Seasonal Reading

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly series hosted by Rukky at Eternity Books and Danie at Literary Lion. The full list of September topics can be found here.

This week’s topic is Reading Seasonally.

What makes a book a spring/summer/fall/winter read? Do holidays have to be included to feel seasonal?

I think there are two parts to this. Some books are seasonal reads because the setting is a significant part of the story, and other books are seasonal reads because a book’s marketing team makes them so.

Here are some of my thoughts…

I think seasonal reads are anything that takes place during any given season where the setting, for whatever reason, plays a big part in the story. The first books that come to mind are the Winter Street series by Elin Hilderbrand. These books are set in Nantucket and from what I gather, they are always set in the wintertime. I see people reading them every year around the holidays, and their main tag on Goodreads is Holiday/Christmas.

I also think that marketing can make a book “seasonal” if the desire to do so is there. If the first time I see a book it’s with a tagline like “this summer’s hottest read” then I tend to associate that book with that season in my head. Sometimes this works, like with Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan which does take place during the summertime and was marketed as such. Other times, I don’t see the connection between a book and a particular season, even if it’s declared to be a “summer read” or something like that.

What are some examples of books you think are strongly rooted in certain seasons for you?

Between September and November I do tend to gravitate more towards mysteries, thrillers, and science fiction. For example, I think that Fall is the perfect time to read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. There is something appealing about reading a mystery inside when the weather outside is cold and blustery, even though that has literally never been the case for me since I am from Phoenix…so I have to say, I think seasonal is all a state of mind 🙂

What do you think makes a seasonal read? Tell me in the comments or drop a link to your post so I can check it out!