For many people, summer is a good time to catch up on reading. You can read while lying in a hammock (my personal favorite), sitting by the pool, relaxing on the beach, or even while waiting for your kid’s soccer or Little League game to start. For some reason, we give ourselves permission to read for fun in the summer. We don’t have to read “important” books or boos to help us get a promotion. Beach reads is an unofficial genre!

But here’s a secret you’ve probably never heard: any kind of reading is good for your brain. It keeps things active. So if you want to read detective stories or romances or graphic novels or old magazines or whatever — just do it!

To encourage kids to read (both for fun and to keep up with the summer reading list), consider instituting family reading time. It doesn’t have to be super formal. On a pool or beach day, maybe everyone reads whatever they want for half an hour or so after lunch before jumping back in the water. Or you can all read for a while after bath time and before bedtime, partially as a way to transition from activity to sleep. Or have ice cream and reading time in the evening. You get the idea. Make reading part of your day!

As for me, I’ve created an ever-growing stack of books that I hope to finish this summer. (I read very fast.) It’s a pretty good mix between non-fiction I’ve been wanting to read and fiction that has been waiting on my to read stack for way too long. Since Memorial Day weekend, I’ve finished three books (and added five to the stack!) But every nice evening, I have a date with my hammock, a cold beer, and a good book. Now that’s what I call summer!