It’s my ninth year participating in the 20 Books of Summer challenge, hosted this year by Annabel. #20BOS26 starts on 1 June and runs through 31 August.
Some years I have chosen a theme (colours, foodie, flora or fauna) or other criterion (all hardbacks by women), but the danger in limiting my options, let alone pre-selecting particular books, is that I tend to lose interest as soon as I list them. Most times I only read 7–10 of the 20 books I earmark, so what’s the point! My only firm rule this year is that all 20 books must be from my own shelves. Beyond that? I’d love to make progress towards various low-key goals:
- My long-neglected Four in a Row and Journey through the Day projects
- Review catch-up books or part-read books, many dating back to 2022 or earlier
- My ongoing quest to read books published in my birth year of 1983
- Chipping away at the list of authors I own two or more (Michael Crummey, Sigrid Nunez, Jeet Thayil) or even three or more (Jenny Diski, Wendy Perriam, Jane Urquhart) unread books by
I also like to achieve a good balance between new acquisitions and long-term shelf sitters; doorstoppers and slim volumes (novellas or poetry collections). Ideally at least 5 of my choices would be by BIPOC. Overlapping with other summer challenges such as June’s Reading the Meow, Paris in July and August’s Women in Translation, would be handy.
And then there’s this year’s Bingo card to consider. I’m pondering the 4-book diagonal consisting of:
- Summer in the title
- A classic you’ve been meaning to read
- Features a family holiday
- Published in summer (any year)
Or column 4, which is:
- With a vacation setting
- With a journey by air/sea/rail
- Features ice cream or cocktails
- Published in summer (any year)
I tend to skew towards fiction in the summers, so I’m guessing I’ll manage 15 works of fiction (one short story collection would be good), a few memoirs or other nonfiction, and a couple of poetry collections.
Unread poetry books from my bedside table
Here are a few specific books I currently have my eye on…
Ongoing project:
Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates – Marcie (Buried in Print) and I are doing a mini Oates buddy reading project and I made the mistake of starting with Blonde, which is over 700 pages, all of them crammed full of tiny type. So it may well take me the entire summer.
Review copies:
Homework by Geoff Dyer – The paperback has just arrived for me and I’m eager to get stuck in, having sampled it on my Kindle earlier in the year. Dyer is an annoyingly versatile author whose writing always feels effortless. This is his memoir of growing up in typical English suburbia in the 1960s and 70s.
George by Frieda Hughes – Having recently read a novel about Sylvia Plath (the excellent The Daffodil Days by Helen Bain), I fancy picking up this memoir by her daughter about raising a fledgling magpie as a pet.
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai – This is a proof copy from (gulp) 2018! I only got about 60 pages into it at that time, but I love Makkai and would like to try again. It’s the story of a group of arty friends in Chicago at the start of the AIDS crisis.
Recent acquisitions:
(Elkin for Paris in July; Powers for 1983 challenge)
The new Emily St. John Mandel novel coming out in September, Exit Party, is a sequel of sorts to The Singer’s Gun, I’ve heard, so I will definitely read it ahead.
Tying into other challenges:
Reading the Meow; Paris in July; Women in Translation options
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov would be for Reading the Meow but would also cross off “A classic you’ve been meaning to read.”
Left over from last year:
I fancy a reread of Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver – “From her outpost in an isolated mountain cabin, Deanna Wolfe, a reclusive wildlife biologist, watches a den of coyotes that have recently migrated into the region. She is caught off-guard by a young hunter who invades her most private spaces and confounds her self-assured, solitary life.”
How I Won a Nobel Prize by Julius Taranto – I believe it was Susan’s review that put this on my radar, though the title and the fact that it’s an academic satire would have been enough to get it onto my TBR.
Just because…
What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell – Small Rain was my book of 2024, and I keep meaning to read something else by him. It’s his debut’s 10th anniversary, so why not now?
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim – I got this from my wish list for Christmas. I loved her second novel, Happiness Falls, and this one looks right up my street, too, with its theme of experimental treatment for autistic children and gentle thriller plot.
All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki – Her only novel I’ve not yet read. An environmentalist novel set in the northwestern USA sounds like a good follow-up to our latest book club read, the so-so The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich.
I’m not committing to a particular set of 20, but you can see from this and my recent library reorganization photos that I have plenty on the shelves to choose from!
See anything here that I should prioritize?
