Category: 20 Books of Summer

20 Books Of Summer 2025 Reading Challenge Wrap-Up #20BooksofSummer2025

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This year Cathy at 746 Books handed over the baton of hosting the 20 Books of Summer Reading Challenge to Annabel at AnnaBookBel and Emma at Words and Peace.

Every year I approach the challenge high on ambition and usually low on likelihood of success. This year my list was made up of the oldest physical books in my TBR pile.

Emma and Anna have helpfully compiled a list of questions to help us recap our experience of taking part in the challenge.

Q. Did you manage to finish all 10/15/20 books? If not, what kept you from completing the challenge?

A. No, I only managed to read seven of the books on my list. As usual I was over-ambitious, aiming for the full 20 books and, being a stubborn old so-and-so, sticking to my original list and not taking advantage of the option to swap books in and out. I had ARCs I needed to read (which I didn’t put on my list) and included two very long books on my list.

Q. Of all the books you read this summer, which one was your favorite and why? Did you DNF any? Why?

A. I enjoyed all the books I read but my favourite was The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel because it was so well-written and was a fitting end to the trilogy that started with Wolf Hall. Also the narrator of the audiobook was superb. I didn’t DNF any books. To be fair, I very rarely do.

Q. Which book surprised you the most, either by being better or worse than you expected?

A. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid. I hadn’t expected to enjoy it as much as I did because of the element of magical realism which I often don’t get on with.

Q. Did you notice any patterns in the genres you chose or enjoyed this summer?

A. Not really. Historical fiction, my favourite genre, made up the majority of the books I read.

Q. Which one had the best cover?

A. The Summer House Party by Caro Fraser.

Q. Which one was the longest? And the shortest?

A. The longest was The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel (912 pages). The shortest was Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (229 pages).

Q. Did you read them mostly in print? ebook? audio?

A. They were all print copies although I listened to one on audio (The Mirror & The Light) because it was too big to hold comfortably.

Q. Imagine you’re hosting a “20 Books of Summer” book club wrap party. Which book would you nominate as the guest of honour, and what kind of toast or speech would you give celebrating it?

A. It would have to be The Mirror & The Light because it’s the end of an epic trilogy by an author, Hilary Mantel, who is sadly no longer with us. The book is set during the reign of King Henry VIII so he would probably insist on making the speech. Ideally the party would not end with a beheading.

Q. Looking back at all the characters you met over the summer, which one would you want as a summer buddy for a weekend getaway, and what activity would you do together?

A. I’d go with Sam Coyle from The Dark Isle and spend a week on Orkney, the setting of the book. We’d explore the island’s ancient ruins (she’s into archaeology) and drink whisky.

Q. Any other comments you want to add.

A. To quote from my list of books, the challenge is the bookish equivalent of The Summer House Party, you are both a Force of Nature and I hope you have the Appetite to host it again next year!

  1. Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson Read
  2. The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel Read
  3. Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee Read
  4. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid Read
  5. The Body in the Ice by A. J. Mackenzie Read
  6. The Summer House Party by Caro Fraser Read
  7. The Dark Isle by Clare Carson Read
  8. Pompeii by Robert Harris
  9. The Assassin of Verona by Benet Brandreth
  10. Transcription by Kate Atkinson
  11. Force of Nature by Jane Harper
  12. The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle by Kirsty Wark
  13. Appetite by Philip Kazan
  14. Tombland by C. J. Sansom Currently reading
  15. Anna of Kleve by Alison Weir
  16. A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler
  17. Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
  18. All The Lives We Never Lived by Anuradha Roy Currently reading
  19. Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce
  20. The Cross and the Curse by Matthew Harffy

Book Review – The Dark Isle by Clare Carson #20BooksofSummer2025

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About the Book

Sam grew up in the shadow of the secret state. Her father was an undercover agent, full of tall stories about tradecraft and traitors. Then he died, killed in the line of duty.

Now Sam has travelled to Hoy, in Orkney, to piece together the puzzle of her father’s past. Haunted by echoes of childhood holidays, Sam is sure the truth lies buried here, somewhere.

What she finds is a tiny island of dramatic skies, swooping birds, rugged sea stacks and just four hundred people. An island remote enough to shelter someone who doesn’t want to be found. An island small enough to keep a secret…

Format: Hardcover (380 pages) Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 1st June 2017 Genre: Thriller

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My Review

The Dark Isle is the third book in a trilogy. I haven’t read either of the first two but frankly I didn’t find myself at a disadvantage. In fact, if I hadn’t discovered it was part of a trilogy, I don’t think I’d have guessed because it comes across as a fully developed standalone story. However, because I haven’t read the previous two books my review may unwittingly contain spoilers.

The Dark Isle is a blend of spy thriller and family drama that moves back and forth between Sam’s teenage years in 1976 and 1989, some years after her father’s death. She’s now a rather penniless archaeology student working on a research proposal for her PhD and living in a grimy rundown flat with her best friend Becky in an insalubrious part of London.

Whilst spending the summer on a dig in Orkney, Sam catches sight of a figure from the past: Pierce, the father of Anna, her childhood friend who disappeared from her life fifteen years before. She and Anna spent the hot summer of 1976 together, having adventures inspired by the fables told by Sam’s father. Sam was rather starstruck by Anna, in awe of her boldness and maturity. The fact both their fathers worked in undercover roles, albeit employed by different government bodies, created a unique bond between them. Then suddenly it was all over. Anna’s father’s abandoned her and her mother and there has been no communication in the intervening years. It’s almost as if Anna wanted to disappear too.

Sam wonders why after such a period of absence, Pierce has chosen to reveal himself now, and why to her? What does he want from her? And what really happened between Pierce and her father? They’re questions to which Sam can’t resist trying to find the answers, especially because of fragments of conversation between the two men she overheard as a child during a holiday on Orkney.

In searching for answers she unwittingly places herself in danger, as a figure from both men’s past returns with some unfinished business. It leads to some tense and exciting scenes with Sam having to employ all the tradecraft of a spy in an attempt to outwit her pursuers. Not knowing who she can trust doesn’t make it any easier. All she can rely on is her own instincts, and the penknife her father Jim insisted she always carry.

I liked Sam’s transition from quirky teenage loner to slightly grungy, prickly twenty-something. And I really liked the contrast between the wild beauty of Orkney and the remote island of Hoy, and the seedy, rather grimy parts of London Sam inhabits. There’s also a great sense of each time period.

I think what the author did really well is, alongside the espionage element of the plot, give an insight into the impact on a family of someone involved in covert work: the sudden unexplained absences, the mood swings, the constant air of watchfulness, the barely suppressed aggression.

All of this makes The Dark Isle a really accomplished, well-paced thriller. The Dark Isle is book 7 of my 20 Books of Summer.

In three words: Intriguing, atmospheric, pacy
Try something similar: The Bone Road by N. E. Solomons

About the Author

Clare Carson is an anthropologist and works in international development, specialising in human rights. Her father was an undercover policeman in the 1970s. She lives in Brighton.

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