TTT: My Fall Reading List (and how I did on my summer list)

Top Ten Tuesday:

 Fall 2026 Reading List (and How I Did On My Summer Reading List)

Top Ten Tuesday: Fall Reading List. 

Below the line is how I did on my summer reading list.

Fall reading list: 

Book Club Selections:

1. SOTH Gals (October) : Homestead (Moustakis)
2. RHS Ladies (October): Mad Mabel (Hepworth)
3. SOTH Gals (November) : TBA
4. RHS Ladies (November/December) : Whistler (Patchett)
5. SOTH Gals (December) : TBA

Challenge Books:

1. Classics Club Spin Book TBA from this list -- possibly: The Sun Also Rises (Hemingway)
2. Printz Award Winner or honor book -- Sisters in the Wind (Boulley)
3. A NYT Book Best of  the 21st Century selection -- possibly The Sellout (Beatty)
4. A National Book Award winner or finalist (announced in November) TBA
5. The Booker Prize winner or finalist (announced in November) TBA
6. Three Goodreads Fall Challenge selections TBA, starting October 1st
1. TBA
2. TBA
3. TBA

Books I've already started, recently acquired, and/or have on-hold at the library:

1. The Calamity Club (Stockett)
2. Good Poems (edited by Keillor)
3. The Man Who Died Twice (Osman)
4. The Things We Never Say (Strout)
5. Crook Manifesto (Whitehead)
6. Anything is Possible (Strout)
7. How to Be Brave (Budde)

There are a few unknowns right now which will become clear as the season progresses. Since I 

participate in challenges that have specific books which aren't announced until later this year, 

I have a lot of TBA books again.

How I did on my summer reading list: 

 Yellow: completed. 

Aqua: in progress

Green:  not completed, DNF

Light pink: Did not get to yet!

Summer reading list: 

Book Club Selections:

1. SOTH Gals (July) : You Before Me (Moyes) (Read it several years ago, didn't reread it.)
2. RHS Ladies (July): No Meeting
3. SOTH Gals (August) : Theo of Golden (Levi)
4. RHS Ladies (August) : The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny (Desai)
5. SOTH Gals (Sept.) : Civilizations (Binett)
6. RHS Ladies (Sept.): The Book Club for Troublesome Women (Bostwick)

Challenge Books:

1. Classics Club Spin Book TBA from this list -- The Stranger (Camus)
2. Printz Award Winner or honor book -- Sisters in the Wind (Boulley)
3. Paris in July Challenge -- The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain
4. A NYT Book Best of Century selection -- Austerlitz (Sebald)
5. Three Goodreads Summer Challenge selections TBA, starting July 1st.
1. Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe
2. Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett
3. Brokeback Mountain by E. Annie Proulx

Books I've already started, recently acquired, and/or have on-hold at the library:

1. Kin (Jones)
2. Agnes Aubert's Magical Cat Shelter (Fawcett)
3. Enormous Wings (Frankel)
4. Land (O'Farrell)
5. The Typewriter and the Guillotine (Braude)
6. The Warmth of Other Suns (Wilkerson)

“It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.” 

—Oscar Wilde

-Anne

Paris in July --Second Update

July 14th -- Happy Bastille Day

Bastille Day commemorates the 1789 Storming of the Bastille, a pivotal event in the French Revolution that symbolized the fall of the absolute monarchy and the beginning of the nation's push for liberty and equality.

 Boynton, children's author and illustrator, created a little movie to honor this special day in France, saying: "Happy Bastille Day! I premiered this inexplicable little movie—a remote pandemic collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma (with an accordion cameo by "Weird Al" Yankovic) 5 6 years ago today. I'm proud to say that it's just as irrelevant today as it was then."

Watch it if you can. It is hilarious. The link to the small Sandra Boynton movie is here on Facebook.

Food:

Choux à la Crème
The Pâte à Choux was delicious but the creme not so great. I need a good recipe. Anyone?

Meringues Françaises
Delicious but a flop. I didn't whip the egg whites long enough so they just flattened out. 

Books:

Recently completed:

The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain

Reviews:

The Stranger by Camus

Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Fawcett

Sports:

 World Cup. France 4th place. I was surprised. I thought they'd win it all!

Tour du France. I've watched a few times. Amazingly fit men!

