20 Books of Summer 2024

Summer landscape

I haven’t done this challenge from Cathy at 746 Books in a couple of years so it’s time to start it again.  I don’t think I’ve ever finished 20 Books but it’s fun to try.  I was looking back at previous years and was embarrassed to see the some of the same books appearing year after year but thankfully I’ve finally completed most of them.

So here are my book choices for 2024:

Book Collage 10

1. The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope

2. The Napoleon of Notting Hill by G.K. Chesterton

3. Animal Farm by George Orwell

4. The Trial and Death of Socrates by Plato

5. Ajax by Sophocles

6. King John by William Shakespeare

7. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch by Alexandr Soltzhenitsyn

8. The Railway Children by E. Nesbit

9. Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell

10. A Holiday For Murder by Agatha Christie

11. Crime and Punsihment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

12. The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonnhoeffer

13. Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

14. Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle

15. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

16. Greenwitch by Susan Cooper

17. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

18. Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust

19. The Brother’s Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

20. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Books summer flowers

The books I’m going to focus on are: Great Expectations, The Brothers Karamazov, Mary Barton, Greenwitch, Nicomachean Ethics, The Last Chronicles of Barset and Animal Farm.

Wish me lots of reading time!  I’m going to need it!Roman bridge

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Note: Pixabay now has a pop-up in front of the name of the account so I am unable to see it to give credit to the photographer.

14 thoughts on “20 Books of Summer 2024

    • Yes, there are certainly some big/deep ones on the list but I’ve read almost half of Great Expectations in just a few days so that’s promising. Thanks for the wishes and wishing them right back at you! Good to see you again, Emma!

    • Also, I posted a big long comment on your blog but I’m not sure that it took. Here it is in case it didnt:

      Oh, I absolutely LOVE the Moomin books! The Great Flood is an easy read, so good choice.

      Christie goes quickly as well. I’m still reading through her works chronologically but I’m finding that I’m going to be reading Poirot’s Christmas, in summer, lol! Not good planning. 🙂

      I may join the Bovary group to practice my French as I’ve already read the book and am not up for a re-read of it. It would be interesting to read people’s reactions.

      Have a great summer, Emma, and happy reading!

  1. Looks like a great list, but yes you will need lots of reading time…good luck!

    I didn’t get organized with a books of summer list–I’ve been a lazy blogger lately.

    • You have been so good at blogging that I must say I’m surprised but our priorities do change and that’s okay. I do hope you get a list organized. As far as blog posts go, it’s one of the easier ones. Good to see you here, Reese!

  2. How I loved Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov when I read them at age 18. I inhaled and positively consumed them and took them into my soul! They meant so much to me at that time when I was grasping for an identity.
    I loved and loved, (who couldn’t love) Great Expectations?
    And One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is a great intro to Solzhenitsyn.
    A wonderful list!

    • I’ve read the Brothers K before and loved it but I’ve never read Crime and Punishment. Dostoyevsky is one of my favourites as well. I just started Great Expectations and am already almost half-way. I’ve had a love/dislike relationship with Dickens but lately I read one that I loved, Nicholas Nickleby. And Great Expectations is certainly giving it a run for its money! I’ve read The Gulag Archiplelago, so it will be nice to read a shorter Solzhenitsyn! Hope you’re doing well!

  3. Hey Cleo, I tried commenting on your blog, but it won’t take my comments. So, I replied to your comment on Joseph’s blog. For whatever reason, I can comment like this on WP. I just have to remember to visit WP Reader in order to comment. It’s so complicated. Anyway, good to see you again!

    • Ruth! It’s so good to hear from you! I’ve been meaning to message you but life is a whirlwind. I’m sorry that you can’t comment. I didn’t joint googles new tracking so that might be the issue. They make everything harder to force you into it. Actually I might actually have to update my WordPress so I’ll look into that as well. Thanks for the reminder!

  4. Looks like a great list! I’ve read Greenwitch several times, and always found it the oddest in the series–I think my lack of familiarity at the time with old English village traditional festivals made it harder for me to follow. Mary Barton is good and if you have time, Tom Sawyer is great fun. I’m hoping to get to Animal Farm in August, although it’s not looking promising at the moment. (Too many books in front of it.) Enjoy!

    • I loved Over Sea, Under Stone (I thought I wouldn’t) but I struggled with The Dark Is Rising (which I thought I’d like) so I don’t know what to expect with Greenwitch. At the moment I’ve misplaced it, so it will have to wait …. Mary Barton is interesting but so far I think I like it the least of the Gaskell novels. I’ve only finished 3 books of my 20 (but almost 5) so far, so I’m doing okay but not great. I’m enjoying myself though, which is what counts. Good to hear from you!

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