Why I'm So Proud of Our 2026 Summer Reading Guides
Every year, creating our Summer Reading Guides is one of my favorite projects at Old Town Books.
On the surface, they're simply book recommendation lists. This year, our guides feature more than 100 titles for adults, kids, and teens. But for our team, they're much more than that. They're months of reading, debating, note-taking, spreadsheets, conversations, and passionate bookseller enthusiasm distilled into something we hope will help readers find their next great book.
What many people don't see is how much work goes into these guides.
Our buyers and booksellers start reading months in advance. Advance reader copies pile up on nightstands and kitchen tables. Staff members trade books back and forth. Someone falls in love with a debut novel and insists everyone else read it. Someone else discovers a middle grade title that immediately earns a spot on the list. Throughout the process, we're constantly asking ourselves the same question:
Who is going to love this book?
Not "Is this book getting buzz?" Not "Will this be a bestseller?" But rather, which reader will find exactly what they need in these pages?
That's always been the heart of bookselling for me.
When I opened Old Town Books in 2018, I thought my job would be selling books. What I eventually learned is that the real work is connecting people with stories. The right book at the right moment can change someone's summer, spark a new interest, help them through a difficult season, or simply provide a few hours of joy.
That's why these guides matter.
I'm especially proud of this year's edition because of the team behind it. Old Town Books has grown tremendously since those early days when I was trying to do everything myself. Today, our buyers and booksellers read more widely, think more deeply about recommendations, and know our customers better than I ever could on my own.
The Adult Guide reflects countless conversations led by our bookselling team about the books they couldn't stop thinking about. The Kids and Teen Guide showcases the expertise of our children's booksellers, who spend their days helping young readers discover stories that make them excited to keep turning pages.
The finished guides are a reminder that the best parts of Old Town Books have never been about me. They're about a group of people who genuinely love books and care deeply about helping others find them.
Summer has always felt like a season made for reading. Longer days. Family vacations. Afternoons on the porch. Quiet mornings before the heat sets in. There is something special about the books we read during summer, and many of my favorite reading memories are tied to a particular season, a particular place, and a particular book.
My hope is that somewhere in these guides you'll find a story that becomes part of your own summer memories.
And if you do, all those months of reading were worth it.
