What is the Sunday Salon?
The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week. It's also a great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there.
Stillmeadow Daybook by Gladys Taber
I handed this off to a friend---I feel certain
she will love it as much as I did.
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
Hurray! I've already read my Spin book,
and we watched the (very different) movie.
What I Read Last Week:
What I'm Reading Now:
The Midnight Train by Matt Haig
A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry
Jinjer put me onto Shorty September, and off I went. I love a fun challenge, and what kind of books do I love more than any others? Short ones!
Here's a little info about the month-long challenge: Shorty September is a month long booktube readathon to read short books. It was originally created by Bert and Sian at Pastorytime. And while they put a pause on their booktube channel for now, this is year six and Shorty September is being carried on by @gormodoheathers (Too Many Heathers), @roving_reader (Karen) and Marcella (@marcellainthemargins) all over on Booktube. Follow them on YouTube, make your own Shorty September videos, comment and be merry! Everyone is invited!
From the 1st to the 30th of September, we read “shorty” books all month. Shorties are maybe about 200 pages (or up to 250 pages) or less, it's also defined by some as any book you can read in a day. Whatever is short for you, you define your own shorty length! Read shorties throughout the month - and it's Shorty September, easy as that. You could just pick any "shorty" books. Read one short book, read through a a stack you’ve saved up (as I know many of us have!) or follow this year's prompts.
Okay, I'm not making a video and I don't really know what Booktube is, but I'm going to find a way to join in, even if it's in my own little blogging way. Here's a list I keep of One-Night Reads that you might find helpful.
What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:
One yearly challenge to go!
Summer challenges are complete!
Big books. A lot of people like to take on a big book for summer.
And fortunately for all of us who enjoy big books, Sue Jackson of Book by Book hosts a Big Book Summer Reading Challenge.
Here's a little about the challenge.
The idea behind this reading challenge is simple: Use the ease of summer to tackle a Big Book (400+ pages) or two or ... however many you want! You set your own goals. And if it is the start of winter where you live, then it's your Big Book Winter Challenge. Everyone is welcome to participate.
The Details:
Hey, it's summer, so we'll keep this low-key and easy!
- Anything 400 pages or more qualifies as a big book.
- The challenge runs from the Friday of Memorial Day weekend (May 22 this year) through Labor Day (September 7 this year).
- Choose one or two or however many big books you want as your goal. Wait, did you get that? You only need to read 1 book with 400+ pages this summer to participate! (though you are welcome to read more, if you want).
- No sign-ups are necessary! All readers are welcome to participate.
What kind of books "count"? All kinds! Middle-grade, YA, graphic novels, classics, all genres, all types--as long as they are at least 400 pages. Yes, e-books and audio books count, too--just check online for the number of pages in the print edition.
My reads (7):
- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - 475 pages
- The Wide, Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides - 408 pages
- My Friends by Frederik Bachman - 448 pages
- The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor - 400 pages
- Beyond Words by Carl Safina - 482 pages
- Buckeye by Patrick Ryan - 464 pages
- The Earth by Émile Zola - 512 pages
But maybe you are not a person who enjoys reading big books. Maybe you like to read in quantity over the summer. In that case...
When Cathy of 746 books announced in 2025 that she would not host 20 Books of Summer this year after ten successful years, Emma of Words and Peace and Annabel of AnnaBookBel both volunteered to take it on. This year, Annabel will run the challenge alone.
- The 20 Books of Summer2026 (#20BOS26) challenge runs from Sunday June 1st to Sunday August 31st
- The first rule of 20 Books is that there are no real rules, other than signing up for 10, 15, or 20 books and trying to read from your TBR.
- Pick your list in advance, or nominate a bookcase to read from, or pick at whim from your TBR.
- If you do pick a list, you can change it at any time – swap books in/out.
- Don’t get panicked at not reaching your target.
- Just enjoy a summer of great reading and make a bit of space on your shelves!
Annabel will have monthly summary posts where you can add progress reports and recommendations. The final one at the at the beginning of September will stay open for a while to catch all the last reviews.
If you’re planning to join in please do add your blog / planning post link to the Mr Linky here.
Here are my (planned, but subject to change) 20 Books of Summer:
20 / 20
*Lost Horizon by James Hilton.
*The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim
*Beyond Words by Carl Safina.
*The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss by Robert Mcfarlane.
*The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout.
*Make Life Happier by Mark Williamson.
*The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
*Autumn Journal by Louis MacNeice
*Annie Knows Everything by Rachel Wood
*Candide by Voltaire
*Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes by Robert Louis Stevenson
*The War of the Buttons by Louis Pergaud
*A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
*The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
*The Lark and the Laurel by Barbara Willard
*The Shippers by Katherine Center.
