My 2026 Big Book Summer Plans

I have just announced the 14th year of my annual reading challenge, Big Book Summer Challenge, so I guess I should be the first to sign up! Everyone is welcome to participate (details at the link).

I always enjoy tackling some big books in the summer, since I first came up with the idea in 2011, 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 top of the stack:

·      The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher (582 pages)

·      Burn by Nevada Barr (472 pages)

·      Empire Falls by Richard Russo (483 pages) 

·      The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (429 pages) 

·      Dead Man’s Walk by Larry McMurtry (461 pages)

·      The Fraud by Zadie Smith (454 pages) 

·      The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (558 pages) 

·      The Toll by Neal Schusterman (625 pages)

·      Never by Ken Follett (802 pages)

 I know that looks like a huge stack--and it is!--but as you can see, many of my choices are in the 400-500 page range and several are fast-paced reads. 

All of these also qualify for my Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2026. My shelves are overflowing, so this is good!

I also devote my summer to listening to Big Audio Books (audios and e-books count, too). I will choose those as I go, throughout the summer, though I just started my first: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.

And here's my husband's pile of possibilities for Big Book Summer 2026--he enjoys Big Book Summer every year, too!

 

Check out my 2026 Big Book Summer Challenge Video for more on what I plan to read this summer. You can also find great Big Book recommendations on my Big Books! list on Bookshop and my Big Book Recommendations video. I have read and enjoyed every single book on that list and in that video, and they both include a wide variety of book types and genres--something for everyone! And visit the Big Book Summer Goodreads group or Storygraph group to see what everyone else is reading this summer!

 How about you? Are you up for tackling a Big Book (or two or three) this summer? 
Join me in the fun of the 2026 Big Book Summer Challenge! The details and link-ups are on that page.

Join me for some bookish summer fun!