#10BooksofSummer: How did I fare?

#20BooksofSummer is an annual challenge hosted by Cathy at 746Books, which involves picking 20, 15, or 10 books to read over the three months of summer (June-August; or winter if you happen to be on the other side of the world). A flexible challenge, this allows one to switch titles, drop the number, and pretty much have fun.

Knowing that I can never really predict my reading pace, especially with work commitments and other things that pop up, when in May this year, I signed up to this challenge for the very first time, I chose to stick with the lowest number, 10 books, and am glad I did because things did end up a little beyond my control and I read far less than I usually do (and have been doing for much of this year).

My 10 Books of Summer

For my challenge reads, I chose to tackle my physical TBR pile of personal purchases, which has gotten rather out of hand with me concentrating on the various (and endless) review copies I keep piling up. My list had a mix of genres as always, with 2 nonfiction titles, and the rest fiction–some mysteries, a Japanese translation, historical fiction, some young adult read.

Did I finish my 10 books? Well, not quite. As of the 31st of August I had read and reviewed 9 of the 10 on my original list, while in book 10 (which I really ought to have picked up first), I had read about 300 of the 540 pages (In fact, I’m fairly sure, I would have finished in time had I not spend large parts of last Saturday and Sunday watching ‘the largest demolition in India‘–It only took nine seconds but the news channels got me with their round-the-clock coverage!). But the good part is that there was not a single dud among them. In fact, all ten were by and large very enjoyable reads and I was glad to have finally read them after having been waiting fairly long. And I don’t see my challenge as a ‘fail’ really since I will be reviewing book 10 soon too.

So here’s my list:

• Father Goose by William Lishman Review
• The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa Review
• And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie Review
• Golden Hill by Francis Spufford Review
• The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith Review
• The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (The one that didn’t finish on time, but an excellent read; review to come)
• The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson Review
• The Familiars by Stacey Halls Review
• The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson Review
• Attendant Lords by TCA Raghavan Review

Overall, despite having lots of work and in general being in ‘headless chicken’ mode these past few months, my reading these past three months went much better than expected with 26 books read in total including some review copies, #10BooksofSummer picks, and some other reads for one or the other challenge.

Best of all, I enjoyed the challenge very much, and am looking forward to joining in again next time!

How did you do with yours?