20 Books of Summer 2016

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20 Books of Summer 2016

Twitter: #20booksofsummer

20 Books of Summer is hosted by the lovely Cathy at 746 Books. For those of you who don’t read quite as much, you may choose 10 Books of Summer or 15 Books of Summer. The Challenge begins Wednesday, June 1 and runs through Monday, September 5 – almost fourteen full weeks this year. Go for it, you know you want to. This is your big chance to take part in a Challenge in which you have total control over which books you read – no set list, genre or format. Check out Cathy’s post “20 Books of Summer is back! Who’s in?”

My progress will be tracked on my 2016 Reading Challenges Page. The planned list:

It Takes a Witch (Wishcraft Mystery #1) by Heather Blake
The Edge of Dreams (Molly Murphy #14) by Rhys Bowen
Royal Blood (Royal Spyness #4) by Rhys Bowen
A Walk in the Woods, Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson
A Full Life, Reflections at Ninety by Jimmy Carter
Embrace the Grim Reaper (Grim Reaper #1) by Judy Clemens
The Gods of Guilt (Mickey Haller #5) by Michael Connelly
Catering to Nobody (Goldy Bear Culinary Mystery #1) by Diane Mott Davidson
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
The Revolt of the Angels (La Révolte des anges) by Anatole France
Shakespeare’s Champion (Lily Bard #2) by Charlaine Harris
The Predator of Batignolles (Le Léopard des Batignolles) by Claude Izner
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, A Memoir by Haruki Murakami
Salem Chapel by Margaret Oliphant
Leon Roch by Benito Perez Galdos
A River in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters
Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
Murder on Astor Place (Gaslight Mysteries #1) by Victoria Thompson
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

Join us this summer! If not the full 20, then for 15 or 10. Don’t forget to visit Cathy’s 746 Books to sign up.

Reading Challenges – 3rd Quarter 2015

20 Books of Summer 2015 hosted by Cathy at 746 Books ended September 4. My wrap-up post is here.

RMFAO 2015 Classics Challenge

The top level for this Challenge is Level 5: Professor – 12 or more books which I completed during the second quarter. Extras for this quarter include:

21. Rameau’s Nephew by Denis Diderot
22. The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
23. The Magician by Somerset Maugham
24. The Nemesis of Fire by Algernon Blackwood
25. Fifteen Hundred Miles an Hour by Charles Dixon
26. Ourika by Claire de Duras
27. The Morgesons by Elizabeth Stoddard
28. Three Men on the Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome
29. Wyllard’s Weird by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

RMFAO 2015 Genre Challenge

This is still my favorite Reading Challenge for the year! A different genre is explored each month and a different level may be chosen for each month. The third quarter of 2015:

July – Dystopian/Apocalyptic (Level 1: Casual Reader – 1 book):
1. Frozen (Heart of Dread #1) by Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston

August – Contemporary (Level 2: Frequent Reader – 2 books):
1. U is for Undertow (Kinsey Millhone #21) by Sue Grafton
2. Deep Pockets (Carlotta Carlyle #10) by Linda Barnes

September – Humour (Level 2: Frequent Reader – 2 books):
1. Three Men on the Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome
2. Roadkill (Kinky Friedman #10) by Kinky Friedman

RMFAO 2015 Series Challenge

Again this quarter, the same as Finishing the Series Reading Challenge 2015 below.

What An Animal Reading Challenge VIII 2015

Level 2: Read 7 – 12

6. Fever Season (Benjamin January #2) by Barbara Hambly

Cruisin’ Thru the Cozies Reading Challenge 2015

Level 4: Sleuth Extraordinaire – Read 20 or more

13. U is for Undertow (Kinsey Millhone #21) by Sue Grafton
14. A Royal Pain (Royal Spyness #2) by Rhys Bowen
15. Deep Pockets (Carlotta Carlyle #10) by Linda Barnes
16. Real Murders (Aurora Teagarden #1) by Charlaine Harris

Finishing the Series Reading Challenge 2015

Level 4: Expert series reader – Complete 4 or more series. During this quarter, I only read one of the eleven remaining on the list as of June 30, leaving ten to be read during the last quarter of 2015.

