Top Ten Tuesday: My Summer TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

The rules are simple:

• Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
• Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
• Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
• Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

This week’s topic is Books to Read By the Pool/At the Beach (This can also serve as your Summer TBR).  As my time spent lazing by a pool or on the beach was back in February in Barbados and unlikely to be won’t be repeated again this year, my list is my Summer TBR, to be read in a location of your choosing.

Click on the title to read my review of the book description on Goodreads.

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The Year of the Snake by M. J. Trow and Maryanne Coleman – If the gorgeous cover doesn’t grab you, how about its description as a ‘racy historical whodunnit’ set in ancient Rome?

The Hidden Bones by Nicola Ford – Archaeological discoveries combined with a murder mystery and an interesting female protagonist gets my vote.

Call of the Curlew by Elizabeth Brooks – an orphan, a mysterious house at the edge of a vast marsh and set in 1939, this ticks all the boxes for me.

The Emperor of Shoes by Spencer Wise – Set in China, this promises ‘a transfixing story’ about an expatriate in southern China and his relationship with a seamstress intent on inspiring political change.

Betty Church and the Suffolk Vampire by M. R. C. Kasasian – the first in a new series of historical mysteries by the author of the wonderful Gower Street Detective series.

The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas – Time travel and a mysterious death, out in August this sounds enticing.

The Devil’s Half Mile by Paddy Hirsch – sometimes you only need to read the first line of a book description to know they’ve got you hooked: ‘Golden Hill and The Alienist meet Gangs of New York in this sweeping historical crime drama set in 18th century New York’.

Hold by Michael Donkor – I’ll confess it was the cover that drew my eye to this one but the description, ‘an intimate, moving, powerful coming-of-age novel’ set in Ghana and London, sounds pretty good too.

The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola – Described as ‘a sizzling, period novel of folk tales, disappearances and injustice set on the island of Skye’, this looks brilliant.  I love the inclusion of ‘sizzling’ in the description – what could be more summery than a sizzle?

A Long Island Story by Rick Gekoski – Set in 1953, it’s described as ‘portrait of a marriage in crisis, of a unique and fascinating period in US history and of a seemingly perfect family fighting their demons behind closed doors’.

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I don’t know about you, but having read this list I’m now really excited myself to start on these books.  And if I get through them all, there’s the added bonus that I’ll be much more up-to-date with my NetGalley ARCs and blog tours!