-Anne

Paris in July -- Première mise à jour

Paris in July -- Première Mise à Jour -- First Update

Hosted by Emma at Words and Peace

We are a third of the way through the month. Here is what I've been doing for the Paris is July Challenge:

Books:

1. Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett

Though Fawcett writes in English, her characters in the book live in Montreal and speak French. Occasionally they have to do business in English or have trouble with the French/English translation. The narrator of the audiobook had one of those nice French accents, too. I'll claim it for the month. 

2. The Stranger by Albert Camus

The Stranger is an important classic book in the absurdist style. Camus, a Frenchman, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. The audiobook I listened to was translated by Matthew Ward. His translation is thought to be much closer to Camus' intent than the first (previous) translation we all read in high school. Look for my review this week.

3. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

This classic was my CC Spin book of the Spring. Click on the title for my review.

Movie:

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

I read the book last July and we watched the movie last night starring Lesley Manville. I loved it!

Music:

1. I've been listening to a lot of classical music lately as part of the musical project associated with the book Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Every Day of the Year by Burton-Hill. Every time I come across a French composer I add the selection to my Classical Paris in July playlist on Spotify, which I started last year. Help yourself. France has contributed so much wonderful music to the world over the years.

2. I have started listening to the opera "Candide" by Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein is an American composer and the opera was written in English, but the story is by Voltaire, the famous French philosopher. I've noticed that the Paris in July read-along is Candide this year. Perhaps you'd like to listen to the opera while you read the book? Here's the Spotify list.

Sports:

I haven't made myself get up early enough to watch the Tour du France yet this year but I have been watching a lot of World Cup. I truly believe that France will win it all this year. They are so strong with Kylian Mbappé leading the charge.

-Anne

End of Summer -- How I Did on Reading Challenges

I participated in four reading challenges this summer:

20 Books of Summer

Big Book Summer Challenge

Goodreads Summer Reading Challenges

Paris in July

Here is how I did on each of them:

20 Books of Summer

I was an overachiever, far exceeding my goal.

My list of books read (✔ were the books on my initial list which I read) :

Legend: A=Audiobook; C=Classic; P=Poetry; NF=Nonfiction; GN=Graphic Novel/Comic; MG-Middle Grades; CL=Children's Lit; YA=Young Adult; M=Memoir; E=Essays; SS=Short Stories; BC=Book Club; N=Novella

1. Abscond by Abraham Verghese  -- SS
2. The Antidote by Karen Russell ✔ A
3. Banned Together edited by Ashley Hope Perez -- M; E; SS; GN; NF
4. Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten ✔ M; NF
5. The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel ✔ BC
6. The Briar Club by Kate Quinn -- BC
7. Bring the Magic Home by Sunny Chanel -- NF
8. Candide by Voltaire -- C; A
9. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller ✔ C; A
10. The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Osterman --GN
11. The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami ✔ A
12. The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong -- BC; A
13. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison -- A
14. Final Solution by Michael Chabon --   N
15. The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson -- NF
16. Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin ✔ C
17. Grimm's Fairy Tales -- C
18. The Hearing Test by Eliza B. Callahan
19. How to Read a Book by Monica Wood ✔ BC; A
20. How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell --MG; A
21. The Imitation Game by Jim Ottaviani -- GN; NF
22. The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill
23. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson -- NF
24. Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico 
25. The Names by Florence Knapp -- BC; A
26. North American Maps for Curious Minds by Matthew Bucklan -- NF
27. Now in November by Josephine W. Johnson -- C
28. Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout ✔ A
29. The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley -- A
30. Poems for Tortured Souls by Liz Ison ✔ P
31. Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton -- M
32. A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean -- A; N
33. Road Home by Rex Ogle -- M; A
34. Say Nothing: Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe -- NF
35. The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer -- NF; A
36. So Long, and Thanks for the Fish by Douglas Adams -- A
37. Someone Builds a Dream by Lisa Wheeler -- CL
38. Song of the Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout -- GN
39. Teaching with Fire by Sam Intrator -- P; NF
40. Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy -- C
41. Three Days in June by Anne Tyler ✔ BC; A
42. The Tie That Binds by Kent Haruf
43. The Vegetarian by Han Kang -- N
44. Watchmen by Alan Moore ✔ GN
45. Water, Water by Billy Collins ✔ P
46. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson -- N; A
47. What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky by Lesley N. Arimah -- SS
48. When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi

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Big Book Summer Challenge

Books over 400 pages

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller -- 453 pages

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn -- 432 pages

The Antidote by Karen Russell --432 pages

Watchmen by Alan Moore -- 416 pages

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison -- 468 pages

The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Osterman -- 480 pages

The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong -- 416 pages

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy -- 508 pages

Say Nothing: Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe -- 560 pages

Whew!

