I can’t quite believe the contents of this update given my record with this challenge in previous years! However, for those unfamiliar with it, let me enlighten you about the challenge itself.
The annual 20 Books of Summer challenge is run by my namesake Cathy at 746 Books. This year it takes place between 1st June and 1st September 2021. As (the other) Cathy explains, the rules are simple. Take the Books of Summer image, pick your own 10, 15 or 20 books you’d like to read and add your link to Cathy’s master post here so she knows you’re taking part.
The rules are accommodating as well. Want to swap a book? Go for it. Fancy changing your list half way through? No problem. Deciding to drop your goal from 20 to 15? She’s fine with that too.
I decided to aim for the full 20 once again. In putting together my list, I concentrated on blog tour commitments I had from June onwards, books on my NetGalley To Read shelf that publish in the next couple of months and books I’ve received as Readers First giveaways but still haven’t read. My thinking was the first category contains books I need to read soon anyway, the second category will help me maintain my 80% plus NetGalley feedback ratio and the third will assuage any guilt at my tardiness in posting the expected reviews. So far that strategy seems to be working, as you can see below!
Links from the titles will take you to the book description on Goodreads or to my review when I’ve read them.
This Is How We Are Human by Louise Beech (Orenda Books) Read and reviewed
The Serpent King by Tim Hodkinson (Aries) Read and reviewed
The Fort (City of Victory #1) by Adrian Goldsworthy (Head of Zeus) Read and reviewed
Scandalous Alchemy by Katy Moran (Head of Zeus) Read and reviewed
Everything Happens for a Reason by Katie Allen (Orenda Books) Read and reviewed
One Last Time by Helga Flatland (Orenda Books)
Two Women In Rome by Elizabeth Buchan (Corvus) Read and reviewed
Mrs England by Stacey Halls (Manilla Press) Read and reviewed
Love and Fury: A Novel of Mary Wollstonecroft by Samantha Silva (Allison & Busby) Read and reviewed
Yours Cheerfully by A J Pearce (Picador)
In A Time of Monsters by Emma Sky (Atlantic)
Gallowstree Lane (Collins & Griffiths #3) by Kate London (Corvus)
Three Little Truths by Eithne Shorthall (Corvus)
A House of Ghosts by W. C. Ryan (Zaffre)
This Shining Life by Harriet Kline (Doubleday)
Those I Have Lost by Sharon Maas (Bookouture)
Cecily by Annie Garthwaite (Viking)
The Unfortunate Englishman (Joe Wilderness #2) by John Lawton (Atlantic)
Hammer To Fall (Joe Wilderness #3) by John Lawton (Atlantic)
Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller (Fig Tree)
Wish me luck! If you’re taking part too, enjoy your summer of reading.
What Cathy Read Next... 