Monday, June 1, 2020

20 Books of Summer 2020




This is my fifth year of joining in the 20 Books of Summer reading challenge. It is very flexible. You can go for 15 Books of Summer or 10 Books of Summer if 20 is too much to commit to. Books can be substituted along the way. And that is fine.

The event is hosted by Cathy at 746 Books. The description is here. This is her list. And the links for those joining in are HERE.

This year, for this event, summer starts June 1st and ends September 1st. I finished my list last summer so I will go into this optimistically. Of course, part of the intent is to review the books read and that is never going to happen with me, but still, I enjoy reading them all.

Here is my list:

Crashed (2010) by Timothy Hallinan
#1 in the Junior Bender series. Set in Los Angeles.

The Grand Sophy (1950) by Georgette Heyer
Regency romance.

Tripwire (1999) by Lee Child
#3 in the Jack Reacher series.

A Trick of the Light (2011) by Louise Penny
#7 in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series

The Way Some People Die (1951) by Ross Macdonald
#3 in the Lew Archer series

The High Window (1942) by Raymond Chandler
#3 in the Philip Marlowe series.

Marking Time (1991) by Elizabeth Jane Howard
#2 in the Cazalet series


The Provincial Lady in Wartime (1940) by E.M. Delafield
#4 in the Provincial Lady series

Buddha's Money (1998) by Martin Limón 
#3 in the George Sueño and Ernie Bascom series, set in South Korea in the 1970s

Fall of a Cosmonaut (2000) by Stuart Kaminsky
#13 out of 16 books in the Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov series, set in Moscow, Russia (usually)

Shooting at Loons (1994) by Margaret Maron
#3 in the Judge Deborah Knott series, set in North Carolina

Other Paths to Glory (1974) by Anthony Price 
#5 in the David Audley series (spy fiction)

The Women in Black (1993) by Madeleine St John 
Historical fiction set in 1950s Australia

The Absent One (2012) by Jussi Adler-Olsen
#2 in the Department Q series, set in Copenhagen, Denmark

Woman with a Blue Pencil (2015) by Gordon McAlpine
A standalone historical mystery with a unique structure.

An Air That Kills (2019) by Christine Poulson
#3 in the Katie Flanagan series. Katie is a medical researcher.

American Spy (2019) by Lauren Wilkinson
Espionage fiction.

Young Bess (1944) by Margaret Irwin
#1 in the Elizabeth I trilogy

The Consuming Fire (2018) by John Scalzi
#2 in the Interdepency Trilogy (science fiction)

Dragonsdawn (1988) by Anne McCaffrey
A book in the Pern series (science fiction / fantasy).

28 comments:

Cathy746books said...

Thanks so much for taking part! Looks like you have a great summer of reading ahead. Good luck x

pattinase (abbott) said...

Now do you have those books already? It looks like a great list.

Rick Robinson said...

I have read 7 of them, and am currently rereading DRAGONSDAWN, after a discussion and listings here on your blog recently.

The Wordpress editor has changed effective yesterday and I can't figure out a thing. There may be a delay in posting on my blog. Hopefully there is a workaround. Otherwise, I'll lose the blog.

TracyK said...

Thanks, Cathy. I am looking forward to reading all these books.

Cath said...

I've read The Grand Sophy, A Trick of the Light and Dragonsdawn. Look forward to seeing what you read. It seems we can still have lots of blogging fun with books despite the awfulness going on in the world at the moment.

TracyK said...

Patti, I purchased 8 of these books since January 1st. I have been buying too many books recently and there are more I want to buy right now. American Spy I ordered a few days after you mentioned it last week. One is my son's book (Dragonsdawn), one is my husband's (Woman with a Blue Pencil), and the rest are from my TBR (on my shelves or in a pile I can get to).

TracyK said...

Rick, I hope you work out your problem with Wordpress. I thought only Google Blogger did things like that.

I am looking forward to reading Dragonsdawn. I love that cover.

TracyK said...

Cath, I have always depended on books as a comfort but especially now. And blogging about them helps too. One of my goals is to be able to write shorter, quicker reviews so I can review more books and still read a lot. We will see how that goes.

