20 Books of Summer Starts Today

Published on by Margaret

Today is the start of Cathy at 746 Books‘ 20 Books of Summer. I previously listed the books I thought I’d read, but I’m already making a change and substituting Blue Moon by Lee Childs for An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris.

So, these are the 20 books that I’m hoping to read this summer:

  1. The Railway Children by E Nesbit
  2. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell.
  3. Three Men on the Bummel by Jerome K Jerome
  4. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift.
  5. Sing, Jess, Sing by Tricia Coxon
  6. An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
  7. The Dressmaker by Beryl Bainbridge
  8. Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
  9. The Killing Kind by Jane Casey
  10. The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jónasson
  11. True Crime Story by Joseph Knox
  12. Just Like the Other Girls by Claire Douglas
  13. The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
  14. Coming Up for Air by Sarah Leipciger
  15. The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles ** – as Rosemarykay pointed out in the comments I’ve duplicated this one, so I’m changing it to Heresy by S J Parris
  16. Loch Down Abbey by Beth Cowan-Erskine
  17. A Corruption of Blood by Ambrose Parry
  18. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
  19. Katheryn Howard, The Tainted Queen by Alison Weir
  20. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

14 thoughts on “20 Books of Summer Starts Today”

  1. The only one of these I’ve read is The Railway Children (I love E Nesbit). I tried Gulliver’s Travels as an audiobook on BBC Sounds but I’m afraid I gave up!

    Good luck with your list – I’ve just started mine too. Currently reading Artemis Cooper’s biography of Elizabeth David.

    (Is your 15 not the same book as 13?)

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    1. Thanks for pointing out 13 and 15 are the same book – I completely missed that! I’m changing 15 to Heresy by S J Parris.

      I have tried reading Gulliver’s Travels before and not got very far, so I’m hoping I’ll get on better with it this time!

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      1. Good luck – I failed many times to get past the first chapter of Wuthering Heights, finally listened to it on Sounds this year and – although at times I still almost gave up – I made it to the end, and I’m so glad I did. I think about it often, which I feel is the mark of a great book.

        I was hoping Sounds would also help me with Gulliver’s Travels, but it didn’t – I think I’m just not the right reader for that kind of book, as I also loathed Tristram Shandy, which so many people consider a masterpiece.

        This summer read is such a good way to get through books that’ve been languishing on the shelves, isn’t it? I know we are only ‘challenging’ ourselves, but it still motivates me to keep reading!

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  2. Yes, I’m going to have to do a similar post to this as I mistakenly read one of my books that I’d forgotten I’d put on the list, at the end of May. Memory like a sieve. LOL I might change a couple of others too to be honest. Usual story, now they’re on the pile I don’t want to read them…

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    1. I’m hoping I’ll still feel like reading these books now they’re on this list – it doesn’t usually work out like that though. Good luck with yours.

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  4. Great list! I’m just about to start The Killing Kind this week, and An Officer and a Spy is the book that turned me into a Robert Harris fan. It’s many years since I read Three Men on the Bummel, so I don’t remember a lot about it except that it wasn’t as funny as Three Men on a Boat, but I suspect I’d appreciate all the descriptions of the places they visit more if I read it again now. Loved the writing in The Old Man and the Sea. Hope you enjoy all your choices!

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    1. Thanks, FF. I’ve just started An Officer and a Spy – looking good so far. I don’t have high hopes for Three Men on the Bummel, I don’y often find funny books that funny anyway.

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  7. Ooh this looks like a great set of books, but also like you’ll have a busy summer 😉 I hope you enjoy them all and I may need to bookmark this challenge for next year!

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