Tag Archives: Summer

That's A Wrap: Summer of Tsundoku 2026 edition 1

That’s A Wrap: Summer of Tsundoku 2026 edition

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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!

Two stacks of books next to each other; one stack is about two times higher than the other

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.

An illustrated cover of a children's book, with an upright badger wearing a cardigan, holding two baby sea gulls.

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).

That's A Wrap: Summer of Tsundoku 2026 edition 2

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!

 

Two stacks of books side by side. The right stack is twice as high as the left stack.

Summer of Tsundoku, 2026 edition!

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Is it too early to be planning my summer? Perhaps if I lived seasonally, then yes, it is.

However, I live academically, and the semester officially ended last week. WOHOO!

So I consider May-August my own personal summer.

To be clear, I don’t stop working during May-August; and I am teaching in the second summer session from June 30-July 31. However, I certainly have more free time during these next few months, even with the summer session.

This summer, I also expect to have more free time because I am now on day 40 of a social media fast and a news diet (where I only read the news delivered to my inbox every Friday in a roundup of the most important stories). It’s amazing how much time opens up when you kill two activities that can accidentally turn into hours wasted.

What am I going to do with all my time? The same thing I did last summer! My friends, welcome to the Summer of Tsundoku, 2026 edition!

Tsundoku is a Japanese word for accumulating books and not reading them. For years, while we were nomads, I hardly ever kept books because they were so heavy to move from place to place. Now that we’ve been in Colorado for nearly two years, my minimalist ways have lapsed a bit when it comes to books.

The cognitive dissonance of being a minimalist while having a stuffed bookcase is quite uncomfortable, and since I am not going to shed my minimalist identity, my only choice is to read more books.

How did I get so many books?

I blame myself, of course, as I am the commander of my own behavior, as well as my desire to be a good literary citizen by supporting authors I know and/or like when they have new books come out. There’s also reading for the sake of my writing, in terms of improving craft and finding comp titles to share with my agent. Oh, and let’s not forget my writing accountability/critique partner is a more prolific reader than I am, and generously shares her books with me. Throw in the free little library by our house (as well as any free little library I come across) and my love of the Lafayette Library, which, in addition to offering a wealth of books to check out at my leisure, also offers a perpetual book sale to raise money to support itself, and it’s a perfect storm for Tsundoku.

As of May 1st, there were 36 books on my Summer of Tsundoku TBR list. You can see most of the books here:

Two stacks of books next to each other; one stack is about two times higher than the other

Missing from this stack are Bad Badger: A Family Story by Maryrose Wood and illustrator Giulia Ghigini, a sequel to a book I adored so much in 2025 that I pre-ordered it weeks ago (publication date was May 5, 2026, and it’s currently on its way!),

An illustrated cover of a children's book, with an upright badger wearing a cardigan, holding two baby sea gulls.

and You’ve Been Pooping All Wrong: How to Make Your Bowel Movements a Joy by Trisha Pasricha, MD, MPH, a book that I am WILDLY EMBARRASSED to tell you about, but a book that is hands-down (or cheeks up*) one of the most entertaining, interesting, and informative non-fiction books I have EVER listened to, to the point that I am willing to overlook my embarrassment and share this book with anyone who wants to listen.

A book cover with blue text on a white background. There are also two side by side rolls of toilet paper and underneath the rolls are a curved line to indicate a smile

Seriously, get yourself a copy, or better yet, get the audio version because it’s narrated by the author, and she did a stellar job. I enjoyed the book so much that I will be buying a copy to keep (and read again), as well as getting one for my niece when I see her next week.

Anyway, as that book was an audiobook on my list, I couldn’t stack it on my crates.

For anyone wondering, yes, I believe 36 is a ridiculously high number, and, yes, I fully expect to fall short of the goal. My current reading pace in 2026 is an average of 6 books a month. Realistically, that would put me at 24 books by September 1. However, I like to aim high because you never know!

Also, as this is Mother’s Day, a special shout-out to my mom, who instilled this love of reading and books in me. I wouldn’t be able to consider 36 books this summer without her commitment to literacy in my life.

Let the Summer of Tsundoku begin!

*Credit for this joke goes to Charlaine Harris in Dead to the World, my favorite of the Sookie Stackhouse books (which I will likely listen to again this summer, but aren’t on my list because I use them as bedtime audio stories to help me fall asleep, and don’t give them my full attention).

Never the Wrong Decision! 3

Never the Wrong Decision!

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Since moving to Lafayette, Colorado, one of my favorite activities is walking around Waneka Lake. This lake has everything – the Rocky Mountains in the backdrop, pelicans, egrets, herons, raptors, ducks, red-winged black birds, and more, bunnies galore, and plenty of humans walking their dogs, so I can say hi to all of them and even be welcomed to pet some of them. I could not ask for a better way to start my day.

Never the Wrong Decision! 4

Which is why I walked around the lake every morning this summer for seven weeks straight! Now, I do a lot of mental and physical health care in my mornings. I meditate, move, write, and, most importantly, stay off my phone, with the occasional exception of playing Wordle, Connections, and Strands when my brain needs a quicker dopamine hit.

Speaking of Wordle, I guessed it on my first try yesterday!

