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Hello book clubs! (And aspiring book club members!) Today I’m happy to introduce a new recurring blog post series: seasonal book club recommendations! Each season we’ll work to provide a list of new paperback releases that we’re excited about!

It’s so much fun pouring over the new release lists to find books that are great to read and discuss together. For this summer, we've gathered recent and upcoming paperback releases for the months of June, July, and August. The books below are not intended to be exhaustive, but we hope they’ll be a starting point for you and your clubs to find new and exciting voices and stories to share with each other. And if you want to join any of our Third Place Books hosted Book Clubs you can find more information here.

Are you participating in the Seattle Public Library's Summer Book Bingo? Have you been meaning to do it during summers passed? Is this the first you're hearing about this? Well, however you answered these questions, I'm here to tell you all about the wonderfulness that is Book Bingo 2021!

Every summer, the Seattle Public Library (SPL) and Seattle Arts & Lectures (SAL) team up to bring hundreds of readers and non-readers alike 24 squares of reading opportunities. Why do kids get to have all the fun? You have until September 7th to read a line of five for a bingo or to read all 24 for a blackout. After submitting it via email, in-person, or social media, you are in the running to win some very cool prizes. 

While the sun is currently trying to kill us with it's fiery rays of doom here in Seattle (and no, I'm not being dramatic), I have compiled a list of bright and colorful young adult and kids books that scream summertime (with slightly less apocalyptic heat wave vibes than this week). 

If you're feeling nostalgic for lemonade stands, summer camp, and first loves, this list is for you. If you're dreaming of summer vacations, plunging into crystal clear waters, and a sandy beach to scrunch your toes in, this list is for you. If you're craving fruity popsicles, boppin' tunes, and road trips, you guessed it, this list is for you. The books are organized in the following order: Young Adult Fiction, Young Adult Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Middle Grade Graphic Novels, and Illustrated books. The sweet escape of a good story awaits you. Happy reading friends and I hope you're staying as cool as you can in this merciless heat.

As the school year comes to a close and children’s summer reading challenges begin (keep an eye out for TPB’s list), we have a new kind of challenge for you: seek out magic in your everyday life. 

Most people I know fell in love with the magic of reading as a child - engrossed in worlds with endless possibilities. We imagined ourselves flying off to Neverland, sitting for the sorting hat at Hogwarts, training with extraordinary teens at Camp Half-Blood, going on an unexpected journey with a band of dwarves - reading meant endless possibility and discovery. It’s a lot harder to find that same feeling in the pages we read as adults. When we open a book today, we bring all our grown-up anxieties, fears, and unrealized dreams with us, and we’re not always ready to confront them in the fiction we read. When I read, I want to rediscover love and hope and magic - the magic that came so easy as a child.