10 Books of Summer / Summer in Other Languages Wrap-Up

~ Lory

Summer is over, and it’s time to wrap up my 10 Books of Summer challenge. I packed my list with books I wanted to complete for various other challenges — The #LoveHain readalong, #ReadingtheMeow in June, Read All Around the World, Spiritual Memoir Challenge, and StoryGraph Onboarding Challenge — or that had been on my TBR for a long time. And it was a great success! I read eight of the ten books on my original list, plus six that I added as alternates or additional reads, for a total of 14 books.

One book I started but didn’t finish was The Map of Salt and Stars. It seemed a worthy read, fiction about the Syrian refugee crisis, but for some reason it didn’t grab me and I put it aside. Instead, I picked up two other “around the world” choices, set in Trinidad and Cyprus, that I found more absorbing. I did not even manage to pick up The Brain That Changes Itself; my brain was not up to taking in the neurological information this summer. I hope to get to it later this year.

Alternate/additional books

For my own Summer in Other Languages challenge, I enjoyed a buddy read of Voyage au centre de la Terre by Jules Verne, with Emma of Words and Peace. The adventure was much more fun when shared with others. I also managed to finally finish Krabat by Otfried Preußler, which I started a year or two ago but found too difficult at the time. It was heartening to see that my German skills really have improved.

I read more than these 14 books during the summer, as I did not limit myself to such planned reading, but these were definitely some of the highlights. What were yours?

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22 thoughts on “10 Books of Summer / Summer in Other Languages Wrap-Up”

  1. Quite a fruitful summer where books are concerned! Impressive work, Lory. 🙂

    Highlights for me? Well, just for Summer in Other Languages (translations for the most part) there was the spoof Mots d’heures, Houses, Rames, the Verne of course, a Maigret policier, two Tove Jansson books and, just squeezing in, the Erich Kästner children’s book which inspired The Parent Trap.

    Of the rest I gorged on Le Guin, sated myself on Robertson Davies, and feasted on Brontë (which featured a fair sprinkling of French dialogue). There was more but these titles provided the bulk of my summer reading, so I’m quite (and quietly) pleased with myself!

    1. What impresses me is how many amazing books and authors there are out there… What riches we have, how fortunate we are.

      You read a lot of wonderful books too, including some of my favorites. You deserve to be pleased!

  2. You did a fantastic job with your challenges. I didn’t really challenge myself like you did this summer, and I regret that. Next summer I hope to try to read more books in other languages.

    1. Sometimes challenges are fun and motivating, and sometimes they are stressful. This year, the 10 books challenge turned out to be the former, and I am glad of that.

      If you want to read in other languages I can highly recommend finding a partner or group to read along with. That is also more motivating and fun.

  3. I’m impressed how you chose books that would satisfy other reading challenges. I spend ages doing my list but always forget about things like Classic Club spin or the book club choices so they send me off course……

    I notice you read The Salt Path, one of my favourite non fiction books. I just read her third book, Landlines and it’s just as good.

    1. I always try to make challenges do double duty!

      The Salt Path was wonderful, I also enjoyed the sequel (especially learning about how the first book came to be written, how inspiring for authors starting out in later life), and I will look forward to reading book 3.

  4. Well done! I have read The Girl with the Louding Voice and The Salt Path from your list there. I enjoyed my 20 books, all of them were good but I particularly enjoyed the non-fiction ones as usual.

  5. Great book list! Lots of good thought-provoking reads.
    best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com

  8. Some interesting books you’ve read during summer!
    The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorites from Dumas.
    I have a few Ovidia Yu’s books on my TBR, but from another series. They look promising, so I hope to enjoy them.
    And you’ve reminded me to read Thomasina. I’ve read Manx Mouse long time ago, and have enjoyed Gallico’s Mrs. Harris books. Thomasina will be next!

    1. I loved the Singapore setting in Ovidia Yu, was not that wild about the mystery – maybe she has stronger ones though. Thomasina is definitely worth a read!

  9. I haven’t read Sweet Bean Paste but I loved the film and should give it a read too. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and The Salt Path are both brilliant I think. Hope you have a happy autumn of reading!

  10. My Spiritual Memoir book for August was one on atheism called “Godless : how an evangelical preacher became one of America’s leading atheists.” It was fascinating to hear his journey from where he was to where he is now. For September I’m reading “Nobody Needs to Know: A Memoir” by Pidgeon Pagonis about discovering they were intersex. I haven’t decided on my October book yet, but since October is almost here, I need to start thinking about it. 🙂

  11. I’m glad you enjoyed Our Souls at Night and Island of Missing Trees! One of my best reads this summer was one you recommended, The Choice by Eva Eger. I was able to visit Mauthausen on my recent trip and this book really brought that visit to life. Not an easy read but an inspiring one.

    1. The Choice was such an amazing book. It must have been powerful to see Mauthausen and have those descriptions so fresh in your mind.

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