Margot Kinberg said...

You have a great list here, Tracy. As always, I like the variety in what you've chosen. I really hope you'll like the Adler-Olsen (I really like this series) and the Penny (another excellent series).

Carl V. Anderson said...

Nice list! Love the Gamache books. I'm currently two behind, though, so I need to start giving them some love again!

That Dragonsdawn cover is one of my favorites that Michael Whelan did for the series.

I haven't read any of Scalzi's new trilogy. More for the list of tbr.

TracyK said...

Margot, I enjoyed the first book in the Adler-Olsen series, I am sure I will like this one too. I am looking forward to reading another Louise Penny book soon.

TracyK said...

Carl, I loved the first book in the Scalzi trilogy, and bought the next book as soon as I finished that one. They do have a lot of profanity in them, in case that bothers you. Did not seem out of place to me, but...

And yes, the Whelan cover of Dragonsdawn is very nice.

Carl V. Anderson said...

I've read nearly everything Scalzi has written, so I'm pretty used to his language choices so that probably wouldn't bother me. I've found often that it depends on the series. I sort of expect it from any fiction that has a military bent. Which is understandable. But I've also read genre books where it seemed the only word the author knew how to use effectively, at least in his mind, was the "F" word, and that got old fast.

Katrina said...

I've read five of them and enjoyed them all so hope you do too. Jack has that Anne McCaffrey series so I might give those ones a go - sometime.

Kay said...

What a good list you have, Tracy! I've read a few of them - A Trick of the Light and Shooting at Loons. I'm also delighted to know that Christine Poulson has a new book. I like the previous two in this series and will look for An Air That Kills. Thanks!

Christine said...

Very flattered to find that I am on your list, Tracy!

TracyK said...

Katrina, there are a lot of books about Pern but you are lucky if you have them there to try out. My son only has this on and a book that is later in the series.

TracyK said...

Thanks, Kay. I put Shooting at Loons on the list because I want to give that series another try. Maybe I have gotten over not enjoying books set in the South.

I am looking forward to reading An Air That Kills. The topic fits our times and the setting sounds good.

TracyK said...

Christine, I decided this is a good time to read your newest book and I know I will enjoy it. Katie Flanagan leads an interesting life.

TracyK said...

Carl, I felt like the profanity suited the situations in this case, but there is pretty heavy use of the "F" word.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for including Margaret Maron's Shooting at Loons. Her Deborah Knott series is wonderful. I wish she could be coerced into continuing the mystery series.

TracyK said...

I have read the first three books in the Sigrid Harald series and I really enjoyed them. There is some overlap in the series so I figured I should try the Deborah Knott series again. Margaret Maron has lots of fans.

Bill Selnes said...

TracyK: I have read but two of your list - A Trick of the Light and The Absent One. I liked the Louise Penny book better.

TracyK said...

Bill, based on what I know about the two authors, I suspect I will like the Louise Penny book more also. But I do hope to like The Absent One as well as I liked the first book in Adler-Olsen's series.

I am planning to read more Canadian books starting in July. If the Canadian Reading Challenge happens again, I will do that. If not I will make it a personal goal.

Clothes in Books said...

Great list - I ahve read some of them, and am sure you will enjoy Chrissie Poulson's new one, and also the Ladies/Women in Black! And there's a couple there that I am going to look up - American Spy, and the Blue Pencil, both caught my attention though had not previously heard of either.

TracyK said...

Moira, I have been looking forward to both An Air That Kills and Women in Black. I haven't made much progress yet, usually I barrel on through them but I have been reading some nonfiction about the 1918 influenza pandemic and also read a Miss Maud Silver book. Lots of time left though.

col2910 said...

Nice list, Tracy. I hope to try the Hallinan series,as it's the series opener. I've only recently read the first Lew Archer book, so maybe I will get onto the third before too ong.

TracyK said...

Thanks, Col. I am not moving as fast on this list as previous ones, Col, but that is OK. I would like to try other series by Hallinan also, but as this is the one I have a copy of, I am starting with the Junior Bender series.

Right now I am reading the Raymond Chandler book. He writes so well. I look forward to the Lew Archer book also, and there are a lot more of those to read.