Venture Forth: 2020 Summer Reading Program

I am joining in on the Venture Forth 2020 Summer Reading Program described by Carl Anderson at Stainless Steel Droppings.

From Carl's post:

Do you recall Summer Reading programs that were assigned by your school for the Summer break, or were hosted by your local public library? Are these something in which you participated?

Memories of my past, related largely to books and reading, have been triggered during this time of physical distancing as I have communicated via technology with friends. Those memories are influencing my reading of late and even the music I have been listening to.

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So I created my own Summer Reading program: Venture Forth. The name is a play on the idea that we are being allowed to venture forth into certain businesses and venues once again, and that reading always allows everyone to Venture Forth on an adventure.

This isn’t a challenge or event like I’ve hosted in the past. It is simply something that I want to do and want to share with you. If you desire to recapture a bit of that childhood summer experience, please feel free to be a part of this, and feel free to use the gif.

There are no rules. No number of books to read. No prizes outside of the great pleasure of reading.

Carl listed about 20 prompts that fit his situation. I have borrowed some of his and created my own.

My prompts:

book with a Michael Whelan cover 
       [Dragonsdawn (1988) by Anne McCaffrey]
       [Dragonflight (1968) by Anne McCaffrey]

spy fiction written by a woman  [At Risk (2004) by Stella Rimington]

spy fiction written by a man  [The Last Tourist (2020) by Olen Steinhauer]

2020 book purchase

nonfiction book

novel that is part of a series

novel that I have read before

book recommended by another blogger

graphic novel

recommendation from my husband

historical fiction novel

science fiction novel  [The Consuming Fire (2018) by John Scalzi]

book set in Canada   [A Trick of the Light (2011) by Louise Penny]

book written by a Canadian author

book published in the 1940s

book published in the 1950s

NEW prompt added June 5th:
     Clarkesworld Anthology


The prompt for a "book with a Michael Whelan cover" was on Carl's list and I assumed I would switch that to an illustrator that I am more familiar with. But I was curious about Whelan so I looked him up. Amazingly I actually found a book I had with a cover by Michael Whelan. It is Foundation (Book One) by Isaac Asimov and it is on my Classics List. So I will be reading that for sure.