The Lazy Genius Podcast - Easy Summer Reading Ideas

Episode Date: June 8, 2026

We’ve collected a handful of great summer reading ideas across several categories that I’m going to share with you today, along with my own personal ideas. Plus, we have some reading questions, kind of like Office Hours, that I’ll sprinkle throughout. We’re going to talk about reading vibes, ways to read more, permission to read what works for you, and lots more. Helpful Companion Links Order my book The PLAN or ask your library to consider carrying a copy. Get this month’s Book List by signing up here or peeking through the archive Bookmark strap Episode #471: Easier Summer Chores for Families Sign up for our every-other-week podcast recap email called Latest Lazy Listens. Sign up for my once-a-month newsletter, The Latest Lazy Letter. Grab a copy of my book The Lazy Genius Kitchen or The Lazy Genius Way! (Affiliate links) Download a transcript of this episode. Want to share your Lazy Genius of the Week idea with us? Use this form to tell us about it or record your idea and share your voice on the show. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey there, you're listening to the Lazy Genius podcast. I'm Kendra Adachi. This podcast is not about hacking the system to find more time or hacking your energy to get more done. Hustling to be the best or to make the most out of every opportunity is exhausting and unsustainable. So here we do things differently. On the show, we value contentment, compassion, and living in our season. We favor small steps over big systems. Here we are lazy geniuses. Being a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't, and I'm so glad you're here. Today's episode 472, easy summer reading ideas. I'm really excited about this episode. We have collected a handful of great summer reading ideas across several categories that I'm going to share with you today, along with my own personal ideas. So some from you, some for me. Plus, we have some reading questions, kind of like office hours that I will sprinkle throughout. We're going to talk about reading vibes, ways to read more, permission to read whatever you want to read, and lots more.

After that, fun talk around reading, we will have a little extra something where I talk about how to make phone calls. So the episode from a couple of weeks ago was all about lazy geniusing, annoying responsibilities. And phone calls can be one of those things. But I also know that phone anxiety can be like a whole thing. So many people just really dread making phone calls. I am not an expert on like phone call hacks or even phone call anxiety, but I can't offer some solidarity and maybe like a little bit of encouragement on getting this particular chore done. As always, we'll celebrate the lazy genius of the week, which is another great summer reading tip. And then we will finish with a mini pep talk for when you are in a rut. All right, because we have so many good. reading ideas to get to. Let's just go ahead and jump in. But we are going to start with a question that's not really about summer reading, but for sure about reading in general. And one I get all the time. But this time, it was asked by Christine Cowles. Christine asks, what is your criteria for deciding

to not finish a book? I feel a little guilty when I don't give a book at least 100 pages because some books have won me over by the end. But also, life is short and I don't want to read a book. I know I'm not enjoying. Oh, the DNF. book, the did not finish book. This is a problem a lot of people have with reading. You feel badly for not liking a book or you don't want to waste the time that you already invested by quitting before you're done. Sometimes people don't even start new books because they're afraid they're not going to like it, but they feel compelled to finish it. I get that. I really do. Here's my personal take on quitting books. First, there are too many great books in the world. Too many. The books I have on my shelf alone,

would fuel me for several years. Like, that doesn't even include all the Kindle books and stuff. There are just so many amazing books for every person and more are being written all the time. So I look at it as an exchange. For the most part, I'd rather read a four or five star book that I love than slog through a three star that I won't think about again. So that helps me stop books that don't work.

I have other books I would like to try. I have more than enough books I would like to try. So it's okay for me to stop. Now, part of what makes that successful is knowing what is on my TBR, that it's dependable. So here's how I decide if I'm going to put something on my to be read list and then whether or not I decide to finish it. So first, I know what I like. I like certain authors. I will read whatever they write no matter what. Like Melissa Albert just put out a new book, the author of the Hazelwood. And I don't even know what it's about. I already ordered it. I was like, oh, it's Melissa Albert. Yes, please. Like, it doesn't even matter. Same with, like, Abby Jimenez, Blake Crouch, Dave Barry, Alex North.

Like, those are blind bys for me. I love those authors. If I come across a book and I love the idea of the plot, but I'm like not familiar with the author. And I see the plot and I'm like, oh, this sounds so much like me. I will usually blindly trust it. If I see a lot of my book words and get excited, then I'm like, okay, let's add it to the list. Like, let's do this. And I'll feel good about it. I'll feel good that I'm going to like it. Now, if I am intrigued by a plot, but I'm not sure.

