I’m delighted that Cathy is hosting 20 Books of Summer again this year. I’m going for the full 20 again, although I’ve not once succeeded in hitting this target. I think I can read 20 books between 1 June and 1 September, but the challenge is keeping to these particular 20 (including Ulysses), plus I tend to fall at the hurdle of being arsed to write the actual review! Here I’ve gathered up 20 books that are definitely going to be a challenge one way or another:
1 The Sentence by Louise Erdrich (Women’s Prize/Book Club commitment)
2 Your Ad could go here by Oksana Zabuzhko (short stories: understanding Ukraine, on kindle)
3 A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka (understanding Ukraine)
4 The Gates of Europe by Serhiy Plokhy (non-fic: understanding Ukraine)
5 Borderland: A Journey through the History of Ukraine by Anna Reid (non-fic: understanding Ukraine, on kindle)
6 Reparer les vivants by Maylis de Kerangal (keeping up my French)
7 Nadja by Andre Breton (keeping up my French)
8 Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (understanding the headf*ck that is Russia)
9 We by Yevgeny Zamyatin (understanding Russia)
10 In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova (understanding Russia)
11 Black Earth City: A Year in the Heart of Russia by Charlotte Hobson (understanding Russia)
12 The Matter of Desire by Edmundo Paz Soldan (Bolivia – reading the less widely published parts of the world)
13 The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna (clearing TBR)
14 They by Kay Dick (recently republished “lost” dystopian masterpiece)
15 An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine (clearing TBR)
16 Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue (Cameroon – reading the less widely published parts of the world)
17 French Braid by Anne Tyler (recent release)
18 Ulysses by James Joyce (my reading 1922 project)
19 Claudine’s House by Colette (my reading 1922 project)
20 Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolf (my reading 1922 project)
Other possibles, excluded reluctantly for now, include The Young Pretender by Michael Arditti, Tormented life: Nine Hypochondriac Lives by Brian Dillon and The Faces by Tove Ditlevsen.
Total pages: 6,373 = 69 pages a day
Imogen is Reading and Watching the World: On Books, Film, Art & More 
Ooh this is a very exciting list! I am also impressed that you’ve got Ulysses in there, I toyed with including it – too scared by it I think! I have They on my list too, really looking forward to it. THanks so much for taking part!
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I thought I might finally force myself to read Ulysses if it made it onto my list, but time will tell! I’ll look out for your review of They too.
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good luck with your reading goals
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Thank you!
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Woah Imogen, what a great list. Some of these I’ve read and would love to reread- In Memory of Memory and In Memory of Love for example. I admire your focus and wish you luck!
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Thank you so much! The test will be sticking to the list having made it… Glad to hear you’ve enjoyed some of my choices
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A very nice pile – although Ulysses??!!!
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Glutton for punishment!!
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