Cathy at 746 Books has handed over the baton of the 20 Books of Summer Reading Challenge to two new hosts: Annabel at AnnaBookBel and Emma at Words and Peace. Thank you, Cathy, for hosting what has become one of my favourite reading challenges for the past ten years. Put your feet up now and read a book… or twenty.
The #20BooksofSummer2025 challenge runs from Sunday June 1st to Sunday August 31st. You can find all the information you need about the challenge here where you can also sign up to participate. It’s where you can also grab the wonderful new logos to use on your sign-up post, updates and reviews. Plus there’s a bingo card if you want to make things even more challenging.
Every year I approach the challenge high on ambition and usually low on likelihood of success. But, hey, it’s supposed to be a challenge, isn’t it? I’m aiming for the full 20 books, targeting the oldest physical books in my TBR pile, quite a few of which – sadly – have appeared on previous years’ lists.
Being a stubborn old so-and-so, I like to stick to my original list and not take advantage of the option to swap books in and out. However, I am going to allow myself the freedom to DNF at the 25% point if I’m not loving a book. (I rarely DNF books usually.) I have audio versons of the two biggest books and I’m hoping this might help me get through them.
If I DNF a book, it’s going to the charity bookshop. If I finish it but didn’t absolutely love it, it’s going to the charity bookshop. That should mean lots of space created on my bookshelves. Win/win.
Links from the titles will take you to the book description on Goodreads. I’ll update them with links to my reviews when I’ve read them.
- Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson Read
- The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel Read
- Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee Read
- Exit West by Mohsin Hamid Read
- The Body in the Ice by A. J. Mackenzie Read
- The Summer House Party by Caro Fraser Read
- The Dark Isle by Clare Carson
- Pompeii by Robert Harris
- The Assassin of Verona by Benet Brandreth
- Transcription by Kate Atkinson
- Force of Nature by Jane Harper
- The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle by Kirsty Wark
- Appetite by Philip Kazan
- Tombland by C. J. Sansom
- Anna of Kleve by Alison Weir
- A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler
- Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
- All The Lives We Never Lived by Anuradha Roy
- Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce
- The Cross and the Curse by Matthew Harffy
Wish me luck! If you’re taking part too, enjoy your summer of reading.
This annual challenge run by my namesake Cathy at 
What Cathy Read Next... 