Summer reading challenges 2024

Adult summer reading programs are getting going (at least up here in the United States…) As I’ve done twice before, here’s a list of my books that fit into specific categories. If you’ve got another category, let me know! Sometimes it’s a lot easier for me to pull a list than it is for readers to figure out all the books that might fit quickly.

For example, I recently added a list of characters by age to my wiki. Easy for me to pull together, involves more math for everyone else!

You can find previous related posts at Up for a 2024 reading challenge? and Summer (any time) reading for lists from 2023. Jump down to specific kinds of bingo squares with the links here.

Author | Type of book | Colours on the cover | Title | Characters | Setting | Other

If you’re looking for a challenge, I’m drawing from items on the following lists:

• The 2024 Carterhaugh School Summer Reading Challenge (that’s a public post, but more resources for patrons).
• The Boston Public Library 2024 bingo card (fillable PDF)
• The Westbrook, Maine adult reading bingo card

About the author

If you’re looking for an author from New England (Massachusetts, specifically), or an author who is disabled or neurodivergent, or a female author, all my books count.

Type of book

A historical book

All my books are historical fantasy. You can browse books by when they’re set in this handy list. Books are chronological by when they begin within each section. If you click through to the book’s page, the field that says “begins” in the section with tags and other metadata tells you when that is in more specific detail.

A novella / under 200 pages

A mystery

Colours on the cover

(Yellow wasn’t actually on any of the lists I was looking at, but the other four colours here were, and why not make a rainbow…)

A book with a red cover

A book with a yellow cover

A book with a green cover

A book with a blue cover

A book with a purple cover

Words in the title

Listed in the order in which they take place, for chronological tidiness.

A book with a number in the title

Four Walls and a Heart, Seven Sisters, Three Graces, and The Magic of Four.

An animal in the title

The Hare and the Oak, Mistress of Birds, and Illusion of a Boar.

One word title

Pastiche, Complementary, Outcrossing, and Eclipse.

Title starts with B

Bound for Perdition and Best Foot Forward.

Characters

Main character over 60

• Seven Sisters : Vivian is 63 (but looks younger).
• The Hare and the Oak : Mabyn is 62.
• Best Foot Forward : Alexander is 64.
• Nocturnal Quarry : Alexander is 67.
• Upon A Summer’s Day : Alysoun is 63, Richard is 68, Alexander is 69.
• Three Graces : Alysoun is 67.

Character who is a musician

It’s not as obvious as in some other places Geoffrey appears, but Best Foot Forward is full of musical references, and Geoffrey plays piano and harpsichord.

Character who is a detective

It depends a little how we’re defining detective here, but Goblin Fruit, and any of the books dealing with the Guard or Penelopes listed below.

Creature feature / Magical creatures

The description on this one from the Carterhaugh challenge says: “Pick your poison: vampires, zombies, witches, werewolves, sea monsters, fairies, whatever floats your supernatural boat, and go nuts.” So! Picking books where it’s a significant focus, here…

• Shapeshifters: Magician’s Hoard, Illusion of a Boar
• Fatae (fae) descendants: Seven Sisters, Fool’s Gold
• Other fae beings: Goblin Fruit, Old As The Hills
• Merfolk and other sea creatures: Sailor’s Jewel

Setting

Set at or by the sea

Four Walls and a Heart takes a holiday at Brighton and Sailor’s Jewel is an Atlantic crossing in 1901 in an ocean liner.

Set somewhere specific

There are various location options that turn up in these lists – set where you live, set in a different country, or set or some place you’d like to travel. I don’t know where you live or want to travel, but here’s some help with what’s set where:

United Kingdom: Most of my books are entirely set in the UK, obviously. You can explore different locations through the list at the top right of the sidebar on the places page on my wiki.

United States: Nocturnal Quarry takes place mostly on the East Coast of the US, including Washington, D.C., Providence, Boston, and mostly New York City. Sailor’s Jewel has a few chapters in Boston.

Europe: Magician’s Hoard and Three Graces both have a chapter or so in Paris. Best Foot Forward has several chapters in Vienna, Austria and about a third of the book in or near Berlin, Germany.

Other

First in a series