How Do We Build Our Summer Reading Guide?
Ever wonder what goes into creating our annual Summer Reading Guide? It’s one of our favorite projects of the season. It gives our team a chance to combine our collective book knowledge and enthusiasm into something joyful and, hopefully, inspiring to your TBR. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how it all comes together each year:
Book Chat
It starts with informal conversations, usually on Slack, where our team drops in recommendations, shares what we’ve loved lately, and flags upcoming releases we’re excited about.
First Pass
Once we have a full list, we dive into digital review copies and early buzz, skimming and swapping titles that catch our attention. This year we read more than 300 books across all genres and ages.
Group Doc
As we read, we track everything in shared spreadsheets—one for titles for kids and teens and another for adult—noting standout reads, author backgrounds, and where we think a title might fit in the guide. We keep track of all these categories so that we can ensure we have a diverse collection of titles. We also try to make sure that all of the titles are ones publishing in the spring or early summer so there’s plenty of season left to enjoy them.
Round Two
Next comes the refining stage. We look closely at balance: genre, age group (for the kids guide), publisher, author, and more. Our goal is to highlight a wide range of voices and stories, and so tracking everything all these categories helps us to make sure we’re representing a broad range of books for a variety of readers. Knowing whether a book is from small presses or lesser known imprints, the topic covered, and all sorts of other information helps us do that.
Final Reads
Once the list is narrowed, each bookseller revisits their top picks for a closer read before we make our final selections. We update notes as we go, making sure we have good information to include in any reviews, shelf tags or anything else that might help other readers pick this book.
Team Training
This year, we added a new twist with a team meeting at Topgolf. We talked through our summer favorites and got in a little drive practice. It was a great reminder that collaboration can be both productive and playful.
Brochure Production & Marketing
Once the list is locked, we gather all the details for each title, add helpful icons and categories, and get to work formatting our printed guide. We plan exciting content for our social media channels and blog, Summer Reading Challenges like our bingo cards, and other digital and in-store content to highlight the books included in our Summer Reading Guides.
Our 2025 Summer Reading Guides launch on Friday, May 23. We’ll share content on Instagram and the blog all summer long highlighting the titles we’re most excited for.
If you’re eager to check it out early, stop by the shop and our social media for a sneak peek. Click here to get our Summer Reading Guides and Summer Reading Challenge kit before anyone else.
Happy reading!