10 Books of Summer #20booksofsummer

I feel I’ve been planning my reading too much this year, hence I skipped a couple of reading events during April and May, and continue to feel the need to do something random. My first thought was to pick books with spines matching the colour of the sky on the day they are started. But then May – usually the best month of Lanarkshire’s year – has been mostly cloudy with lots of rain, and I began to suspect that June and July would be good for clearing the Persephone Books backlog and not much else!

Then I realised that the first 10 books of summer have already muscled their way to the top of the TBR, with G-lit, accounting for 6 of the 10, obviously not in the mood to be put on a back burner until #germanlitmonth in November. Also I usually arrive at the 20 Books of Summer starting line with no “handicaps”. This year I’m in the midst of so many reading strands, I need to bring some to a close before launching into others. Thus the following list with progress as of 15.07.22)

A) Finish what I have started

• Fortune – Amanda Smyth (Walter Scott Prize 2022 Shortlist)
• News of the Dead – James Robertson (Walter Scott Prize 2022 Shortlist)
• The Perfect Crime – Short Story Anthology (15 of 22 stories remaining)
• The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexander Dumas (Audio Book) (A nod to Marina Sofia’s month of French Lit. 17 of 52 hours remaining)
• The Night Hunters – Oliver Bottini (My mini German Noir litfest)
• The Strudlhof Steps – Heimito von Doderer (312 pages of 839 remaining)

B) Preparation for the Hoffmann Seminar on 24th June

• Jena 1800 – Peter Neumann
• Tales of Hofmann – E T A Hoffmann (Hooked on Hoffmann: Of Art and Artists)
• The Nutcracker / The Strange Child – E T A Hoffmann (Read)

C) Book Group

• Palace of Flies – Walter Kappacher

Given the length and the challenge of some of these (Dumas and von Doderer, I’m looking at you), I reckon it will be mid-July before I decide whether to upgrade to the full 20 book challenge. Until then let’s have a look at the spines of the 10 that have chosen themselves ….

9 Physical Books of Summer

Hmmm. Just a smidgeon of blue sky and sunshine. Thunderstorms threatening throughout. I do hope that doesn’t prove to be an accurate weather forecast!