Like, I'm intrigued, but I'm not convinced, you know, I'm like, maybe. I will usually read a sample of the book. So you can go to the Kindle version of any book on Amazon. You don't have to buy the book on Amazon. You just go there and look it up. Click on the Kindle version. There's a read sample button. And you can get an idea of the writing.

style and if you like it. So if I start reading a sample and I want to keep reading, even if I'm not in the mood for the book at the time, then I'm like, okay, I think this is worth it. I think this is worth putting on my TBR. Now, if I find myself like a little annoyed by the writing style or I'm just not interested where I'm like get to the point or whatever I might say, then I don't put it on my list. Again, there are too many great books to read. So that's how a book gets on my cue. It's either by an author that I love. It's got my book words or it has a plot that I'm like, oh my goodness, yes, let's do this. Or if I'm not really sure, I'll read a sample to make sure that the writing is something I like enough that I will probably enjoy reading it. Now, here are some of my personal guidelines for either quitting

or pushing through a book. Since I thoroughly vet my books beforehand, before they're on my queue or on my actual shelf, I will usually give something that I'm not like into in the beginning I'll give it a solid 25 to 30% before quitting because it's there for a reason, right? But if by that time, by 25, 30%, if I'm still not into it, I will do one of two things. First, I will ask my book, Twin Katie, if she has read the book and if she thinks it's worth it for me to keep going. You can do that too. Like, ask someone who has read the book if they think it's worth it for you to continue, especially if they have similar reading preferences to you or know kind of what you like.

The second thing I will do is I will actually do something that Katie taught me, which is I will switch to audio and see if the experience changes. Because Spotify has audiobooks. You can listen to a certain number of hours every month for free if you have a premium membership. Then I can hop over and be like, oh, is this, do I like this better here? I did that recently with a book called The Art of a Lie. I started on paper. It was slow. I was a little bored. that Katie and other reviewers said it was one of the best mysteries that they had ever read. And I love a mystery, man. So I switched to audio and it changed everything.

I love the audio. And now I'm enjoying the book. Now, if Katie says, don't read it or someone else I know says, nah, you skip it. Or I don't really enjoy it with the audio. Then I quit. All right. Now, if I start reading a book, and I don't even need to get to 25 or 30 percent. If I start reading a book and even just like a couple chapters in, I'm like, no, I am so bored.

or I'm so mad or I'm so whatever, I just quit the book. Like again, there are two, there are too many books in the world. I did that recently within Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I wanted to read it because it's a classic. It's like the original true crime. But guess what, you guys, I don't really like true crime. Like, I don't like true crime. So even though it was so well written and I could see why it was a classic and like a trailblazer

in the genre, I quit it like 4% in. It just was not worth it to me. So that is my personal approach to quitting books. And here's the thing, if you do end up finishing a book that was not for you and maybe you're like, man, I wish I just quit that. Put words to why you didn't like it. Like learn from that experience. It will help you identify books down the road that likely will not work for you either. Okay. Now, before we get into the rest of our summer reading ideas, let's take a quick break to hear from our sponsors, which make this show free, free to listen to you. So thank you to our sponsors. Before we do, here's your quick reminder about the podcast recap email. We send it out every other Friday. It's called latest lazy listens. It summarizes

the episode. I will often share pictures from like my own life that are related to the episode. You don't have to take notes. If you're a note taker, all of it is in that email. So if you would like to get that recap, you can head to the lazy genius collective.com slash listens. Okay, let's get into some easy reading for the summer. First, let's talk about vibes, okay? Reading is often more enjoyable when you focus on the vibe, especially in the summer. So here are some thoughts from listeners, and then I'll share some words myself. So the first is from Kiera. I started a lovely summer reading tradition during the pandemic when we couldn't go much farther than our back garden. I purchased an outdoor bench with cushions that became my backyard reading nook. Every afternoon, I would go outside with my