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 
I just read Prodigal Summer for the first time, and yes, a reread over the titular season would be perfect – strongly recommend! I also think Garth Greenwell’s first feels like a summer book, although not in the beach-and-deckchairs way, more in the why-do-I-feel-strangely-existential-dread-despite-the-nice-weather way. The Master and Margarita is fun and weird and it’s hard not to enjoy the antics of Behemoth the cat. Also delighted to see The Anubis Gates on a possible pile; it’s bonkers, fun, has some very memorable set pieces, and isn’t trying to be more than it is, which is sometimes a relief.
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Ah, I didn’t realize the Kingsolver was new to you.
I don’t go for typical beach reads ever, so your description of the Greenwell sounds just fine to me 🙂
I’ve let myself be daunted by The Master and Margarita for years, but I really would like to read it (and it could count for the Cocktails square of the Bingo card if I wanted!). Reading a shorter Bulgakov last year for a Classics Club was a helpful introduction to his style.
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Yes, I’d sort of been saving Prodigal Summer for when I really needed it – glad I did!
TM&M is weird and surreal, but I remember it as very readable. If you do go for it I’ll be keen to hear your thoughts!
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I reread Prodigal Summer a few years ago (but it could have been ten, who knows at this point) and I loved it all over again. I think it’s my favorite Kingsolver novel. I can’t believe it’s 20 Books of Summer time already (just about.) I don’t think I’ll participate this time but I have lots of fond memories of doing so!
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I’ve had good luck with rereading Kingsolver before (The Poisonwood Bible, anyway), so I hope it will hit the spot this summer.
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The Master and Margarita for sure!
Neat also to see Paul Éluard (I’m French after all!), and Kingsolver!
Have fun. I’ll be posting my list very soon
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I’m not so sure about the Éluard — it’s a dual-language edition and the direct translations don’t create very pleasing poetry in English.
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too bad
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So glad you enjoyed The Daffodil Days by Helen Bain, it’s on my TBR but it didn’t make my list of 20 (my first ring-in could be on the cards!) and very excited to hear there is a new Emily St. John Mandel on the way.
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So good — I hope you get a chance to read it soon!
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Good list Rebecca. I enjoyed Nobel Prize, it is a light and easy read. The Singer’s Gun is also great. Good luck!
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Those are both decently short, too. I know having too many doorstoppers on a pile can make me feel daunted.
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“How I won the Nobel Prize” – what a great title. I worked at a US university and I can relate to it very well. On the other hand, fortunately Europe is different.
Klausbernd 🙂
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You’re very well travelled!
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Indeed
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Thanks for the link. Rebecca. I hope you enjoy the Taranto when you get to it, and good luck with Blonde. I made it to the end eventually but, given your reading speed, I think you’ll get there quicker than I did.
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I wouldn’t count on that: I started it in late February and haven’t gotten past page 70! I read a lot of books at a time and there are always many that appeal to me more than the Oates (and/or have deadlines or due dates attached) and so end up taking priority.
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Gosh, what an amazing selection. Definitely seconding The Master and Margarita – one of my favourite books!!!
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I’m going to make a start soon so I get a good five weeks to read it (alongside lots of other things) in time for Reading the Meow.
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I loved All Over the Creation; I hope you do too. Like Elle, I like to “save” a single Kingsolver, but mine is Flight Behaviour. And I should probaby just read it and get on with all the rereading. hehe Good luck with your Summer Selections!
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I still have a couple of unread Kingsolvers that may well remain so. I accidentally opened her upcoming one, Partita, on my Kindle last night, though, so read the prologue. Very Patchett!
I reckon the Ozeki will be the book I wanted The Mighty Red to be.
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Ohhh, what an intriguing comment. (I borrowed The Mighty Red last year but just wasn’t in the mood… I plan to try again in Library Season. And now your dissatisfaction actually has me very curious.)
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You’ve given this a lot of thought. I’ve spent hours in the past carefully curating a list of books to read for 20booksofsummer – only to find that when it comes down to actually reading them, my interest has waned.
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This was pretty off the cuff, actually. Like you say, there hardly seems a point carefully assembling the perfect 20 when I likely won’t even read half of them!
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I’m in awe of your planning. I reserve lots of books at the library, following reviews from people like you, and plough on regardless as and when they come in. I reserve too many. It means that when I happen upon books I fancy while doing my library stints, I totter home with way too many books…. It keeps their borrowing stats up though – important these days.
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Very thorough planning! This is a new start for me–no long daily commute for audios. Homework was pretty good–I read/reviewed it. Prodigal Summer was very good –I read it when it came out. I read/reviewd How I Won a Nobel Prize, too–fairly good read. As for books from 1983, James Michner’s Poland was huge both in size and in market share.
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