What makes a good Summer read?

I’ve been pondering the question “What makes a good Summer read?” for a while now and have come to the following conclusion: is it just me or do you think books have to be read at certain times? For example, would you read a creepy book in the Summer? Would you read a book set on a beach in Winter? See where I’m going with this? Personally, I prefer to leave creepy reads for the latter half of the year when the skies are grey and overcast, when the days are shorter and I can immerse myself in the best atmosphere for the book. Equally, I prefer to read books set on beaches in the Summer, again for the right atmosphere.

Here’s an example for you. I’ve just finished reading Forever by Maggie Stiefvater and I think I picked the perfect day for it – it was an overcast and blustery Sunday and it was the PERFECT time to read the book. Had it been streaming down with hot summer sunshine, I don’t think I could have read it. I’ll give you another example, I’ve wanted to read Sea by Heidi Kling for about a year now and I see it as a summer book. I mean it’s set in Indonesia and the synopsis says that it’s a perfect summer romance! How much more summery can you get, than that?! Now last year, I missed out on reading it over the Summer and before I knew it Autumn and Winter came upon us. In my mind, it was too late to read it. So, now that Summer is here again, it’s one of the books I plan to read this month.

So all in all, what makes a good Summer read? Number one, the setting. It has to be somewhere hot, a beach house, a resort, a foreign country, a forest, hell it just has to be Summer or feel Summery. Number two, I prefer a little romance whether this is first love, holiday romance or true love. Number three, let’s not forget one of the most important things – a good story and believable characters. There are plenty of fantastic books out there and I’ve got a couple lined up for the Summer and hope you have too :)