Bluetooth speaker, I would pop on my Spotify release radar playlist and sit, soak up the sun, and read from my dedicated reading bench. Having this ritual added a moment of calm to my usually busy schedule got me reading even more than usual and helped me discover some fantastic new songs and artists that I wouldn't have had the time for before. I do love an outdoor reading spot. Oh my goodness. I do need mine to be like completely shaded. And we're even talking about installing a ceiling fan on our front porch because I'm like a fragile flower in the heat. But this is a great idea. Now, I personally would not be able to double this up with listening to a release radar playlist because I'm so locked into music. I would not be able to like focus

on either thing. But I do love the vibe of taking your speaker outside, like listening to music and reading. So even if you did something like this for 10 minutes a day, I think it would be a lovely, lovely addition to your summer. Tammy Morgan has another terrific idea. When I'm heading out on vacation, I either, y'all, this is so good. I either pick books I've just been dying to read or ones which have been highly recommended by a friend. And as I sit by an awesome pool or I'm propped up in a hammock with my book, I'm adding vacation memories to my reading. Later, when I pass on the book to others, I think back on it. Or if I hear the book, mentioned on social media. I'm not only reminded of a great book, but I'm transported back to my

vacation. That's a double win. Isn't this so great? I often think about where I was when I read something, but choosing a book that you pretty much know is going to be a winner to take on vacation is such a smart choice both ways. You have a book that you're super excited to read, and then you attach great memories to that book. I love that. It's such a smart choice. It's such a a good idea. Okay, this one is from Emily Link. What I read during the summer needs, needs has many ease in it, you guys. What I read in the summer needs to be set during the summer months, preferably by water and have a fun summer vibe, set in Maine and July, but has a dreary, reflective, hazy gray tone. No, ma'am, not for me. See, this is a woman who knows what she likes. And that's so

helpful for reading in general. Like, know what you like. And then just let the rest of it go. for now. Like dreary books can come other times for other seasons. Now here's a question. This is a question from Angela that speaks to the other side of this. So here's what Angela says. I want to read Beechy Summer Vibe books, very much a mood reader here, but then sometimes I find myself getting bored with the repetition by early July and don't know where to turn to next. That is a great point. For some people, you get your fill of like the beachy summer feeling before summer is over. So if that's you, I would look for things that aren't like classic beach reads. You know, we all know the splashy like summer rom-coms that are fun at the pool or the beach, that maybe you can expand that

by reading a thriller that happens during the hot months of the year or like a Jane Harper mystery that's almost always set in like the bush of Australia and it just feels hot. You could read Sandwich by Catherine Newman, a story of a family having their annual week at the lake. Summer books don't have to be like the vibrantly colored covers with bubble letters like we all imagine and sometimes love. There are summary books in other genres. And if you choose a couple of those to mix in with the typical beach reads, I think you'll

keep things a little more interesting. In fact, I actually made a list of books that I have read that I think would be great to read in the summer across genres. They either take place in the summer or they feel like they should, but they aren't just like rom-coms or typical beach reads. So I shared them in last week's edition of the book list, my books and reading email. So if you would like to get that, you can sign up at the lazy genius collective.com slash book list. And then you'll just automatically get sent the most recent one, even though it already went out last week. I also had one other author that I did not put in that list that I just thought about, and it's Peter Heller. Peter Heller writes really fantastic, almost like literary adventure novels that always happen outside.

So that could be an interesting author to look into if you're looking for good summer books that aren't typical summer books. Okay, next let's talk about reading the way that you. need to. I think we all need permission to read, like whatever we want, summer or otherwise. So Ashley Struekle says, I started loving summer reading when I stopped geniusing and started lazying. I used to feel pressure to read from summer reading guides and then I'd be disappointed when I couldn't get the books on time or they didn't live up to the hype. I started small by releasing myself from that expectation and just reading whatever I wanted, even if it didn't feel summary. That's such a simple take, but really important, especially for people who who might feel

pressure to make summer reading count. Just read what you like. Just read what you like. It's all good. I love this from Erica Albano. One of my summer reading rules is to read as much of an author and fiction as I like. Each summer feels different in terms of my interests and genre choice, but it's easy to find an author with several books to soak up in any category. This is a great idea. it's like Laura Tremaine's Stephen King's summer. She's made like a whole community out of people who read Stephen King all summer and it's fantastic. I would totally spend a summer reading, well, like I said, Peter Heller, Abby Jimenez, Blake Crouch, Neil Gaiman, Taylor Jenkins Reed, Dave Barry. Those to me would be great summer authors just to read like their whole list.

