Are you signed up for a summer reading program?

I joined a Summer drinking program instead, but that sounds really cool, and I’ll look into it.

What do you do on a summer reading program? Is it a bit like a book club?

Yes. in the US, most public libraries host one. With the library, you keep track of what you read and you get prizes or little fun things according to how much you read.

That sounds like fun. I’m going to look out for a similar thing in my area

That’s a good idea to look into, thanks @keobooks . I read a lot anyway, but I figure that a program like this would recommend things that wouldn’t normally cross my radar…

I’m already a part of a radical reading/discussion group, though I’ve missed the last few meetings.

My whole life is a summer reading program; all my friends are honorary members.

I didn’t think too many people were interested in canonical summer reading. I would imagine whatever you were interested in would not necessarily be someone another person would agree with, which is probably why I haven’t seen too many adult reading programs (but maybe I’m not looking hard enough). Because I’m extremely interested in American Literature I decided to come up with a list of authors I wanted to read. I research the writer, read books by them and books of them, and every season I start a new one.

This year is a little special because I have a year long thesis in development, but this is what my next two years will look like (subject to change):

Summer & Fall 2011: J.D. Salinger
Winter 2012: Robert Lee Frost
Spring 2012: Ralph Waldo Emerson
Summer 2012: John Steinbeck
Fall 2012: William Hill Brown
Winter 2013: Walt Whitman
Spring 2013: John Cheever
Summer 2013: Marianne Moore or e.e. cummings (haven’t decided yet)

It seems to me that reading an author and their work in greater depth is more fulfilling than reading a bunch of random books chosen by someone else, but I hope you find a reading program you like. I remember as I kid having something like that gave me an opportunity to understand a theme from different perspectives, and in turn helped me develop an open-mind. :)

@Carly John Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors.
As for the question, I’m a junior, so I have to read some assigned books. I read alot anyway, so I don’t care.

@Carly Most of the summer reading programs around you pick your own books. Nobody picks them . for you. You just keep track of what you read and then get incentives to read more. The libraries mostly do this to keep their statistics high in the summer. So your thesis books would be just fine,.

Nope. I’m just trying to get through my personal library of books by the end of summer.

@ddude1116 If your local library’s summer reading program is set up like most in the country, you can read your personal library of books as you’ve already planned and they will be count towards your reading goals and you will get credit in the program. I’ve mentioned this a few times. You read whatever you want and then just report it to the library. The reading programs just help you keep track of what you’re going to read anyway.

@keobooks hmm, then why do you think your program sucks? is it the incentives they’re offering?

Oh my citiy’s program isn’t automated. It’s a pain to keep track of the stupid paper coupons. Everyone else in the area has their program online so you can just keep track of it at home and not have to scrape up the stupid coupons and get punches. Also, they have some annoying system that makes it a PITA to count books you don’t check out at their library. ALL of the other programs I’ve participated in other cities didn’t care if you didn’t read their books.

My own city’s program is very outdated and unusually poorly executed. I’ve participated in many different ones in several different States and this particular program is about 2 decades behind the other ones. I just know I’m going to lose the annoying coupons any day now.