KINSEY MILLHONE series by Sue Grafton
21. U is for Undertow

My Kind Of Mystery
February 1, 2015 – January 31, 2016

Level 5: Invisible Floor 41 or more:

26. Fever Season by Barbara Hambly
27. The Overlook by Michael Connelly
28. U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton
29. A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen
30. Deep Pockets by Linda Barnes
31. Real Murders by Charlaine Harris
32. Graveyard Dust by Barbara Hambly

My 2015 Goodreads Challenge is one hundred books. As of September 30, I have finished seventy-six books.

20 Books of Summer – Complete

Thank you to Cathy at 76 Books for hosting the fun Challenge 20 Books of Summer!

The Challenge began June 1 and ends tomorrow, September 4. Sliding under the wire, I finished my 20th book this morning. Classics topped the list with eight Classic books, followed closely by seven Series Mysteries. There were two non-fiction books and three in other genres.

If you participated, how are you doing?

20 Books of Summer 2015 Shake Up

20 Books of Summer 2015 is hosted by Cathy at 746 Books. It began June 1 and runs until September 4, just over thirteen weeks.

Does anything ever go precisely as planned? Why do we even have expectations? Things change, unexpected events occur, books get chosen as group reads and there goes the original list of 20 books to read this summer.

Hooray! Cathy at 746 Books said we could revise our list without feeling guilty. Thank you, Cathy!

At this point I have read twelve from my original list:
1. Among the Tibetans by Isabella L. Bird
2. Explosive Eighteen (Stephanie Plum #18) by Janet Evanovich
3. Deadlocked (Sookie Stackhouse #12) by Charlaine Harris
4. George Washington’s Secret Six by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger
5. Her Royal Spyness (Her Royal Spyness #1) by Rhys Bowen
6. The Assassin in the Marais (Victor Legris #4) by Claude Izner
7. The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoi
8. Fever Season (Benjamin January #2) by Barbara Hambly
9. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
10. Rameau’s Nephew by Denis Diderot
11. The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
12. The Overlook (Harry Bosch #13) by Michael Connelly

I am now adding five books which I have also completed (and why they shoved their way to the front of the queue):
13. Afloat by Guy de Maupassant (proofread for Free Literature and Project Gutenberg)
14. Frozen (Heart of Dread #1) by Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston (read for July Dystopian/Apocalyptic Genre Challenge at RMFAO)
15. The Magician by Somerset Maugham (group read at the 19th Century Literature group)
16. The Nemesis of Fire by Algernon Blackwood (group read at the Nutshell Cubbyhole)
17. Fifteen Hundred Miles an Hour by Charles Dixon (proofread for Free Literature and Project Gutenberg)

Two unexpected additions which are currently in progress:
Ourika by Claire de Duras (current group read at the French Literature group)
The Morgesons by Elizabeth Stoddard (current group read at the 19th Century Literature group)

And finally, at long last, another book from the original list of 20 which I am currently reading:
U is for Undertow (Kinsey Milhone #21) by Sue Grafton

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How has your summer/winter been going? If you are participating in the 20 Books of Summer 2015 Challenge, are you on track?

20 Books of Summer 2015

Another Reading Challenge! 20 Books of Summer 2015 is hosted by Cathy at 746 Books. It begins June 1 and runs until September 4, just over thirteen weeks.

Here’s my list:
Among the Tibetans by Isabella L. Bird
Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen
The Island of Sheep by John Buchan
The Overlook by Michael Connelly
Rameau’s Nephew by Denis Diderot
The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich
Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich
Road Kill by Kinky Friedman
U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton
Fever Season by Barbara Hambly
Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris
Shakespeare’s Landlord by Charlaine Harris
The Assassin in the Marais by Claude Izner
George Washington’s Secret Six by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger
The River of Doubt by Candice Millard
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Tomb of the Golden Bird by Elizabeth Peters
Passing Fancy by David Spencer
The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoi

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Are you in? There is no set list; we each choose our own books. If twenty is too ambitions, you can opt for 10 Books of Summer 2015.