You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
Challenges: Year Long Main 2021
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Alexandra´s chunkster chain
✔ = finished# = currently reading
Mickey Mouse´s Marchers (7-12 books)✔
7. ✔ 10/03/14 A Thousand Splendid Suns - 372 pages - same author
+ ✔ 18/02/14 The Rosie Project - 304 pages - colorful cover
8. ✔ 17/02/14 The Physician - 720 pages - colorful cover
9. ✔ 26/02/14 The Prague Cemetery - 519 pages - title starts with "p"
10. ✔ 02/03/14 Island Beneath the Sea - 457 pages - historical fiction
+ ✔ 18/05/14 Ocean Sea - 256 pages - "sea" in the title
11. ✔ 14/04/14 The Shape of Water - 224 pages - water
+ ✔ 30/05/14 The Queen of Water - 368 pages - word "water" in the title
12. ✔ 19/02/14 Hideous Kinky - 192 pages - woman on the cover
+ ✔ 18/02/14 Heartless - 390 pages - female author
✔ = finished# = currently reading
Roadrunner's Racers (13-18 books)
13. Tamar - 613 pages - woman on the cover
14. Tai-Pan - 734 pages - title starts with "T"
15. The Toss of a Lemon - 640 pages - title starts with "T"
16. The Space Between Us - 321 pages - setting in India
+ Valeria's Last Stand - 272 pages - women as protagonists
17. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - 782 pages - setting in Europe
18. ✔ 04/06/14 The Snowman - 383 pages - black and white cover
+ Analfabeten som kunde räkna - 320 pages - setting in Scandinavia
✔ = finished# = currently reading
Tasmanian Devil´s Trouncers (19-24 books)
19. Tears of the Giraffe - 217 pages - protagonist has African background
+ Life of Pi - 356 pages - author´s last name starts with "M"
20. First Comes Love, then Comes Malaria: How a Peace Corps Poster Boy Won My Heart and A Third World Adventure Changed My Life - 320 pages - word "Life" in the title
+ Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away - 438 pages - setting in Africa
21. Sea of Poppies - 533 pages - colorful cover
22. The Glass Palace - 512 pages - same author
23. The Girl With Glass Feet - 292 pages - word "glass" in the title
+ The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - 274 pages - author´s last name starts with "S"
24. The Last Letter from Your Lover - 416 pages - both books are about letters
+ Me Before You - 369 pages - same author
✔ = finished# = currently reading
Buzzy Lightyear´s Bombers (25 and more books)
25. The Fault in Our Stars - 318 pages - books are supposed to be real tearjerkers
+ Wonder - 315 pages - blue cover with black and white writing
26. A Discovery of Witches - 579 pages - blue cover
27. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch - 413 pages - witches
+ Wave - 274 pages - black cover
28.White Nights - 77 pages - author´s last name starts with "D"
+ The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great- 444 pages - setting in Russia
29. Silent in the Grave - 509 pages - historical fiction
30. Not Without My Daughter - 528 pages - women as protagonists
31. The Almond Tree - 348 pages - setting in Middle East
+ Der Lilith Code - 480 pages - setting in Middle East
32. A Game of Thrones - 835 pages - part of author´s name is "Martin"
33. The Hobbit - 365 pages - fantasy
+ Fiji: A Novel - 292 pages - author is male
34. Der Papaya-Palast - 572 pages - setting Oceania
35. Water for Elephants - 335 pages - author´s first name is "Sara(h)"
+ The Night Circus - 387 pages - circus setting
36. Brick Lane - 534 pages - authors is female
37.The Secrets of Jin-shei - 504 pages - colorful cover
38. The Secret Life of Bees - 318 pages - word "secret"
+ The Sound Of Butterflies - 352 pages - insects in the title
39. The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times - 340 pages - female author
+ The Birth House - 408 pages - obstetrical theme
40.
More options:
Exodus - 608 pages - ,
Child 44 - 528 pages -,
The Discovery of Heaven - 730 pages -
Well, here we go now. The insane thing is that while I was thinking about how to connect my TBR books so that I will most efficiently reduce their number, I somehow managed to "put on" about 30 books the last couple of days. This reminds me of some very frustrating diet experiences...
LOL! Yes, just look at a yummy looking sweet and the pounds are added on. In the same way, just looking at an intriguing book title makes my TBR shelf grow.
