PHOENIX — When you think of summer, time spent on vacation often comes to mind.
Stress-free days of hard-earned PTO on a beach. Poolside, chatting with friends. Happy hours and popsicles.
But behind the dreams of time spent away from your desk lurks the more realistic picture of how many people are spending this season: penciling in just one more happy hour, fielding endless invites, and trying to remember what summer felt like when you were little. Surely not this overwhelming, right?
According to ThriftBooks’ Summer Reading Survey, if you’re feeling this way, you’re not alone: Many Americans report missing out on the slower summer seasons of their youth.
“We have so many activities going on,” Barbara Hagen, Vice President of Marketing of ThriftBooks, told 12News in an interview. “A lot of family activities or kids’ camps and our schedules just don’t stop in the summertime… they don’t seem to take a breather at all.”
But if you’re looking for that breather, there is hope: Picking up a good book may just be the way to reclaim that “endless summer feeling you’re searching for.”
Reading a book “slows time in a way nothing else does,” according to 76% of respondents to the survey, and 56% of respondents said reading “makes summer feel like it lasts longer.”
“Reading is one of the last few single-tasking activities that we do. You’re not distracted, you’re not multitasking when you’re reading a book,” Hagen said. “You’re just really immersed in the story, and you’re taking it page by page, and you’re letting your brain and your mind just go with the flow, and you’re not concerned with what time it is, or what’s next on the schedule.”
That “mental exhale” reading provides is backed by science, too. In a 2024 study for the American Journal of Health Behavior, reading is cited as an activity that “significantly and positively influences both the reduction of work stress and the enhancement of job satisfaction.”
And people actually do read more during the summer, Hagen said.
“We definitely see some seasonality with summer,” Hagen said. “I think part of it is because the days are longer, so people feel like they have a little bit more, too.”
So if you’re looking to read more this summer, or start a new reading habit, Hagen has a few tips.
#1) Start small
Saying you are going to read for an hour every day isn’t just unrealistic—it could also prevent you from trying in the first place. Hagen said developing a reading routine is just like establishing any other habit in life.
“Don’t set too many ambitious goals, because like anything in life, you want to start the habit, start small, and make some progress, and feel like you’ve accomplished something to keep going,” Hagen said.
#2) Incorporate reading into other already established activities in your life
If you normally take a coffee or lunch break during the work day, maybe bring a book with you next time. Or if you’re guilty of scrolling on your phone before bed, you could swap the blue light for a good read.
“Sometimes it’s hard if you try to find extra space in your life to schedule reading, it might not happen,” Hagen said. “Just see how, where you can anchor it with other moments that make sense.”
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#3) Find a good book
It seems obvious, but in order to commit to reading, you’ve got to find the right book! Right now, Hagen said she is seeing many page-to-screen adaptations drive sales at ThriftBooks, such as Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry, Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, and Off-Campus, which is inspired by Elle Kennedy’s The Deal.
“I love how the media of film and movies and TV shows interacts with books, and allows us to expand our horizon,” Hagen said. “Maybe it’s a genre we wouldn’t have picked up as a book, but when we watch it on the screen, we’re like, ‘Oh, this is really interesting, let me go read the book.’ I think it’s a great way to cross-pollinate each other.”
Hagen said on her summer TBR is the book Yesteryear, by Caro Claire Burke, a novel about a “tradwife” influencer who wakes up to find she has time-traveled to a 19th-century farm life that contrasts with her online persona. The book has gained a lot of popularity on social media and is a New York Times bestseller.
“I’m looking forward to reading it,” Hagen said. “I’ve heard really good things about it.”
If you’re looking for your next read, Hagen said she recommends searching ThriftBooks’ website and checking out the titles employees recommend.
“If you type in ‘summer reads’ into the search bar, it’ll take you to our human-curated set of recommendations,” Hagen said. “Start to explore what maybe sounds interesting, and hopefully, you pick up a book and start to have summer feel a little bit more endless.”
And if you do find a book you love, Hagen wants to know.
“If someone finds a book that they love, I would love them to write to us and tell us all about it, so we can put it on our recommendation list,” Hagen said. “Definitely always love to hear from people, what they’re passionate about, what book they discovered, what they’re enjoying.”
Head to the ThriftBooks website for more information.
For more book and literacy stories, check out “Reading Arizona” on YouTube and 12News.com. If you have a story pitch for Reading Arizona, email [email protected] or reach out via Instagram, @thatjournalistwhoreads.
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