20 Books of Summer 2024
20 Books of Summer has always been more about the motivation to *actually review* books for me, not reducing my TBR, and never more so than this year. I don’t own 20 books, let alone 20 books I haven’t read before. Hence the shorter list.
This year is special though, as it’s the tenth anniversary of an event that started as a TBR challenge with 8 participants that now attracts upwards of 100 bloggers each year. No mean feat given the state of blogging today and the fact that this is a rather high-commitment event (with very relaxed rules to make it manageable.) Congratulations to Cathy for keeping the pages turning and the reviews rolling in since 2014.
My list of 15 has no theme other than “these are books in my house or that I might get into my house at some point this summer”:
- Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami tr. Sam Bett and David Boyd (for Women in Translation month, perhaps)
- The Wars by Timothy Findley (a CanLit classic)
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (an American classic)
- The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen (has been recommended to me many a time)
- Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë (the book I was rereading at the time of our house fire, apologies to Edmonton Public Library for the lost copy!)
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (it’s in the edition I got in order to read Agnes)
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (see above and it’s time for a reread anyway)
- Ghosts by John Banville (the next in the Book of Evidence series)
- Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín (a rare instance of “seen the movie, not read the book” and preparation for…)
- Long Island by Colm Tóibín (the much-anticipated sequel)
- Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck tr. Michael Hofmann (my tradition of reading the International Booker Prize winners continues)
- Laser Quit Smoking Massage by Cole Nowicki (a slim essay collection)
- A Year of Last Things by Michael Ondaatje (a slim poetry collection)
- When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödrön (they sure have been)
- The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney (a Little Free Library pick)
Join in and let’s get this TBR back down to zero, or at least review some books this summer!
Reading in Bed 
I’ve only read Agnes Grey and Jane Eyre from your list, Laura, but I wish you luck with all your reads! I’m afraid that though my TBR pile is currently unmanageable, focusing on unread books may be the most sensible thing I can do right now!
Do you own Wuthering Heights? If so, maybe this summer is the time (not really a summer kind of book, but it is my all time favourite!)
20books for summer
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I was just thinking it was time to reread Jane Eyre. Agnes Grey is not A.B.’s best—Tenant of Wildfell Hall knocks it into a cocked hat—but it’s worthwhile. I absolutely love A Tree Grows in Brooklyn—an underrated classic of girlhood. And Timothy Findley’s book is totally new to me; off I go to look it up!
I agree, though I have a soft spot for Agnes Grey. I love A Tree Grows in Brooklyn too! I read it 20 years ago at least… and The Wars I read in university, even longer ago, but I still remember some of it vividly. A real “war is hell” kind of book.
I think I was assigned ATGiB as an option for summer reading when I was like eight, and it was the only book on the list I hadn’t heard of, so I went for it (nerd) and was blown away by how wonderful it was. (In retrospect, kind of shocking they were recommending it to eight-year-olds—my school was pretty rogue in general, but the attempted rape scene in the hallway is very scary!!)
Yes, I do – I wanted to finish Villette first (which I’ve now done) before trying Emily’s book, maybe this summer. But there’s also Anne’s second title to go! Luckily I’ve still got a fair chunk of the juvenilia to go after all that. 😁
Thanks for your kind words and for taking part again Laura – loving your choices and can’t wait to hear what you think about the Banville.
Somehow ReadingInBed dropped out of my Feedly, but I’m happy to see you’re still turning those summer pages for this challenge. Usually my reading slows in the summer, so it’s not one I’ve joined before, but I do remember, as a girl, reading MORE in the summer not less, and that strikes a nostalgic nerve. Kairos, and Breasts and Eggs, are both in the back of my mind, as books I want to read. The Wars is one of my all-time favourites; I know it was commonly assigned as a schooltext for a time, but I discovered it independently as a teenager and absolutely loved it.
I’ve read Jane Eyre and Agnes Grey and enjoyed both of them, in fact I think they’re quite suited to being read side by side because of the governess issue (as the intro to AG told me!) I have A Tree Grows in Brooklyn on my classics challenge list and think I should have included it too. . .
Breasts and Eggs is great, and obviously Jane Eyre, though I am a Villette girl at heart.
I’ve only read the two Brontës but enjoyed both – my favourite Brontë novel by a country mile is Tenant of Wildfell Hall, but I was in just the right space for Agnes Grey when I first read it so it’s a book that’s special to me, even though it’s flawed. Hope you have some excellent reading ahead of you this summer!
Hope you enjoy this nice varied pile. I’ve read Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and Agnes Grey from this list. I had to outsource choosing my pile to my husband which is fun and yet not fun as I have to read them in the order he chose, too (well, I don’t have to, but that’s the challenge, right?). Happy reading!
I have Breasts and Eggs on my list too, it was a gift and I’m looking forward to it. Enjoy your summer reading (and rereading).
That’s a very Bronte summer! I have the Chodron on my bedside stack but haven’t gotten into it properly yet. I’m intrigued by Laser Quit Smoking Massage just for the title!
I’ve read the Bronte books and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Not the Colm Toibin. He was at the Hay Festival last week – he’s there most years – but I struggle with his books. I might try Kairos too. Happy reading Laura.
I like your list and have read a few of them. The Brontës and Pema Chödrön, The Wars, Brooklyn. They were all excellent.
For me it’s decidedly a « reducing the piles event » but also finally reviewing again. I forget a lot of the books I read but as soon as I read a few notes it all comes back.
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