Tag: 20BooksofSummer

20 Books Of Summer 2024 Wrap Up #20booksofsummer24

whatcathyreadnext10 Comments

20-books-of-summerThis annual challenge run by my namesake Cathy at 746 Books is over for another year. It has a simple objective: pick 10, 15 or 20 books you’d like to read during the period of the challenge: 1st June to 1st September.

Once again, I aimed for the full 20 books. So, how did I get on?

Version 1 – I failed. I read only eight books from my list, stubbornly refusing to make use of the option to swap books in/out of my list during the period of the challenge. I am part way through another two though. The other ten? Let’s all meet again next year…

  1. Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz –  Read
  2. Transcription by Kate Atkinson
  3. The Draughtsman by Robert Lautner
  4. The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle by Kirsty Wark
  5. Appetite by Philip Kazan
  6. Anna of Kleve by Alison Weir
  7. Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce
  8. Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts – Read
  9. The Cross and the Curse by Matthew Harffy
  10. Swan Song by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott
  11. The Second Sleep by Robert Harris
  12. To Calais, In Ordinary Time by James Meek – Currently reading 
  13. Tidelands by Philippa Gregory
  14. A Place Without Pain by Simon Bourke – Currently reading 
  15. In the Garden of Sorrows by Karen Jewell  – Read
  16. French Windows by Antoine Laurain  – Read
  17. Alvesdon by James Holland – Read
  18. Dark Frontier by Matthew Harffy – Read
  19. The King’s Mother by Annie Garthwaite – Read
  20. Heart, Be at Peace by Donal Ryan – Read

Version 2 – I succeeded. I read 22 books during the period of the challenge. Only eight were on my original list but who cares?

  1. The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear
  2. French Windows by Antoine Laurain
  3. The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry
  4. Alvesdon by James Holland
  5. A Beginner’s Guide to Breaking and Entering by Andrew Hunter Murray
  6. The Days of Our Birth by Charlie Laidlaw
  7. The Housekeepers by Alex Hay
  8. In This Ravishing World by Nina Schuyler
  9. Dead Ground by Graham Hurley
  10. Dark Frontier by Matthew Harffy
  11. The King’s Mother by Annie Garthwaite
  12. In the Garden of Sorrows by Karen Jewell
  13. Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
  14. The Trap by Ava Glass
  15. West Heart Kill by Dann McDorman
  16. normal rules don’t apply by Kate Atkinson
  17. Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead
  18. Berlin Duet by S. W. Perry
  19. Heart, Be at Peace by Donal Ryan
  20. The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable

If you took part, how did you get on?

20 Books Of Summer 2024 Reading Challenge #20booksofsummer24

whatcathyreadnext14 Comments

20-books-of-summerI can’t believe it’s time again for this annual challenge run by my namesake Cathy at 746 Books.  Now in its tenth year, the challenge will run from Saturday 1st June to Sunday 1st September 2024.  I’ve participated for the past few years but only managed to complete it once, in 2021.

As (the other) Cathy explains, the rules are simple.  Take the Books of Summer image, pick the 10, 15 or 20 books you’d like to read and add your link to Cathy’s master post so she knows you’re taking part.

The rules are accommodating.  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’m aiming for the full 20 once again and, as last year, I’m targeting books that have been in my TBR pile for way too long. Many of them appeared on last year’s list, I’m afraid to say. I have a couple of review copies received from authors I’d really like to get to but I’m also trying to be more realistic by including ARCs with publication dates from June onwards that I ‘need’ to read and review. In previous years I’ve been foolish enough to think I can read 20 books in addition to my review commitments for blog tours, etc.

You can find my list below.  Links from the titles will take you to the book description on Goodreads. I’ll update them with links to my reviews when – note, not if – I’ve read them.

  1. Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (acquired October 2017)
  2. Transcription by Kate Atkinson (acquired January 2018)
  3. The Draughtsman by Robert Lautner (acquired March 2018)
  4. The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle by Kirsty Wark (acquired March 2018)
  5. Appetite by Philip Kazan (acquired April 2018)
  6. Anna of Kleve by Alison Weir (acquired June 2018)
  7. Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce (acquired March 2019)
  8. Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts (acquired March 2019)
  9. The Cross and the Curse by Matthew Harffy (acquired May 2019)
  10. Swan Song by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott (acquired July 2019)
  11. The Second Sleep by Robert Harris (acquired July 2019)
  12. To Calais, In Ordinary Time by James Meek (acquired February 2020)
  13. Tidelands by Philippa Gregory (acquired February 2020)
  14. A Place Without Pain by Simon Bourke
  15. In the Garden of Sorrows by Karen Jewell
  16. French Windows by Antoine Laurain Read and reviewed
  17. Alvesdon by James Holland
  18. Dark Frontier by Matthew Harffy (publishes 4th July)
  19. The King’s Mother by Annie Garthwaite (publishes 11th July)
  20. Heart, Be At Peace by Donal Ryan (publishes 15th August)

Wish me luck! If you’re taking part too, enjoy your summer of reading.