SWUR: The Wicked Summer Cover Challenge

This is such a fun challenge!  It's hosted by Jessica at Wickedly Bookish and runs the length of the Summer Wrap-Up Read-a-Thon, so you have plenty of time to participate!  Basically it's a scavenger hunt, in which you attempt to spot some or all of these summery items on book covers.  I'm going to post it now, at the start of the read-a-thon, and I'll keep coming back to it to add more covers as I find them!

  THE LIST

1.  sun

2.  a teeny bikini

3.  beach umbrella

4.  sandcastle

5.  oceanscape or beach scene

6.  sunflower

7.  an American flag (4th of July)

8.  lemonade/iced tea

9.  sunset

10.  sailboat

11.  camping equipment (tent, sleeping bag etc)

12.  sunglasses

13.  swimming pool

14.  sun bather

15.  picnic 

THE COVERS

The Long Weekend by Veronica Henry topples numbers 5 and 10, since it has an oceanscape AND sailboats and makes me want to move to Cornwall immediately.  An excellent start to the challenge!  :)

My film tie-in edition of Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes features a lovely bunch of sunflowers, so that's number 6 down...

Ooooh, a little Daphne du Maurier love next!  The lovely Virago edition of Frenchman's Creek offers not only another (very impressive) sailboat and a second rugged coastal scene, but also a rather fetching sunset...  I'm ticking off number 9!

To satisfy the 'sunglasses' requirement (number 12 on the list), I offer this summery title from my wishlist... The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour.  Seriously, could those sunglasses GET any bigger?!  It takes style to pull that off, dudes.

Beach Babylon by Imogen Edwards-Jones (and an anonymous industry insider) was a surprisingly awesome read last summer (my review is HERE), and handily ticks off numbers 2 and 8 on the list.  Not only is this a super-teeny-weeny bikini, but I'm fairly sure that glass has AT LEAST two drops of lemonade in it alongside the gin/rum/vodka/other wholesome cocktail ingredients.  ;)

Moon Pie by Simon Mason (read my review HERE) isn't exactly a summery read, but it WOULD be a good book for your kids to take away on holiday, and it DOES have this slightly bizarre drunken midnight picnic on the cover.  Throw in a barbeque and some Pimms and I could totally dig it.

To satisfy number 14, I offer you this Gossip Girl novel by Cecily von Ziegesar, which clearly depicts two spoilt and pampered rich girls sunbathing and looking all tanned and magazine-worthy.  So that's nice...  *eyes own white legs suspiciously*

I was racking my brains a bit for number 11 - the camping equipment - until I had a sudden brainwave.  From the towering heights of Mount TBR, I give you Emma Kennedy's The Tent, the Bucket and Me!

Next up, lucky number 13, a swimming pool.  This was a tricky one, until I remembered the inescapable Jennifer Weiner's new novel The Next Best Thing.  Just one thing: could we get some sunshine please?  Seriously, nix the clouds, it's making me want to reach for a cardigan.

See if you can guess which item this one topples?  Ha, yes, for number 4 I went for Sandcastle by Mick Inkpen.  Not that I'm likely to read this book anytime soon, but it's KIPPER, people!  We all need a little Kipper in our lives...  :)

Now, a beach umbrella.  It's amazing how many book covers have people sitting on beaches, people lying on beaches, people in deckchairs on beaches, people walking ALONG beaches - but where are the umbrellas?  All I can say is, I hope these book cover people are wearing good sunscreen.  Without further ado, here's my number 3: Angels by summer lady-favourite Marian Keyes...

Two more to go!  I had a scout round the shop this morning for something - anything! - with a sun on the cover to satisfy item number 1, and finally stumbled across Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas.  That burst of sunshine from behind her legs there counts, right?  IT'S OBVIOUSLY THE SUN OKAY!  :)

And last but by no means least... the American flag.  Sorry America, but when you don't live there it's REALLY hard to find books with your flag on the front!  Finally I had a brainwave and came up with Notes from a Big Country by Bill Bryson, one of my favourite books.  While I was meandering around the interwebs hunting for inspiration I also spotted The End of the American Century by David S. Mason, which is definitely NOT on my summer reading list, but I had to include it because the cover is so darn cool...  Take that, number 7!

A FLAG IN A WATERSPOUT!  Do I get bonus points for the sheer awesomeness of that one?  ;)

Okay, that's all fifteen!  A very interesting - though occasionally frustrating - challenge... how are all you guys doing with yours?  Feel free to beg, borrow or steal a couple of these - and do link up if you want to show off your treasure-hunting prowess!