall that my theme for this summer was Summer of Tsundoku: 2026 edition. Tsundoku is a Japanese term for books that pile up on your bookshelf to read later, and it was my goal to clear my shelf and read those books!
My Summer of Tsundoku 2025 was not as successful as I hoped, so I went into this summer with more focus and motivation to get through my pile of books. I had identified 36 books in total, and a few surprised me later on because I had requested them through inter-library loan and they finally came through (Famesick and Yesteryear, I’m looking at you).
Drumroll, please ….
I did it!
Sort of.
This summer, I read 41 books! And I’m on track to finish another one by the end of the week. The “sort of” part comes in because several of those books were NOT in the original pile, and thus, the original pile still has a handful of books left. No, I’m not going to tell you which ones because I don’t want to hurt those books’ feelings, and it’s not personal at all.
Have no fear, I will be reading those books next!
How did I read 41 books this summer? It helped that I stayed off all social media in May and June, and then in August I did a social media and news fast as my yearly birthday gift to myself! Traveling to Alaska also gave me ample time to read. One of my happiest times on the trip was having my family around me as I stared out the window of a bus driving from Anchorage to Seward (I think that’s where we got on the cruise ship) and listening to an audiobook as the Alaskan coast flew by.
Another way I read 41 books was to always have a book available, which meant I had an e-book and audiobook on my phone and a paperback or hardback in my backpack or on the couch.
The books I read were all so different from each other, so it’s hard to say which was my absolute favorite. But if I had to choose or I would die (dramatic, I know, but it forces me to make the choice), I would go with Bad Badger: A Family Story by Maryrose Wood. I know a friendship story between a badger and a seagull isn’t going to be for everyone, but among books I like best, this one had it all: talking animals, silliness, poignancy, and heart.
Other books I read this summer that were not on my original list include: The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal, PhD (no relationship to Minerva McGonigal, sadly); 1984 by George Orwell (read by request because Heath also read it this summer and he wanted someone to talk to about it); Three Blue Hearts by Lynne Kelly (a lovely MG story about a boy who befriends an octopus that I read because I needed an e-book at this one was available via the Libby app), Fatal Glitch: Camp Zero by Erin Entrada Kelly (see previous reason); Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (which should have been on my original list because it was on my bookshelf waiting to be read and I overlooked it); Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan (read by my Romancing the Tropes book club in July and the best audiobook romance I have ever listened to); How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly (my book club’s June pick); Maxi’s Secret by Lynn Poudre (same reason as Inheritance Games); Famesick by Lena Dunhan (I was 85 on the waitlist and my time finally came), and Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (see previous reason).
It was a wonderful way to spend the summer! I’m looking forward to an autumn of prioritizing writing over reading, but you better believe my Summer of Tsundoku momentum is going to keep me going until I finish all the books on my original list.
And, of course, there will be new acquisitions to the bookshelf to keep me reading through the fall, winter, and spring, and then I expect it will be time for Summer of Tsundoku: 2027 edition.
If you have a book recommendation, I would love to hear it!
