We are now halfway through June, meaning that there are only two weeks left until An Historian About Town is on hiatus! (I will be on hiatus from 1 July to 18 August with only 1-2 posts in that time.) And part of the reason that I allow myself a hiatus is to give myself time to read and enjoy it without any guilt. While I typically read 20-30 books over the summer (I really give myself time), I have decided to throw a few specific books into my to-read pile. These are my Summer 2024 to-read books!
Summer 2024 To-Read Books
This is a mix of fiction and non-fiction books across several genres, but all (save for one) are books that I already own and definitely need to read!
Death on the Nile, Agatha Christie
The tranquility of a luxury cruise along the Nile was shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway had been shot through the head. She was young, stylish, and beautiful. A girl who had everything . . . until she lost her life.
Hercule Poirot recalled an earlier outburst by a fellow passenger: “I’d like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger.” Yet under the searing heat of the Egyptian sun, nothing is ever quite what it seems.
A sweeping mystery of love, jealousy, and betrayal, Death on the Nile is one of Christie’s most legendary and timeless works.
Why I Want to Read This…
Interestingly, I read a ton of Agatha Christie books in junior high (in the early 2000s, there was not of YA options, so I went straight to mysteries) but I have no memory of reading Death on the Nile. While I plan on potentially reading a few different Agatha Christie books this summer, DOTN is at the top of my list- it is such a popular Christie novel, I have to!
The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It, Tilar Mazzeo
The Widow Clicquot is the New York Times bestselling business biography of the visionary young widow who built a champagne empire, became a legend in her tumultuous times, and showed the world how to live with style. Tilar J. Mazzeo brings to life the woman behind the label, Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin, in this utterly intoxicating book that is as much a fascinating journey through the process of making this temperamental wine as a biography of a uniquely tempered and fascinating woman.
Why I Want to Read This…
This is the Audible Plus catalogue and I’ve had it in my library since March, but I only found out last week that there is actually a movie based on this biography! It is unlikely that I will be able to watch the film for a while but I’m more of a “read the book first” person anyways. More biographies on strong and accomplished women, I say!
Northanger Abbey, Val McDermid
Cat Morland is ready to grow up. A homeschooled minister’s daughter in the quaint, sheltered Piddle Valley in Dorset, she loses herself in novels and is sure there is a glamorous adventure awaiting her beyond the valley’s narrow horizon. So imagine her delight when the Allens, neighbors and friends of her parents, invite her to attend the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh as their guest. With a sunny personality, tickets every night and a few key wardrobe additions courtesy of Susie Allen, Cat quickly begins to take Edinburgh by storm and is taken into the bosom of the Thorpe family, particularly by eldest daughter Bella. And then there’s the handsome Henry Tilney, an up-and-coming lawyer whose family home is the beautiful and forbidding Northanger Abbey. Cat is entranced by Henry and his charming sister Eleanor, but she can’t help wondering if everything about them is as perfect as it seems. Or has she just been reading too many novels? A delectable, note-perfect modern update of the Jane Austen classic, Northanger Abbey tells a timeless story of innocence amid cynicism, the exquisite angst of young love, and the value of friendship.
Why I Want to Read This…
This is the only debatable book on this list. I got this book at a booksale in the spring for $2 so I’m not terribly sold on making sure this is read. Northanger Abbey is my favourite novel (period, not just of Austen’s works) and this retelling is pretty poorly reviewed by… everyone. However, should the mood strike me (or one of you dear readers recommends it), I may pick it up. (It may just remain on my shelf, though.)
George VI: The Dutiful King, Sarah Bradford
The definitive biography of George VI, the hero of The King’s Speech George VI reigned through taxing times. Acceding to the throne upon his brother’s abdication, he was immediately confronted with the turmoil in European politics leading up to the Second World War, then the War itself, followed by a period of austerity, social transformation and loss of Empire. George was unprepared for kingship, suffering from a stammer which could make public occasions very painful for him. Moreover he had grown up in the shadow of his brother, a man who had been idolized as no royal prince has been, before or since. However, as Sarah Bradford shows in this sympathetic biography, although George was not born to be king, he died a great one. ‘A triumph … Sarah Bradford looks set to inherit Lady Longford’s mantle as royal biographer supreme’ Mail on Sunday ‘Lucid, convincing and admirably fair … George VI has been fortunate in his biographer’ Philip Ziegler ‘Vivid, thorough and enjoyable
Why I Want to Read This…
I’ve not actually read any full-length biographies on George VI and this is always the most recommended- it is also on my bookshelf, giving me no reason to not read it! It is a longer book at nearly 700 pages but I can read it over a longer period of time. With the Platinum Jubilee and then her passing, I’ve read several QEII biographies over the last five years, so I’m happy to learn more about another Windsor monarch.
