20 Books of Summer!

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I was really, really hoping that Cathy at 746 Books would repeat her 20 Books of Summer Challenge, and hooray, it's here! 





The rules are simple: pick (or don't) 20 books to read between June 1 and September 3.  It's OK to change them, it's OK to leave blank spaces, and it's OK not to finish.  Go for 10 or 15 if you prefer!


I have chosen 22 titles, because I want to be able to throw a couple out if I don't like them.  Here they are:
  1. Miss Mackenzie, by Anthony Trollope
  2. The Sybil, by Par Lagerkvist
  3. Angels in the Mist, by Ryan Southwick 
  4. The Pocket Enquire Within
  5. The Glatstein Chronicles, by Jacob Glatstein
  6. Child of All Nations, by Pramoedya Ananta Toer
  7. Autumn Equinox, by Jabbour Douaihy
  8. Tram 83, by Fiston Mwanza Mujila
  9. Stories by Lu Hsun
  10. Old Demons, New Deities (Tibetan short stories)
  11. Four Birds of Noah's Ark, by Thomas Dekker
  12. Maps, by Nuruddin Farah
  13. Lectures on Russian Literature, by Vladimir Nabokov
  14. 800 Years of Women's Letters
  15. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, by Caitlin Doughty
  16. A Golden Age, by Tammim Anam
  17. The Shadowed Sun, by N. K. Jemisin
  18. Little, Big, by John Crowley
  19. Justinian's Flea, by William Rosen
  20. Dark Emu, Black Seed, by Bruce Pascoe
  21. The Light and the Dark, by Mikhail Shishkin
  22. Detroit: An American Autopsy, by Carlie LeDuff


I even did a little statistical analysis:
  • 8 TBR titles (2 for Adam's challenge)
  • 7 Reading Around the World titles
  • 5 Classics Club titles
  • 8 non-fiction / 14 fiction
  • 4 women / 18 men (!)  This is surprisingly unbalanced for me; I usually favor women writers pretty heavily.  But then a lot of these are books I've been putting off for a while...well, we shall see.


Comments

  1. Ruth @ with freedom and booksMay 21, 2018 at 8:25 PM

    What is that 800 Years of Women's Letters. I guess I could search it, too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMay 21, 2018 at 8:42 PM

    I think I have to do this challenge. Looks fun!

    ReplyDelete
  3. JeanMay 21, 2018 at 9:01 PM

    Ruth, it's just a collection of women's letters from all over history. I've had it for YEARS and have never gotten to it! It must be one of my oldest TBR titles! But, you know, hey, I will probably appreciate it a lot better now than I would have at 20, right?

    Maphead, do it! I want to see your list!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Michelle AnnMay 23, 2018 at 1:40 AM

    What a diverse range of books. I haven't heard of most of them, but am impressed also by the wide geographical range. I have always thought the story of Detroit fascinating, and will look forward to your thoughts on that book.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Karen K.May 23, 2018 at 11:25 AM

    I highly recommend Miss Mackenzie. Trollope rarely disappoints, and it's a fairly quick read, which might be a good balance to some of the other titles.

    ReplyDelete
  6. JeanMay 23, 2018 at 12:48 PM

    Yeah, I tend to pile up the heavy stuff and then balk at actually READING it...

    ReplyDelete
  7. TracyKMay 23, 2018 at 8:56 PM

    I am really glad that 20 Books of Summer is happening again too. I will have to start working on a list.

    ReplyDelete
  8. JeanMay 23, 2018 at 8:59 PM

    Yay! Do it, Tracy!

    ReplyDelete
  9. MapheadMay 27, 2018 at 12:03 PM

    Just posted my list:
    https://maphead.wordpress.com/2018/05/27/20-books-of-summer/

    ReplyDelete

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