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Goodreads hosted a summer challenge to read books nine categories. They didn't open up each challenge at the beginning of the summer, maybe two at a time, and then would close categories through the summer. I finished my last book today! Colorful bookmarks means I completed that category.

I kind of lost track of which books went with what challenges but these are what I think I read for each:

1. Page Turner: Collected 7/4/25 How to Read a Book by Monica Wood

2. Speed Reader: Collected 7/4/25 A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean

3. Book Boss: Collected 7/11/25 Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

4. Challenges Favs: Collected 7/23/25 The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

5. Poolside Puzzler: Collected 7/9/25 The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

6. Chart Toppers: Collected 8/13/25 The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

7. Acclaimed Toppers: Collected 8/3/25 What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky by L. Arimah

8. Debut Darlings: The Names by Florence Knapp, collected on 8/31/25

9. Lightning Round: The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer, collected on 8/16/25

A new set of challenges will open up in mid September, I think, if you want to join for the end of the year challenges.

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Paris in July
French-related activities

My first year with this challenge and I found lots of fun activities, including attempting to read a book in French. I baked, I listened to French music and made playlists, I watched the Tour du France.

Read about all my activities:

Paris in July --Books, Food , Music and More

and

Paris in July - Part Two

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Adult Summer Reading -- Book Bingo
King County Library System

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Goodbye Summer! I had a great time.

-Anne

2025 Paris in July -- deuxième partie

Hosted by Emma @ Words and Peace

I had so much fun at the beginning of the month trying to figure out what French-ish things I could do, I am excited to keep things going. If you missed my first post, check it out here.

1. My husband and I started watching "Transatlantic" on Netflix. It is set in Vichy France just after the Germans took over Paris in WWII. The series is filmed in Marseille.

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2. I created another Spotify list for 2025 Paris in July. This one is of famous Classical French Composers. It is quite a playlist. I think you will recognize a lot of the pieces. Enjoy.

2025 Paris in July -- French Classical Composers Playlist

   I included a lot of greats: Debussy, Ravel, Satie, Offenbach, and Bezit, to name a few. I also included one piece by Chopin. Chopin was Polish but moved to France later in his career and composed much of his music there, including this piece, Fantasie-Impromptu in C-Sharp Minor. Even if you don't consider yourself to be a classical music fan, listen to a few moments of these pieces and you'll recognize many numbers and be blown away by the talent of these French composers.

 Prefer something more modern? Here is my first 2025 Paris in July playlist made up of French musicians, or musicians singing in French.

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3. I attempted to read a middle grade novel, Le Petit Nicolas, en français. I have forgotten a lot of the French I learned in high school. I ended up concentrating on just one chapter, "Les Cow-boys". I read each paragraph looking for words or phrases I recognized before I ran it through a translator. I was pretty proud of myself for essentially reading the whole first sentence without help.

J'ai invité les copains à venir à la maison cet après-midi pour jouer aux cow-boys.

My translation: I invited some companions to come to the house in the afternoon to play cowboys. 😁

And then a few lines later: [One of Nicolas' friends] Alceste has a tomahawk and is wearing a headdress that makes him look like a chicken. Not bad, huh?

I have to confess I am enjoying the illustrations the most. Writer Rene Goscinny and illustrator Jean-Jacques Sempe were a great team.

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4. Tour de France - Stage 12 (out of 21), the Pyrenees. A Slovenian racer, Tadej Pogacar, dominated his rival, Jonas Vingegaard, and won the stage by more than two minutes. He is now ahead in the tour by three and half minutes. "Pas de suspense." I learned a new word: "peloton." I thought it was just a company name, but I got it backwards. The company took the word, which means "the main group of riders that stay together in a pack for energy-saving and aerodynamics." The breakaways are those riders who leave the peloton and surge ahead.

