I've been formulating a list for several weeks now. I must admit I'm not sure how the books will travel down the transit line. (Books on hold at the library.) And I must admit, I can be a MOOD reader, especially when life gets too busy or stressful. I also have not had the time to be as alert as I used to be about new books and recommended books. Despite these quandaries, I'm really looking forward to this event! The heat got up to 87 degrees here today, so I'm all in for reading the summer afternoons away.
Okay—here’s
my list so far. Right now I feel my list is unbalanced, and I feel I may be
missing titles I really want to read. Please be prepared for the possibility of a new and refined list in the next week or two.
Please note that I’d love to read every book on this list, yet new or older books may fly across my path to tell me they must be read immediately. That’s the beauty of The Twenty Books of Summer. Substitutions okay!
1. The Flaw of the Design by Nathan Oates (2023)
2. Lost Son: An American Family Trapped Inside the FBI’s Secret Wars by Brett Forrest (2023)
3. The Body in the Web by Katherine Hall Page (2023)
4. The Midnight News by Jo Baker (2023)
5. The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz (2023)
6. The Mitford Murders by Jessica Fellowes
7. Killingly by Katharine Beutner
8. All The Days of Summer by Nancy Thayer (2023) audio
9. The Last Honest Man: The FBI, the CIA, the Mafia, and the Kennedys—and One Senator’s Fight to Save Democracy by James Risen (2023)1
10. The Senator’s Wife by Liv Constantine
11. Seems to be missing! I'll fill in soon!
12. The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand on audio
13. Another Martin Edwards Lake District Mystery??
14. The Covenant of Water
15. Fatherland: A Memoir of War, Conscience, and Family Secrets by Burkhard Bilger (2023)
16. Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues by Jonathan Kennedy
17. The Only One Left by Riley Sager
18. The Puzzle of Blackstone Lodge by Martin Edwards.
19. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (2023)
20. The Lock-Up by John Banville (2023)
I nominate The Hiding Place by Paula Munier for one of your vacant spaces. I really think you would love this series which is set right on the other side of Lake Champlain.
ReplyDeleteI am going to look up The Hiding Place right away! Thanks for the suggestion!
DeleteHi Judith, an interesting list with many "new to me" titles to check out. I plan to read: Five Star Weekend, Tom Lake and The Covenant of Water. I hope things are going well for you.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you'll be sharing some books with me! Things are moving along...I wanted so much to reply to your email and will soon. I want to keep on top of your reading! Oh, gosh--Guess what! I hit that 70th birthday this past weekend. You know what I mean...
DeleteJudith, glad to see your list. I am reading The Mitford Murders right now, and I am liking it, even more than I expected. I am only about a quarter of the way in.
ReplyDeleteA lot of your books are new to me, I will look forward to whatever reviews you have time to write.
I haven't been blogging or doing much else for a few days, so I missed your post when it first came out. I have had fatigue and problems with my digestive system and even went to the emergency room on Friday. I am better now but still very fatigued.
Oh, Tracy, I do hope you're feeling better, and I also know about that fatigue thing! I have an auto-immune disorder and when it kicks up, I get the fatigue thing big-time. Naps help, and of course books do wonders.
DeleteI'm so interested to know that you're reading and liking The Mitford Murders!! I'm looking forward to it!
Best to you!
Wow nice list and mix. And you have quite a few nonfiction on here too. #14 might take you awhile eh? I wonder what Ann Patchett's got cooked up this time. I'm curious about the Jo Baker book too. I think I'll put out my list this week. Much fun to figure out. Happy reading! We have gone straight to the hot temps too. High 80s ouch.
ReplyDeleteI have just started reading the Jo Baker book, and I really like it. Did you read Longbourn, one of her first books? I really loved that one. I'm very intrigued by what Baker is doing with this new one. Has me gripped--the characters!
ReplyDeleteSo many books have been set in the Blitz, but this one is different.
Hi. I have not read Jo Baker before but I hope to. I look forward to hearing what you think of her new one. I will jot down the title for future TBR. Stay indoors away from the smoke. It seems awful now. Hope you get some relief soon.
DeleteI'm so very sorry to say that I have gotten good and properly STUCK at about page 100 in the Jo Baker novel. The last 30 pages have been very difficult, because the main character, Charlotte, is having lots of conversations with her deceased friend in her head. It's likely that this is my problem and the problem of my current mood, but I had to set it aside. And I so loved this author's book Longbourn!!
DeleteToday marks the first day of partial relief from the wildfire smoke. I was very surprised at how badly the smoke affected me this week! I can only imagine how bad it must be for you at times. How is it right now for you?
DeleteAfter a couple weeks of reprieve from smoke, it arrived back today, argh. It's just gray outside blah. So I closed the windows & put the Air Con on. The first place we've had A/C and I'm glad for it now. I hope these conditions don't last all week. It seems I would put aside a novel if a character did that too. So I don't think it's you.
DeleteI hope your wildfire smoke is better now. For us, it comes and goes. Monday we had "light" smoke all over New York State--sort of a haze and unpleasant air. We're very lucky that it's not worse than it is.
DeleteI am definitely a mood reader these days, having thrown most of my carefully crafted lists out the window. I am in the mode of reading what the library gives me when something on hold becomes available. That said, I am eager to read Tom Lake this summer as well. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteHi Jane,
DeleteI understand so much about mood reading! I am a TOTAL mood reader--hence all the substitutions that may be coming on my list! I believe that mood reading is the healthiest reading of all. So I'll look forward to reading about what you're up to with books. I hope you have a great summer! (With NO WILDFIRES!)
Judith, I should have realized that you would be getting wildfire smoke where you are. I can sympathize since we have had problems with that situation over the years. I am not surprised that it is affecting you badly. I hope it gets better.
ReplyDeleteI continue to have fatigue and energy problems, but the stomach issues are better since I have a medication to take for a while.
Hi Tracy,
DeleteI'm sure our wildfire smoke was and is nowhere near as bad as what you've experienced in California! Right now the smoke is coming and going, but I'm so concerned that so much of Quebec Province is burning.
I'm glad you're feeling a bit better--I know that stomach problems can make daily life extremely difficult.
Happy reading!