Summer means long days, warm nights, and for many of us, a little more time to slow down and finally start that book we've been meaning to read. But while the season brings relaxation, it also comes with a risk— especially for younger readers.
Educators call it the "Summer Slide"— a seasonal dip in reading and learning that can widen achievement gaps and slow momentum for students once the Fall rolls around. But it's not just kids who need to stay engaged. Reading is one of the few habits that supports cognitive development, language skills and critical thinking across all age groups.
Whether you're engaged in a captivating beachy novel, discovering new authors at your local bookstore, or revisiting classics at public libraries, reading can be a vital and enriching part of the season.
Tuesday on the "Sound of Ideas," we'll talk to local bibliophiles about their favorite books of the summer, and how reading continues to shape their lives in meaningful ways.
Guests:
- Karen Long, Former Book Editor, The Plain Dealer
- Kate Schlademan, Owner, The Learned Owl Book Shop
- Manuel Chinchilla, Owner, Hexagon Books
- Kortney Morrow, Program Director, Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
2025 Summer Reading List
From our Ideastream staff:
- "The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby" by Ellery Lloyd
Abigail Bottar, Reporter/Producer - "The Lost Story" by Meg Shaffer
Abigail Bottar, Reporter/Producer - "The God of the Woods" by Liz Moore
Mary Defer, Development Support Coordinator - "Shark Heart" by Emily Habeck
Joseph Sheppa, Digital Optimization Manager - "When the Moon Hits Your Eye" by John Scalzi
Joseph Sheppa, Digital Optimization Manager - "Wild Dark Shore" by Charlotte McConaghy
Joseph Sheppa, Digital Optimization Manager - "Yellowface" by R.F. Kuang
Stephanie Metzger-Lawrence, Digital Producer - "The Nexus Trilogy" by Ramez Naam
Brock Casper, HR Generalist - "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again" by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson
Josh Boose, Associate Producer
From our listeners:
- "Deacon King Kong" by James McBride
- "The I Ching Workbook" by R. L Wing
- "Erased: What American Patriarchy has Hidden From Us" by Anna Malaika Tubbs
- "The Quiet Librarian" by Allen Eskens
- "The Barn" by Wright Thompson
- "More or Less Maddie" by Lisa Genova
- "Godhunter" by Isobel Lynn
- "The Joy of Not Being Married: The Essential Guide for Singles (and Those Who Wish They Were)" by Ernie J. Zelinski
- "No Kids: 40 Good Reasons Not to Have Children" by Corrine Maier
- "Capitalism and Its Critics: A History: From the Industrial Revolution to AI" by John Cassidy
- "Snow in August" by Pete Hamill
From our guests:
- "Orbital" by Samantha Harvey
- "Foster" by Claire Keegan
- "Colored Television" by Danzy Senna
- "The United States Governed By Six Hundred Thousand Despots: A True Story of Slavery" by Johnathan D.S. Schroeder
- "Again and Again" by Jonathan Evison
- "The Heart of Winter" by Jonathan Evison
- "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents" by Isabel Wilkerson
- "I See You've Called in Dead" by John Kenney
- "The House in the Cerulean Sea" by TJ Klune
- "Atmosphere" by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- "Prose to the People: A Celebration of Black Bookstores" by Katie Mitchell
- "Astoria" by Peter Stark
- "Martyr!" by Kaveh Akbar
- "Feeding Ghosts" by Tessa Hulls
- "To Address You as My Friend: African Americans' Letters to Abraham Lincoln Hardcover" by Johnathan W. White
- "State Champ" by Hilary Plum
- "The Harpist" by Leo Covault
- "Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age" by Vauhini Vara
- "Donovan's M.I.A." by Sid Lenington
- "Jailbreak of Sparrows" by Martín Espada
- "Say You'll Remember Me" by Abby Jimenez
- "The Joy of Connections: 100 Ways to Beat Loneliness and Live a Happier and More Meaningful Life" by Ruth Westheimer
- "Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People" by Imani Perry
- "Abundance" by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
- "Deaf Republic" by Ilya Kaminsky
- "The Antidote" by Karen Russell
- "Sam Gilliam" by Ishmael Reed, Mary Schmidt Campbell, and Andria Hickey
- “Audition” by Katie Kitamura
- “Loved and Missed” by Susie Boyt
- “On Muscle” by Bonnie Tsui
Recommendations for children:
- "Dog Man" by Dav Pilkey
- "Play Like a Girl" by Misty Wilson
- "The Bad Guys" by Aaron Blabey
- "Diego Fuego the Firefighting Dragon" by Allison and Rafael Rozo
