20 Books of Summer Reading Challenge Results - 2026

 

Another Summer Reading Challenge completed! This was my seventh year of participating, and it's my favorite challenge next to the November Nonfiction Challenge.  In previous years I chose to wait until the fall equinox rather than Labor Day to wrap things up, giving myself a few extra weeks. But this year, I decided to stop and get this posted before we head out on another camping trip.

As always, I chose 20 books with a mix of new releases and backlist titles. I gave up on seven, but subbed in nine (some for book club, as well as a few audio choices). I read eighteen in all, which is one more than last year (and in less time!). Four of the books were over 400 pages, and one of those was over 1000 pages!

Completed for 2026

I won't link to each review (I've already done so on my monthly summaries), but here are the final ratings:

Two 5-star books

Four 4.5-star books

Nine 4-star books

Three 3-star books

Below are my original picks. I'm still planning to read Land, Love by the Book, Life: A Love Story, and All the Broken Places, but maybe not until the end of the year. I'm ready to spend the next two months reading mysteries.

For past posts (and results) about this challenge, click here. 

20 Books of Summer

 

It's that time of year again! I love this annual reading challenge. It helps me stay focused on the books that are on my shelves, some of which that have been there for several years. In addition to the backlist titles, I have quite a few new releases that I'm eager to read. 

Here are some details about the challenge. 

• 20 Books of Summer is hosted by Annabel at AnnaBookBel.
• The #20BOS26 challenge runs from Monday June 1st to Monday August 31st.
• The first rule of 20 Books is that there are no real rules, other than signing up for 10, 15, or 20 books and trying to read from your TBR. (If you think you’ll only manage 5, that’s fine too.)

You can find more about this challenge on Annabel's site. My personal cut-off date lands on Labor Day, which this year is September 7th. It's nice to have an extra week to wrap things up. I haven't included book group titles or books that I'll read on audio, so my final results will most likely be a bit different from my original choices.

 

Have you read any of these? Which should I start with?