10 Books of Summer

Annabel at AnnaBookBel is hosting the 20 Books of Summer reading challenge this year, and I thought I would try to participate. This is the challenge to read 20, 15 or just 10 books from one’s TBR list in the summer months, and the good thing is that we can swap books at any time. So, I have decided on this list of 10 books:

The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

A House for Mr Biswas by V. S. Naipaul

Wittgenstein’s Nephew by Thomas Bernhard

The Earth by Émile Zola

Blood Dark by Louis Guilloux

We Do Not Part by Han Kang

Explosion in a Cathedral by Alejo Carpentier

Golden Bowl by Henry James

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy

I am not sure how successful I will be with this challenge, especially since I did not do well with this challenge the previous time I tried it – 10 Books of Summer, and this summer I also want to re-read Don Quixote, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. I am also currently reading (or have started reading) Pamuk’s The Red-Haired Woman, Argueta’s Un dia en la vida and Lobo Antunes’ Knowledge of Hell, so any of these three books can replace those above as well.

📖 What do you think of my list? Have you read any of these books? Are you participating in the 20 (10) Books of Summer (Winter) Reading Challenge? What books are on your TBR?

15 thoughts on “10 Books of Summer”

  1. I’m very impressed with the list, half of which would make a challenging and very rewarding summer! Three of these (Ice Palace; Enchanted April & House for Mr. Biswas) are on my own TBR. A couple — Blood Dark & Explosion in a Cathedral — I haven’t heard of; they sound interesting so I’ll probably check them out. I have read James’ Golden Bowl two or three times (many years ago I went through an intense Henry James phase) — it’s a tremendous novel but for me at least a real challenge, as it required a lot of concentration and patience, neither being my strong point! (If you’re interested BTW there’s a passable movie version from the Merchant & Ivory team)

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    1. Thank you! I have high expectations of Blood Dark. Apparently, it has many elements of existentialism in the novel form and done before Camus and Sartre even got there. You can check out my reviews of other Carpentier’s books, if you are interested. I reviewed two – The Lost Steps & The Kingdom of This World. I will certainly heed your advice re Henry James, and will look into that movie version. Somehow I either love (The Heiress) or hate (The Portrait of a Lady) his film adaptations.

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  3. Great list! I’ve only read Golden Bowl which was a very slow painstaking read but well worth it. Since it’s the hardest and last of James’ final trilogy of novels you might want to read the first two before so your brain is warned up for his style. Even so you have to read everything twice to appreciate it and one or two chapters a day,

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  8. I have been thinking about a Zola to read this summer for Paris in July. Your Zola for this challenge is new to me, but when I looked it up and saw that it is compared to two of my favorite Zola books, and when I saw that it’s about peasants, after I just finished a reread of The Good Earth…well, it seems fated. Off to add it to my Classics Club list and to try to find a copy.

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