My 20 Books of Summer
by Sunita
I am once again joining Cathy’s 20 Books of Summer reading challenge, which she hosts at her blog. I’ve sworn off most reading challenges, but this one is a fun way to mark summer reading. There’s no pressure and you can choose whatever you want. Since I read 6-7 books a month anyway, it’s not about the volume for me so much as thinking about what to read in the stretch of the year where I know I have more time for all kinds of fiction.
The Man Booker longlist will come out in late July and that will create a bit of a crunch because I plan to read as much of it as I can, but I’m going to list 20 books anyway and see how far I get.
Translated Fiction
- In the Night of Time by Antonio Muñoz Molina: Yes, I’ve been reading this for ages. This is the summer, I swear it.
- Compass by Mathias Énard: Énard’s most highly acclaimed novel and the one which most thoroughly engages with his interest in Orientalism.
- Fox by Dubravka Ugrešić: This was on a bunch of awards lists and comes highly recommended.
- Celestial Beauties by Jokha Alharthi: This just won the Man Booker International Prize. I bought it when it was longlisted but haven’t read it yet.
- Valley of the Fallen by Carlos Rojas: A 1970s novel about Spain during Goya’s and Franco’s times. Recently translated by Edith Grossman and well reviewed but has not been talked about much.
- Not to Read by Alejandro Zambra: A book of essays about reading, authors, and literature by the always-worthwhile Chilean writer.
UK Fiction
- Morvern Callar by Alan Warner: I have two of Warner’s books on my TBR shelf. I started Deadman’s Pedal earlier this year but couldn’t get into it, so I’m going back to this early one.
- A Month in the Country by JL Carr: A modern classic that I’ve been meaning to get around to for ages.
- GB84 by David Peace: I’ve owned this for years but have put off reading it until I finished the Red Riding Quartet. I still have 1983 to go but this is jumping the queue.
- Tom Jones by Henry Fielding: An 18thC classic for the summer, another I’ve owned for decades in paperback.
- Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy: Ditto for the 19thC but on the TBR for years rather than decades, and in the adorable Collector’s Library small hardback edition.
- Ironopolis by Glen James Brown: Another under-the-radar novel that came out last year to praise but little chatter.
Genre Fiction
- Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley: A favorite author and I still haven’t read this!
- One Summer in Paris by Sarah Morgan: Morgan’s latest, which I bought when it came out this spring. I know some readers haven’t enjoyed her women’s fiction releases as much as her categories but I’m still on board.
- The Honourable Schoolboy by John le Carré: Part of my Smiley reread. I’m on Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy right now, so this will be next up. I don’t think I really read it in the past, just skimmed to get to Smiley’s People. But it’s ranked as one of his best and I want to read it properly.
- Five selections from the Harlequin TBR: Three for SuperWendy’s TBR Challenge (the months’ categories are Historical, Contemporary, and Random Pick) and two additional to work on the queue.
I’m not wedded to this list and I have books I can substitute for these in all the categories, but I do want to read all of them at some point, so I’m starting here.
The challenge runs from 3 June to 3 September. I’ll review as I go along and keep you all posted!
That looks like an ambitious list. I’m interested in what you think about Bellewether. Miss Bates and I held a ‘sqeee-fest’ over that one.
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We did!!!! (But not everyone squeed with us, so I’ll be dying to know what you think.
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Kay and Barb, I’m pretty sure I’ll be on the squee bench with you. I’m really looking forward to sinking into it.
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Oh what a great list! Thanks for taking part. I love David Peace.
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I’m really looking forward to it. 🙂
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Great choice of books, I will probably change my list up a bit too. I love the Man Booker list – I never get round to reading as many as I would like but I’ve discovered some amazing reads via it.
Happy Reading!
I’m joining in too – https://onemoreword.uk/2019/06/02/20-books-of-summer-2019-20booksofsummer-amreading-books-summer/
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Your list is great too! We have some TBR overlap, and I’m looking forward to your reviews.
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Thank you 😀
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