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5. Strawberry-Rhubarb Galette (Galette fraise et rhubarbe)

I made this recipe before, using Ina Garten's "Raspberry Rhubarb Crostata" recipe (in Cooking for Jeffrey cookbook.) When I showed my effort to my daughter she called it a "galette". Apparently crostatas and galettes are essentially the same thing, a rustic free-form tart. Crostata is the word in Italian and galette is used in French. So I made it again this week after renaming it. I used strawberries instead of raspberries. Yum!

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7. More book related endeavors:

• I placed a hold on the audiobook Candide by Voltaire. The library tells me I will need to wait 12 weeks for it. They only have one copy and five people are ahead of me in line.
• I've started the book Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico. The main character is British and she is traveling to Paris for just a day. I am not fully committed to finishing this novella but I'll carry on for a few more days and see if it catches my imagination. So far I haven't gotten very far and I am worried I won't be able to finish it before we leave for vacation next week.
• Earlier this month I placed a hold on a copy of Le Petit Prince en français from the library. I canceled that hold today. After my experience attempting to read Le Petit Nicolas, I decided I need to back up and read children's book first. Something way simpler. Plus, as I said before, we are leaving for a 10-day vacation next week and I wouldn't be able to pick it up if it came in when we were gone. Perhaps next July!?

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8. One last musical treat: I listened to at least part of all the songs of "Les Miserables", my favorite musical, en français. Here is the playlist on Spotify. If you listen to only one song, listen to the finale "C'est pour demain." Or for a little more fun, try "Maître Thénardier" it is the comic relief in the play and it is perfect in its original language.

Passe une bonne journée!

-Anne

Summer Reading Challenges: Big Books of Summer, 20 Books of Summer, Paris in July, and others-- Kick-off

• The #20BooksofSummer2025 challenge runs from June 1st to August 31st
• Hosts: Annabel @AnnaBookBel and Emma @Words and Peace
• The first rule of 20 Books is that there are no real rules, other than signing up for 10, 15 or 20 books and trying to read from your TBR.
• Pick your list in advance, or nominate a bookcase to read from, or pick at whim from your TBR.
• If you do pick a list, you can change it at any time – swap books in/out.
• Don’t get panicked at not reaching your target.
• Just enjoy a summer of great reading and make a bit of space on your shelves!

I've participated in this challenge for the past ten summers or so, mainly because it keeps me on track with my reading even if I'm off chasing fun in the sun.

My list of possible reads (not a hard and fast list):

1. How to Read a Book by Monica Wood ✔
2. The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel ✔
3. Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin ✔
4. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller* ✔
5. Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten ✔
6. Poems for Tortured Souls by Liz Ison ✔
7. Water, Water by Billy Collins ✔
8. Three Days in June by Anne Tyler ✔
9. The Antidote by Karen Russell ✔
10. The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami ✔
11. Watchmen by Alan Moore ✔
12. Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout ✔
13. The Vegetarian by Han Kang
14. Grimm's Fairy Tales
15. The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
16. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
17. The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson
18. The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Osterman
19. When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
20. The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
21. Teaching with Fire by Sam Intrator
22. Bring the Magic Home by Sunny Chanel
23. What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky by Lesley N. Arimah
24. North American Maps for Curious Minds by Matthew Bucklan
25. Road Home by Rex Ogle
26. Now in November by Josephine W. Johnson
27. Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
28. The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
29. Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico
30. The Imitation Game by Jim Ottaviani
31. Abscond by Abraham Verghese 
32. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson
33. The Hearing Test by Eliza B. Callahan
34. The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
35. A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean
36. The Tie That Binds by Kent Haruf
37. The In-Between Bookstore by Edward Underhill

• American Pastoral by Philip Roth*
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare
• The Glass Maker by Tracy Chevalier
• We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
• The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn*
• Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea*
• Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead
• The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer

I've put * next to the above books I know are longer than 400 pages, making them eligible for my second summer challenge: Big Book Summer Challenge hosted by Sue at Book by Book.

The Details:
Hey, it's summer, this challenge is  ow-key and easy!

• Anything 400 pages or more qualifies as a big book.
• The challenge runs from Memorial Day weekend (starting May 26 this year through Labor Day (September 1st this year).
  
