As the new owner of a camping hammock – the kind that seem to be made of parachute material, roll up to the size of a grapefruit, and can be hung up in 17 seconds flat between any two random trees – I’ve deepened my love for outdoor reading. With a slight breeze rustling the leaves above and the sun shinning between the branches holding you a whopping 14 inches of the ground; can you really think of a better place to flip through a couple hundred pages of 12 point serif font? No the answer is no (at least not in Nebraska, as I am very partial to Atlantic Ocean beach reading). So now that we’ve unanimously aggreed the backyard is the supreme reading arena, you may need some help deciding what to read!

But before selecting a book, you must remember the conditions in which you are reading. You are outside in the warm sun, probably working on a your tan, with a cool breeze blowing and the sweet aroma of your lilac bush floating through the air. Ahhh so relaxing. Key word; relaxing. So keep your summer school textbooks indoors and for heaven’s sake no overly complicated “how-to change your life” books.

Seasonally appropriate literature is always a good go-to.  Summer romances, travel tales, gardening guides and beachside mysteries are all solid choices. I personally enjoy catching up on the latest “books made into movies”, that way you can cry your way through John Green’s A Fault in Our Stars and be less likely, but not completely immune to, tearing up in the theater. You also can’t go wrong with a classic, To Kill a Mocking Bird, The Great Gatsby, Charlotte’s Web, or Pride and Prejudice just to name a few.

If you’re still looking for recommendations for your outdoor reading adventure, we polled the Purple Polos to see what page turners they take outside.

• Adventures of the Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach – Dave, Install Crew
• Mister Owita’s Guide to Gardening: How I Learned the Unexpected Joy of a Green Thumb and an Open Heart by Carol Wall – Michele, Vice President 
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain – Jen, Color Team
• The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks – Gabby, Marketing 
• The War of Art by Steven Pressfield – Andy, Garden Crew
• Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling – Annie, Garden Crew
• My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George – Megan, Garden Crew
• Burpee Seed Catalogue – Jenny, Garden Crew
• A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson – Nate, Account Executive 
• The Book Theif by Markus Zusak – Anne, Designer