I love this challenge, hosted by Sue at Book by Book and have been doing it for years now. This was a particularly good summer for big books for me, and I am proud of having read seven of these chunksters between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
Table for Two, by Amor Towles
Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, Judi Dench
Mythos, by Stephen Fry
Chain of Thunder: Siege of Vicksburg, by Jeff Shaara
The Demon of Unrest, by Erik Larson
The Civil War, by Bruce Catton
Gods and Generals, by Jeff Shaara
I do like reading big books. I like spending a significant amount of time with a family, or in a place, or diving into a subject or theme. Sometimes starting a new book is lots of work--you have to figure out who's who, etc., but a big book provides a place to wallow for a while. Maybe this is why I like series so much--they are really like one ginormous book.
Hope everyone had a great summer (or winter if you are down under), with or without big books. I personally am ready for the seasonal change--crisp mornings, cool evenings, harvesting and preparing for the winter, and celebrating. My birthday as well as my husband's and all three kids' are between October 1 and November 26, and then we have the holidays. This year my birthday lands on Election Day in the US (and Guy Fawkes Day in the UK), so it will be an interesting birthday, to say the least.
Wow, looks like a record Big Book Summer for you! Sounds like some interesting books. You described it perfectly - how great it is to just immerse yourself in the world of a book for an extended period. I am also very much looking forward to the changing seasons. Fall is my favorite time of year (and I've come to really struggle with the heat and humidity of summer). Enjoy the cooler air and all the family birthdays!
ReplyDeleteSue
Fall is a wonderful time of year. The only downside is that it's followed by winter!
DeleteThe Big Books Summer Challenge is something I want to do next year. I like it because it's very open ended. You can read any book you want to as long as it's over 400 pages. And congratulations on reading seven books for the challenge and I must check out Bruce Catton.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a great autumn Jane and Happy reading!
The nights are starting to cool off here in Utah and I am very much looking forward to some lovely fall days this month and next. And what a great chunkster summer you had! I think I've only read seven or eight books that were over 400 pages this entire year. I'm in that short and sweet reading spot at the moment. :D
ReplyDeleteI'm in a short and sweet phase myself! RIP will do that :)
DeleteWhoa your birthday will be crazy this year. My stomach is already in knots about it. You do very well at reading the chunkster books. It takes me a long while to finish them. I think Demon Copperhead took me three weeks last year. lol. Enjoy your week.
ReplyDeleteI am used to my birthday being around Election Day--I turned 18 the Friday after Jimmy Carter was elected, and I was practically the only person in my senior high school class who wasn't able to vote that year!
DeleteDemon Copperhead took me about 3 weeks as well, but I took a break midstream to catch my breath and cleanse my palate.
Congratulations. I also participated in the challenge and managed six books this summer which qualified. So many of the titles on your list are on my TBR and now I just want to shove everything off to the side and read them instead. My last review will be posted by this afternoon and then I hope to do a wrap up like yours. In the meantime here is my second to last review: Symphony of Secrets
ReplyDeleteYou will have an especially interesting birthday this year, that's for sure! We have so many fall birthdays in my extended family... seems like we're celebrating someone's birthday every time we get together.
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job with this challenge! I love big books and every summer I think I should join, but swore off challenges years ago because it seemed like the surest way to guarantee I'd never read the books! Hoping to read both Table for Two and Erik Larson's new book before much longer.