Today I’m blogging about summer memories. I’m a fall/winter person, and I hate the heat and humidity we get here in the Mid-Atlantic, but I do love summer treats like ice cream and popsicles, sandals and bare feet, lazing about on a summer afternoon, twilight that seems to stretch on forever, and catching fireflies. My favorite summer memories are of being a kid and playing outside all summer long. That was back in the dark ages, before computers and the internet, even before VCRs, back when we were let loose on the neighborhood and didn’t have to come home until it was dark (yes, I’m old). We’d ride our bikes around and use our imagination to play cops and robbers or Star Wars or house, or we’d have a parent drive us to the town beach to go swimming. Often we’d engage in my favorite summer (and all year round) pastime: reading.
When I was a kid our local library had a summer reading program. You’d get a sheet to record all the books you read and every 10 books or so they would recognize your accomplishment by putting your name up on a special wall display for the event. I usually needed at least one extra sheet because I read so many books. A group of us kids on our street would get a blanket, bring our books outside, and sit and read together. I don’t think this was related to the library event. We just liked to read.
Once I decided we should start our own library. As a budding author I had the brilliant idea that we’d write all of the books ourselves. I might have been eight or nine. I’d already written a book as part of the library reading program because you got to do a project that was put on display at the library. I wrote (and poorly illustrated) a brilliant piece of fiction called “The Rebels Strike Back,” my take on Star Wars. The neighborhood library never did get off the ground. I think we ended up with five or six books, most written by me about my stuffed animals. But by then I knew I would write my own books someday. It just took a little longer than I expected.
I still have vivid memories of that library and the young adult section in the basement. I spent a lot of time perusing those shelves. It was strange when I finally moved upstairs to the adult and non-fiction section, mostly to do school research. Eventually the library was renovated, but it’s those young adult books that fueled my initial love of reading and writing.
What are some of your favorite summer memories? In addition to the blog hop prizes, I’ll be giving away a $5 Amazon gift card to one lucky commenter! All you have to do is leave a comment any time during June 14-17. Please include your email!
Drop by any of the participating blogs below for other fun giveaways and be sure to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for these great prizes:
Grand Prize: A Kindle Paperwhite and some of our eBooks to read on it!
1st Prize: A $20 Amazon gift card, and a Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, more eBooks, bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, and more!
Participating blogs:
Shawna Romkey Author blog
Constance Phillips, A Writer’s Musings
Katie O’Sullivan
Summer Lovin’ – On Olympus…
Kate’s Blog
Kary Rader
Lindsey R. Loucks
Summer Lovin’, postcards, and maybe bookmarks
Jody A Kessler Summer Lovin’ Mountain Style
Official Website of Maer Wilson
Author Jean Murray ~ Wicked Romance Blog
Summer Lovin’ Heat
Hildie McQueen’s Author Site
Loni Lynne’s Blog Site
Author Avery Olive Blog
Wendy S. Russo
Cindy Young-Turner
Michelle Clay – The Darkside of Romance
the Marvelous Misadventures of Mrs. t
Shannon Eckrich
Cindy Young-Turner 
Our library still hosts a summer reading program each year! For each book they add a section to their train or insect or whatever the theme is for the summer, and they compete with each other o see whose can get to be the longest. They even have a kickoff party at the park across the street with the Seaside Clowns performing. My kids are too old to sign up for it now, but we have fun memories. Maybe we should do an adult version of a reading challenge on Facebook!
Happy Summer Reading!
Katie, that sounds great! Our library here doesn’t have a reading program that I know of. I don’t think I could keep up with an adult version. There’s not nearly enough time for reading these days!
Most of my summers were filled with camp activities. Yet my favorite memories are those spent a a family friend’s beach house in Conn. I would often explore down the beach, rock hopping when the tied was out. Many hours were lost studying the tiny muscles stuck to the rocks.
Beach exploring would be fun!
Great post! I love going to the beach in the summer. I live totally land-locked in the mountains so visiting the ocean is special for me. Thanks for sharing your memories. My son has just started a summer reading program this year – he’s five. We’re having fun with it.
My daughter is five also and we visit the library every three weeks for more books. I’m glad she is a book lover already.
Great giveaway!! Love going to the beach and just sitting there reading a good book and listening to the water.. Thanks!!
I love the sound of the waves on the beach. Thanks for stopping by!
Awesome giveaway!!! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Thanks, Kelly! Hope you are enjoying the blog hop!
Great post, Cindy! I can relate. Ice Cream is my summer weakness and I always loved the library summer reading program. I was an *extra sheet* girl too 🙂
I love ice cream all year round, too! 🙂
One of my favorite summer memories would be the “chilling out” with my friends and family… going to the beach, soaking up the sun and the feel of the summer breeze.
Thanks for the giveaways! 🙂
– Diana
reofamelaterrado(at)yahoo(dot)com
My friends and I would make summer pilgrimages to the beach. I have some great memories of those times. Thanks for stopping by!
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Favorite memory from my youth was heading to lake for a couple of weeks. Swimming and campfires, enjoying the long summer evenings.
skpetal at hotmail dot com
Sounds wonderful! Thanks for stopping by!
Summer time memories were great! We spent a few weeks up in Michigan, camping, canoeing going to Mackinac Island. I loved the lazy days of hanging out with my cousin and grandparents. I would wake up early to pick raspberries out of grandpa’s garden to top the daily, Famo pancakes grandma would make like crepes. Ahhhh… the memories! 🙂
Sounds great, Loni!
Hi! One of my favorite memories is my cousins coming over. We went to the drive in, then we all slept outside in tents and my moms huge van! I loved it! We snuck out and went to the park. It was so fun and freeing! Thanks for being apart of this great hop!
shadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com
Such fun memories! Thanks for sharing!