Another take on this is reading a series that you've been wanting to get into you. Like I have personally had the silo series by Hugh Howie on my shelf forever, forever. And knocking it out over the summer, it sounds pretty great, especially when one of the books is named Dust. Like, dust feels like a summer vibe in a different way, but still a summer vibe. And here's a great piece of permission from Emily Stevenson. In summer, I tend to read more lighthearted books that don't take as much brain power. I found that I'm actually more likely to finish books and write them highly when I read them in the appropriate time of year. That is genuinely so wise. Lighthearted, easy to read books can be read

any time, but summer is a great time to enjoy them. If you were to read something lighter, when you're more eager to read something deep and thoughtful, you're not going to enjoy the light book as much. It's like eating a bowl of hot chili and cornbread when it's 95 degrees outside. I mean, like, it's fine enough. It's like tasty. But that meal is so much better when it's like 50 degree cooler. So that's a great take on summer reading for people who need the permission to read light and feel great about it. Here's another way to read what you want. And this feels so great for the summer. So Mary Sprague writes, my oldest daughter is 11 and she asked me to read Heidi with her. It was so wonderful, and I decided that I would start reading classic children's books in the summer.

It turned out to be an absolute delight. Children's classics in the summer is such a great idea, like The Chronicles of Narnia, the Westingame, Anna Green Gables, the Secret Garden, Charlotte's Web. Like, now I want to read all those books all summer long. Like, I love that idea. It's another version of taking some type of category and enjoying it on purpose. during the summer. Okay, so next let's get into some ideas about reading more or just choosing what to read when you are stuck because sometimes being stuck keeps us from reading more. Stephanie Cleland captures this dilemma very well. I am struggling with choosing to read when there are so many other

distractions like doom scrolling in the parking lot while waiting for kids to get out of camp. I'd rather read, but I tend to default to scrolling. So this summer, I'm going to try to try to take a physical book with me wherever I go. Leave one in the car, keep one in the beach bag, and I'm going to change my lock screen to a picture of the book that I'm currently reading. I have totally done this too. Well, I love taking a physical book with me where I go. It's so much easier to choose reading when the book is in your hand and not on your phone. And while I have not done the lock screen thing, I have moved all my other apps to page two and after of my phone. And I only put my Kindle app and like audible and chirp like all my reading things on the first page.

So that way when I open my phone, like it just it says like, hey girl, you like reading. Don't swipe to the other things. We're right here. It was great. It worked really well. So I hope this idea works well for you this summer too, Stephanie. Okay. Lib Ramos has a lovely take on making reading work more in your season.

I always love the idea of a beach read, but I've never. quite been able to manage reading much when I'm on the beach. I have two kiddos, including a little one that needs constant supervision. But last year, I think I may have finally figured out the key to reading at the beach for me. Bring poetry. For me, poetry is the perfect bite-sized writing. I can take on the beach. I love that. I love that. I have heard people say the same about short stories. Bring something short enough to match your season of life. So you can still enjoy reading without feeling like you have zero momentum. Here is another mom making reading work for her.

Julie Winer says, Now that my little kids can mostly manage the playground equipment on their own, I found some time to add in some reading while they play. Because they still need my help from time to time, I bought a bookmark strap so that I get up and down from the bench, I keep my book safe, and I don't lose my place. You guys have seen these, right? Just Google bookmark strap, and you'll know.

but it basically turns your book into like a cross-body bag. It's so great for reading when kids require you to get up and down all the time. It's like hanging on your body and it's always marked. Your place is always marked. Like it's so great. Amanda Sgravani has a great idea for reading what you want in the summer if you read from the library. Here's what she says.

I have a tag on Libby that's called Summer. Throughout the year and especially in the spring, I add books to the tag that I'd like to read that summer. I always end up with lots of options. This is so simple and so stinking great. When you come across a book that you want to add to your list, add it on Libby with a summer tag if it's better to read in the summer. Then when you go into the tag, you can check out with what's already available because presumably some things will be or you can place holds and you just wait for those holds to come in. But you know, like these are the books I want to read this summer, even though they're from the library. It's like you're gathering them

all year long under that tag. It's just so smart. And here's a question from Sarah Heflin that captures the other side of that, the side when summer reading feels harder than usual. She says, here is my summer reading problem. I am a voracious lifelong reader. I love it like it's my job because it is. I've been an English teacher for over a decade. But recently, I've been having an existential reading crisis. I am in a season of extra stressors that have fried my brain and made it impossible for me to focus on reading. What was once my primary form of mental escape and favorite way to rest now feels heavy, burdensome, and almost impossible. I can't get into books I would normally love and I have no desire to try. This feels especially grievous during the season that should be an

