Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. Though I’ve only participated in TTT once before, I really like the idea of it and try to keep an eye out for topics I’m inspired to make a list for.

I’m often quite bad at making up my mind about what to read next, so I saw this week’s topic as a great opportunity to get all of my ducks in a row and lay out what I hope to read this summer, in my mind specifically meaning from July through to the end of September. I don’t read especially fast, so 10 whole books for those three months felt a tad too ambitious for me, but I think I’ve drawn up a list I can reasonably expect myself to get through.

The High Republic: Into the Dark by Claudia Gray

This is the only novel that doesn’t belong to any of my personal reading challenges for the year. I really enjoyed Light of the Jedi, the first High Republic novel, and want to make sure I stay on top of all of the books that are coming out, lest I end up with a huge pile to catch up on. Plus, Gray is a fantastic author of Star Wars fiction, so I’m especially excited to see her contributions to this storyline.

Sensor by Junji Ito

Set to be published this August, this is the next story by the horror manga author that VIZ media will be publishing in English. I’ve kept up with each of their releases over the last few years, and intend to be all over this one when it comes out. My feelings have been a little tempered on his work the more that I’ve read, but I’m nevertheless excited by this book. His longer stories usually appeal to me more, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this story talked about before.

Hellboy: The God Machine by Thomas E. Sniegoski

One of the books in my “Series Challenge” for this year, I want to read this to stay on top of all of the Hellboy novels that I collected a few years ago. This was actually one of the more difficult to find, with me only being able to track down a used mass market paperback at the time. The books before and after it, by the same publisher, were more available, so I’m curious to see if there’s anything to be fussed about with this one in particular.

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

A book that coincidentally appeared on my first TTT post as well. I’m not particularly excited about this book, especially since I think I know the twist and the way my dad described some of the writing sounds unappealing to me, but I’ve had it so dang long that I feel obliged to get to it. It’s also leftover from my reading challenge list last year, so I want to read it for that sake too.

Jingo by Terry Pratchett

Another “Series Challenge” book, I plan to read this during the summer so I can stick to my plan of reading a Discworld book every quarter of the year. That has made for slow-goings through the series, but I don’t really want to read more Discworld over a more condensed period of time. They’ll start to blend together, methinks. I’m surprised that the series will have us popping back in with the City Watch so soon after the last book in that sub-series.

Berserk Vol. 31 by Kentaro Miura

I will likely read more than volume 31, but this is the next volume in the series that I need, so that’s what is represented here. I’ve felt especially motivated to get further a long in this series lately, so it will have to take up some of my reading time. Being 30, it’s surreal to consider that I’ve been going through this series since I was a teenager. I regret letting it languish so long.

Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis

I’ve been a fan of the author’s video essays for a few years now, but I’ve sadly yet to read her first novel, which came out last year. Part of my more arbitrary to-read list for 2021, I simply want to make sure I finally read her debut novel, especially with a sequel apparently coming this year. Better late than never!

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

I’ve honestly been remiss in not having read this after so many years being a fan of both Pratchett and Gaiman, which is why I added it to my yearly TBR for 2021. I did watch the miniseries, so I’m sure that’s got me more than familiar with the plot of the book, but that in no way deters me from actually cracking this open. I need to finally read this!

Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters by Eric Powell et al

Feels a bit like cheating by including all three volumes of this series here, but I definitely didn’t want to make each one its own entry. Plus, graphic novels are such faster reads that I’d rather just include all of these three together. Forgive me if this goes against the spirit of things. I tried to read this series as the issues were released many years ago, but for some reason my subscription was never really honoured, so I only got a couple of sporadic issues. Now that I’ve got them all digitally, I can finally read them, and this summer is as good a time as any.

A Gathering of Ghosts by Karen Maitland

Another book from my yearly TBR, I’ve had this novel on my Goodreads shelf since 2018. I can’t remember much of the story details, but it’s got a wicked snake on the cover, and includes a blend of Medieval history, fantasy, and horror. I figure this will make a great September read, as a lead-in to the Halloween season.

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Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own Summer TBR down below.