Never the Wrong Decision! 5

Anyway, all these morning behaviors take up quite a bit of time. It’s a luxury over the summer to have the time to be so leisurely. Such is the privilege of being a college professor.

Alas, once the start of the fall semester crept closer in August, my morning walks went back to my originally scheduled goal of “walk around Waneka Lakes two to five times per week.” Two is the bare minimum that would still make me feel like I’m connecting with my local community, landscape, and nature.

I still remember the disappointment I felt on August 11th when I had to make the difficult choice of prioritizing what morning activities to do. That was the first time since June 4th that I didn’t walk around the lake that morning.

Never the Wrong Decision! 6

So it begins, I thought.

I knew the first day of not walking around was coming. That didn’t make it any easier.

Since then, I’ve kept up with my original goal. I walk around the lake a minimum of two times per week, and sometimes I’m still able to get in three to four walks. Some mornings it’s a tough call – do I walk around the lake, lift weights, spend the time with Heath before he heads to his job, work on writing, etc.

Without fail, every time I choose to prioritize walking around the lake, I have the same thought: this is never the wrong decision.

Today was the first day in a long time when I’ve felt breathing room in my upcoming week, and so I didn’t have to worry about prioritizing one of my morning rituals when deciding how to spend my time. Even though it’s the first truly cold day of the fall (a brisk 25 degrees Fahrenheit), I relished the crispness of the air and the bite of the cold against my nose.

Within minutes of being on the lake path, I said hello to a woman with her dog in a dapper red sweater, waved at a jogger, and marveled at how clear the Rockies looked in the distance. As I rounded the top of the lake, words started flowing for the manuscript I’m working on for Novel November to the point that I had to stop at a bench, take off my mittens, and type away on my phone, lest I forget the ideas by the time I got back home to my computer.

Yep. Never the wrong decision.

As I was walking around the lake this morning, I wondered what it would be like if I set myself the goal of walking around the lake every morning. That would likely mean I would have to let go of something else in my mornings. I wasn’t opposed to it, but I also wasn’t sure how that would play out in real life. It’s something I’m going to think about as my 2025 comes to a close and I consider how I want to spend the next calendar year of my life.

In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy the lake as much as I can.

Never the Wrong Decision! 7

How I Spent My Summer Vacation 8

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

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Fall is quickly approaching, and that means summer is on its way out. Which means there’s no time like the present to reflect on how I spent my summer vacation.

While this summer included trips to North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma, visiting with family and friends, and teaching in the second summer session, where, yes, I did allow dogs to come to class (see photos at the top of this blog post for a hodgpodge look at my summer), my main goal was to read lots of books. I decided this would be my summer of Tsundoku, a Japanese term related to having a lot of books but not reading them.

For me, this meant that I would ONLY read books I already had on my bookshelf (physical and virtual via the Libby library app). I would not buy anything new, I would not make any new requests from the library (again, physical and virtual), nor would I check out any new library book, and I wouldn’t peruse the Free Little Libraries in my neighborhood for free book gems.

I would, however, read any library book that I had previously requested and came in during the summer months. Most of those books were delivered via Libby, and some of them I had requested months ago and then kept letting the next person in line read them while I waited for a “better time.” If summer’s not a better time, then I don’t know when it will be!

I also made an exception for my Romance Trope Book Club, which selects a different book each month for discussion. I could cheerfully request those books from the library.

And let me tell you – it was SO HARD to walk into my library to pick up each book club book and not check out any other book. As a form of torture, I allowed myself to look at all the new books on display.

Lastly, I had a few required reading books, as I led two different summer-long workshop series that used Atomic Habits as our “textbook,” and I co-hosted a Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators workshop that featured NY-Times Best-selling author Megan E. Freeman, so, of course, I had to read her latest.

You may think that with all my exceptions, I wouldn’t have time to read anything I set out to. Well, I did read a lot from my shelves.

A collage of book covers

A collage of book covers A collage of book covers

I really thought I would end up reading more. There are still at least 10 more books on my bookshelf just waiting for their turn.

Unfortunately, they might end up waiting a while because I officially ended my Summer of Tsundoku on September 1st, which was the plan all along, given the start of the fall semester. This past Friday, when I went to the library, I checked out three books I’m really excited about, and there were so many more just waiting for me! I will never get over the idea that libraries are free books for anyone who wants to read them.

I also didn’t fully keep my word about not acquiring any new books this summer. I’m not too concerned because the first book I acquired was by a debut YA author whom I met at an indie bookstore in Denver for one of her book release events. The second book was a Hank the Cowdog book that I bought at the Cimarron Heritage Center in Boise City, OK, as a way to support their museum efforts.

A life-sized sculpture of an apatosaurus and an interpretive sign that reads

I’m hoping that even with the start of the semester, I’ll be reading more this fall. As is my usual tradition, I gave myself the gift of a month-long break from social media for my birthday in August. Since then, I’ve only dipped my toe in once this month, and it reminded me of why I take breaks in the first place. So, theoretically, I should have more free time. Not enough for an Autumn of Tsundoku, with all the other books I want/need to read, but enough that I should get through at least two or three more books on my shelves.

Here’s hoping.

Enjoy the remaining days of summer, everyone!