20 Books of Summer Challenge

It has been a silent weekend blogging wise because I was in Glasgow at a Science Fiction convention of all things. That’s Jack’s thing and I was just there to meet up with old friends. I had intended to get online – but just never got around to it, you know how it is!

Anyway as I’ve been catching up with some of my favourite blogs I’ve decided to join in with 20 Books of Summer for the first time. You have to read 20 books between the 1st of June and 1st of September. I think I should manage that. So here is my list:

1. Autumn Sowing by E.F. Benson
2. Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart
3. Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart
4. Madam, Will You Talk by Mary Stewart
5. A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor
6. A Place to Stand by Anne Bridge
7. The Moon King by Neil Williamson
8. Runyon from First to Last by Damon Runyon
9. Resorting to Murder – Holiday Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards
10.The Suspect L.R. Wright
11. Noble Descents by Gerald Hanley
12. Silence for the Murderer by Freeman Wills Crofts
11. Crime Out of Mind by Delano Ames
12. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
13. The Prince Buys the Manor by Elspeth Huxley
14. Headless Angel by Vicki Baum
15. The Weeping Wood by Vicki Baum
16. Justine by Lawrence Durrell
17. Fillets of Plaice by Gerald Durrell
18. Daniel Plainway by Van Reid
19. Love at all Ages by Angela Thirkell
20. A Desert in Bohemia by Jill Paton Walsh

I hope to be able to manage to read more than 20 books over the summer, but that very much depends on what the weather is like, if it’s good I’ll be spending time gardening. The books above are all from my TBR piles and I hope that this will make me concentrate on my own books, rather than those from the library. I have to admit though that I just bought about half of these books when we were down in England recently, on our journey back from The Netherlands.

They’re all fairly old apart from the Jill Paton Walsh book and Moon King by Neil Wiliamson and the Mary Stewart and Williamson books can count towards the Read Scotland 2016 Challenge.

So what do you think of my list? Are there any duds on it? Maybe you’d like to join in with a readalong, possibly with the Mary Stewarts – do tell!

12 thoughts on “20 Books of Summer Challenge

  1. I don’t know anything about A Desert in Bohemia by Paton Walsh. I’ll have to look that one up! I believe I read Nine Coaches Waiting three to five years ago–will have to check. Loved it, of course, if I did read it! Ha. Haven’t read Touch Not the Cat, though I own a copy–got that cheap at a library book sale. A most beguiling list. I do hope you have a sunny summer, though, I do! I’ll thrill to your gardening adventures.
    I’m just a little worried about our summer, after the extremely hot weather we’ve had for more than 5 days. I trooped out everyday for two hours in the am to enjoy the wildflowers despite the heat. Don’t want to miss the show!

    • Judith,
      That Jill Paton Walsh book is one I have no recollection of buying, very unlike me as I usually know exactly where I got books, so maybe it was given to me. I know I read Touch Not the Cat in the 1970s but can’t remember if I’ve already read the other Stewarts yonks ago. It’s hot enough here for me, must have been about 70 F today but I’m not complaining as we may not get many more such days – you never know here.

      • Well, Katrina, after saying I know nothing about A Desert in Bohemia, after thoroughly researching the plot online, I certainly have read it, definitely. But it has provoked me to thinking that I should seek out more of her books. I must.
        I would be willing to share Touch Not the Cat, when you read it this summer. That would be fun, especially since I’ve got it in the house lying idly on the bedroom bookshelves.

        • Judith,
          Right, let’s do a readalong of Touch Not the Cat sometime in June. My copy is an old paperback, pretty grotty actually, very annoying as I gave away my original hardback copy a while ago, I could kick myself now. I’m sure that Jill Paton Walsh has written a few books in the style of Dorothy Sayers featuring Lord Peter Wimsey.

  2. Mary Stewart, Angela Thirkell, Elizabeth Taylor. You have some good ones here. I will have to look up a few I am not familiar with. I hope you have good weather for lots of gardening but lots of reading time too.

    • Jennifer,
      Thanks, fingers crossed we get some half decent weather this summer. I think I’ll be reading the Stewarts, Thirkell and Taylor early on in the summer, I definitely don’t want to be keeping the best until last.

  3. This is a really interesting list – I’ve not read any of them so I’m looking forward to hearing more. Thanks so much for taking part, here’s to a great summer!

  4. How on Earth did you find Daniel Plainway?! I love Van Reid’s Moosepath books, but they’re hard to find even in the US. (Reid is from Maine.) That looks like a fun list of summer books.

    • Joan,
      Aha – Peggy brought me a load of books when she came here last year and Daniel Plainway was one of them, it’s time I got around to reading it, she loves those books.

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