I too have added loads of books to my TBR and while I've been promising myself to only use books I actually own, I've already bought a copy new ones to use in the challenge! Oops! All good fun though.
I know, I know. It´s fun but it´s definitely a new addiction I can add to my collection ;-)
I think this is what they mean when talking about the yo-yo-effect :-)
I am just starting to go through these threads and am trying to be good about adding to my TBR but I have no will power!!
So many good titles showing up in everyone's lists Marnie that it's hard not to add to TBR!
Marnie wrote: "I am just starting to go through these threads and am trying to be good about adding to my TBR but I have no will power!!"I do not think it is possibly not to add any more books, Marnie - I miserably failed... But on the other hand, this is what this book club is about, right?
I really like your list Alexandra! I loved The Night Circus, it is one of my top 10 books of 2013. I really hope you enjoy it too when you come to read it :)
Lisa wrote: "I really like your list Alexandra! I loved The Night Circus, it is one of my top 10 books of 2013. I really hope you enjoy it too when you come to read it :)"Thanks, Lisa. I am actually very curious about The Night Circus and I can´t wait to get started with it. This challenge is the perfect opportunity to read whatever you feel like.
I too would say The Night Circus was one of my top 10 books of 2013 too.
Now I´m even more curious about the book, Sarah!
Rusalka wrote: "Hmmm... we have another brave soul attempting Fiji: A Novel"Oh no, what´s wrong with it? It fit so perfectly well into my around the world challenge... hmmm, I might have even "stolen" it from you. Not good?
Well, my tbr is gaining way too much weight! I see visits to the chiropractor during 2014. These challenges are killing me :)
Especially with those chunksters comming up... I´m a bit scared already about carrying Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell around with me (wish I had bought it as an eBook). But you´ve got to do, what you´ve got to do, right? :-)
Oop sorry didn't get told there was a message here. I believe Janice read it and didn't enjoy it. But may be my bad memory.
Alexandra wrote: "Rusalka wrote: "Hmmm... we have another brave soul attempting Fiji: A Novel"Oh no, what´s wrong with it? It fit so perfectly well into my around the world challenge... hmmm, I mig..."
I didn't care for it. I thought it was poorly written, repetitive and implausible in regards to the mindset of missionaries during the time period it was set in. Still, that was my opinion. Others seemed to really enjoy it.
I have a "physical" copy of JS & MN too, that I bought recently, but I have not decided if it will go into any of my links yet. At this point, it will go at the end if I add it. Getting through January is already lining up as a challenge for me.
Janice wrote: "Alexandra wrote: "Rusalka wrote: "Hmmm... we have another brave soul attempting Fiji: A Novel"Oh no, what´s wrong with it? It fit so perfectly well into my around the world challe..."
I´m not sure if I would have chosen to read it if it did not fit perfectly into the Around the World in 52 Books Challenge. But I will give it a try and let you know if I liked it.
Cherie wrote: "I have a "physical" copy of JS & MN too, that I bought recently, but I have not decided if it will go into any of my links yet. At this point, it will go at the end if I add it. Getting through..."
Same problem here. There are already so many interesting challenges for January going on that I probably won´t be able to read much of my Slick´s books...
I am ready to start my 2014 challenge with Sophie's Choice because I promised to do a Buddy read. Rusalka's Jan challenge will be next with Rabbit-Proof Fence: The True Story of One of the Greatest Escapes of All Time and I am still waiting to see what the group reads will be before I commit to any others.
Cherie wrote: "I am ready to start my 2014 challenge with Sophie's Choice because I promised to do a Buddy read. Rusalka's Jan challenge will be next with [book:Rabbit-Proof Fence: The True Story o..."This sounds busy indeed but it´s a nice way of being busy, right?
Right! :) I might have to give up TV this year. I have to admit that I watch less and less.
Alexandra wrote: "I´m not sure if I would have chosen to read it if it did not fit perfectly into the Around the World in 52 Books Challenge. But I will give it a try and let you know if I liked it."I believe I said the exact same thing because I read it for the ATW challenge too. Let me know what you think of it.
Oh dear, I picked up my first chunkster from the library (the German version of The Passage) and it has 1019 pages - not the expected 700 something. Do we get extra points for chunksters twice the size of a "normal" (500 pages) chunkster? Just kidding... Happy reading!