educator's best time to read a lot this summer. So my question is, how do I honor what my brain may need right now while still finding small ways back to the comfort and delight of reading in the summer. This is such a wise and kind question, Sarah. I don't get the sense that you're like beating yourself up for not being able to read right now. It feels more that you're just frustrated that something that used to work well isn't anymore. And something that you love isn't giving you joy like it used to. That's very real. First, I just, I think it's important to say it's fine to not read. Or to read differently, obviously. Maybe you start small with audiobooks of books you already know you love, you know, like read something you know you love in a different form. You can see how your

brain does with that. If that doesn't work, you could try the earlier ideas of like children's classics or even poetry if the focus isn't there. And if those don't work, I think that's okay. Like, it's okay if you need a season of not reading. Like even if it's summer, which feels like a waste, it's okay if you need some time away. Sometimes that happens, and I do believe it will come back. But maybe you do just need a break. So while you wait to see if that's true, if you do need a break, maybe there's like another activity you could explore during your summer break.

You could learn to play an instrument, bake, crochet, learn pottery, go for long walks in the woods or through your city, listen to music. Maybe your brain just needs other things right now. and that's okay. Start small either way, whether it's finding a way to read again without feeling underwater or just trying something else altogether. Okay, let's finish the community thoughts by talking about family reading culture. A lot of you have reading time at home with your kids, especially your young kids. Some of you, like Sarah Dukowski, have summer reading challenges as a family. Sarah sent in her reading challenge. Summer is a fun time to encourage reading in kids. I do think that family summer reading can be a little fraught, though.

Like there's a lot of pressure to get your kids to read. Like this question from Stacey Adams, my son is 10 going into fifth grade this fall. He is not a natural reader. And I have to set aside reading time for him, which is fine. He seems to only connect to graphic novels, which is also fine. However, as a former English teacher, I know the importance of challenging him to appropriate level chapter books. And I'm trying to slip one in between graphic novels or in tandem with them. He usually starts off strong and gets bored just before halfway, regardless of the genre.

He has some thought stuck in his mind that he can't read Harry Potter or Percy Jackson or any of the other amazing books of his age until he's actually in middle school, even though he is well above his reading level and ability. I feel like I've tried everything from fun incentives to just get your minutes or chapters in, and I don't feel good about anything. any of it. He has two older sisters and I never had this issue with them. Help a boy mom get his son to be off screens and at least a little in books for fun. So I hear a lot of worry in this question, not for like his soul as a human, but like when we have expectations of what we hope for for our kids and those expectations feel far from met, or they just don't make sense to us, like not

reading certain books until middle school, it can be maddening. I understand that. I have a daughter that way. So trying to reason with a kid, it's like kind of a pain sometimes. Honestly, my first thought, Stacey, was to just wait until next summer. Like if he's got a block where he can't read certain books until he's out of fifth grade, maybe just let him enjoy his graphic novels this year. Like don't force him to read more things or harder things than he wants to and just trust that he's going to roll down that super fun Harry Potter Hill next summer. But the point is that we want good things for our kids.

And often reading is one of those good things, especially when the alternative is being on a screen. But I also get the trickiness of making screen time like a reward for doing something like reading when really we want reading to be just as exciting as the screens. But we struggle just like the question before. We struggle with that too. When given a book or a screen, often we choose a screen. So it feels complicated. It's very layered.

And usually when things are complicated and layered, what we want to do. do is build a big system, which does never work the way we think they will, as we know. So for anyone with kids who you hope read more this summer and who maybe need more prompting outside of the family reading hour or something that's like already worked, I just want you to start small by talking to your kid. Every kid is different. And a conversation might bring an idea to light. So let your kid know that you personally love reading.

You know it's a great thing to learn and enjoy that as a family. It's a value that you have that you want to share with your family. But then you can ask them how they would like to enjoy reading this summer. Like empower them to make the decision. If you ask, what would make you enjoy reading more over the next few weeks? and they say, I don't know. And maybe the next few weeks is too big. You know, maybe what would make you enjoy reading more this week?