• Choose one or two or however many big books you want as your goal. Wait, did you get that?  You only need to read 1 book with 400+ pages this summer to participate! (though you are welcome to read more, if you want).
• Sign up on the first links list below if you have a blog or YouTube channel, to leave your link so others can find you. 
• No blog? No problem! Just sign up in the comments below or in the Goodreads group in the Sign-Up discussion thread if you don't have a blog or YouTube channel.

Each summer I aim to read 4 big books. Last year I read seven. One never knows what will happen over the course of a summer.

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Hosted by Words and Peace

I've not participated in this challenge before so I will take it slow and try to find a few books set in France to add to my reading list. Here are a few things I will try. No guarantees I'll get anywhere near to completing all the tasks, but I will give it a start:

• French BINGO game
• Read at least one book with Paris or France in the title: The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
• Explore the library for French language children's books and make an attempt at reading one or two: Le Petit Prince and Le Petit Nicolas.
• Make a playlist on Spotify of French musicians, listen to it!
• Make one recipe of French food

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Participate and attempt to conquer the 9 reading challenges on Goodreads. July 1- September 15, 2025.

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I'm gathering my lists. I'm deciding where I will start. Ready for summer. I also have fully decided I'll double dip, triple dip, quadruple dip wherever I can.

1. Page Turner: Collected 7/4/25 How to Read a Book by Monica Wood

2. Speed Reader: Collected 7/4/25 A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean

3. Book Boss: Collected 7/11/25 Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

4. Challenges Favs: Collected 7/23/25 The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

5. Poolside Puzzler: Collected 7/9/25 The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

6. Chart Toppers: Collected 8/13/25 The Emperor of Gladness

7. Acclaimed Toppers: Collected 8/3/25 What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky by L. Arimah

8. Debut Darlings: The Names by Florence Knapp, collected on 8/31/25

9. Lightning Round: The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer, collected on 

-Anne

Summer Reading Challenges

I am joining two summer reading challenges:

1. Big Book Summer Challenge

and

2. 20 Books of Summer

Big Book Summer Challenge is hosted by Sue at Book by Book.

She has been hosting this challenge for over a decade and I've been participating for nearly that long. Usually I am very haphazard in the way I approach this challenge but this year I am going to commit to reading at least three big books -- over 400 pages -- before the challenge ends on September 2nd.

Here are some possible candidates:

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel -- 653 pages.

The Women by Kristin Hannah -- 480 pages

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev -- 481 pages

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray -- 656 pages

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20 Books of Summer hosted by Cathy at 746

Simple concept. Read books off a list then make a list of the books you've read. End Sept 1st. (Big books read count toward this challenge, too!)

Here are some possible candidates (but it is really likely I will only loosely follow this list):

1. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

2. The Women by Kristin Hannah

3. Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev

4. Sarah Canary by Karen Joy Fowler

5. The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez

6. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

7. Wandering Star by Tommy Orange

7. The Collectors by A.S. King

8. Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan

9. Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy

10. Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips

11. North Woods by Daniel Mason

12. The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

13. Tenth of December by George Saunders

14. Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro

15. The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka

16. The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea

17. Gather by Kenneth Cadow

18. The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

19. Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed

20. Symphony of Secrets Brendan Slocomb

Join in the fun by following to the links to the hosts! And I'll keep you apprised of my progress and the summer moves along.

-Anne

Another Personal Challenge: The Women's Prize

Women's Prize for Fiction, a personal challenge: 

A. 2020 and forward -- read two of the finalists/winners for each year

B. 2010-2019 -- read one of the finalists/winners for each year.

The Women's Prize for Fiction (sometimes called The Orange Prize) is one of U.K.'s most prestigious literary awards. It is annually awarded to a female author of any nationality as long as their book was in English and it was published in the United Kingdom the previous year.

 

For the past four years, 2020-23, I've read seven Women's Prize winners/finalists. (The books circled in yellow.) For 2021 I need to read one more book. 

From 2010-14 I've read eight books (red stars). The yellow starred books are ones I've already committed to read this year.

For the challenge I need to read at least one more book from 2015 and from 2016. I have the yellow circled books on my TBR, but if you would like to make a recommendation from any of the 12 listed books, I'd appreciate it.

