Big Book Summer Reading Challenge 2020

    When I learned Sue at Book by Book was launching her 2020 Big Book Summer Reading Challenge (also on GoodReads), I thought about it for a couple of days, then realised I shall be reading books with 400+ pages anyway. 

    And who am I to turn down the opportunity for a giveaway for doing something I love and am planning on doing anyway?  

    So, down to the nitty gritty details: Sue says any book with 400+ pages fits the bill, and one book is all it takes to qualify. These are my current contenders for this year's Big Book Summer Challenge:

“Americanah” by Chimanda Ngozi Adichie
(477 pages)

    Ah, now this! This, I have been wanting to read for absolutely ages.

    Chimanda Ngozi Adichie having left Nigeria at the age of 19 to go to the US, I can imagine how the book’s blurb and her own personal experience of going to America will mingle throughout the book.  

    In “We Should All Be Feminists”, the author talks a little about Nigeria but it's such a scarce read at around 30 pages - it left me hungry for more.

 

    So... expectations are sky-high for “Americanah”!  

“Becoming” by Michelle Obama

(426 pages)

    I started reading this a while back, got interrupted and somehow got into reading fiction again - *rolls eyes innocently*  

    I did enjoy the beginning and am looking forward to getting around to this as soon as I feel like reading non-fiction again (it will happen - I’m just never sure when!).  Plus, my SO gave me a hardcover edition and that’s added incentive.

“Lie Down With Lions” by Ken Follett
(512 pages)

    I have thoroughly enjoyed reading Ken Follett so far, and hasten to add I have already read 3 of his books this year, so will probably give this Christmas present a pass until after the summer. 

   How exciting to know I already have a Ken Follett waiting for next year’s Big Book Summer Challenge - if I actually manage to wait until then! 

“Live Bait” by PJ Tracy
(480 pages)

    I love the mother-daughter writing in the PJ Tracy Monkeewrench series and recently discovered I have been reading the series in any which order (probably why I felt out of my depth at times, not my brains falling apart as I had initially suspected). 

    So I feel I should read them in the right order or at least get that puzzle sorted before I start on another book in the series.  One of the reasons I got in such a muddle is the titles are different in the UK and the US, which is very confusing (just sayin’...). 

    In light of this, I have taken the time to get the one’s I have read straightened out: 

        #1 - “Monkeewrench” aka “Want To Play?” (see: puzzling!) 

        #2 - “Live Bait” 

        #4 - “Snow Blind” 

        #5 - “Shoot to Thrill” aka “Play to Kill” (see: confounding!) 

    So, “Live Bait” is #2 and I have already read it - I guess it might be time for a re-read, then I could get #3, and be on top of my game reading #4 and #5 again. Sounds like a plan - thank you Sue’s Big Book Summer Challenge for getting me out of that conundrum! 

“My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult
(407 pages)

    I absolutely adored Jodi Picoult’s book “House Rules”, which is still among my all time favourites. If memory serves me right, my aunt sent it to me - and it was brilliant!

    Then, I read “Small Great Things” and related less to it (as I write, I can’t help but wonder what this says about me, and thankfully this is no time to dwell, with a Big Book Summer Challenge in preparation!). 

    So, most definitely yes, “My sister’s Keeper” is a book I would like to read this summer. 

“Sapiens: a brief history of human kind” by Yuval Noah Harari
(498 pages)

    This is a book I have been putting off for a while, despite being really excited about it!

    Sounds conflicting, I know - the sheer size of it is daunting, and requires cutting out some proper reading time. Perfect for a Big Book Summer Challenge, right?  I can't wait to enjoy this read to its full potential!

“Swing Time” by Zadie Smith
(453 pages)

    Another beautiful present from my SO - I can't wait to get on this travel to sunny swirling Africa! 

“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson
(561 pages)

    The first in the Millenium Trilogy is another book I have been planning to read for years (gasp). I am really excited about it - and also worried by how much I enjoyed the movies, and that the books might be a let-down. 

    As soon as I get over that internal struggle, I’ll just leap in and read it with a tabula rasa. 

    Now there's a challenge! 

“The Whistler” by John Grisham
(416 pages)

    This is truly the first in the series, and my first John Grisham (I know, I know...!). 

    There is nothing quite like a good thriller for those long summer nights.  It’ll probably give me the heeby jeebies late at night, but that’s all part of the fun of the genre! 

“Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman
(499 pages)

    I bought this thinking 

        – not sure at what speed – 

            I would want to read this pretty fast. 

    

    Again, it’s non-fiction, with lots of research, so I need to be in the right kind of place to enjoy the genre and take it all in. (A bit like with Quiet by Susan Cain). 

“Tipping the Velvet” by Sarah Waters
(472 pages)

    I recently read “Fingersmith” by Sarah Waters, and found it really good. 

    So I bought “Tipping the Velvet”, considered by many as the author's best work - all about lesbian love and whatnot (kid-safe). Sarah Waters wrote her thesis “Wolfskins and togas : lesbian and gay historical fictions, 1870 to the present”, which presumably involved lots of research (some of which may have been hands on *tongue in cheek*).

    I’ll just say a book with a title in Victorian slang is bound to be interesting!

“What Milo Saw” by Virginia Macgregor
(400 pages)

    This book about Milo and his grandmother living in a home sounds beautiful and heart-wrenching. I am not entirely sure it's the best time to read this, but watch this space, just in case!

That's all for today

    This is the end of my Big Book Summer Challenge kick-off post. I won’t be reading all the books listed here during this summer challenge, and will continue to mix in shorter reads as usual (that’s all part of the fun!). 

    Do let me know in the comments section which ones you would pick for the challenge, or which one of these is your favourite. 

    I’ll be charting my progress starting May, 25, and wrapping up on September, 7. Stay tuned as I’ll be sharing all my reads along the way as usual (including those that do not qualify for the challenge)!