It might be smaller. But still they say, I don't know. You can respond with, well, I would love to help you figure it out. Otherwise, I might give you some reading rules or even books that you just don't like too much. But I don't know any better because I don't know what you are really going after. So like, let's figure it out together. We can either talk it out together or you can think about it. it on your own and you can let me know what you're thinking later. You know, maybe it's a different

type of book or maybe when we read as a family, that's when you have like the most energy and you don't want to read, you know, like we don't have to do it like we've always done it. But I do want you to spend time reading every day this summer. So like let's work together to figure out how that's more fun for you. The idea here is you don't have to be the one that comes up with how things are done. You don't have to be the one with all the answers. You don't have to be the one to create the structure and the rules, especially when you have older kids who you can empower to make reading work for them, you do not have to be the builder of all the things. Like this question I got, listen to this building energy. There's a lot of building energy in this question. The hurdle I'm

anticipating is enjoyment without rigidity. The number of pages to be read will be simple enough of a goal to attain, but I want to foster a love of reading within my child and within myself as we So these questions fill my brain as our challenge starts today. What book do I start with? Do I buy this book, knowing my younger children, will need it for school later, or do I pick it up from the library? How ahead of schedule should I be when placing library holds or buying books? Do I implement a regular rhythm of reading time or let it happen more organically? Not to mention, I'm having my fourth baby in the middle of the summer, so any plan I establish will most likely, will most certainly need some pivoting. I'm cool, I'm cool, I promise. But,

When I let my mind wander on this topic and search for a system type A over here, I realize it is a much larger mental load than I want it to be. That, my friends, is a builder. I think the key here for this listener, because I am this listener, like I understand this energy. But I think the key here for anybody who identifies with this is that you have to let stuff grow. You can't just build it all from scratch. That's why we start small. Just start by choosing a book to read it with your kid today. It doesn't have to be part of some larger system or reading

challenge. It doesn't have to be at the same time every day. It doesn't even have to be past the book you read today. Like just pick whatever it is for today. This feels similar to last week's episode easier summer chores for families. Remember that six-word framework, do it daily, check in weekly. You can do the same thing for reading. Just start reading together every day. And then once a week, see what's working, see what's not, decide what comes next. Family reading in the summer, it has a lot of pressure attached, and I think we can let that pressure go. Like, you're not ruining your children by not making them read. You're not a bad parent if they don't read much at all. My husband is a wonderful, smart, lovely, compassionate person and he does not read books.

I have read more books in the last month than he's read in the last 20 years. Not a joke. Some people just aren't readers. They just don't enjoy it in the same way. Now, I'm not saying you have to give up on reading with your kids or give up on helping them develop a love for it, hopefully, but not everybody loves it. Not everybody's going to love it like you do. Like even great people don't always love to read.

It's okay. So try and release some of that pressure and that expectation, the grip on making your kids readers. You can foster an environment and you can share what you love about it. But if you set a really high expectation in your own head and then try to manufacture it, it's going to feel really challenging in a way that will probably make it even harder for your kid to enjoy reading. Not definitely, but it's likely. And then in the spirit of like not doing everything yourself, here is one more question that I want to answer. This is from Roberta does. Summer reading is feeling super daunting this year, but I think it's worth the effort even in this season. I have four kids, eight, six, four, and almost two. And in past years, since summer reading challenges meant me reading to all the kids myself and trying to time each one and log it, it was honestly awful. Now I have two mostly independent readers and I want them to participate. I also want to build in time for me to read during

the day two to model those habits. My question is how can I keep track what everyone is doing while still having an easy, breezy summer attitude? So this is a great example of how Roberta doesn't have to do everything. Roberta, if you have two independent readers, your older kids can also read to the younger ones. The older kids can fill out their own logs. They could fill out the little kids logs. Now you'll have to teach them how, confirm that they're doing it correctly for a few days, but eventually they'll learn how to do it on their own. But I can imagine a reading time where you're all gathered together, all five of you, maybe for the first half, the big kids read on their own and you read to the little ones, and then you swap the two big kids read to the two little kids and then you

pop on headphones or you sit on the other side of the room and you read on your own still with your eyes on your kids, but you're able to read a little bit yourself. You can even let the big kids fill out the logs for the little kids and take like they take turns doing the responsible part of sort of the system. The point here is you don't have to do everything. All of you listening out there, you don't have to do everything. You can empower your kids to take ownership of their reading of a part of whatever your family does. You can hand things off. It's hard to do that, especially when you have high expectations of the reading rhythm in the first place. But it's good for everyone if you, like from the chores episode last week, if you choose to empower

instead of micromanage, both the kids and the big system that you built for them. The bigger the system, the harder it is to manage. So just relax, release some of the pressure, start small with whatever summer reading you choose. And that's true for everybody, not just parents. Reading is supposed to be fun, and summer reading is unique in that it's nice to read things sometimes that are splashy and light, and also that you just have more time maybe. But no matter what your summer reading looks like, be kind, start small, and let go of the pressure to build like a big reading system or manufacture the perfect reading experience.

