I am kicking myself for not signing up for this last year because I read enough books to meet the requirements. So I signed up this year for the "Mor-book-ly Obese" level, which means reading six 450+-page books (or three 750+-pagers).
I got off to a slow start, but I am catching up. I've now finished three books, am halfway through a fourth, and will be reading a fifth for book club in January. So I will only need to find one more and read it by January 31, 2011 to complete the challenge.
REVIEWS
Three Loves by A. J. Cronin (reviewed here)
Echoes by Maeve Binchy (reviewed here)
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (reviewed here)
IN THE RUNNING
The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch (which I am halfway through and am reading for my Battle of the Prizes: British Version challenge)
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (which my book club is reading for January)
Them by Joyce Carol Oates (which I am reading for my Battle of the Prizes: American Version challenge)
NOTES
Last updated November 10, 2010.
The challenge thing is a slippery slope, isn't it? I am having to consciously rein myself in. With cross-overs, it's so easy to rationalize just one more! Currently the 50-Book Challenge is the one I'm trying to resist.
ReplyDeleteCan't say that I blame you on this one, though. Might as well get credit for what you're already doing.
Soooooooo funny that you posted this today, because I was signing on to congratulate myself--I JUST finished The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova! Page count? 564! (Though when I looked that I up I was disappointed, as it seemed longer.)
ReplyDeleteI did the Thriller and Suspense Challenge this year for the reasons J.G. stated--I read them anyway!
Michele
SouthernCityMysteries
That was my thought! If I'm going to read them, might as well corral them.
ReplyDeleteMichele -- How was Swan Thieves? I loved The Historian and I never read vampire books -- it is the only one I've ever read.
ReplyDeleteI just finished Stephen King's Duma Key and loved it. Long, but King at his best IMHO. Need to go back to some shorter books now though.
ReplyDeleteBermuda -- Thanks! I signed up a while ago, but forgot to make a post for my participation.
ReplyDeleteSheila -- I may be the only person who has never read a S. King book. I don;t like anything scary. Was Duma Key a horror book?
But I know what you mean about wanting something short after a really long book. Having just finished Three Loves, which was 559 pages, I am now reading Where Angels Fear to Tread, which is really short.
Thanks for signing up as a follower!
I enjoyed THE SEA, THE SEA. I'm a big fan of Murdoch's so it's almost a no-brainer for me. Hope you like it too.
ReplyDeleteIve joined up with the Chunkster challenge too. I hope you enjoy the Satanic Verses if you read it. I read it last year and it was..... well, im not sure. I reviewed it on my blog, but the review is terrible because I was just starting blogging.
ReplyDeleteI saw a copy of Up In The Old Hotel recently and circled but did not buy. Now I wish I had.
ReplyDeleteMarie -- I am looking forward to The Sea, The Sea. I am in the mood for a Murdoch book.
ReplyDeleteBecky -- I don't know if I am in the mood for a Rushdie book, so I am going to see if it creeps up on me.
Bybee -- Up in the Old Hotel is super long -- over 700 pages -- but I would love to get lost in it.