20 Books of Summer 2018 #20booksofsummer

 

The smell of Summer is in the air!! And now it is time to take part in one of my favourite bookish challenges!!! The lovely Cathy over at 746 Books started this a few years ago now, and thankfully has decided to run it again for 2018!

It’s a simple enough challenge! From the 1st June to 3rd September the challenge is to read!!  The main aim is 20 books, but you can also sign up for 10 or 15 if you want to! And you can change your reading list along the way, or the number if needs be! We never know what challenges lie ahead over the summer months so this is the perfect challenge to take part in as nothing is set in stone!

It’s always fun to see how everyone is doing and Cathy also tweets progress using #20booksofsummer so I’ll be doing the same – if I remember! – and hope you do too if you take part!

Probably the hardest part for me is choosing the initial list of 20!  The bookshelves of doom are always looking over me at this point, as well as the Kindle bursting at the seams with book choices thanks to my book acquiring habits!! So I have decided on using this opportunity to attack my NetGalley bookshelf which is way out of control!! Not my fault of course!! But now I have the perfect excuse to go through the backlog of books I’d been so excited to read when I first spotted them there!

So below is the preliminary list – there may be changes along the way! – so click on the book title for the link to the GoodReads page if you want to know more about each book!

Arlette’s Story by Angela Barton

Oh Crumbs by Kathryn Freeman

Us Against You (Beartown #2) by Fredrik Backman

The Book of M by Peng Shepherd

Letters to Iris by Elizabeth Noble

The Lost Letters of William Woolf by Helen Cullen

Elefant by Martin Suter

The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes by Ruth Hogan

Girl with Dove by Sally Bayley

The Gloaming by Kirsty Logan

The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale

The Moby-Dick Blues by Michael Strelow

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

Just For the Holidays by Sue Moorcraft

The Way of all Flesh by Ambrose Parry

The Poison Bed by E.C. Fremantle

The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder by Sarah J.Harris

The Cafe at Seashell Cove by Karen Clarke

My Mother the Liar by Ann Troup

Whistle in the Dark by Emma Healey

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And there we have it! A wide range of genres and hopefully lots to keep me entertained over the summer months!

Hope a few of you will be joining in the 20 books fun! Looking forward to seeing your lists and progress!!

HAPPY READING!

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Down the TBR hole #8

I have returned to the world of organising my bookshelves!!! Well, for one week at least!!  With the amount of books that have made their way into my world recently I really should be eager to get on top of the TBR mountain that is now consuming every room in the house as I run out of space – thank the lord for many copies being of the ‘e’ variety so I can pretend they don’t exist!!

Very grateful to Lia @ Lost In A Story for thinking this little exercise up to help us all keep our growing TBR lists in some kind of order and under control!!  Let’s see what goodies/awful titles I’d wiped from my memory this time round……

Here is how it all works….

• Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

Click on the title if you’d like to read the blurb for each book via GoodReads…

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

Still to read the first in this series –  Red Queen – I do enjoy escaping into fantasy series so hopefully I can maybe do the whole series together, although heard a few disappointing reviews about this one… that is slightly offputting! 

Verdict – KEEP!!

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Not sure where I heard about this series, but it sounds fabulous!! Magic?! Yes please! I’m sold!!

Verdict – KEEP!!

Worlds of Ink and Shadow by Lena Coakley

Another one of those books that I don’t remember adding.  I’m a little intrigued as I re-read the blurb but not enough to make me dive straight in.

Verdict – GO!!

A Quiet Life by Natasha Walter

I’m fascinated by those who live double lives and this sounds a really interesting spy thriller!

Verdict – KEEP!!

Half A King by Joe Abercrombie

OOh a tree on the cover? Oooh and a fantasy series?! Tell me more!!!

Verdict – KEEP!!

Death of an Owl by Paul Torday

Yep, there’s an owl on the cover so that’s what grabbed my attention!  It does sound like something very different from my normal reads but I don’t think there’s enough pull for me to pick this up anytime soon.  Still love the cover though!

Verdict – GO!!

At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier

I’m yet to read anything by this author, and I keep hearing of how well she captures the historical elements of a story.  A mix of reviews is making me think I should maybe try something else of hers first?

Verdict – GO!!

Who’s that Girl? by Mhairi McFarlane

Always looking for light, fun reads and I’ve heard good things about this one.  My brain needs lighter reads on the TBR mountain!!

Verdict – KEEP!!

Finding Sarah by Wendy Lou Jones

Drawn in by the gorgeous blooms on the cover, I’m intrigued by this one as it has received some rave reviews but only 21 of them so hopefully I can add to the reviewer list soon!

Verdict – KEEP!!

The Perfect Girl by Gilly MacMillan

Is it wrong that the fact that it’s recommended for fans of Girl on the Train and Gone Girl has put me right off reading this one??!

Verdict – GO!!

Ooh a whole 4 books off the TBR mountain!! I think that’s a record!!  Ooh this means I have gaps on my shelves again! I think I need to rectify this immediately…….. uh-oh!!! #fail 

So have I made the right choices of ones to keep or get rid of?! I’m easily swayed so please let me know if I’ve made the wrong decisions!! I won’t swear at you… honest!!

HAPPY READING!!