It's just going to distract you from what actually matters, which is enjoying your book. And that's our episode on easy summer reading ideas. All right, it's time for a little extra something phone call edition. So many of us just really hate making phone calls, like they're responsible kind of phone calls, not like chatting with a friend. Maybe there are personal phone calls that actually feel that way a little, you know, like calling a parent that you aren't as emotionally close to, but you still want to check in on. But for calling pharmacies and doctor's offices and insurance agents and schools and banks

and all the things. Here are some thoughts on how I feel about it and how I handle it, these phone calls. So first thing, I don't love making phone calls, but I don't have anxiety over it. Now, my husband, he hates it. He's on the phone a lot for his job as a school counselor. So I think part of his resistance is just like already making so many phone calls, especially when those phone calls are like emotionally heavy, like most of his calls are. So because I love my husband, I mean, I would make the phone calls anyway, but it doesn't give me the same kind of angst as it does him. So I will make the call.

Like if we're going to order pizza for pickup, I will call it in and he will go to get it. That's like our shared responsibility, each doing the thing that we don't mind doing that the other person dislikes. But personally, phone calls aren't like socially or emotionally hard for me. Now, I don't love them when there's like waiting or unknowns involved, you know. I love efficiency. I spot places where things could be done better. So if I make a phone call and I get sent in circles to get to the right person,

I am immediately like, girl, or such a better way to do this. But that's just like my own energy to manage, you know? I got to work on that myself. But I think the most helpful thing for me when I make phone calls is that I either quickly rehearse or write down what I'm going to say. Like I always think to myself, what is the first piece of information this person needs to help me? Because so often we'll make a phone call and we'll like just start a story.

You know, we're like, hi, I saw my doctor for my ankle last week, but it's not healing in the way I thought. And I wondered if a different medication might work, but I wasn't sure if it would conflict with this other medication that I'm on. Like that's how we start the call. Now that's how the issue we're trying to solve, that that's not what the person on the phone needs. The person on the other end of the phone needs me to say, hi, my name is Kendra Adachi, and I'm a current patient of Dr. Pace.

I have a question about a medication I'd like to discuss with either Dr. Pace or a nurse. Now listen, you can start the phone call the other way. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. But I do think that some of our like phone frustration and anxiety, it comes from feeling like we're in the way. that we're being annoying, that we're not being met with warmth and kindness that we would appreciate. It's not disrespectful to talk about your situation to whoever answers the phone. But I do think that things tend to go a little better when we think of the other person on the

other end of the line, like setting them up well to help us. Also, if you say the whole thing about your story and about your medication and your ankle, and then the first question they ask you is, what's your day to birth? which is what they're going to ask. It feels like a dismissal, you know, that you're kind of like being reduced to a piece of information rather than a person with a need. So that's why I always try and imagine, okay, what does this person need first in order to help me?

They need my name, they need my doctor's name, maybe they need my birthday, like whatever. It's like we get into a flow more easily that way. Again, that's not necessary, nor does any other way make like, you bad at phone calls. That's just something that makes my own phone call experience easier. I also try to think about what I will need to have for this conversation. So if it's medical related, I'll grab the insurance card, I'll grab the prescription bottle, I'll get my last bill or, you know, whatever, before I even make the phone call. I think having what you need, it keeps you from shuffling around and trying to find stuff, you know, where someone's like,

what's your insurance number? You're like, oh, wait, hold on. I need to find my car. And then that anxiety, you're like, oh, I'm keeping them waiting. I can't find my card. It feels like another waste of time, like all of these things. So I think that question is really helpful. What would be good for me to have nearby before I make this phone call?

So I might even pull up my calendar on my laptop. If I'm talking on my smartphone, I'll open my laptop, make sure it's in front of me, so that if I'm scheduling an appointment, I don't have to like fumble with my speaker phone and move to my calendar app and try to figure my calendar is just in front of me, you know? So what does the person need first to help you? What can you have with you already to keep you from like stalling the call, you know? And then finally, don't over-schedule calls. Like I never save up phone calls for one session at the kitchen table because I know I'm likely not going to get to all of them. Because phone calls, like many annoying responsibilities, they take more time than we think.

Like it's all an indeterminate amount of time. So I tend to give myself way fewer phone calls to make in one sitting than I think I have time for. Better to underplan and be like, I did it, then overplan and still feel behind. It's a mental game. But it's also practical. Like just plan one or two phone calls for the hour you have at your table, not four or five. If you still have lots of time after the first two and you want to make another one, do it.

