Friday, September 11, 2020

2020 Big Book Summer Wrap-Up

It's now September, which means the start of fall (yay!) and the end of another Big Book Summer Challenge! I host this challenge every summer and always enjoy participating in it myself. You can read all the details at the challenge page linked above, but the basic idea is to read books of 400 pages or longer during the summer - just one or a few or as many as you want! What I really love about this challenge is that it gives me the extra incentive I need to finally tackle some of the longer books I've put off reading. I always end up reading some really amazing books, and I make a (small) dent in my overflowing TBR bookcase, too. You can go back to my starting post for My 2020 Big Book Summer in May to see what books I hoped to get to this season. The challenge had record participation this summer; I think everyone was looking for a little something fun to brighten up this difficult year!

First, my own challenge wrap-up:

I read a total of 9 Big Books this summer: 6 in print and 3 on audio (yes, they count, too!).

Some of my Big Books read in summer 2020

Pictured are the Big Books I read in print (minus one I lent to a friend and one included that I listened to on audio). 

In print, I read:
 On audio, I listened to these Big Books:
 (my reviews at the links)

So, that was my summer, but lots of other people enjoyed a wonderful Big Book Summer, too!

A record total of 54 people joined the challenge this year!! That's more than double last year's participants.

26 bloggers joined by linking up on the challenge page and another 28 readers joined through the Goodreads group. I enjoyed hearing what everyone was reading this summer, reading all your reviews of Big Books, and we had some great discussions in the Goodreads group! You can check that out, as well as links to other people's reviews and wrap-up posts on the challenge page.

And now, it's time for the 2020 Big Book Summer Giveaway! I'm giving away a $15 Amazon gift card to one lucky participant. I used a random number generator, and the winner of this year's giveaway is:
 
Joan, who participated through the Goodreads group

Congratulations, Joan!

And congratulations to everyone who participated!
I hope that YOU will join the fun next year! 

8 comments:

  1. Wow, you did some serious reading/listening. Well done! Thank you for hosting - this was great fun. I’ll definitely be back for the 2021 Big Book Summer Challenge!

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    1. So glad you joined the fun this summer, Elinor! It was nice to get to know you :)

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  2. Thank you again for hosting this challenge. It's always a fun one to have show up mid-year. I have Truly Madly Guilty on my TBR shelf and have heard good things about it.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the challenge again, Helen! It is nice to have something new in the middle of the year. Hope you enjoy Truly Madly Guilty - I want to read more of her novels now!

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  3. I had The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes on my summer list but did not get to it. Hopefully some time before the end of the year. My 15-yr old is still reading it. I would read American Dirt. I read your review and it definitely sounds interesting.

    Thanks for hosting!

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    1. It's great sharing books with our kids! Hope you enjoy it.

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  4. Congrats, Joan!

    Oh, and I'm definitely taking up the challenge again next year. Sounds like a good plan! :)

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    1. Great! See you again next summer (and hopefully before then, too), Tarissa!

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