Reading in July

We’re fully into summer reading now, and I’m not quite sure what direction to go in. June has been a challenging month for me, where I tackled a couple of books I never thought I’d read. The benefit of challenging books are that (for me anyway) they inspire me to read so much more. The slight downside of reading something difficult that I wouldn’t usually is that it makes me absolutely crave reading every kind of what I would consider my usual books. I’m being pulled in a million directions.

Firstly, I still want to read through my list of war books. I think finishing the WWI books would be a good place to get to, and then I can have a break before starting the WWII books. This means reading:

• John Boyne, The Absolutist
• H. G. Wells, Mr Britling Sees It Through

My second option is to go with some American books inspired by my last two books – Mrs Bridge and Revolutionary Road (post to follow in the next few days):

• F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (love this book but haven’t read it for many years) but I also have Tender is the Night, The Diamond as Big as the Ritz and The Tycoon on my Classics Club list.
• Amor Towles, The Rules of Civility
• Lucy Moore, Anything Goes (non fiction about the Jazz Age)

Or do I break with my twentieth century reads and go back to the Victorians for more Dickens (I’m currently reading A Tale of Two Cities), or indulge in a little Shakespeare? Make a start with Anthony Trollope? Try another Charlotte Brontë? Plus sometimes I think I should just dedicate a month to Clarissa.

Too many books. My favourite time.