5. Duckling by Eve Ainsworth, sent for review by Penguin.
Because I’m a mood reader I can virtually guarantee that whatever books I selected would no doubt end up still being unread at the end of the 3 months. If I feel like I have to read a book I invariably don’t want to read it at that time. Contrary, me?
4. Conversations on Love by Natasha Lunn, sent for review by Penguin.
It takes courage to let the outside world in, and Lucy’s about to learn there’s much more to life – but only if she’s brave enough to spread her wings…
2. The Atom Station by Halldor Laxness, sent for review by Vintage.
Here are the five I’m hoping to read:
After years of feeling that love was always out of reach, journalist Natasha Lunn set out to understand how relationships work and evolve over a lifetime. She turned to authors and experts to learn about their experiences, as well as drawing on her own, asking:How do we find love? How do we sustain it? And how do we survive when we lose it?
Are you joining in with the 20 Books of Summer challenge? Do let me know what you plan on reading.
1. The Bloater by Rosemary Tonks, sent for review by Vintage.
I’ll be tracking the books I read on here and you can follow everyone who is taking part on Twitter by following #20BooksofSummer.
So this year I’m reverting back to playing fast and loose with the guidelines. Not that the guidelines are set in stone in any event.
You can read about the challenge on Cathy’s excellent blog here.
So it’s that time of year again. Devised by Cathy at 746Books the aim is to read 20 books between 1 June and 1 September. I have taken part for the last five years. I think I’ve only made it once!
Living in the Blackwood family home with only her sister Constance and her Uncle Julian for company, Merricat just wants to preserve their delicate way of life. But ever since Constance was acquitted of murdering the rest of the family, the world isn’t leaving the Blackwoods alone. And when Cousin Charles arrives, armed with overtures of friendship and a desperate need to get into the safe, Merricat must do everything in her power to protect the remaining family.
In Conversations on Loveshe began to find the answers:
Philippa Perry on falling in love slowly
Dolly Alderton on vulnerability
Stephen Grosz on accepting change
Candice Carty-Williams on friendship
Lisa Taddeo on the loneliness of loss
Diana Evans on parenthood
Emily Nagoski on the science of sex
Alain de Botton on the psychology of being alone
Esther Perel on unrealistic expectations
Roxane Gay on redefining romance
and many more…
3. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, own copy.
Min works at the BBC as an audio engineer, where she is struggling to replicate the sound of a heartbeat. At home, other matters of the heart are making a mockery of life as Min knows it. Min has found herself the object of her lodger’s affection. An internationally renowned opera singer she’s nicknamed ‘The Bloater’, Min is disgusted and attracted to him in equal measure. But with a husband so invisible that she accidentally turns the lights off on him even when he’s still in the room, Min can’t quite bring herself to silence The Bloater’s overtures.
Lucy’s life is small, but safe. She’s got a good routine. But all that’s about to change…
The Wildcard titles will be listed below.
When the Americans make an offer to buy land in Iceland to build a NATO airbase after the Second World War, a storm of protest is provoked throughout the country. Narrated by a country girl from the north, the novel follows her experiences after she takes up employment as a maid in the house of her Member of Parliament. Her observations and experiences expose the bourgeois society of the south as rootless and shallow and in stark contrast to the age-old culture of the solid and less fanciful north.
When Lucy’s neighbour asks her to look after her little girl for a couple of hours – and then doesn’t come back – Lucy is suddenly responsible for someone other than herself. I’ve chosen five books I’d ideally read. A mixture of books I’ve bought and books I’ve been kindly sent for review, I’ve thrown in some shorter books in the hopes I can speed through them faster and maintain the momentum for any longer books I chose. If I start to read one and don’t fancy it at that time I’ll stop and swop. This will be the same for my fifteen “wildcards”, the books I will choose as the mood takes me.