That don't over-schedule yourself and expect to get all of them done or you'll get frustrated, you won't finish, and then you'll feel like you're back where you started. So, to recap, for me, I ask, what's the first thing the person needs to help me? What do I need in front of me to make this phone call easier? And I underschedule phone calls, not over-schedule them. Those are just some ideas. They're not rules. But I hope they're helpful lenses when figuring out your own phone call chores and how to make them easier for you. And that is today's A Little Extra Something. For this week's lazy genius of the week, we have an audio clip from Katie about a fun way she does her seasonal reading. Hi, Kendra. This is Katie from Tennessee. And I heard you mention that you will be doing a summer reading episode coming up, which is exciting. I wanted to share my. my lazy genius tip for how I approach seasonal reading. I absolutely adore reading a book in the season

in which it is set. So pretty much any time I add something to my TBR, I Google what season is blah, blah, blah, set in. And if Google tells me or gives me an idea, then I will basically keep that in a note of my phone by month and by season of, you know, general winter, general fall, kind of just like a cue for when to read those books. Oh, I love the intentionality of this, Katie. It's okay to approach reading without intention. Like, it's okay to just read. That's how I read 90% of the time.

I just grab a book that feels right and I start. But when you know there's something that matters to you about reading, it's so fantastic to lean into it, like celebrate it. If you're like Katie and you love reading books set in a season you're in, organize your TBR by season or by whatever. aspect matters to you. So thank you for sharing Katie and congratulations on being the lazy genius of the week. And now for a mini pep talk for when you're in a rut. It could be a reading rut, a movement rut, a cooking rut, a friendship rut, a decorating rut, a style rut. Basically when

something that used to work and be in rhythm and bring you joy, just isn't anymore. It's a rut. You feel stuck. It's repetitive, boring, maybe even wrong. And feeling that way about something that used to work for you is its own kind of bummer. So first, don't try to fix it. Don't put all your energy into building a big system to get out of it. Like if you're in a style rut, don't get rid of a bunch of clothes and then plan a big shopping day to fill your closet back up. You're just going to run out of pants. If you're in a meal rut, don't buy a new cookbook you've never tried and then declare you're going to like cook your way through it like Amy Adams and Julie and Julia. I know it sounds romantic, but like, don't do that. It's not going to work. If you're in a reading rut,

don't spend hours of reading reviews or like buying a new Kindle. I mean, you could do any of those things if you want. You can, of course. But trying to, like, big fix a rut usually does not work. So instead, be kind and start small. Be kind and start small. Don't blame yourself for the rut or let any negative feelings make you feel unkind to yourself or others. Like when something feels wonky or too tight or in a rut, sometimes that can sneak into other areas of life. So I just want you to notice when that happens and remain kind there. I think it's also like kind to just acknowledge the frustration. If you ignore it or you push it down because you think it's not important enough to care about because like they're just books or they're just clothes or it's

just how my house looks or whatever. Like you discount something that matters to you. It's good to care. So be honest about those frustrations, about those feelings. Don't push them down. That's not kind and also start small. Don't fix the rut. Choose one small thing to remind you of what matters. Read an all-time favorite book. Wear an all-time favorite outfit. Frame an all-time favorite photo and put it in your room that's in a decorating rut. Like find something you love about that thing and enjoy it. Sometimes that's enough to get you out and help you see things a little more clearly so you can know what the next thing is going to be. So if you're in a rut, don't fix it,

don't get big black trash bag energy, don't make yourself feel bad about it. Be honest, be kind, start small. It's okay to be in a rut. And you will get out of it eventually, but not if you try to fix it with like a 12-step overhaul. You really only fix things by starting small, one thing at a time.

And that is a mini pep talk for when you are in a rut. If this episode was helpful to you or if you have been looking for a way to support this show, we would love it. If you would share the episode with a friend, maybe you have a reader friend or like a book club or something and you could send this episode to them. Every single share like that and makes a difference in helping more people become lazy geniuses. So thank you for your support. This podcast is part of the Odyssey family and the Office Ladies Network. This episode is hosted by me, Kendra Adachi, and executive produced by Kendra Adachi,

Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey. Special thanks to Leah Jarvis for weekly production. If you'd like a podcast recap every other week, be sure to sign up for the latest lazy listens email that goes out every other Friday. Head to the lazy genius collective.com slash listens to get it. Thanks y'all for listening. And until next time, be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. I'm Kendra, and I'll see you next week.