Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I was telling Anne before we started this call that I had gone through, as I proofread, and noted the 15 books that I want to read for the summer based on my own reading intentions. 15 for 15!
Chapter 2: What to expect at the Summer Reading Guide Unboxing Event?
15 for 15! I did not do that on purpose, but you know I love when that happens.
Hey readers, I'm Anne Bogle, and this is What Should I Read Next? Welcome to the show that's dedicated to answering the question that plagues every reader. What should I read next? We don't get bossy on the show. What we will do here is give you the information you need to choose your next read. This week, we're giving you the information you need to find out about a whole lot of reads.
We are sharing the excitement of our upcoming summer reading guide that will be our 15th edition, releasing this Thursday, May 14th. I am joined today by the absolutely perfect guest for this episode. If I do say so myself, that is our Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club community manager, Ginger Horton, and we can't wait to tell you more.
If you are already a member of our Modern Mrs. Darcy book club or our What Should I Read Next Patreon communities or you purchased your a la carte ticket, you are all set to get the guide on Thursday and attend Thursday's unboxing events at either 1 p.m. or 8 p.m. if you'd like to join us live. Those times are Eastern New York City time.
We are holding two book parties and we call them book parties not because they're parties in the traditional sense. They're, you know, informative literary events, but we call them parties because they are so much fun. But there are two events happening live, so you can choose the one that suits you best. or some readers join us for both. And if neither time works for you, never fear.
We have the recording for you available beginning very late in the day on May 14th, but anytime thereafter, you have instant access. Summer Reading Guide veterans make a big deal of unboxing for good reason. You'll hear Ginger and I talk more about that today.
Readers do things like take the day off work, gather with friends, or plan whole weekend getaways to different cities because of unboxing and the summer reading guide.
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Chapter 3: What are the standout titles in this year's Summer Reading Guide?
With this year's theme of reading retreat, you could even create your own special day to watch the event, peruse your guide, and plan your to-be-read list. If you've never been to one of our unboxings before, here's what to expect.
I go through all the titles in the guide one by one, sharing more about why I chose each title, what the reading experience is like, and what kind of reader may most enjoy each book. I get to share more than I can say in print and answer your questions about tone, theme, content, comps, and more. There's still time to purchase your a la carte ticket.
And we do recommend not waiting until the last minute, although you could, but less stress is good for your reading life. Ticket holders get a copy of the beautiful digital guide in PDF form and are invited if they so choose to attend our live unboxings. Find out all the details you need to know at modernmrsdarcy.com slash SRG. That's for Summer Reading Guide. modernmrsdarcy.com slash SRG.
Readers, today I am delighted to welcome our book club community manager, Ginger Horton, to the show to talk about our summer reading guide. If Ginger's name sounds familiar, well, lucky you. You may recognize her from our recent episode where she helped to recommend titles to Cheryl Drury.
Or because you're an MMD book clubber, a listener in our Patreon community, or just like to hang out in these parts, Ginger's been on the podcast a time or, I don't know, six years. Since you first made your debut a few years back, Ginger, and we couldn't believe you hadn't been on until then.
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Chapter 4: How does the theme of the reading retreat influence book selection?
But today, Ginger's here, and we're going to dive into all things summer reading. And I love having you on the show today, Ginger, because I feel like you're the perfect bridge between what I'm holding in my brain for the 2026 Summer Reading Guide that has been, in one sense, in the works for many years.
When like authors I know and love first mentioned like, oh, in a few years, I'm going to have a book come out about X. And I've thought, oh, I'm going to like put that in a spreadsheet somewhere to remind me in four years that book is coming because I want to read it. And maybe it's going to be great for the summer reading guide.
So I've been thinking like way long term and have put this thing together piece by piece. But you have been collaborating on the guide for many years now, and we're an integral part about deciding not just what our specific vision for 2026 would be with the reading retreat theme, but also really helping me think through how to present those ideas. And we're going to get into that in detail.
But Ginger, in one sense, you're a creator, but in another sense, you're a co-discoverer with readers because it's just been like... hours since you saw the first draft of this year's Summer Reading Guide. So thank you for being the perfect guest and coming to What Should I Read Next today. Welcome.
I love this time of year, and I'm so glad to be back in this space because I have a complicated relationship with summer reading, but I love summer. We might get into that. I love summer.
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Chapter 5: What makes this year's Summer Reading Guide special?
No, we're going to get into it right now. For those who don't know, tell us more. Okay, well, sometimes, not the last couple of years, but sometimes I have had a real dip in my reading life in the summer. And I have theories about why that happens. But the Summer Reading Guide is a resource that I start using in May.
But sometimes it takes a long time for me to enjoy all of it because I make my way piece by piece through the year sometimes. And so, yeah, I love holding out as long as I can. And as our team has grown, that has been available to me.
I hold out as long as I can and kind of look at the guide as late as possible in the process, partly because my eyes are fresher to catch any typos or whatever, but partly because I love the delight and the discovery of to see what you have read, what ends up on the guide, hearing you, like you mentioned, four years coming, one year coming. This book is finally coming out.
We have a release date and now hearing why I might want to read it.
Well, I'm glad to hear it. There are 35 books in this year's guide, once again, and they are broken down in two categories. We have things like historical happenings, literary and contemporary fiction that this year we've done something fun with. It's on a spectrum from serious and earnest books all the way over to playful and quirky. We have books that are about messy, messy relationships.