2024 Key Dates for Women's Prize:

To complete this challenge I hope to finish:

• One book from the 2015 choices.
• One book from the 2016 choices.
• One book from the 2021 choices remaining.
• Two books from the 2024 shortlist.
• Total books to meet my personal Women's Prize Challenge= Five books.

Check out more about The Women's Prize here.

-Anne

GIVE IT A TRY IN JULY -- The finale

The end of July is nearing. How did I do/what did I decide to do with the books on my GIVE IT A TRY IN JULY challenge?

This challenge gave me a chance to decide if I would keep and read on or discard and/or donate each book. As you see I kept going past the original ten books I thought I could manage in a month.

1. Secrets of the Vine by Wilkinson-- This small book is about the size of my palm, it was very popular in the 1980s. I read the author's first book, The Prayer of Jabez, when it was first published. When I recently acquired this one I thought it wouldn't take much to read and digest. I've added it to my devotional books pile which I read from every morning. When finished, I'll donate it to someone in my Bible Study.
2. The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea -- I was given this book as a gift. I want to read it but not in this format. I am reshelving it as a reminder to locate an audiobook version of it in the near future.
3. The Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by David Eggers-- I had this title in the biography section of my high school library, entranced by both the title and the back story -- a young adult suddenly becomes "parent" to a younger sibling when both parents die within a year. Now I know what it was never checked out. I had no idea that the book was written in stream-of-consciousness style. After 52 pages of struggle, I set it aside. If I'm curious enough to finish this one it will have to be in audiobook form. Let someone else grapple with the pages of long paragraphs while I listen. In the meantime, I've set this aside to donate to the library for its book sales.
4. The Great Green Room: The Brilliant and Bold Life of Margaret Wise Brown by Amy Gary -- My sister recently loaned me this book after reading it with her book club. She said all the women, retired teachers, liked the backstory of the author of the children's book Goodnight Moon, but didn't care for the writing. My sister's advice to me, skim it. After reading less than a quarter of the book, I see what she means. The writing just isn't very tight -- expanding on some details and completely skipping others. I finished this one, reading quickly, now will pass it along to my younger sister (who teaches pre-school and is certainly familiar with Margaret Wise Brown books.)
5. Work Songs by Ivan Doig. I've owned both the print and audio version of this book by a favorite author for many years. When I started reading/listening to it I couldn't stop. Complete! This one is going in a box with other completed favorite books to keep.
6. Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach. I've owned this book for years and never got past the excellent dedication: For Woody. Ha! The book was published in 2008. It is now 2023. Honestly, I have to admit, I don't want to read it. However, since I do like Mary Roach's other books: Stiff, Gulp, and Grunt, I will search around and see if the library has an audio version I can borrow. Maybe that format will work and I can finally free myself from this print version.
7. Tattoos on the Heart by Boyle. I picked this one up somewhere along the way thinking I would add it to my devotional readings. Though the account is one of deep faith and impressive service, I couldn't find my way in and abandoned the book before page 25. It felt dated. Donate or discard.
8. Letter from Dachau by Wilsey. I'd forgotten, until I looked inside, this book was given to my husband by the co-author, Bob Welch, in 2020. We'd gone to Dachau in 2019 and Welch had wanted to use a photo my husband took for the cover. I think the reason neither of us read it when we received our free copy was the timing. In 2020 we weren't interested in reading anything depressing due to the depressing nature of our lives, all our lives, at that time. I finished it, read portions aloud to my husband and secured his permission to pass it on.
9. 8 Minutes in the Morning by Cruse. Another book I purchased because I'd seen it on the shelf of my library and the title makes one think they'll be a new person if only they do a few certain things for only 8 minutes every morning. Upon closer inspection. it is just another dated exercise and diet book. Almost all the exercises need to be done on the floor. Since that is a problem, up and down to the floor, I immediately was turned off. This one will go into the library sale pile.
10. The Financial Lives of Poets by Jess Walter. I purchased a used library book copy. Every book I've read by Walter has been good. This one is getting moved to my bedside table. That way I will eventually start it some night when in want of reading material. It will then get passed on to my mother or back to the library so they can sell it again.
