Thursday, May 25, 2023

My Big Book Summer Plans 2023

I have just announced the 11th year of my annual reading challenge, Big Book Summer Challenge, so I guess I should be the first to sign up!

I always enjoy tackling some big books in the summer, and I'm looking forward to finally reading some of these bricks that have been collecting dust on my shelf (for this challenge, a Big Book is any book with 400 pages or more).

NOTE: Don't let my stack below intimidate you! You only need to read ONE Big Book over the next three months to join in the fun and participate in the challenge. I like to make a "pile of possibilities," but you do you 😀

I definitely won't get through 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!):

 


From the bottom of the stack:

  • Billy Summers by Stephen King (528 pages)
  • The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (592 pages)
  • Never by Ken Follett (816 pages)
  • Voyager by Diana Gabaldon (870 pages) - book 3 of the Outlander series, left from Big Book Summer 2022!
  • Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (608 pages)
  • Afterland by Lauren Beukes (432 pages)
  • Scythe by Neal Schusterman (464 pages)
  • The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (470 pages)
  • Burn by Nevada Barr (450 pages)

I know that looks like a huge stack--and it is!--but as you can see, many of my choices are in the 400-600 page range and several are fast-paced reads. Voyager will be my biggest chunkster of the summer (and those are big pages packed with dense text!), but I know I will enjoy it.

All of these also qualify for my Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2023. My shelves are overflowing, so this is good! One  of them will also count for my Back to the Classics 2023 Challenge.

I also devote my summer to listening to Big Audio Books (audios and e-books count). I will choose those as I go, throughout the summer.

Check out my 2023 Big Book Summer Challenge Video for more on what I plan to read this summer, plus some great suggestions that I enjoyed in past summers. You can also find more great Big Book recommendations on my Big Books! list on Bookshop. I have read and enjoyed every single book on that list, and it includes a wide variety of book types and genres--something for everyone!

 How about you? Are you up for tackling a Big Book (or two or three) this summer? 
Join me and sign up for the 2023 Big Book Summer Challenge! The rules, details, and link-ups are on that page.

NOTE: You don't need a blog to participate--you can either leave a comment on the Challenge page or sign up in the 2023 Big Book Summer Goodreads group. Either way, first read the details on the Challenge page.


Join me in some bookish summer fun!

10 comments:

  1. My two favorites in your stack are Scythe and Billy Summers, they are both sooooo good!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just started Billy Summers! And I've wanted to read Scythe for years ... I LOVE Neal Schusterman!

      Delete
  2. Such a wonderful stack of big books! I think Voyager is the best of the Outlander series--I have kind of given up on the series myself, after book 8, but I think this one is really good. I love Ken Follet's books but I have never read Never--now I need to check that one out. I reread The Grapes of Wrath a couple of years ago (probably for a Big Book Summer) and was blown away by how good it was. I am a Nevada Barr fan but haven't read Burn--not sure why. I am sure you will find some winners from your stack. Will be posting my list the weekend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, good - glad to hear Voyager is so good! Never is Follett's latest, released last year - a stand-alone novel.

      Delete
  3. I made a pile of possibilities and I am looking forward to knocking at least one big book of my TBR!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I finally got my blog post completed! We both have The Lincoln Highway on our lists. I might even get to it this year. I've finished one book and have another on the go.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm planning to read Lincoln Highway in August, as a buddy read with a friend on Booktube - join us if you like! Sounds like you've already made a good start.

      Delete
  5. I included my big audiobooks in my list (hope that's not cheating) because they do take up a big chunk of time. Sadly, I have a bunch of review copies I requested without thinking about how they would be too short for Big Book Summer! ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course, audiobooks count! Always :) I'm listening to Big Book audios this summer, too.

      Delete