And yes, that word is repeated, and I do mean messy in the best sense when it comes to fiction. We have a category for magical and strange. We have seaside stories, if I didn't already say that, mystery and suspense, memoir and nonfiction. There is good stuff in this year's guide.
So we want to create a guide that is compact and has lots of options, but not so many, not the thousands of titles coming out this summer or hundreds that are on my, like I could consider this for the guide reading list, but really whittle it down to some likely to bring you reading joy this summer, all in one little package. And we have fun features as well.
We'll talk about that more in today's episode. But my friend, Nikki, shout out Nikki, gave me the gift of describing back to me like what the guide was to so many readers.
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Chapter 6: How can readers make the most of their summer reading experience?
She said, reading time is precious. Like we all have, I mean, some of you tell us about how much you're enjoying the switch between retiring from a full-time job and becoming a retiree and having so much more reading time that it still feels abundant to you if that transition is new. The vast majority of us feel like so many books, so little time is a serious dilemma.
And the thing that really stands between us and the reading life, we wish we could have. And my friend was telling me how the guide every year is just such a gateway to reliable reading joy. Because if you're gonna take your precious reading time and spend it metaphorically on only a handful of books, you want to make sure those books bring you a memorable experience.
And having someone hold your hand as you make those choices can feel really, really good. And that's what we've done every year in the guide for this will be our 15th edition. And if you told me back in 2012, this is the first of 15 and counting, I... I mean, I think it would have exploded my little readerly head. But here we are.
And every year since the second year, I have read every book in the guide, cover to cover. And the reason that is, is the first year, I remember highlighting some new releases that I was really excited about, that I was really looking forward to spending my reading time on. And about half of them, I...
not only was disappointed, but was kind of angry that my precious reading time had been spent in that way. And I resolved that. In this context, for the summer reading guide, guidance implied, I'm only going to talk about the books that I have read and can vouch for. And just because I've read a book does not mean you will love it as well.
But in the guide and that unboxing, I try to be real specific about what my reading experience was like. Not to tell you what yours will be like or that you should want that experience, but to help you wrap your head around. Is this, I mean, is this a train I want to get on this summer? If I only have so much reading time at my disposal, how do I want to use it?
And do I want this book to be in the mix? And if you have questions, like people will say things like, well, you know,
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Chapter 7: What strategies can help readers choose their next book?
I'm not feeling really sweary this summer. Can you guide me in that direction? Or I need a book that's going to leave me in a hopeful space and I'm thinking about X title. Is it a good fit? I can answer those questions because I've read them all. Ginger, what would you add to that?
I think that we are all in a place that we could not have collectively seen 15 years ago. And that is, I feel this, that the marketing dollars are working harder than ever. I know that there is, I guess, lore in the publishing world that they don't quite know what's happening and what to do. But I can tell you, I feel the impacts of it because I see the same books.
I see the big book list, everything that's getting published. And that does not mean that those books are right for me. I... I love the publishing industry. I'm so glad they're marketing books. I am cheering any books that anybody wants to put in front of me. But that doesn't mean that's a book I want to read just because it's in front of me.
And so, yeah, I think that having a trusted, guided source is so important. When I walk into my independent bookstore, I know which of the staff members write those little cards that I am going to seek out. And I know which ones, God bless them. They're doing great work there. But I do not want to read the books that they suggest. Not your books, man. They're not my book twin.
That's such a helpful thing to know, actually.
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Chapter 8: How can readers participate in the Modern Mrs. Darcy community?
And like you said, sometimes that's even specific to the year. It doesn't mean that that's forever a no for me, but that can be tailored to my reading summer. Summer reading is precious time, like you said.
We hear that. Also something that's unique about our guide is since 2019, shout out to Katie who designed our first one, we've done a beautiful user-friendly magazine style that you can print the whole thing if you want, you can mark it up. But it's just a really fun way to engage with something that a lot of people really enjoy and look forward to every year. And that is their summer reading.
Oh, what's a word that I can use that's not curriculum? Because that sounds a little too much like school. To some of us, anything that hints of school, like you want homework. You wish we'd make worksheets for your summer reading. But for others of you, you want nothing this max of that.
But as you're imagining what literary joys could await you this summer, the magazine style can be a really fun way to dip in. And since 2020, I mean, we've had loose themes for a while, but Book camp in 2024 was the first year where we leaned hard into a theme. Last year's was road trip. This year's is reading retreats. And we thought that would be such a lovely theme for right now.
Ginger, you want to say more?
It does. It feels like a sigh of relief. I love just the exhale that a reading retreat is, whether that is a literal one, as Anne mentioned, some people build their summer, the start of their summer around the summer reading guide, taking days off. booking an Airbnb, traveling to a location.
But I think even if it's just figurative, I remember last or two summers ago, we had a specific genius moves class that was all about summer genius moves. And one reader said that she has this hour of the day that she opens up the front door. She has a screen on it and she pretends she's reading on like a screened in porch because no bugs, all books was what she said. No bugs, all books.
Yeah.
It can be 20 minutes, but somehow you are creating this space for your reading life. And we keep hearing that recently from readers that, again, the publishing landscape is overwhelming in the best possible way. We love that big book party. But what we also want is just space to slow down, to savor.
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