20 Books of Summer – 2020

20 books of summer

I’ve decided to join in with 20 Books of Summer this time around. It’s hosted by Cathy at 746 Books. This should be very easy for me to complete as I’ll definitely be reading at least that many books between June the 1st and September the 1st.

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Pile of Books

Rome by Helen MacInnes
2. The Road Home by Rose Tremain
3. My Friend Flora by Jane Duncan
4. Winter Holiday by Arthur Ransome
5. The Citadel by A.J. Cronin
6. <a href="https://piningforthewest.co.uk/2020/07/03/the-house-of-doctor-dee-by-peter-ackroyd/?preview_id=19276&preview_nonce=8d109827b0&post_format=standard&_thumbnai1. North froml_id=-1&preview=true”>The House of Doctor Dee by Peter Ackroyd
7. The Runaway by Elizabeth Anna Hart
8. Madame Solario by Gladys Huntingdon
9. Autumn Quail by Naguib Mahfouz
10. Peter Pan in Scarlet by Geraldine McCaughrean
11. An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
12. The Berry Scene by Dornford Yates
13. The Flight of the Heron by D.K. Broster
14. Wolf Among Wolves by Hans Fallada
15. The Dark Wood Wandering by Hella S. Haasse
16. The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar
17. Call for the Dead by John le Carre
18. A Murder of Quality by John le Carre
19. The House in Norham Gardens by Penelope Lively
20. Snow by Orhan Pamuk

I think this is a fairly good mixture of espionage, historial fiction, children’s classics, Scottish authors, books in translation – and various others. Having this list should mean that I don’t have too hard a time deciding which book to read next, with just these 20 to choose from. I hope to dip into some non-fiction too but that will just depend on my mood at the time.

Have you read any of these ones?

22 thoughts on “20 Books of Summer – 2020

  1. Hi Katrina,
    I’m so interested and excited about your list of twenty. I have so much to say, but it’s so late, I must wait until later. But I will add my notes asap. Have FUN!

  2. I have Madame Solario on my summer reading list also! I’m not doing 20 books of summer but I am trying to read off as many long books off my shelves as possible, I have more than 30 on the TBR shelves. I’m really bad about specific lists so if I read at least 5 I’ll be happy.

    • Karen K.
      I’m sure I have more than 30 of my own unread books to read and then there are all the books bought by my husband that I also intend to read at some point. I’ll look out for your thoughts on Madame Solario, I’ve had it for ages so it’s about time I got around to reading it.

  3. The Flight of the Heron is wonderful – have you read it before? I can’t remember if I’ve read The Citadel but I had a big Cronin phase in my early years and loved him, so I may have. I’ve been thinking about revisiting him so I’ll be intrigued to hear what you think of it. Happy reading!

    • FictionFan,
      I don’t think I have read The Flight of the Heron before, it somehow got past me so I’m really looking forward to that one as people seem to love it. I also went through a Cronin phase in my early teens in the early 1970s, I loved Hatter’s Castle but can’t remember reading this one. Cronin was a local author where I grew up in Dumbarton, but by then he had legged it to Switzerland, for tax purposes probably!

  4. I’ve read (and enjoyed) Winter Holiday, An Old-Fashioned Girl and The Road Home. Several others are on my wish list. I’ll look forward to your thoughts on these Katrina đŸ™‚

    • Claire,
      An Old-Fashioned Girl was a gift from a blogger friend and I’m sure I’ll really like it. I missed reading it as a youngster, I think I went on to reading books for adults far too early so I’m trying to catch up with those I missed.

  5. That looks like a good variety of books. I’ve only read Wolf Among Wolves and The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock, but I’ll look forward to hearing about the others. I don’t usually have a problem reading twenty books over the summer, but I do always seem to get distracted and end up reading books that weren’t on the list.

    • Helen,
      I think I may well get distracted too as there are two or three that I want to read soon and I forgot to put on this list! It very much depends on the weather and how much gardening I’m able to do.

    • Jules,
      I’ve had Peter Pan in Scarlet for ages, and when I bought it I intended reading it almost immediately! Your list is very interesting, I’ll look forward to reading your thoughts on the books.
      Katrina

  6. A very good mix indeed – and, incidentally, a selection of some old favourites of my friends and relatives: a mentor of mine absolutely adores Snow by Pamuk and my mother was a keen fan of The Citadel, while Winter Holiday is my favourite Ransome (I am more familiar with snow than with sailing).

    • Marina Sofia,
      I’ve been meaning to read Snow for ages as my husband really liked it and I read Peter Duck not that long ago so Winter Holiday is the next in the series, I’m glad to hear that it’s your favourite. I suppose I should have left that one for winter reading but I want to get on with it now. I think I missed reading The Citadel when I read a lot of Cronin’s books decades ago. I think Hatter’s Castle was my favourite then.

  7. I’ve read just four of these. I am a big Helen MacInnes fan and own several of them.

    I am having a hard time reading your blog. The font seems very faint. It may be my computer or perhaps I need a new prescription. Has anyone else mentioned this?

    • CLM,
      I still have a few on a shelf to read, I read her back in the 1970s, along with Evelyn Anthony. No nobody else has mentioned the font being faint. I wonder if you are reading it on your phone, I know that can be a problem where photos are concerned anyway. Strangely your previous two comments went straight to spam for some strange reason, just as well I checked as I don’t always do so and just delete.

  8. Somehow I missed your list for 20 Books of Summer. I haven’t read many of these so I look forward to your reviews. I have read the two Le Carre books. I like everything I have read by him but these are early ones and I liked them especially.

    • tracybham,
      I think we have all of le Carre’s books, mainly in the overflow bookcases in the garage, which is a bit of a worry. I have a lot of them still to read.

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