11. The Writing Diet by Cameron. I picked this book up at a library used book sale and I'll be giving it back to the library. I realized that I don't actually want to get up in the morning an hour early to write about eating. I want to lose weight but I don't to obsess about it. I read less than 25 pages and had a fairly visceral reaction to the idea of the book. Ba-bye!
12. Island Home: A Landscape Memoir by Winton. I was given this book by an Australian friend several years ago. It is about Australia. It is a quick read -- I read 25 pages in one short period of time -- and the pages have lots of white space on them. I will finish it as a nod to my friend and to learn more about Australia. The odd thing I learned is how many different words are specific to Australia, not used in the US. I often felt like I needed a dictionary. Skimmed but finished it.
13. Rereadings: Seventeen Writer Revisit Books They Love, edited by Anne Fadiman -- I don't know how long I have had this book. Long enough for the orange spine of the cover to discolor and fade. I purchased it used for $10, the pencil markings inside the cover say. I'm sure I bought it because I read and loved Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman sometime in the late 2000s. I don't think I examined it very good before I bought it because I only recognize the titles of three books and one of the featured writers. However now that I've read two of the essays I've decided to relegate this book as bathroom reading. The book currently holding that spot has been on the back of the toilet too long. I'll eventually finish it, but it may take years.
14. Bats Sing, Mice Giggle: The Surprising Science of Animals; Inner Lives by Shanor and Kanwal. Here is an example of why we, Don and I, are terrible people to give books to -- Don's cousin gave him this book in 2011 with a nice inscription, and it probably hasn't been touched since. It was a thoughtful gift that I'm sure he thought he would read someday, stuck it on the shelf, and forgot about it. I like reading books about animals, he doesn't. Shall I place this one in another bathroom, in hopes it will finally get read or toss it? I'll ask before I decide.
15. Civil Rights Lawyers in the South...The Untold Story: Klan defeated, Schools Integrated, Segregation Abolished, but the Battle Against Discrimination Goes On! by Aschenbrenner. My mom gave me this book, written by a friend or a relative of a friend. She asks me about it. Why haven't I read it yet? Time's up. I skimmed the textbook-sounding thing and now will return it to her. Phew. Off my list.
16. 52 Lessons from Les Miserables by Bob Welch. When my daughter moved out, I inherited some of her books. This is one of them. Bob Welch is a friend of my sister and since this is a signed copy I'm fairly sure my sister gave it to her niece as a gift. Now it is my book. Since I love the play and enjoyed the book by Victor Hugo, I will read through the 52 lessons. Then it will be offered to my other daughter, who is also a fan of the story.
17. Grumpy Cat: A Grumpy Book: Disgruntled Tips and Activities Designed To Put a Frown on Your Face. Ha-ha. I think this is another book my daughter left behind. I read 20 pages. 20 Pages!! and I didn't smile once. I guess the book works. I decided I don't want to be grumpy. Heave-ho to this one.
18. Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why by Bart D. Ehrman. Back in 2004/05 I became very concerned about people who were using Christianity and the Bible as weapons to clobber people they didn't like over their heads. I bought this book because I thought it would give me insights and ammunition with which to conduct a counter-offensive. Like other nonfiction books I purchased when I was working, these books hold less interest to me now that I am retired. After reading 20+ pages I've decided I'm just not that interested in the scholarly information that likely will change no one's life, including my own. Out it goes. The question, however, is whether it would fit into our church library or not, or should I just toss it? 
19. Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery. I think I bought this book when Borders Bookstore was going out of business. It still has the bookstore tag on it. I loved the author's book The Elegance of the Hedgehog. So I assume I bought it to see if I loved everything the author wrote. I liked the book fine but didn't love it. Donation is in its future.

Color-coded legend:

• Read and finished during 'Try It In July' Challenge. Total : 6
• Read 25-50 pages, set aside to read later. Total: 4
• Touched book, looked through it, decided to listen to it on audiobooks later. Total: 2
• Read 25-50 pages (or less) and decided to not finish. Books donated to library for their book sale or taken to a used book store for resale. Total: 7!!!!!!

Success. I already feel lighter. The books I don't want have already been delivered to either the library or the book store, lightening my load by seven (plus others I found during the process.) I plan on distributing the books I did manage to read to friends, family, or the library. I have four books I am looking forward to reading soon, which will further lighten my load. I started with a goal to get through ten books and managed to cope with nineteen. Yay!

I should just carry on with my challenge, or do it again next July. Maybe in the future I won't need to do it at all. I'll only have books on my shelves that I want to keep. Wouldn't that be nice?

-Anne