Summer naturally brings with it more time and opportunities for family activities. From baseball games to backyard camping, families across America take this opportunity to get out of the 9-5 grind and mounting schoolwork. Families take off into their own worlds and adventures by roasting marshmallows while reciting ghost stories and exploring their city from the intertwining bike paths often overlooked in their drearier months. And while many schools and libraries offer (or require) some form of summer reading, I have found it is much more rewarding to do so as a family.

My family has been doing summer reading as long as I can remember. We would end our days having cleaned up from dinner and gathered out on our front porch, each taking turns reading aloud as the rest of us followed along. If you were to go to our home and look through the copious book collection/library/hoard it would be easy to figure out which books were part of this tradition rather simply. There were 4 copies.

As far as my sister and I can recall, it all started with The Twenty One Balloons by William Pène du Bois.

The book begins with an exposition on the two types of journeys man can take: one with a set destination by way of shortest route and one with no duration or destination in mind. The second type of journey is the one most heavily favored by those interested in balloon travel. The Twenty-One Balloons is the story of a retired professor, William Waterman Sherman, attempting to fly across the Pacific Ocean in a specially-crafted balloon house. He runs into an issue and ends up crashed onto the island of Krakatoa- an island left alone in the middle of the ocean with a highly kept secret. And, as it is the journey that matters, more than the destination, I will leave you with that hook.

“Half of this story is true and the other half might very well have happened.”

A classic through and through, The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien, was a fun read for the family. While the trilogy movie expounded on many parts of the tale, this prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a wonderful introduction to the concepts of fantasy. With catchy tunes, inspired riddles, and a varied cast of races, Bilbo’s adventure encompasses some of the most well-remembered beginnings of an-ongoing fantasy obsession. And the illustrated version by Michael Hague includes some stunning recreations of iconic scenes to allow Tolkien’s sometimes overly descriptive settings come to life.

Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking.

The Giver by Lois Lowry was probably the first book I remember challenging social norms. With a rather understandable main character in Jonas, the story of a community intent on maintaining status-quo by sacrificing individual choice is filled with potential life lessons. The Giver is the start of a beautiful dystopian quartet.

Is it truly better to maintain everyone in their “correct” lot in life rather than allow them the freedom to choose themselves?

Memories need to be shared.

This tradition continued every year with such entries as A Wrinkle in Time, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and Redwall. Fast forward fifteen years and we’re still doing these but now we’ve turned our attentions to a more set genre: thriller/who-dun-it. We’ve read Nine Perfect Strangers, The Paris Apartment, Rewind, and our latest: The Housemaid.

We have traveled through time revisiting regrets, we’ve visited the dark side of Paris and a Psycho-inspired seaside cabin. We have met some despicable characters and not-always-wrong antagonists. We have always accused the butler- even when there wasn’t a butler to accuse. And we have discovered the truth, as convoluted as it might have been occasionally.

These thriller/mystery books are the norm now for two simple reasons: it is relatively easy to find books in this genre everyone can agree are intriguing at the cover description and fantasy/sci-fi/fiction books these days are either parts of long series or independently long and intricate books. Plus, it is usually easier to find 4-6 copies.

We don’t all gather on the same front porch anymore. And we don’t read to each other- although some members of the family still enjoy having the books read to them (“reading“). And the family has grown. But these books and the discussions that have flourished from them are some of the most treasured parts of my summers and I look forward to keeping this tradition alive for years to come.