The 20 Books of Summer Reading Challenge is one of my favorite reading challenges, and this is the fifth year that I've participated. I prefer to wait until the fall equinox (September 22nd) rather than Labor Day to finish up the challenge, giving myself three extra weeks to complete my goals.
Once again, I chose 20 books, but unlike previous years, many were fairly new releases rather than backlist titles that have been on my shelves for several years. I only had a couple of DNF'd titles in this collection, but I subbed in a whopping 12, so I didn't make a very big dent in my stacks. All in all, I wound up reading 18 books (see image below), and I'm very pleased with my results.
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I won't link to each review (they're all available on this blog), but here are the final ratings:
Two 5-star books
Four 4.5-star books
Six 4-star books
One 3.5-star book
Three 3-star books
Two 2-star books
Below is an image of my original picks. Look how many are left to read! Maybe I'll make up my fall reading list with the remaining books.
That is a super impressive summer list and you have some really good books on it! I have Wedding People on my shelves so hope to read that soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Helen. With two big books taking up a big chunk of my summer, I'm pretty happy with my results. Wedding People was very entertaining. I think you'll enjoy it.
DeleteOf the ones you read I have read four. Loved Billy Summers and I so want Jake Gyllenhaal to play him in the mini series which I also hope they make. Meredith Alone was great as was September. I had liked Albert Entwhistle too.
ReplyDeleteGave up on After Annie but have the William Kent Krueger on my list for later.
That's cool to compare your original list! I absolutely loved The Latecomer and look forward to more by her. Hope you are having fun traveling!
Tina, I think Billy Summers is the best book I've read all year! And, yes. Jake Gyllenhaal would be outstanding as Billy. Sorry you didn't care for After Annie. I may or may not go back to The Latecomer, although I quit so long ago, I've forgotten who's who and what was going on. Probably should just leave it as a DNF.
DeleteWe're having a great time on our trip. Yellowstone and the Tetons are exceeding my expectations!
BTW, I sent you and JoAnn a follow-up email about September. Not sure if it actually went through, what with our very spotty cell signal. Let me know and I can re-send it.
That book and 11/22/63 were fantastic. The mini series for 11/22/63 was great too and we enjoyed it. I'm not into his horror books but my sister was. When I went to her funeral then back at the house she had a bookcase full of his titles; the kids said I could take any I wanted but...nah to horror.
DeleteIf The Latecomer didn't do it for you I wouldn't keep at it. We read for enjoyment! Your trip sounds great and I wanted to let you know I did get your email last night. Going to shop for hurricane prep and then I will answer :-)
I agree with you about 11/22/63. Soooo good! I watched the miniseries, too. I'm going to take your advice and not bother going back to The Latecomer. I have too many other books that I want to read.
DeleteYou did really well with your summer list... and so many highly rated books too! BTW I did not receive your follow-up email about September, or if I did it fell through the cracks during wedding week. Will keep an eye out this time if you can resend it :)
ReplyDeleteJoAnn, it was a good summer of reading! Since finishing Billy Summers, I'm reading at a snail's pace, but that's normal for me when we're on a road trip. I'll get back to my books in October.
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