crimeworm’s 20 Books Of Summer

 

After a great deal of thought (this is starting to sound like one of several speeches we’ve had over the last few days in the UK, isn’t it?) Rewind…I’m going to make a list of 14 books and of those, hope to read 10 of them. Any more will be a bonus. Also, there are three books I’ve been reading since the start of June; I’ll mention them at the end. It’s been an absolute bugger trying to choose the list: -should it be “worthy” books I know I should’ve read for ages?-should it be entertaining books I can (hopefully!) read in the summer sun? I’ve managed to get my (just tinted, girls!) hair covered in cobwebs, looking for books, rather like someone looking for Republican candidates would’ve been a couple of years ago (insert your own hair joke here), and then when the list seemed concluded, thought,”The Kindle!” BUT as I’m seeing this as a way to get rid of some of the Hadrian’s Wall of books in my house, the number of books from the Kindle is very small. Minute, actually.

So, without further ado… (God I overthink things don’t I? This has taken me about two weeks from fruition – that’s my decision to take part, after a lot of thought, obviously, to conclusion, as if they’re the LAST BOOKS I’ll ever read again!) Then there’s the five days before I type them in. Not really. It was four. Or six…Whatever, here it is:

1. She Died Young – Elizabeth Wilson – (finished third)
2. Night Film – Marisha Pessl
3. The Blue Tango – Eoin McNamee
4. The Dinner – Herman Koch – started
5. A Killing Winter – Tom Callaghan – (finished fourth)
6. Magda – Meike Ziervogel – (finished fifth)
7. Fever City – Tim Baker – started
8. The Stone Boy – Sophie Loubiere
9. Dissolution – C.J. Sansom (finished first)
10. A Very English Scandal – John Preston
11. The Disappeared – M.R. Hall (finished second)
12. In The Rosary Garden – Nicola White
13. The Butcher Bird – S.D. Sykes
14. The Skeleton Road – Val McDermid – started

And the three I’m reading right now:

1.  A Rising Man – Abir Mukherjee – review to follow
2. The Caveman – Jorn Lier Horst – review to follow
3. Wilde Lake – Laura Lippman – review to follow

Also read (as you can see there’s a few I couldn’t wait to read!):

1. Black Roses – Jane Thynne – review to follow
2. His Bloody Project – Graeme Macrae Burnet – review to follow
3. Daisy In Chains – Sharon Bolton – review to follow
4. Dead Gone – Luca Veste – review to follow
5. The Couple Next Door – Shari Lapena – review to follow

If I finish the entire list by the proscribed date – September 1st, or is it the 5th? – which is, as we all know, highly unlikely, I shall have another three books I can pick…and I will do my very, very best not to go off at a tangent and pick another book not listed here before I’ve completed the list (we all know I have a tendency to do that…)

So, there we are. A bit late but ready to roll…crimeworm’s 20 Books of Summer! Reviews as we go – ahem, hopefully! I’d love to know what you think of the list…what’s good? What’s rubbish? And if you’d like to subscribe to crimeworm, you have to roll quite far down for the wee box – but we’d love to have you!

 

Apologies due…& it’s 20 books of summer for me too!

First of all, apologies to the lovely Elena, whose blog post I inadvertently stole, due to my new Kindle Fire 2. I assumed it would be exactly the same as the old Kindle Fire, just a wee bit swankier, but non. It’s bloody indecipherably posher – although by stealing Elena’s post, I did get more hits than I’ve had ever (actually I made that up, but it did make me think how much better her page is, with all the nice Goodreads bits and other twiddly extras…so if anyone’s passing on the way to the Hebrides and would like a couch and a meal out for an evening setting all that up, you know where I am…!) Seriously, as I’ve been saying for the last, erm, two years, I must just follow the Goodreads instructions and make my page swanky too, so I look much computer whizzier too.

Next it’s over to Cathy, at 746 books, with whom most of you are familiar. I’m SO inspired by her revealing the true number of books in her house she has to read, as I know I’m not

that far off the mark myself…and that’s all I’ll say about that – anyway, if there’s room for one more, I’d love to participate in 20 Books Of Summer. I don’t have a list as yet but will roam the house this evening – I am meant to be spring cleaning, so that’ll make it more enjoyable (don’t say it – we all know I’ll end up with a scribbled jotter with lots of book names and a still unused hoover. Is it just me that really, really hates laminate as, in effect, you have to clean it twice, dry, then wet?) What would make it much better would be if you could have a famous person to help once a week – what an absolute bugger Gareth Bale is tied up with some football thing in France this week! My cleaning, etc, ETC, workout would be much more effective in all round fitness – ahem…I do have three or so Blog Tours on the way until September 5th which I will include, but I’ll add my list later – which may be subject to change; you all know what I’m like. The thought of not having to read X by Friday and write about it is really quite refreshing and pressure-free…

Finally, apologies to all for not being around this last couple of weeks when I should be. Your tolerance is, as ever, massively appreciated. I do, so hope you know that. One day I’ll shoot that black dog right in the head…BANG! Until then, I’ll keep trying. Do please keep cheering me on…!

Right, the next thing is The List! I’ll probably start with 10, although I may get carried away…