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Reading books isn’t limited to summer, but “summer reading lists” are popular as Americans go on vacation during the summer and take books to read on the plane and sitting by the beach or pool. I read year-round as I’m constantly reviewing books, but I enjoyed reading these two books as they are great poolside reading. Most of the books I’ve been reading this summer are excellent, just not the kind folks consider “summer reading.”

Many sites have posted summer reading recommendations. I meant to post them last month, but life got in the way especially planning a surprise 40th birthday party that took place six months before the actual birthday to ensure it’s a surprise.

Before we jump into the list of sites, I want to ask for your favorite books to read to kids under the age of two. The kids love Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Good Night, Moon, and books by Eric Carle.

Bookreporter features a different book every week until August 19 along with a contest prize in its Beach Bag of Books. The featured book of the week includes a book review, an author interview, the author’s bio, and a book excerpt.

Carnegi Library of Pittsburgh has multiple summer reading lists covering various categories including renaissance, beach reads, books with stories that take place in Pittsburgh, mystery lovers, books for guys, and staff selections.

American Library Association (ALA) has a long list of reading lists. Select a list and you get the names of the books, a summary, and book information.

>NPR: Summer Reading also has multiple summer reading lists from NPR correspondents, critics, and listeners. Not only does it have adult books, but also a list for kids. We have How I Became a Pirate. David Shannon books are often fun read aloud stories with great illustrations. The list includes cookbooks.

My city’s bookfair is happening this upcoming weekend. I hope to go (is that such a good idea?), but will have to see. Book Fairs and Other Literary Events lists events by title and location. Next to each event is the city and the month of the event. Is your city missing from the list? Let LOC know about it. I was going to submit the one from my city and my hometown, but neither have a Web site from what I can tell.

ReadingGroupGuides.com is a fabulous resource whether or not you belong to a reading group. It has over 1,500 reading guides. Each book comes with information (price, pages, ISBN, etc.), a summary of the book, discussion questions, the author’s bio, praise, and an excerpt. The information gives you something to think about when you read books that are listed on the site. The site also has interviews, polls, contests, and more. It’s a shame there isn’t a forum associated with the site. I love talking about books, but not in a book group setting.

Doctor Who fans can download the ebooks for free. Kind of hard to read by the beach unless you put it on a mobile device… but remember the mobile device doesn’t like water. You wouldn’t want to get your book wet either, but at least it still functions after getting wet unlike handheld devices.

Use Google and you’ll find many more reading lists. These should keep you busy for a few summers!

Updated: University of California at Berkeley has a diveristy of reading lists each having a theme. 2005’s theme is “Great discoveries, voyages, and adventures.” It also has a list of banned books and funny books.