It's time for the 20 Books of Summer reading challenge again. Well, it will be in 11 days. It starts on the the 1st. June in fact and finishes on the 1st. September and once again I'm up for it.
The idea is pick a selection of 20 books that you want to read over the next 3 months. And read them. That's it. Simples. The challenge is being hosted by 746 Books and more info and the sign-up is HERE.
I was thinking that I would only go for 10 or 15 this year as I only managed 12 in 2021, but the list, like Topsy, growed and growed. So I ended up with 20 and these are they:
1. Waiting for the Albino Dunnock - Rosamund Richardson
2. Into the Tangled Bank - Lev Parikian
3. The Shell Seekers - Rosamunde Pilcher
4. Green for Danger - Christianna Brand
5. A Thousand Miles up the Nile - Amelia Edwards
6. Prospero's Cell - Lawrence Durrell
7. The Mysterious Mr. Quinn - Agatha Christie
8. Married to Bhutan - Linda Leaming
9. The Coroner's Lunch - Colin Cotterill
10. Beach Read - Emily Henry
11. The Camino: A Journey of the Spirit - Shirley MacLaine
12. Death Beside the Seaside - T.E. Kinsey
13. Illyrian Spring - Ann Bridge
14. Mrs. Lorimer's Quiet Summer - Ann Bridge
15. Walloon Ways - Val Poore
16. The Runaway Wife - Dee MacDonald
17. Away With the Penguins - Hazel Prior
18. The Riviera House - Natasha Lester
19. Fur Babies in France - Jaqueline Lambert
20. The Postscript Murders - Elly Griffiths
In reserve:
Death Goes on Skis - Nancy Spain
Dear Hugo - Molly Clavering
What I've done is fairly typical of me really, I've gone with a travelling - holidays - summer book theme based on my passion for armchair travelling. Not 'all' but mostly anyway. I've also combined several reading challenges so about half a dozen will also be read for my Book Voyage challenge and the Classics one. Really looking forward to getting started.
24 comments:
Such great choices, Cath! I'm very glad to see a Colin Cotterill on your list; that's a fine series, and I've not kept up with it as I'd have liked. And I thoroughly enjoyed Green For Danger; at least for me, it has a strong sense of atmosphere and a solid plot line. And as far as I'm concerned, you can't go far wrong with Christie. Well, they all look good, and I hope you'll enjoy them!
This is a great list - I do like the look of Waiting for the Albino Dunnock! I've read The Mysterious Mr. Quinn and The Postscript Murders - both excellent. It's a good idea to combine it with several reading challenges too.
Good luck and happy reading!
Thank you so much for posting this as I was waiting to learn more. I have been making my list and I see we both have The Shell Seekers on our lists - this will be the first time reading it for me. Your titles have me curious, I need to check some out more.
Hope your summer is full of delightful reads.
Margot: Thank you. I must admit I'd not heard of the Colin Cotterill series until it was given as one of the choices for the Book Voyage challenge I'm doing, the region for June being South Asia. I was delighted with the sound of the book so have reserved it from the library. So pleased to have your comment that the series is good. To be honest I hope I've chosen a nice clutch of murder mysteries.
Margaret: Thank you. I've been trying to get around to the Albino Duck book for a year or two, hoping to manage it this year. Glad to hear that Mr. Quinn and The Postscript Murders are both good, although I suspected it was so.
Thank you! You too!
Diane: I haven't read The Shell Seekers before either. In fact, to my shame, I've read nothing at all by Rosamunde Pilcher so I really want to put that right this summer.
Thank you... and yours too. Can't wait to see which books you choose!
It's a good job you are combining your books into a few different challenges, as 20 books in three months is quite a challenge, especially during the summer when there are so many other distractions going on!
You have several books on your list that I really know I would like to read, so they are heading for my 'wish list' (numbers 3, 7, 12, 16, & 20)and even more that I need to go away and spend time checking out.
I have read the 'Shell Seekers' before, but many moons ago, so I wouldn't mind reading that one for a second time.
I have just found a copy of the Dee MacDonald book on my shelf, so I have moved that one top and front of the bookcase.
Good Luck :)
Armchair traveling is the best kind of traveling in my opinion! You can go anywhere you want without paying a cent, enduring long hours in a confined space, fighting crowds, etc. Perfect. I wish you luck on your challenge! Enjoy your fictional travels :)
Thanks so much for joining in Cath, you've got a great list there! Good luck and happy reading x
Great list of books for your possible summer reads! I've got a list much longer than 20 books that I'm trying to winnow down for my own summer reading. I loved Beach Read by Emily Henry; and Agatha Christie's books are always fun. Just the idea of summer and summer reading makes me happy. I hope you get a chance to read all of these! :D
Yvonne: I think these days I probably do read a bit more than 20 books in 3 months but what might be difficult for me is sticking to the list and not wanting to go off and read something else entirely. I usually start off really well but tale off towards the end. So, we'll see.
I notice it's the crime books that take your fancy and I suspect I will read those no problem at all. I've never read The Shell Seekers and keep promising myself I will, so I'm fairly determined to get to that this summer. The Dee MacDonald looks like a lot of fun and it was one of your reviews which introduced me to this author.
Thank you!
Susan: I think you may be right about armchair travelling, it's certainly the most comfortable kind. These days that tends to be my main focus. Thank you!
Cathy: My pleausre, I had so much fun last year I just had to do it again.
So many books here I don't recognize, so I am eager to learn about them. I am interested in how you like Prospero's Cell by Lawrence Durrell. Also The Shell Seekers.