*The Memoir Project by Marion Roach Smith
*Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See
I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:
Good Thing #1:
Blueberry French Toast
I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.
I had to give up on the specific books I chose for my 20 Books of Summer list in the end, my brain just wasn't gelling with it. I think I got just over half of them read, though!
ReplyDeleteYou've been making such good progress with your challenges, though, wow!
Glad to see a Carl Safina title in your selections. Great naturalist and author.
ReplyDeleteYour progress is amazing!
ReplyDeleteI admire your dedication to book challenges, I just can't get organized enough.
ReplyDeleteI too completed the 20 books of summer challenge. Good luck on the shorty challenge and have a terrific week ahead.
ReplyDeleteI don't do the challenges but I guess my recent reads would qualify for either!
ReplyDeleteI decided my personal challenge this summer would be to try and read all my library holds and at least one book for Women in Translation month. If I didn't immediately purchase Valérie Perrin's latest I probably wouldn't have had a WIT book this month.
ReplyDeleteI admire you for being organized to keep up with so many challanges AND learn the ukulele !
Deb, your reading is amazing! So glad you are about to finish your yearly challenges and thanks for all the info about the others you mentioned. Good luck with your new ukulele!
ReplyDeleteI hope you have fun with Shorty September!!
ReplyDeletePlaying the ukulele is a great way to be musical.
ReplyDeletePS — I am anonymous and don’t know why… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI don't know why either, Mae.
DeleteYayyyyy I'm glad you're doing Shorty September and WOW you are really knocking those challenges out! I've still got a few more books to go on Nonfiction and Speccy. So much fun checking each category off, which is why I had to do Shorty September.
ReplyDeleteBlueberry French Toast looks so good.
Hello Deb, you are indeed an inspiration to many with your reading! The Mississippi Kite is a beautiful bird!
ReplyDeleteSo nice of you to pass on a book that you really enjoyed to a friend! I do like ukulele music! My favourite months are the 'ber' months...September, October, November, December.
Thank you so much for sharing, dear friend.
You did great on you summer challenges! I'm sure that Shorty September will be fun, too.
ReplyDeleteWhat did you think of Project Hail Mary? I'm working on being more regular here! We''ll see how life goes.
ReplyDeleteProject Hail Mary was a page-turner, even though I didn't understand most of the science.
DeleteShorty Summer sounds like so much fun! I love the idea behind it. I don't subscribe to booktube or booktok or anything else that is video based. I'm old school and like to read my reviews. So I will keep my eyes peeled for your updates :)
ReplyDeleteAll of your book challenges sound like such fun.
ReplyDeleteWe have two pair of Mississippi Kites here, they love to perch in the very high tree in the neighbor’s yard.
Shorty September sounds like fun. Enjoy! Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteWow! Great job on the summer challenges! Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy short books, too! I have two coming up this week. Good luck on all your challenges!
ReplyDeleteI joined up to a different challenge involving short stories for September, so good luck to the both of us! Congrats on your big summer read and 20 books of summer challenges being completed! And my daughter plays the ukulele too, so have fun at your first lesson!!!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of the Big Book Summer Challenge! I have noticed that I tend to read my Really Big Book of the Year (over 1,000 pages in my case) in the winter or spring. This year it was Cecilia by Frances Burney; next year, I will probably read Kushiel's Dart or The Way of Kings.
ReplyDeleteThose are all new to me.
DeleteI enjoyed The Day of the Triffids but was afraid the movie would be too much horror for me. In what sense is it different?
ReplyDeleteYou know September is also Short-Story September, right? Hosted by Rebecca this year at Bookish Beck: https://bookishbeck.com/2026/08/17/short-story-september-is-coming-soon/
The movie emphasizes the walking plants approaching people and killing them. Thanks for sharing Short-Story September. I like short book, but I am not much of a short story reader.
DeleteI have got to pick up one of the Matt Haig books - hopefully from the beginning! All of your challenges look so fun :) And now I want blueberry french toast....
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your 2026 Challenges.
ReplyDeleteThat bird is so cute!
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of Stillmeadow Daybook by Gladys Taber but after looking it up, I put it on request from the library! I love how far you are on all your challenges. Have a good week!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the success with your Summer reading challenges! Im already overcommitted for September (it’s such a huge publishing month) so I don’t have space even for any Shorty’s but I hope you have fun with it.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a wonderful week, happy reading!
I admire your dedication to all those book challenges! I can never seem to get organized enough to keep up with them. Happy Reading!
ReplyDeleteI committed to another challenge for September or I would totally do that Shorty September one.
ReplyDeleteI am still enjoying Stillmeadow Daybrook.
Blueberry french toast sounds so good.
ReplyDelete