My 2014 Big Book Summer Challenge

I have just announced the third year of my challenge, Big Book Summer Challenge, so I guess I should be the first to sign up!

I really enjoyed tackling some big books the last few summers, and I'm looking forward to doing it again and finally reading some of these bricks that have been collecting dust on my shelf (NOTE: for this challenge, a Big Book is defined as anything with more than 400 pages).

I don't know if I will get to all of these, but I like to have some options to choose from.  These are all currently on my shelves, waiting patiently to be read (along with many others!). I actually chose 6 this year because none of them are 700-1000 pages long, as in previous years - these are all in the 400-550 page range:

• Emma by Jane Austen, 487 pages (I have never read a Jane Austen!)
• The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer, 538 pages
• Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver, 444 pages
• Good Fortune by Noni Carter, 482 pages
• Unsouled by Neal Schusterman, 404 pages
• Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge, 483 pages

I like to alternate between grown-up books and kids/teen/YA books, so I have three of each on this list.  Some of these, like Emma and Fly By Night, have been collecting dust on my shelf for many years! I also chose some books that will help me in other challenges this year, like Emma for my classics challenge, plus all but one of these qualifies for my TBR Challenge. I also chose a couple of summer-themed books this year - The Interestings and Prodigal Summer - just for added fun. This looks like a long list, but none of the books is over 538 pages, and I suspect the kids/YA ones will go pretty quickly.




I'm so excited for summer now! I still have two more book group books to read before I dig into these, but I am looking forward to it.

How about you?  Are you up for tackling a Big Book (or two or three) this summer?  Join me and sign up for the Big Book Summer Challenge!