The Other Princess: A Novel, Denny S. Bryce
A stunning portrait of an African princess raised in Queen Victoria’s court and adapting to life in Victorian England–based on the real-life story of a recently rediscovered historical figure, Sarah Forbes Bonetta.
With a brilliant mind and a fierce will to survive, Sarah Forbes Bonetta, a kidnapped African princess, is rescued from enslavement at seven years old and presented to Queen Victoria as a “gift.” To the Queen, the girl is an exotic trophy to be trotted out for the entertainment of the royal court and to showcase Victoria’s magnanimity. Sarah charms most of the people she meets, even those who would cast her aside. Her keen intelligence and her aptitude for languages and musical composition helps Sarah navigate the Victorian era as an outsider given insider privileges.
But embedded in Sarah’s past is her destiny. Haunted by visions of destruction and decapitations, she desperately seeks a place, a home she will never run from, never fear, a refuge from nightmares and memories of death.
From West Africa to Windsor Castle to Sierra Leone, to St. James’s Palace, and the Lagos Colony, Sarah juggles the power and pitfalls of a royal upbringing as she battles racism and systematic oppression on her way to living a life worthy of a Yoruba princess.
Why I Want to Read This…
I have this audiobook and I am quite excited to listen to it. (My dog will be getting a lot of walks.) Sarah Forbes Bonetta is a truly fascinating figure from history, and Bryce is a talented author- I know that she has done a fantastic job with Sarah’s story (based on her amazing other books). Sarah’s life is often mentioned as a footnote in Victoria’s story where Victoria is the saviour who teaches her how to be “correct”; however, Sarah needs to be at the heart of her own story. (And Victoria and her court were not “correct” but rather simply different.) I am very much looking forward to this!
UPROAR! Satire, Scandal and Printmakers in Georgian London, Alice Loxton
London, 1772: a young artist called Thomas Rowlandson is making his way through the grimy backstreets of the capital, on his way to begin his studies at the Royal Academy Schools. Within a few years, James Gillray and Isaac Cruikshank would join him in Piccadilly, turning satire into an artform, taking on the British establishment, and forever changing the way we view power.
Set against a backdrop of royal madness, political intrigue, the birth of modern celebrity, French revolution, American independence and the Napoleonic Wars, UPROAR! follows the satirists as they lampoon those in power, from the Prince Regent to Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Their prints and illustrations deconstruct the political and social landscape with surreal and razor-sharp wit, as the three men vie with each other to create the most iconic images of the day.
UPROAR! fizzes with energy on every page. Alice Loxton writes with verve and energy, never failing to convince in her thesis that Gillray and his gang profoundly altered British humour, setting the stage for everything from Gilbert and Sullivan to Private Eye and Spitting Image today. This is a book that will cause readers to reappraise everything they think they know about genteel Georgian London, and see it for what it was – a time of UPROAR!
Why I Want to Read This…
I have just started this book, but it is on the longer side, so it will span some of the summer for me. If the author’s name looks familiar, it is because Alice is massive on TikTok! She shares all sorts of history on her account but I’m thrilled that she focused on the Georgian period for her book.
I’ve learned about political cartoons at length in my undergrad and did several papers on them, but even in the first chapter I’ve already learned a lot. And I’m happy to say, this is no textbook- it is very easy to read and a lot of fun. (If you have watched Bridgerton and want more of the history, this is a great book to read- political cartoons are not as different from scandal sheets as you might think.)
The Lady Trent Memoirs, Marie Brennan (A Natural History of Dragons linked)
You, dear reader, continue at your own risk. It is not for the faint of heart–no more so than the study of dragons itself. But such study offers rewards beyond compare: to stand in a dragon’s presence, even for the briefest of moments–even at the risk of one’s life–is a delight that, once experienced, can never be forgotten. . . .
All the world, from Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, know Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world’s preeminent dragon naturalist. She is the remarkable woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth and misunderstanding into the clear light of modern science. But before she became the illustrious figure we know today, there was a bookish young woman whose passion for learning, natural history, and, yes, dragons defied the stifling conventions of her day.
Here at last, in her own words, is the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked her reputation, her prospects, and her fragile flesh and bone to satisfy her scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love and happiness despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic discoveries that would change the world forever.
Why I Want to Read This…
I cheated a bit with this one, because this is a series rather than one book. I’ve just started the first Lady Trent book, A Natural History of Dragons, and I am loving it. It is smart and funny and I love the academic slant to the story- it appeals to every part of me! There are 6 full-length books in the series and two novellas, and I’m hoping to read at least two or three books in the series by the end of the summer. (Once again, give me a strong female centred- book!) And as a plus- I don’t tend to read a ton of fantasy, so I’m happy to try out another genre!
Which titles are on your summer 2024 to-read books list?
Cheers,
The Historian
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