20 Books of Summer, hosted by Cathy at 746 Books, is a very simple idea: make a list of twenty books (there are also ten and fifteen book options) and read them during the months of June, July and August. However, it’s not as simple as it sounds and despite taking part every year since 2017, I’ve never been able to complete it! I often do read twenty books during that period, but not necessarily the books on my list.

This year’s 20 Books of Summer starts on 1st June and finishes on 1st September. I have listed below the books I would like to read. Most of these are either upcoming NetGalley review copies or books for various other challenges and projects I’m taking part in.

1. Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie (Read Christie 2024)
2. N or M? by Agatha Christie (Read Christie 2024)
3. Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson (Moomin Week)
4. Thomasina by Paul Gallico (Reading the Meow)
5. In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas (Walter Scott Prize project)
6. The Noh Mask Murder by Akimitsu Takagi
7. The Meiji Guillotine Murders by Futaro Yamada
8. The King’s Witches by Kate Foster
9. The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye by Briony Cameron
10. The Burial Plot by Elizabeth Macneal
11. The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks
12. A Woman of Opinion by Sean Lusk
13. Babylonia by Costanza Casati
14. The King’s Mother by Annie Garthwaite
15. A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith
16. The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson
17. The Lost Queen by Carol McGrath
18. The Trouble with Mrs Montgomery Hurst by Katie Lumsden
19. The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
20. Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead

Alternatives

I have listed four of the shorter books remaining on my Classics Club list as alternatives in case I don’t feel like reading some of the books above when the time comes.

1. The Black Lake by Hella S. Haasse
2. The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff
3. The Elusive Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
4. The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

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Are you taking part in 20 Books of Summer this year? What do you think I should read first?