Read:
The Penderwicks at Point Mouette – Jeanne Birdsall (Books on Tape, 2011) (narrated by Susan Denaker)
The Tiger and the Cosmonaut – Eddy Boudel Tan (Viking, 2025)
The End of the Alphabet – C.S. Richardson (Doubleday Canada, 2007)
North of Normal – Cea Sunrise Person (Harper Perennial, 2014)
Where Angels Fear to Tread – E.M. Forster (Vintage International, 1992)
Horsefly – Mireille Gagnon (Coach House Books, 2025) (translated from the French by Pablo Strauss)
The Tale of Despereau – Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick Press, 2003)
Currently Reading:
The Accidental Favourite – Fran Littlewood
The Hand that First Held Mine – Maggie O’Farrell
2025 Reading Goals
Pages Read: 20, 119 (1,069 in August)
Hours Listened: 253 hours, 29 minutes (8 hours in August)
Goliaths Conquered: 6 (none in August)
Translated Works: 10 (Horsefly translated from French, in August)
Pre-2024 TBR: 19 (none in August)
Current TBR: 141 (previously 130)
Thoughts:
6 books in August but two of them were really ones that I read with my kids. The Penderwicks at Point Mouette was an audiobook that we listened to on our Alberta road trip. I haven’t gotten enough time alone to make much of a dent in The Accidental Favourite. We went camping again and I only brought along one book when I really should have brought two. I worked some long hours in August and we’ve had some busy days and, to be completely honest, sometimes my brain just felt too fried and I spend my free time scrolling the internet rather than reading books.
With the end of August also comes the end of 20 Books of Summer. I can’t say completion because I certainly did not read all 20 books on my list. As expected, I read more than 20 books in June, July, and August but I did not stick entirely to my list. I feel like I did better than in previous summers though and I think that was largely helped by the fact that I mostly stuck to books I had ready access too. The section I failed most spectacularly in was the audiobooks. I just don’t have the time to listen to audiobooks in the summer that I do during the rest of the year so I will remember that for next time. I read 13 of my proposed 20 Books of Summer and I read 26 books over these three months in total. Here’s the end of the list:
Why I Write – George OrwellThe Riches of Your Grace – Julie Lane-GayNorth of Normal – Cea Sunrise PersonRun Towards the Danger – Sarah PolleyRoom for Good Things to Run Wild – Josh NadeauSnap –Susin Nielsen52 Ways to Reconcile – David A. RobertsonUniversality – Natasha Brown- White Nights – Fyodr Dostoevsky
- Song of the Sun God – Shankari Chandran
- Compass – Mathias Enard
- Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki – Haruki Murakami
A Guardian Angel Recalls – Willem Frederik Hermans- The Cursed Friend – Beatrice Salvioni
- I Who Have Never Known Men – Jacqueline Harpman
The Weekend – Charlotte WoodWhere Angels Fear to Tread – E.M. Forster- The Golden Age – Kenneth Grahame
The Sea – John BanvilleThe Hand that First Held Mine – Maggie O’Farrell
What’s Next:
10 Books of Autumn!
When making my Summer List, I came across plenty of books I wanted to read but that struck me as more autumnal than summeresque. So I set a few aside and started dreaming about what I might read come Fall. I’m keeping my list to 10 rather than 20 because that feels like it gives me more leeway to add other titles I might want to pick up.
Once again, my list is made of books that I already have copies of in my house and I’ve chosen to emphasize Canadian or non-American authors. Here’s the list:
- The Postcard – Anne Berest (translation)
- Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander – Thomas Merton (non-fiction
- Visions From San Francisco Bay – Cseslaw Milosz (translation, non-fiction)
- A Theatre for Dreamers – Polly Samson
- The Paper Wife – Linda Spalding
- Divisadero – Michael Ondaatje (re-read)
- A Horse at Night – Amina Cain (non-fiction
- The Bewitching – Silvia Moreno-Garcia (ARC)
- The Moonstone – Wilkie Collins
- The Boy From the Sea – Garrett Carr
Karissa Reads Books 
Oh, I loved The Moonstone as a teenager but I haven’t read it since then! I have been meaning to pick it up for ages, and seeing it on your list made me think it might be time. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
It’s a book that seems to always get a positive reaction when mentioned so I’m looking forward to finally reading it!
The Moonstone popped out at me immediately too, I read it in university and really enjoyed it – the perfect Fall read! I’m just working my way through David Robertson’s 52 Ways to Reconcile, my September is full of Indigenous authors as that’s my focus for my September CBC segment. I’m enjoying his book so far, it’s very accessible and easy to read. He always comes to Wordfest in October so I’m hoping to catch him.
Robertson came to our Writers Fest in August and did two events about two of his new books. He was lovely.
I love that you’re doing a list of books for fall. I did the same thing, just because I love making lists so much and having a list to choose books from. I don’t tend to stray from a list once I make it, so it makes sense for me. I know some people make a list with the ambition of reading it and then choose other things that speak to them in the moment.
I will definitely stray from this list! But I like making lists and they can help remind me of some of the great books I already have on hand and need to read.