For the last couple of years, I’ve been trying to post seasonal lists of the books I can’t wait to read. I love doing that, but I also want to post some kind of recap at the end of the season where I can talk about which books turned out to be my favorites that sort of thing. I’ve been struggling to find a format that feels satisfying to write up and read about, so here’s my first attempt: my 2022 Summer Reading Recap.

First, if you missed my most-anticipated summer release list, check it out to see what books started on my list. I also posted this Top Ten Tuesday list of backlist titles I hoped to read this summer, so I’ll include those in this check-in.

How many books did I read from my summer reading lists?

My most-anticipated summer reading list had 25 titles on it. Of those 25, I read 19 of them. I’ve started VALIANT LADIES by Melissa Grey as an audiobook but haven’t finished it yet. The other five–MASTER OF IRON by Tricia Levenseller, THE KING WILL KILL YOU by Sarah Henning, THE HONEYS by Ryan LaSala, MY IMAGINARY MARY by Hand, Meadows, and Ashton, and THE DRAGON’S PROMISE by Elizabeth Lim– are still on my TBR list for now.

I’ve read 8 out of 10 of the books on my backlist titles list. I still hope to get to ELATSOE by Darcie Little Badger and THE BLACK FLAMINGO by Dean Atta soon. I’ve heard amazing things about both.

So, in total, out of 35 books, I read 27. Not perfect, but not too shabby.

Favorite Summer Book by a Familiar Author

This one is easy, because there aren’t a whole lot of authors I’d read before on my reading lists for this season. My favorite book by an author I’d read before has to be THE STARS BETWEEN US by Cristin Terrill.

I love the description of the book as “Dickensian-inspired”, and it totally lives up to that, in my opinion. I also loved the characters and the sweet romance. It’s a book that still makes me smile when I think about it now.

The Stars Between Us by Cristin Terrill

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: A girl with an unexpected inheritance on a glittering planet. A mysterious young man who is always in her way. Secrets. Murder. An underground rebellion. A Dickensian-inspired space murder mystery romance.

Release Date: August 2, 2022 | My Review

Favorite Summer Book by a New Author

This is trickier because I read so many amazing debuts or books by authors that I hadn’t read before. I’m going to say my top favorite is BAD THINGS HAPPEN HERE by Rebecca Barrow.

I’ve bought some of Rebecca Barrow’s other books, but this is the first one I actually read so far. The characters felt so real in their small town setting. The disappearing girls gave me chills– I have chills now, thinking about it, actually. It was wow.

Bad Things Happen Here by Rebecca Barrow

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: An island with a history of unsolved murders. A girl whose best friend and sister were both murdered on the island will stop at nothing to find out why.

Release Date: June 28, 2022 | My Review

Favorite Summer Book from My Backlist

I’m a little torn about which book from my Top Ten Tuesday list of backlist titles that I’d call my favorite. I loved HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE by Diana Wynne Jones and THE POET X by Elizabeth Acevedo. I listened to both as audiobooks, and both were a great experience. THE POET X is read by the author, which I think makes a huge difference for a novel in verse. HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE was such a fun book to read. I loved the wacky things that happened and the way Sophie formed relationships with each of the characters.

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: This is one of those books I can’t believe I haven’t read. A young girl under a terrible curse. An oddball sorcerer with secrets. A magical castle.

Release Date: April 1986

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: From Goodreads: “An Afro-Latina heroine who tells her story with blazing words and powerful truth.”

Release Date: March 6, 2018

Book That Surprised Me the Most

I feel like this shouldn’t be true, because I probably would have said the same thing about the other book I read by this author, but I’m giving this one to BEFORE TAKEOFF by Adi Alsaid.

It’s strange. It juggles a lot of characters and elements that defy science or reason. There are so many reasons the book shouldn’t work, but it totally does! I remember being blown away at the moments the story changes point of view because it was so perfectly timed.

I got completely wrapped up in this story and each of the characters involved. I loved the social commentary. The bizarre-ness of the events unfolding at the airport. So good. I’m a huge fan of this book, and it only proves to me more that I need to catch up on Adi Alsaid’s backlist titles. I think I own all of them, so I have no excuse. Ha!

Before Takeoff by Adi Alsaid

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

What you need to know: This one pretty much had me at “THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR meets JUMANJI.”

Release Date: June 7, 2022 | My Review

Goals for Fall Reading and Blogging

I probably should add a section like this to my Fall TBR post, but this whole idea is a work in progress. Anyway.

So. Goals for the fall. The truth is, I’ve WAYYYY overcommitted for my fall reading. I tried to be reasonable. I did. Really. I said no to a lot of titles. But there are SO MANY amazing books coming out in September especially, and some of the titles I requested earlier in the year only just now reached me, so it is kind of a perfect storm of too many books. (In case you missed them, here are my TBR lists for fall MG and YA releases.)

All that to say, I’ll probably increase to four reviews per week for the short term. It’s really too many. I can’t do that on an ongoing basis, but I want to clear my queue a bit before we get into the holiday season, and I get REALLY SWAMPED.

Four reviews per week means I would post somewhere around 48 reviews between mid-September and early December. That’s a lot of books, but my fall MG and YA reading lists are already a combined 37 books. Plus I’ve got some backlist titles and titles released earlier this year that I really want to get to, so those spots are already filled and then some.

I’m also hoping to continue seasonal reading lists plus jump into the Top Ten Tuesday meme now and then. I’ve marked a few topics on my calendar that I’m interested in. I will also be sharing a Spooky Season reading list. And I’m planning to do another seasonal recap at the end of the fall.

What are the highlights from your summer reading?

Did you find a new favorite book or author? Let me know in the comments so I can add more books to my reading list! If you’ve read any of the books I talked about here, let me know if you liked them, too.

Do you have reading goals for the fall? What are you most looking forward to reading?

Let me know if you enjoyed this recap and want to see more posts like this. If I left out something you want to know– stats about what format I read books in or other superlatives about the books I read– leave a comment! This is definitely still a work-in-progress post, so I would love to know what you want to see more or less of.