20 Books of Winter wrap up

 

In August post at the beginning of this month I was surprised that we were already 2 months into the 20 Books of Winter challenge but now that we are at the beginning of September and the challenge is over it feels like forever since I put my list together.

This was my first time of participating in the 20 Books of Summer/Winter, mainly because I liked that there was a winter logo!

Overall I am pretty happy with how I went. Below is my original list of books that I nominated. If it is highlighted purple I read the book in June, red means that I read it in July and blue are the books that I read in August. There are 3 books I didn't read, although I did start Three Juliets by Minnie Darke but I  didn't finish it. I am very happy with how many of them I reviewed too! The other two books are absolutely still on my TBR list. I just have to see when that will be.

Whilst I did only read 17/20 of the books I nominated, during the months of June, July and August I read a total of 57 books so I can definitely swap out other books for the 3 that I didn't get to finish.

Here's my original list.

20 Books of Winter

Beartown by Fredrik Backman - Review 

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn - Review

A Bakery in Paris by Aimie K Runyan - Review

Over the Seas to Skye by Sue Moorcroft - Review

Three Juliets by Minnie Darke

A Secret Garden in Paris by Sophie Beaumont - Review

The Midnight Bakery by Emma Davies - Review

Half Truth by Nadia Mahjouri - Review

The Village Cafe in the Loire by Gillian Harvey - Review

The Storytellers by Sue Heath - Review

The Story Collector by Evie Woods

French Rhapsody by Antoine Laurain - Review

The King's Jewel by Elizabeth Chadwick

The Butterfly Women by Madeleine Cleary - Review

The Last Love Note by Emma Grey

The Library of Heartbeats by Laura Imai Messina - Review

Emily Wildes Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett - Review

Butter by Asako Yuzuki - Review

The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson - Review

Dallergut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee - Review

Our hosts, Emma from Words and Peace and Annabel from Annabookbel have come up with some fun questions for our end of event recaps.

Did you manage to finish all 10/15/20 books? If not, what kept you from completing the challenge?

I read more than 20 books but there were 3 from my original list that I didn't get to. Next year I need to remember to take library books and more upcoming releases into my list. I also ended up reading books for Aussie August and Women in Translation month so should factor that in as well. As I mentioned, I actually read 57 books over the three month period so I am counting it as completed.

Of all the books you read this summer, which one(s) was/were your favorite and why?

Do I have to pick just one? I am pretty happy as I had 3 books that I read for the event that I gave a 5/5 rating to. They were Beartown by Fredrik Backman, The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson and The Last Love Note by Emma Grey which I just read on 31 August.

Did you DNF any? Why?

I don't really deliberately DNF. I do occasionally put a book down and just never pick it up again but I don't think this is the case with any of the books here.

Which book surprised you the most, either by being better or worse than you expected?

I was a bit disappointed in Butter by Asako Yuzuki. I had been looking forward to this book for at least a year and I really enjoyed the event she was at for Melbourne Writers Festival earlier this year, but I didn't particularly like it, and neither did anyone else who read it for book club!

Did you notice any patterns in the genres you chose or enjoyed this summer?

I tend to read a bit all other the place and I think my selections reflected this.  I read quite a bit of historical fiction. a few books by Australian authors, a few books in translation and not to forget the books that I read for Paris in July!

Which one had the best cover?

I think I am going to pick The Library of Heartbeats. It's quite a simple cover but very effective. Or The Midnight Library because....purple!

Which one was the longest? And the shortest?

The longest one was The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson which came in at 586 pages, and the shortest was French Rhapsody by Antoine Laurain which was 232 pages.

Did you read them mostly in print? ebook? audio?

I had a bit of a mix between paper and ebooks with 10 ebooks and 7 paper books. I need to remember to factor in my audiobooks for next year too!

Imagine you’re hosting a “20 Books of Summer” book club wrap party.
Which book would you nominate as the guest of honor, and what kind of toast or speech would you give celebrating it?

I think I would host a picnic in a Secret Garden in Paris. We would use the map that was included in the book to follow the clue to end up in a gorgeous park, with lots of baked goods from the bakeries I read about, especially Butter-y croissants.

Looking back at all the characters you met over the summer, which one would you want as a summer buddy for a weekend getaway, and what activity would you do together?

I think I would like to hang out in the library with the characters from The Storytellers. We could read books, talk books all weekend and write a story together, and just generally have a lovely time.

Any other comments you want to add. Be creative as you like!

Given that this was my first time participating, I really enjoyed this and will be back next year. Thanks to Emma from Words and Peace and Anna(Book)Bel for doing such a great job of hosting. See you all next year!