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September 4, 2017

6

Wrap-up #20BooksOfSummer 2017

by NancyElin

 

 

  • 20 Books of Summer is hosted by Cathy at 746books.com!
  • The challenge is to read 20 books off your TBR list.
  • June 01  – September 03
  • Hashtag#20BooksOfSummer

 

  • My original plan was to read 20 books on
  • Modern Library’s Top 100 Novels.
  • I managed to read 16…then I was sick of classics!
  • I find if you  DON’T  make a list
  • ….reading will be more fun.
  • Just choose the book according to your mood.
  • Pleased with my results:   44  books

 

My list:   16/20   from Modern Library’s Top 100 Novels :

 

  1. The Postman Always Rings Twice – J.M. Cain READ  4.0
  2. The Death of the Heart by E. Bowen – – READ – 2.0
  3. The Ginger Man – J.P.Donleavy – DNF …. abandon after 100 pgs. (bah)
  4. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser – READ 3.0
  5. Scoop by Evelyn Waugh  – READ – 4.0
  6. Ragtime  by E.L. Doctorow – READ 3.0
  7. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh – READ  5.0
  8. Go Tell It On The Mountain by J. Baldwin – READ  5.0
  9. As I Lay Dying  by William Faulkner – READ –  5.0
  10. Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov – READ   5.0
  11. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner – READ  2.0
  12. The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler – READ – 3.0
  13. Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence – READ 5.0
  14. Loving by Henry Green – READ    4.0
  15. I, Claudius by Robert Graves – READ    4.0
  16. Under the Net – I. Murdoch – READ – 5.0

 

  1. NON-FICTION:
  2. The Bloody Mary Book – E. Brown – READ  3.0
  3. Walking the Nile – L. Wood – READ  4.0
  4. Running Hare – J. Lewis-Stempel – READ   5.0
  5. Dear Ijeawele – C.N. Adichie – READ  5.0
  6. Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America – J. Leovy – READ – 5.0
  7. Coming Up Trumps – J. Trumpington – READ    3.0
  8. Kennedy and King – S. Levingston – READ    5.0
  9. Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon – 5.0

 

  1. FRENCH:
  2. Un Vie – S. Veil – READ – 4.0
  3. Rue des Boutiques Obscures – P. Modiano – READ  5.0
  4. Retour à Killybegs – S. Chalandon – READ – 4.0
  5. Une femme à Berlin – M. Hillers – READ – 4.0 – French
  6. Seul Dans Berlin – H. Fallada – READ 3.0

 

  1. CRIME FICTION:
  2. Open and Shut – D. Rosenfelt – READ 5.0
  3. First Degree – D. Rosenfelt – READ 5.0

 

  1. SF  – Fantasy:
  2. Doomsday Book – C. Willis – READ 3.0
  3. The Two Towers – J.R.R. Tolkien – READ   3.0
  4. Return of the King – J.R.R. Tolkien – READ – 3.0
  5. Vaster Than Empires and More Slow – U. Le Guin – READ 5.0
  6. Principles of Angels – J. Fenn – DNF – 1.0 – Bah!
  7. The Martian – A. Weir – READ – 5.0

 

  1. Fiction:
  2. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen – READ  4.0
  3. Short Stories –  Dear Life  by A. Munro (Nobel Prize 2013) – READ  3.0
  4. Short Stories – Shatterday & Other Stories – H. Ellison – READ  11/11
  5. Seven Plays – S. Shepard – READ – 5.0
  6. The Persians – Aeschylus – READ 3.0
  7. The African Queen – C.S. Forester – READ    5.0
  8. Lincoln in the Bardo  – G. Saunders – READ – 1.0

Read more from #20BooksOfSummer 2017
6 Comments Post a comment
  1. Sep 4 2017

    I only read 7 of my 20 (& a half & abandoned one). But I now find that most of the fun to be had with these challenges is the making of the lists 😂

    Reply
    • Sep 4 2017

      Dubble fun…..make lists and change them along the way!
      Now I have to figure out what to aim for during the Fall and Winter….of course your Spring and Summer!

      Reply
  2. Wow, you had a successful reading summer! Mine was rather pitiful, but I was doing more active things. I have high hopes for September that I’ll get back to reading more regularly. Your Modern Library ratings were pretty much what I expected, except for Angel of Repose and All The Ways of the Flesh. I liked Angel of Repose, but I did have to put myself in a different headspace to read it. Glad to see Forester and Le Guin got 5 stars. The Lord of the Rings ….??? Well, we won’t even talk about that …. 😉 Hope your summer was extra wonderful! 🙂

    Reply
    • Sep 4 2017

      Thanks so much for you comments…..
      I was glad to get some classics read this year and #20BooksOfSummer and Modern Library’s list was the way to do it. Yes, Le Guin ( I like the way she thinks….) and ‘The African Queen’ were excellent. Poor Wallace Stegner and I …just don’t get along. JRR Tolkien…he is done and dusted! The most surprising classic was ‘As I Lay Dying’. I never read Faulkner and thought I would not like his work. I did! Now it is time to settle into the Fall and early Winter reading.
      I have no idea which way the winds will take me!

      Reply
  3. Sep 4 2017

    Wow is right. Lots of books and challenging ones too. I am purchasing the first D. Rosenfelt mystery today, and then I will look for later copies at the book sale.

    Reply
    • Sep 4 2017

      I started June with only classics…I was ‘chomping at the bit to get started.
      Wise decision ….after 16 I was ready for a change of pace (D. Rosenfelt, and some great non-fiction). I am just enjoying the end of summer reading….and have no idea what to ‘sink my teeth into next ‘….over the next 4 months. We shall see!
      Thanks for you comments, Tracy!

      Reply

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