Summer is the best time of year to get out of the house and explore. The days are longer, kids are out of school, and there are likely tons of local summer activities. But if you’re looking for some great and fun ways to theme your summer activities around your love for all things books, here’s a few great ideas:
1. Attend a local book festival
Summer is a great time to be outdoors. Many cities put on book festivals for authors and publishers to come together and share in their love for books. What better way to get some fresh air, discover a new favorite book, and maybe listen to a book reading or author Q&A.
Can’t find a book specific festival near you, check out other craft fairs and see how many vendors you can spot selling books.
2. Have a book to movie night
Gather a group of friends together and read a book that was also adapted into a movie. Then, have a movie night. Pop some popcorn, grab your favorite candies and enjoy comparing the movie to the book. You can debate all your likes and dislikes about the adaptation. If you need some ideas, check this link out from BookBub (https://www.bookbub.com/blog/best-movies-based-on-books-all-time).
3. Start an Indie Book Passport
Discovering new indie bookstores is a great way to support small businesses and your passion for books. Grab yourself a mini passport notebook, visit https://www.indiebound.org/, and see how many bookstores you can visit in the next few months. At each bookstore, be sure to grab a business card, sticker, stamp or something you can stick into your passport and commemorate your visit. By the end of the summer, you’ll have a booklet full of stores, a head full of memories, and hopefully another shelf full of books to be read.
4. Have a book themed party
Invite a group of your book-loving friends and pick a theme from one of your favorite books. Then find decorations, food, costumes, and music to go along with your theme. If you really want to get into it, have each person choose a specific character from the book to act as throughout the party.
5. Attend a Library Event
Many local libraries have several activities for you to attend throughout the year. Hop onto your local library’s website and discover what’s happening near you.
There are many more activities you can do themed around books. Whether it’s visiting a location from a recent book you read, going on a literary walk around a city (https://www.frommers.com/slideshows/817820-5-literary-walks-around-the-world), or finding a local playhouse that’s performing a book such as To Kill a Mockingbird or The Secret Garden (https://www.thecrownwings.com/2021/08/musicals-based-on-novels.html), you’re sure to find something that combines your love of books and the lust of summer adventures.
So what do you think? What book loving adventure are you going to try this summer?