In summer, I find, I tend to start with a list about this size, and then add in occasional spur-of-the-moment books as I go along. This year I seem to have managed to get a little of every genre possible on here. So here we go:
My Brother Michael by Mary Stewart
Five Passengers From Lisbon by Mignon G. Eberhart
Pied Piper by Nevil Shute
Gentle Julia by Booth Tarkington
Howards End by E.M. Forster
Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
Railroad West by Cornelia Meigs
The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith
New Hope by Ernest Haycox
Summer Half by Angela Thirkell
Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons by Walter Lord
Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey
(Review links added later)
I’ve already got most of these queued up on my Kindle or in my library list—the only one I foresee as needing a little effort to acquire is the out-of-print Railroad West. (Tell me again, why are all of Meigs’ books except her Newberry winners out of print?)
So what does your summer reading list look like?
Julia says
I love that painting! I don't remember ever seeing it before.
Chloe M. Kookogey says
This is an intriguing list: more than half of these authors are unknown to me. I love reading your book lists for that reason — you always broaden my own literary horizons. Happy summer reading! May you conquer many a tome. <3
Hamlette says
Hamlet! 😀
Right now, I'm trying to focus on finishing the three books I have going: "Little Women," "Middlemarch," and "The Silmarillion." I am forcing myself to NOT start anything new until I have one of those done. Two would be better, but I'll settle for one. Then I'm hoping to chow through these this summer:
"Shane" by Jack Schaeffer (reread)
"The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood" by Howard Pyle
"Ellen" by Heidi Peterson
"I, Claudia" by Charity Bishop
"Cowboy Metaphysics: Ethics and Death in Westerns" by Peter A. French
"In the Company of Sherlock Holmes" edited by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger (I started this already, but had to set it aside)
"Thursday Next: First Among Sequels" by Jasper Fforde
"Dear Enemy" by Jean Webster
Here's hoping!
Hanna says
Wow. I've only read two of the authors on this list, and only one of the books on here, that one being Hamlet. It was assigned to me in school last year and even though I was dreading it in the days leading up to that unit, it's actually one of my favorite books now. I hope you enjoy it. 🙂
I love Tennyson's poetry! The Idylls of the King definitely has to make it onto my list some time.
Happy reading!
Elisabeth Grace Foley says
Julia – that's what my mom said when she saw it too! That is what summer reading should look like. 🙂
Chloe – thank you, and happy summer reading to you too!
Hamlette – As a matter of fact, I saved Hamlet for summer because of your planned read-along! You've got an intriguing list there too—I've read only the first and last titles.
Hanna – for me it's kind of the other way around; I'm mostly going to back to authors I've read and enjoyed before with this list. I think the only ones entirely new to me are Buchan, Hope and Goldsmith.
Hamlette says
Oh no! And now I've pushed it back to the fall because I've burned out on read-alongs right now. Well, if you read it this summer, you'll be super prepared, huh?
Elisabeth Grace Foley says
Sure, that'll work great too!
Hamlette says
Oh good. I was thinking September, but then I remembered I host the Tolkien party at the end of September, so maybe October. There are 20 scenes, so if we do 3 a week, that would take about 7 weeks, which would finish it off a week before Thanksgiving.
Suzannah says
JOHN BUCHAN! ANTHONY HOPE! JOSEPHINE TEY! Ooooh, if you've never read those books before, you *are* in for a treat :).
Elisabeth Grace Foley says
I've read one by Tey (The Man in the Queue), but the other two are entirely new to me! I'm looking forward to trying them out.
Hanne-col says
I just read "Pied Piper" and it was marvelous! I also read "The 39 Steps" not long ago. I acquired "Brat Ferrar" today when I bought a three-in-one volume of Josephine Tey mysteries at Half Price Books this afternoon and look forward to reading it. "Railroad West" sounds intriguing but I have no idea where I'll locate a copy either. I don't recognize the titles of some of the others on your list. Hmmm, I see multiple Google and Goodreads searches in the near future.