It’s been almost a month since I set up my list and got started, so let’s have a bit of a check-in! To recap, I set myself twenty specific books I’d like to read across four categories, and also added a section of potential books to swap in if I got fidgety about any. So far, I haven’t activated any of my swaps (though I’m tempted to pick them up in their own right and make it twenty-five books of summer) and I’ve been making some good progress!

You can see the full line-up in my intro post, but now let’s talk about what I’ve actually finished!

Five non-fic: 4/5

I could probably have predicted I’d do well with this section, and it’s far and away my most successful, with four books finished since I signed up. Here they are!

That just leaves John and Colleen Darnell’s Egypt’s Golden Couple, which I have already started.

Five in-progress: 3/5

I was a bit less sure about this section, since it represents books I’d started and got stalled on for one reason or another… but actually, I’ve been doing okay here! I’ve finished three of the books so far.

By definition for this category I’m already partway through Gareth Russell’s Queen James and S.L. Huang’s The Water Outlaws, but haven’t touched them since before setting up my list. Hopefully I’ll get to them soon!

Five ARCs: 0/5

Nothing to report here, I’m afraid! I did make a start on Robert Jackson Bennett’s A Trade of Blood, and I did get a few pages into Ann Leckie’s Radiant Star as well, but so far the stars haven’t aligned.

Five danmei: 2/5

I got off to a good start with these, devouring my first two picks:

Now I’m somewhat tempted to wait for the third volume of The Wife Comes First to come out (in a couple weeks) to finish off that series before I start any new danmei series. Given they’re generally quick reads, there should be plenty of time after that to read the rest of my list, and avoid having too many series on the go at once… but I don’t know, I’ve been tempted by Thrice Married to a Salted Fish for a while, and I technically made a start on volume one of Peerless a while ago, so we’ll see.

Five wildcards: 0/5

Nothing here, but I am tempted to finish up Servus, which I’m already partway through… that would work as a wildcard for either the non-fic category (though it hardly needs it), the in-progress category or the ARCs category, should I need an out later on.

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So overall, that’s 9/20 books — not bad for a month’s progress! I’ve been reading other books as well, as usual, so there’s been plenty of reading happening.

To close, here’s a bonus picture of Eclair’s reaction when I said in a voice call earlier in the week that the heatwave was starting again…

Somehow, I don’t think he was keen. Luckily I can report that the room the bunnies hang out in stayed pretty cool this week and they came through juuust fine!

 

NB: I made my own banner for this as the official one used generative AI. I used a stock photo from Pexels.com, and added some text. It’s not the most beautiful, but please feel free to use it if you would like to.

I’m a little late to the party, and I don’t think I’ve ever participated before… but better late than never, right? The challenge is a simple one: read 5, 10, 15 or 20 books over the summer, between 1st June and 31st August. You can sign up over at AnnaBookBel’s blog and join the monthly link-ups there.

I usually read a lot more than 20 books over the course of the summer, so I’m going to narrow things down a bit and use it to try to read specific books — but if that starts feeling unpleasant or annoying in any way, I’ll stop or swap in other books: the below are just a preliminary list of ideas, though I’ll try to stick to the categories I’ve set up here.

So let’s see…

Five non-fic:

I love non-fiction, especially when I’ve been stressed and struggling to read, so let’s start with some of those! (Not that I’m planning to read these in any order, but I’m hyping myself up here, shush.) I’m not going for any particular theme here, just picking some that I feel enthusiastic about in this moment.

And yet a bit of a theme emerged anyway, ahaha. Technically I’ve started the first three, but I’m not far into them. Which reminds me of my next section…

Five in-progress:

I started a lot of books at once and ended up feeling a bit guilty about not getting back to them, and truthfully, a bit overwhelmed at having so much on the go. So let’s lock in and agree that I’ll try to finish these five.

I haven’t even got far into the latter two, but the whim changed after I’d read a couple of chapters, and I drifted away.

With the other three, I’m solidly in the midst of ’em. I won’t say they’ll be easy wins, because The Book Eaters and The Water Outlaws haven’t quite been gelling for me, and Queen James is dense.

Five ARCs:

I’ve been well in control of my ARCs for the last year or so… until I got a bit overwhelmed again, and pulled back on reading. I’ve got some catching up to do! So let’s get these read, if possible!

Five danmei:

I got a lot of new danmei at once, and ended up a bit overwhelmed/wondering if I should read one series at a time, or wait for more to come out (so I can get the next book right away if I’m really into it), etc. But I wouldn’t normally do that, and at least since they just need translating, we know new volumes are coming soon! So I think I’ll just jump in.

I’ve been looking forward to several of these for a while, after all! So should be some good light reading over the summer.

Five wildcards:

I know, this brings us to 25 in total, but I wanted to give myself the easiest possible out if I’m struggling with any of the above books. Without a specific backup plan, I might just feel like I’m cheating (I know, I know, the rules are very flexible, but my brain isn’t). So here’s a wildcard for each of the above in order, and a spare!

 

And you never know… maybe I can make it the 25 specific books of summer, and really flout the rules, ahaha.

So here we go, for at least as long as this sparks joy!