20 Books of Summer - wrap-up

I mentioned taking part in online Summer Reading back in June (link), and then never followed up.

The short version is I read far more than 20 books this summer, but I managed to work a title in for every square on the bingo board.  Some of the books I earnestly recommend... others, not so much.



Beach, sand, or sun on the cover: The Rumor / Elin Hilderbrand

New to you author: American Housewife: Stories / Helen Ellis

First book of a new series: Rock Me Two Times / Dawn Ryder

Adapted for the big screen: The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History / Robert M. Edsel

A blast from the past: Historical Fiction: How the Duke Was Won / Lenora Bell

Graphic novel or comic book: The Sculptor / Scott McCloud

Published June, July, or August 2016: The Nightmare Stacks (A Laundry Files Novel) / Charles Stross

Comfort Read: Wrong Place, Right Time / Elle Casey

Read in a boat, tent, or cabin: A Head Full of Ghosts / Paul Tremblay
Partially, at least.

A book that's been on your shelf for more than a year: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore / Robin Sloan

Romance: Test Drive / Marie Harte

A book by a dead author: The Fellowship of the Ring / J.R.R. Tolkien
OK, been reading this one for awhile, but with the format of the project, I think it counts.

Free space: Lexicon / Max Barry

Summer word in the title: This One Summer / Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki

A hard book: Wild / Cheryl Strayed
Emotionally this was a very challenging book for me.  Reading a book about the loss and mourning of one's mother is not something I should do in the summer.

Travel: planes, trains, or road trips: No Simple Highway: A Cultural History of the Grateful Dead / Peter Richardson

Mystery or Suspense: Hex / Thomas Olde Heuvelt

A book bust or bummer: Star Wars: Aftermath / Chuck Wendig

More than 400 pages long: The Aeronaut's Windlass / Jim Butcher

Favorite re-read: The Princess Bride / William Goldman

YA or Children: Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong / Faith Erin Hicks & Prudence Shen

Space opera or other sci fi: Her Smoke Rose Up Forever / James Tiptree Jr
Also a contender for "book by dead author."


Read on vacation: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child / J. K. Rowling
I don't really get vacations, but I read this on my day off.

Book with a terrible cover: Rhapsody / Elizabeth Haydon
It's not horribly terrible, but a bunch of things bother me - including the scale of the characters, and they add up to being dissatisfied with the cover. Possible alternative for cover is A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, on which the woman just doesn't work for me, and then they cut off her head... the reason this book is an alternative instead of Wrong Place, Right Time is I got far more enjoyment out of the other one.

Fantasy: From a High Tower (Elemental Masters) / Mercedes Lackey

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