A prominent nineteenth-century preacher branded summer reading as “literary poison in August.” Today, though, the practice is celebrated as lists like O magazine’s “Best Summer Reads” take center stage. Based on the new book, Books for Idle Hours: Nineteenth-Century Publishing and the Rise of Summer Reading (February 2019), this talk explores the birth of the “beach read” and the practice of summer reading in the nineteenth century, tracing the ways in which readers, authors, and publishing houses came to frame summer reading not as a disreputable indulgence, but as a respectable pastime especially for the woman reader.