Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books on My Summer TBR List

This week’s prompt really forced me to stop and think about what books I’d like to read over the next few months. I always have a mental list on the go, but it shifts all the time and I tend to forget what I resolved to read in my mind after a few days. Writing it down is going to help me stay the course. This list doesn’t include the books I’ll be reading for Paris in July (I haven’t decided on them yet), for my book group or for Mary Stewart Reading Week. I have to keep in mind that summer does go through September because, to me, summer ends in July. The school district where I work is on a modified year-round schedule and the kids start back to school on July 21 this year. For some reason, that puts an end to summer for me too, but it is really quite far from the end! Here are the books I hope to read by September 23, the first day of autumn:

1. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters – This is my most anticipated book of the year and I have a galley that I am quietly hoarding. I will probably read it during a long weekend in July.

2. The Secret Place by Tana French – Can you believe I have never read Tana French? I’ve heard great things about her latest book so I will make it my first.

3. The Arsonist by Sue Miller – I’ve always liked Sue Miller. The Senator’s Wife is one of the most astonishing books I’ve ever read. The Arsonist sounds like it will be a good one, too.

4. The Frozen Dead by Bernard Minier – At atmospheric thriller that was a bestseller in France – I can’t resist.

5. Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell – I’m saving this one as a treat.

6. The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield – I’ve owned this book for a few years now and am finally planning to read it sometime soon.

7. Crampton Hodnet by Barbara Pym – I haven’t read a Pym in over a year now – I look forward to entering her world again.

8. Heat Lightning by Helen Hull – I had a goal to read all of my Persephone’s this year and I haven’t read any! I think Heat Lightning is a good place to start and it also meets my goal of reading more American women authors.

9. Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope – I also had a goal to read two Trollope novels and I haven’t done that either (yet). It’s time to get a move on.

10. Blaming by Elizabeth Taylor - I just finished Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont and it was brilliant, to say the least. I must read more of Taylor’s books.

What are you looking forward to reading this summer?