On reflection, I should probably have divided this into two posts, I didn’t quite realise how many books there were. But now it’s too late and you simply have to plough through my 27-item list. All the usual disclaimers apply: as I haven’t read these yet, I cannot guarantee they are good. I also make no promises about reading them all, I expect to get through about half plus some other books I’ll pick up along the way. Here we go.

1. My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Mosfegh. So let’s start with the book that isn’t pictured, as it has been out of stock in all the places I’ve tried purchasing one. Yes, you heard that right, this book is so hyped that even Brussels has taken note. I would actually like to quote from the blurb (this might be the first time ever): “a novel about a young woman’s efforts to duck the ills of the world by embarking on an extended hibernation with the help of one of the worst psychiatrists in the annals of literature and the battery of medicines she prescribes”. Cannot wait.

2. Legendary Authors and the Clothes They Wore by Terry Newman. I mean, one needs to have something to read also when one has had a Negroni already and is not necessarily able to concentrate on anything intellectually demanding. Plus it has Joan Didion on the cover.

3. The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner. Another of this summer’s much-hyped books, The Mars Room looks at what it means to be poor and female (and in prison) in today’s US. It doesn’t seem like a cheery read, but promises to be good. I’m also interested in Kushner’s second novel, The Flamethrowers.

4. Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel. This is the third instalment in Neuvel’s Themis Files (after Sleeping Giants and Waking Gods) and I expect it to be a fast-paced SF thriller. Some people with good taste have said that while Neuvel’s books are entertaining, they are a bit like fast food and leave you with very little nutrition and a slightly queasy feeling afterwards. But I really enjoyed the first two and look forward to the third.

5. The Odyssey by Homer (translated by Emily Wilson). After thoroughly enjoying Circe, I’m reading the new translation of Homer’s epic bit by bit and it’s proving easier than I expected it to be. Wilson’s translation reads more like prose than poetry and is extremely clear. Still wouldn’t advise you to read it without breaks, though.

6. Border by Kapka Kassabova. Personal and rather lyrical (I’ve read a few pages and the style seems dreamily beautiful) non-fiction about the area where Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey meet. It has been recommended by several women with impeccable taste, so I have no doubt that it’s great.

7. Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers. Another sequel (although not a direct one), this one following The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and A Closed and Common Orbit in the Wayfarer series. Chambers writes some of the best character-driven and quietly optimistic (but not cheesy) SF currently around. This one follows a generation ship that left Earth centuries ago and is now facing disaster and an identity crisis.

8. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward. I read a lot about race last year, both fiction and non-fiction and this is the one book from that cluster that I haven’t yet tackled. An epic tale of the past and present of the American South, this is going to be another difficult read. I’m up for it, though, as difficult reads about race have been among my best reading experiences of recent years (Yaa Gyasi and James Baldwin in particular).

9. Go, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck. From closer to home comes a tale about an ageing man, migration and meaning of life in Berlin. This is also a nod to my goal to read more in translation, although in this case a more ambitious goal would be to read it in the original German…

10. Call Me by Your Name by Andre Aciman. After the film of the same name, the novel hardly needs an introduction. I have read the first 30 pages and enjoyed them, just waiting for the perfect lazy afternoon to spend with love and lust under the Italian sun.

11. Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This is a reread, following Olivia Laing’s Trip to the Echo Spring that addresses Fitzgerald’s (and others’) alcohol addiction. I adore the title of this book and I adored the book itself when in my teens and twenties, but realised I don’t remember it that well. And I also suspect that I would have a completely different understanding of some elements now, at 38.

12. Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday. I feel like I should be reading Roth, but the thing is I really don’t want to. I’m just not drawn to his books at all, despite knowing they must be good (I mean, Zadie Smith rates him). So instead, I’m reading a book where Roth is a – thinly disguised – character, an older writer in a relationship with a young editor.

13. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. If there is one book on this list that I simply MUST read this summer, it’s Achebe’s Nigerian classic. I read his essays earlier this year and this man could write. I also want to read more black writers who don’t live in the US or UK.

14. The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches by Matsuo Basho. Representing the lyrical arts (and Japan), we have Matsuo Basho, the most famous poet of the Edo period. This comes highly recommended by Artfulreader, so I’ve got high hopes.

15. Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker. I always mean to read Pinker and I’m very much Team Enlightenment, so this seems like an excellent book for me. Despite the serious shit currently hitting the fans all over the place, it’s good to remember that progress has been made. And that the things mentioned in the title are as important as ever and need defending.

16. In Search of the Phoenicians by Josephine Quinn. I’ve got a thing for Phoenicians. C’mon, the guys invented the alphabet, made the best purple cloth and were bad-ass sailors. In the Punic wars, I was definitely rooting for the Carthaginians (and that’s why I should never declare my allegiance when it comes to football matches, because look what happened to poor Carthage). Quinn’s main point seems to be that Phoenicians are a much later construct imposed on the messy earlier reality. I have no problem with that, as I’m not very attached to the idea of a ‘nation’ anyway. I’m a bit more worried because this looks like a pretty academically rigorous account, potentially too rigorous for my fickle brain. But Mary Beard is reading it this summer and who does not want to be like Mary Beard?

17. The Road To Unfreedom by Timothy Snyder. I am convinced that Snyder knows everything there is to know about totalitarian systems (and the Second World War). I read his On Tyranny last year and hope I’m ready for a more serious discussion on the topic. As I’ve said before, I also appreciate Snyder for his excellent understanding of the Eastern half of Europe.

18. Educated by Tara Westover. I have already started reading Westover’s memoir about growing up in a survivalist family in Idaho and entering the mainstream education system at 17 years old. I completely understand why it’s been on so many bestseller lists. Westover writes beautifully, with insight and understanding and the topic itself is fascinating.

19.-20. A Streetcar Named Desire and The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. Two more rereads, also inspired by Laing’s book. I have loved Williams’s plays since the university and the constant heat of this summer makes them especially fitting. Blanche DuBois is who I’ve always been afraid to become.

21. The Gobi Desert by Mildred Gable and Francesca French: The Adventures of Three Women Travelling the Gobi Desert. I found this book thanks to Peter Hopkirk, who mentions it several times in his Foreign Devils on the Silk Road (well done, Peter!). When the male Western archeologists were travelling the desert with local guides and helpers, these three nuns did it on their own, for 13 years. Major kick-assery.

22. Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee. I’m realising only now that all my SF reads for summer are third instalments in a series, so not much use to you if you haven’t read the preceding ones. If you are into hard SF, however, I implore you to read Lee’s Ninefox Gambit and Raven Stratagem, as they are brilliant. They may require focus and perseverance, but you’ll be rewarded and I’ll be forever yours in calendrical heresy.

23. Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie. To continue my Greek theme, this is a loose retelling of Antigone with Muslim protagonists. It won the Women’s Prize for Fiction and was nominated for almost everything else, so expectations are high.

24. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. Oh, another Japanese entry! I had kind of forgotten about this. A dark comedy, this has been a literary sensation in Japan – and it’s a quick read, as Japanese novels often are (unless they are The Tale of Genji).

25. Never Mind by Edward St Aubyn. Yes, I know it’s actually the third Patrick Melrose novel Some Hope on the picture, but that’s because I have not yet managed to find the first one anywhere. Apparently everyone in Never Mind – with the possible exception of Patrick – is despicable, but the writing beautiful. And I really want to watch Benedict Cumberbatch in the TV series, so I need to survive the horrible things in the book.

26. The White Album by Joan Didion. A collection of Didion’s essays on American life in the 60s and 70s, this is smart and personal and so well written (I’m almost half-way through, so I know). It’s one of the least surprising things in the world that most intelligent women I know want to be Joan Didion when they grow up. She can write about Manson murders and Californian water systems with equal elegance.

27. Penguin Moderns. I plan to read all 50 of these small mint green gems this year, so will continue to go through them in the next month and a half as well.

Honourable mentions: I have already finished these, so they don’t qualify for the list, but both Circe by Madeline Miller and Nora Ephron’s Heartburn are excellent summer reads in my opinion. You may have noticed the lack of fantasy among my 27: I definitely plan to read some, but my top picks have been featured on previous lists already. I will also read something in Estonian once I get there in the end of August – recommendations very welcome! You can follow my progress via my monthly reports, as always.

What are you planning to read this summer? Anything amazing you’ve already finished?