The end of 20 Books of Summer – and September plans

With August almost at an end, that means this year’s 20 Books of Summer challenge (hosted by Annabel of AnnaBookBel) is also nearly over, so let’s take a look at how I did. I’m pleased to say that for the second year in a row I completed the challenge with a few days to spare!

I had listed 10 books in advance for the challenge and managed to read all of them:

1. The Persian Boy by Mary Renault
2. The Rose and the Yew Tree by Mary Westmacott
3. By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie
4. The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden
5. The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett
6. The Lost Château by Dinah Jefferies
7. This Immortal Heart by Jennifer Saint
8. The Crownless Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick
9. No Fair Maidens by Kim Willis
10. This Dark Night by Deborah Lutz

I left the other 10 slots on my list blank so I could choose the books as I went along. My only self-imposed rule was that they needed to have already been on my TBR prior to the start of the challenge otherwise they wouldn’t count. Here’s what I decided to read:

11. A Far-flung Life by ML Stedman
12. Gigi and The Cat by Colette
13. She Walks at Night by Seishi Yokomizo
14. The Kill by Émile Zola
15. The Scandalous Ladies Football Club by Frances Quinn
16. The Boleyn Secret by Alison Weir
17. The Forever Summer by Lulu Taylor
18. Troubled Waters by Ichiyō Higuchi
19. The Story of Tudor Art by Christina J Faraday
20. The Matchbox Girl by Alice Jolly

I enjoyed all of these books, some more than others, and am particularly happy that I was able to include three non-fiction books, which is a part of my reading that I often neglect.

~

The end of summer always means the start of one of my favourite reading events of the year: the RIP challenge, which is now in its 21st year. It now takes place mostly on Instagram, where it’s hosted by @perilreaders, but a lot of bloggers still join in and it’s something I always look forward to as the idea is simply to spend September and October reading mysteries, Gothic novels, ghost stories or anything else suitably dark and atmospheric! I’m not planning to make a list that I need to stick to, but here are some possible options:

Books for the Read Christie challenge:
The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie (September)
Postern of Fate by Agatha Christie (October)

On my NetGalley shelf for September/October:
Murder on the Haunted Express by Emma Mason
The Scholars by MacKenzie Common
The Well by Elizabeth Jolley
The Riptide by Gareth Rubin
The Witch Elm by Sally-Anne Martyn

Some others I would like to get to:
The Clock House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji
House of Splinters by Laura Purcell
A Ghost Hunter’s Guide to Catching a Killer by FH Petford
Strange Buildings by Uketsu

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Another event taking place in September is Short Story September, hosted by Bookish Beck. I’ll probably only have time to read one book for this, but here are a few short story collections I have that would also work for RIP:

By Horror Haunted by Celia Fremlin
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by MR James
Grim Tales by E Nesbit
The Haunting Season by various authors

Always good if you can make a book count for more than one challenge!

~

How has your summer been? If you took part in 20 Books of Summer, have you completed it yet or are you still working on it? And do you have any plans for your September reading?

29 thoughts on “The end of 20 Books of Summer – and September plans”

  5. Charlotte says:
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    Charlotte's avatar

    Well done on completing this challenge and getting to all ten of the choices from your initial TBR too. Its great you got to a few non fiction titles too. I definitely need to get better at reaching for them myself.

    Your next reading events sounds fun. I hope you have a wonderful time with it. I’ll keep an eye out for your thoughts on The Well; it popped up in a publishers newsletter and caught my eye as tempting but I didn’t go for it in the end. I did add it to my TBR to potentially try eventually though. I also especially look forward to hearing what you think of House Of Splinters and The Haunting Season having read them already. And I’ll be curious to hear what you make of Strange Buildings as I’m sceptical over how much it’ll differ from the previous book. I hope you enjoy all of your books and have a wonderful September.

    • Helen says:
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      Helen's avatar

      Thank you – I’m pleased to have completed the challenge as I got off to a slow start with it and thought I would run out of time. Yes, I think The Well sounds really interesting and quite creepy. I should be reading that one in September and am looking forward to it. I’m expecting Strange Buildings to be similar to Strange Houses, but will find out soon!

  6. Jane says:
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    Jane's avatar

    That was a successful summer! A spooky or thrilling or puzzling autumn sounds great and I don’t think I’ve read any of the titles that you mention, not even the Christie’s. Hopefully they’ll all be great, all I can plan is Lorna Doone for the spin read!

    • Helen says:
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      Helen's avatar

      Yes, I didn’t expect to complete the challenge after getting off to a slow start in June, so I’m glad I managed to catch up! I’m looking forward to my spooky autumn reading and you’ve reminded me that as well as the books I’ve listed I also need to read my spin book, The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham!

  7. whatmeread says:
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    whatmeread's avatar

    I read enough books of the right type normally that I don’t usually pick them for @peril. That being said, I had a hard time finding info on it this year. I finally found the new logo on Instagram. I don’t think they’ve talked about it much yet, which is odd, because it’s coming right up!

    • Helen says:
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      Helen's avatar

      It’s sad because RIP used to be one of the most popular reading challenges of the year and a lot of bloggers would take part, but since it moved to Instagram it doesn’t get much attention. Like you, I normally read plenty of appropriate books anyway.

  9. Staircase Wit says:
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    Staircase Wit's avatar

    You did very well! I’ve had to avert my eyes on a few of yours I plan to read soon.

    I got distracted by a long (but excellent) nonfiction book, which took longer to read (and is now a week overdue – oops).

    I think your Bank Holiday weekend is this week but ours is next, so I am looking forward to a Monday off.

    • Helen says:
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      Helen's avatar

      Thanks! I hope you enjoy whichever of these you’re planning to read. Yes, it’s our Bank Holiday tomorrow, which I’m looking forward to – always nice to have a Monday off!

  10. Calmgrove says:
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    Calmgrove's avatar

    The Alice Joly book you reviewed last is one on my want-to-read list, but you made pretty much all the books in the reviews I read attractive in some way!

    Yes, combining two challenges is good – the Nesbit and M R James collections are both good in their different ways, and like you I have a collection of classic spooky stories by various authors waiting, though looking at the contents I seem to have read at least half of them already.

    • Helen says:
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      Helen's avatar

      I enjoyed all of the books I read this summer, at least to some extent, so I’m glad I was able to make them sound appealing. I’m pleased to hear the Nesbit and James collections are good, although I’m not sure if I’ll get to either of them in September.

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