Summer is officially here but lately I’ve found myself listening to Lana Del Ray’s “Summertime Sadness” on repeat. Part of the college experience is the lengthy breaks that remind me just how much I miss having a schedule to keep me busy, don’t get me wrong, I love taking time to relax and take in the sunshine, but I find summer to be a boring and miserable season for the most part. Today, I wanted to share some of the fun things that I do to make this scorching season go by a little bit quicker.
Obviously, writing for a library blog, I’ve got to promote the possibly of escaping into the world of books, something I have done more this year than probably any before. Now, I don’t love the gritty sand or salty sea of the beach, but with a novel in my hands I can get lost under the sun for hours. Whether you are on or off campus, you can access books from our collection on Libby, an e-book and audiobook app that can be accessed anywhere if you simply sign on using your student or staff ID. 
I have already put this platform to good use by reading and listening to almost 10 books since May and even used the source for some of my reviews in the time I’ve worked on this blog post, such as my reviews on “The Librarian of Auschwitz” and “In the Dream House,” as well as a few more to come soon!
My partner and I often take long trips and hikes to watch the sunrise and enjoy nature around us, Libby is great for these occasions as you can listen to the relaxing wildlife and immerse into fantastical tales at the same time. Embracing the world around us is one wonderful thing, but being able to escape the heat and explore the world of literature provides and even more exciting use of seemingly endless time.
Another one of my favorite things to do under the sweltering sun is tending to my green thumb. On my breaks at Blough-Weis, I typically sit out by Meg’s wonderful Shakespeare Garden and watch all the little critters explore the flowers and herbs, but I’ve also got a garden of my own. Growing veggies, fruits, and herbs alike, it is so wonderful to walk outside and pick some freshly grown goodies for snacks and suppers. Just know, gardening takes far more blood, sweat, and tears than the cottage core aesthetic can make you believe, you need to put love and care into your plants for the best outcome.
Speaking of nice homegrown meals, summer can be a great time to escape the wretches of greasy school foods and dive deep into the culinary world. As much as I enjoy late-night Chinese takeout and pizza deliveries, I find it even more fun to try to make some of my favorite foods myself. Every weekend, my partner and I try to embrace different cultures through tasty sweets, soups, sandwiches, salads, and so much more. I’ll bet that you didn’t know that we have our own cookbooks and garden encyclopedia’s here at the library, one I’ve found to be very useful is “The $5 Meal College Vegetarian Cookbook” by Nicole Cormier.
Summer is also a time for Susquehanna to spice things up for returning and new students with exciting renovations to the campus. Right now, we are taking advantage of the quiet library to make some renovations of our own, from our Main collection to our Leisure section, we have all kinds of new things for you to check out when you come back to campus this fall! Last year, my partner and I worked on renovating a camper that we are using this summer to go on a road trip in the northeast to hopefully escape this Central PA heat.
And finally, when I am not doing any of these fun and exciting activities, I am snuggled up binging movies and tv shows with my partner. I love watching and comparing movie adapted books to their counterpart films and sometimes find movies that end up being even better than their books in some cases. A book I recently read and watched the Netflix Adaptation of was “Leave the World Behind,” by Rumaan Alam, which turned out to be a prime example of genius filmmaking in my opinion, one that I may write an upcoming review about so be sure to stay tuned!
Overall, summer can be a great time to relax and breathe in some fresh air, even during the long, boring, and hot days. While I can’t wait until the cool breeze of fall, I have still found some wonderful ways to appreciate the time I have off, and I hope you can too! Happy summer to all, and to all a cool night!
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