TBR – Page 3 – What Cathy Read Next…

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 That 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 Top Ten Tuesday topic is a freebie on the theme of summer. I’m taking part in the 20 Books of Summer Reading Challenge and here are the first ten books I’m planning to read/listen to. They have all been in my TBR pile for ages. Will they still be there at the end of August? Wait and see. Links from the title will take you the book description on Goodreads.

Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel (audiobook)
Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
The Body in the Ice by A. J. Mackenzie
The Summer House Party by Caro Fraser
The Dark Isle by Clare Carson
Pompeii by Robert Harris
The Assassin of Verona by Benet Brandreth
Transcription by Kate Atkinson

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.