Written by Melani Morose Edelstein | 2026 | June Issue
There’s something timeless about summer reading, and as someone who has spent a lifetime surrounded by books, I feel that rhythm arrive every year almost instinctively.
Maybe it’s the sight of a paperback tucked into a tote at RAT Beach, a child proudly collecting library stickers after finishing a first chapter book, or the luxury of an uninterrupted hour reading on a shaded patio while the marine layer slowly burns away. Summer has always felt different to me as a reader, slower, more indulgent, and somehow more memorable than any other season.
As a lifelong bibliophile, voracious reader, professional journalist, and middle school librarian for more than two decades, I’ve watched reading habits evolve dramatically over the years. Yet every summer, I’m reminded that despite screens, streaming platforms, and endless digital distraction, books still hold a unique kind of power.
Fortunately, our local literary culture is thriving. From library reading challenges and author events to neighborhood Little Free Libraries and even a roaming romance bookstore on wheels, the South Bay offers more ways than ever to build a summer around books. And what strikes me most is how personal and communal reading has become again.
Libraries at the Center of Community
The centerpiece of summer reading on the Peninsula remains the annual Summer @ PVLD program hosted by the Palos Verdes Library District. As both a librarian and a parent, I’ve long admired the way the program welcomes everyone, from toddlers to retirees, into a shared culture of reading. Participants log reading minutes, attend events, complete activities, and earn prizes throughout the summer, but the real reward is the atmosphere the program creates around books.
Today’s libraries are about far more than checking out materials. This year’s kickoff event, “PVLD-CON: Into the Library-verse,” transforms the library into a lively celebration of cosplay, crafts, fandom culture, music, creativity, and community connection. It’s the kind of event that perfectly reflects what I’ve seen firsthand in education: libraries have evolved into vibrant cultural gathering spaces as much as literary institutions.
And the programming extends far beyond children’s story hours. Adults participate in reading challenges, author talks, wellness workshops, and community-wide reading initiatives like PV Reads and One Book, One Coast. Teens gather for manga clubs, trivia nights, gaming events, and creative workshops that make reading feel social and interactive rather than obligatory.
One of the greatest joys of working in literacy for so many years has been watching reading traditions pass quietly between generations. Parents who once completed summer reading challenges themselves now bring their own children through the same library doors. There’s something deeply hopeful about that continuity.
Little Libraries, Big Connections
Some of the Peninsula’s most meaningful literary experiences, however, happen quietly and unexpectedly. I’ve always loved the charm of Little Free Libraries tucked beside walking trails, near parks, and along neighborhood streets throughout the South Bay. These tiny “take a book, leave a book” exchanges create quiet literary connections between strangers, often introducing readers to books they never would have otherwise discovered. .
During the pandemic, my husband built our own Little Free Library, and I’ve proudly served as its librarian ever since. One of my greatest joys is being able to provide a small but meaningful library service to my own community right outside my front door. For children, discovering a Little Free Library can feel like a scavenger hunt. For adults, they’re a reminder that books still travel hand-to-hand in deeply human ways.
How Book Culture is Changing
Summer also gives me the perfect excuse to browse the South Bay’s independent bookstores, used-book shops, and literary gathering spaces, something I admittedly never need much encouragement to do. From maze-like used bookstores filled with unexpected treasures to thoughtfully curated shops hosting author events and children’s programming, these spaces continue to nurture a vibrant local reading culture.
That culture is also evolving alongside new reading trends. Younger readers are flocking to stores and book trucks specializing in manga, graphic novels, romance, fantasy, and BookTok favorites, while community book sales and Friends of the Library shops remain beloved sources for inexpensive reads, vintage finds, and hidden gems. For lifelong readers like me, there’s still nothing quite like the thrill of discovering the perfect book unexpectedly.
And perhaps that’s what I find most exciting about summer reading today: it no longer belongs exclusively to children carrying assigned reading lists.
Still Time to Begin
Across the South Bay, reading has become intergenerational, communal, and creatively expansive. Audiobooks count toward reading goals. Graphic novels are celebrated alongside literary fiction. Parents participate in reading challenges with their children. Teens swap fantasy recommendations with the same enthusiasm previous generations once traded mixtapes.
In a season often filled with packed schedules and endless screen time, books still offer something increasingly rare: the ability to slow down.
Whether your summer reading happens at the beach, beside the pool, during travel, at a neighborhood Little Free Library, inside a cozy bookstore, or in a quiet corner of the library, the South Bay offers countless ways to turn the page this season.
And perhaps the best part of summer reading is this: there is still time to begin.
Hot Summer Fiction to Check Out
- The Burning Side by Heather Damoff- A layered, emotionally charged story examining memory, truth, and the long shadow of personal and collective reckoning.
- Land by Maggie O’Farrell- A sweeping historical novel set in post-famine Ireland that is already one of the season’s most anticipated literary releases.
- Whistler by Ann Patchett- A quietly emotional story about family, memory, and second chances from one of literary fiction’s most beloved voices.
- John of John by Douglas Stuart – A powerful literary novel examining masculinity, family tension, and working-class life on Scotland’s Western Isles.
- Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel- A timely, provocative novel about agency, identity, and family, centered on a seventy-seven-year-old woman whose unexpected circumstance upends her life and draws public attention.
- The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett- A character-driven literary novel exploring friendship, loyalty, and the fractures beneath small-town community life by the same author as The Help.