I think that you will love Green for Danger. Also the short stories in The Mysterious Mr. Quin. I have read The Coroner's Lunch, and followed up with the second book. And I have a few more in the series. Somestimes has elements of the supernatural if I remember correctly. But just a bit. I liked Postscript Murders a lot.
I have Dear Hugo and a few more by Clavering on my Kindle. I added some more after I read Because of Sam.
It is going to be a fun summer reading all of those books. I tried to cut back to 10 or 15 too, but it just didn't work.
Hi, Cath! I did comment on this post the other day, but my comment seems to have disappeared into internet limbo again...or maybe your spam folder. It's been happening a lot lately. But I love your summer reading list! I've started working on mine and I'm already way past 20 books. I need to figure out how to winnow it down, or prioritize it somehow. (Or find a way to make summer last longer!) I loved Beach Read and I hope you enjoy it, too. Happy reading all these books this summer. :D
They say third time's the charm, lets hope that's true for comments, too. My other two comments disappeared...probably into your spam folder. I love your summer reading list! Beach Read is a favorite of mine. I still haven't figured out my summer reading plans...I've got too many books that I want to read. (As always.) :D Happy reading!
Tracy: I've only read one of Lawrence Durrell's Mediterranean travel books and that was about Sicily. So I'm looking forward to this one which I think is about the family's early days on Corfu.
Yes, I think I am going to like Green for Danger, lots of people have said so. I didn't even know The Coroner's Lunch series existed so am very intrigued by that.
Those Dean St. Press books are so tempting because they're pretty cheap to buy for Kindle. I have quite a collection now including a couple more by Molly Clavering. Dear Hugo looks 'very' good.
Too cut hard to cut the list back so I just went with it. LOL
Lark: I'm so sorry a couple of your comments got shoved into my spambox. I have absolutely no idea why but thanks for alerting me to it.
I'll definitely be reading Beach Reads and have EH's next book on pre-order.
Look forward to seeing your list when you post it. :-)
Hi Cath,
I'm so interested in your list.
I LOVED The Postscript Murders so much, that it was one of the best reads for me in the year I read it. Truly Gothic overtones, but not too too dark. It was perfect.
And I will never, ever forget reading The Shell Seekers. Treats in store!
Enjoy--
Hi Judith, so nice that you're around again! I enjoyed the first book in the series, The Stranger Diaries, so when I saw The Postscript Murders on offer for Kindle I grabbed it without hesitation. Elly Griffiths is one of my favourite writers of crime fiction. So looking forward to reading her book this summer.
I can't believe I'm Cornish and have yet to read The Shell Seekers. In fact I haven't read anything by Rosamund Pilcher and from what people say I really do have some treats in store. The one I really want to read is Winter Solstice but that's for later in the year.
Oh, Cath,
My absolute favorite Rosamunde Pilcher book is Winter Solstice. I listened to it on audio the first time, and have since read it twice in hardcover. Just can't help it. It's the only book I've read three times, EXCEPT for On the Beach by Nevil Shute. I have read that one thrice as well. If you haven't read Winter Solstice, OH!!!, you have such an incredible treat in store for you. I think I may just have to read it again this coming December!
Judith, yes I've heard that Winter Solstice is wonderful and am quite annoyed with myself for not getting to it before now. I think it will be a late autumn or into December read for me whilst The Shell Seekers will be a summer one. And I'm pretty sure I have one other RP on my Kindle but am not sure what it is.
Great list Cath! How are you getting on so far? I have reading mine quite quickly, but the reviewing is another matter….I hardly seem to have been at home long enough to write anything. Hoping for more time next week.
I found a copy of Death Goes in Skis in a charity shop after I’d made my list, so now I’m going to have to try to resist it for three months. I know exactly what you mean about making a string start then getting distracted.
I haven’t yet read The Shell Seekers either, but I’ve seen both DVD versions (think they were probably made-for-TV films? One had Vanessa Redgrave in the matriarchal role, the other, if I remember rightly, had Angela Landsbury.
The only Lawrence Durrell I’ve read so far is Esprit du Corps, which I remember being very funny. I’ve got Bitter Lemons and Prospero’s Cell on my shelves somewhere. I’m quite glad I saw Josh O’Connor’s version of him in The Durrells, as I seem to recall Gerald Durrell making him sound absolutely awful in the My Family & Other Animals book.
Good luck with the reading, I look forward to your reviews (when you get time - I imagine we are approaching, or have indeed already reached, peak time in your vegetable garden, so you will be spending a lot of hours freezing, bottling, etc. The one thing I planted this spring was a rhubarb crown - it was teeny but it seems to be growing faster every time I look away.
Rosemary: Well. 'OK', I suppose. I've finished one book, DNFed another, now reading two more. Yes, reviewing would be good... I must pull my finger out and do a book post.
Brilliant to find a copy of Death Goes on Skis in a charity shop. Mine's on my Kindle. I haven't read anything by Nancy Spain but I gather it's introduced by Sandi Toksvig so that's recommendation enough for me.
Gosh, I don't come across anyone who hasn't read The Shell Seekers very often, I've had people recommending it to me for about 30 years!
I definitely plan to read the Lawrence Durrell. Yes, he did sound awful in Gerald's books but that said, I gather the two brothers were very close and Gerald said Lawrence was the biggest supporter of his writing in his life. Which is so nice.
The garden? Well it's been so cold that peak season is still a long way off. A lot of it has not been planted out and that which has, the runner beans for instance, is looking extremely sorry for itself. Tomatoes in the greenhouse romping away though so at least we'll get those this summer, or should do.
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