I look forward to hearing what you think of The Passage - it's on my list too although I won't get to it for a while. Amazing the 300 extra pages for a German version!
I know. I think it is almost safe to say "zat we tshermans take a little bit longer to say ze zings we want to say"...
Alexandra wrote: "I know. I think it is almost safe to say "zat we tshermans take a little bit longer to say ze zings we want to say"..."It's all those long words. Hehehe!
I´ve finished my first chunkster The Analyst. I am currently reading The Passage with its 1019 pages and eventhough the book is enthralling, those pages seem to never end...
I enjoyed Life of Pi, and absolutely loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Almond Tree. I'm reading The help and Secret Life of Bees this year too. Looking forward to your comments!
I´ve finally finished The Passage and I am still torn about it. I liked the story but it took me so long to get into it. It probably could have done with a couple of hundred pages less...
Sandra wrote: "I enjoyed Life of Pi, and absolutely loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Almond Tree. I'm reading The help and Secret Life of Bees this year too. Looking forward to yo..."
I am looking forward to Life of Pi a lot, Sandra! It´s one of those bestselling books that everyone seems to have read and liked but me :-)
I agree with you about The Passage! I thought exactly the same thing. There were parts where I wanted to know more and got nada and others that just dragged on! Frustrating - and I thought the end was weird. I have to warn you, if you are going to go to the next one soon, that it is SO different. It was a year or more before I finally got to start it and I finally had to put it aside. I could not wrap my head around it. I will tackle it again later in my challenge list. I hope it goes better the 2nd time. I really want to know where this story is going.
Cherie wrote: "I agree with you about The Passage! I thought exactly the same thing. There were parts where I wanted to know more and got nada and others that just dragged on! Frustrating - and I thought the ..."I know exactly what you mean. The book left me somehow confused and I could not even put my finger on what it was exactly that seemd not to fit. But I could not even tell what genre it is meant to be. Is it a thriller, horror, etc.? I removed the consecutive book from my TBR. I am not curious enough how the story will end to tackle another 500something pages and there are so many other chunksters that I want to read first :-)
Oh dear, that doesn't bode well...
The Passage might be the new Fiji ;-)
Oh no! I have The Passage in my chunkster list. That said, there are some very good reviews of it too so maybe it's one of those love it - hate it books!
Oh no, don´t worry, Sarah. I am sure that it´s just me and the book is simply not my cup of tea. It´s well written and there is a lot of suspense. I´m curious what you think of it once you read it.
Will let you know - it will be a while before I get to it though!
It was not that The Passage was bad, just long - which I do not have a problem with - but it was all over the map, emotionally and location wise. Most of the time I blasted through what was happening while holding my breath, and other times I kept asking myself "what?, what?". There were a lot of characters (human, and "other") and it did get confusing trying to keep them all straight and figure out what was going on. Just wierd - sometimes. The 2nd book does not start out at all like the first - okay in itself, and maybe it was only me, but I could not get emotionally attached and I wanted to. What is the genre? - it is a little dystopian and a lot vampirish but with a mediacal theme twist along the lines of The Stand - I think (not having read it). There is definately a mystery/thriller thread. Originally - I was not going to read it. It seemed too "Kingish" for me and I was not into vampire type monsters. My daughter convinced me that I should read it. They ARE interesting and there are things about them that are interesting in a mental/magic sort of way. I really liked the humans and the family groups.
Sarah - I am sure you will like it!
Rusalka - you may throw it once or twice.
Alexandra - you might rethink giving the 2nd one a try, since you only just finished the 1st one and events are fresher in your mind than they were in mine. (view spoiler).
Okay - I hope that helps and Mr. Cronin doesn't come gunning for me because he thinks I am trying to sway people from reading his books.
Oh, my gosh. Did I just admit that I have never read The Stand? Kingish? If anyone wants to unfriend me, I will understand .
I haven't read it either! I did get it for Christmas though, as due to all these King fans, i decided I should give it a go. Let's see if I get to it on my chunkster challenge, but as it's only been on my shelf 3 weeks at the moment, I may defer to some of the books I have had on there for... ummm... *cough*10years*cough*.
aham, may I join this little confession-round. I have not read it either...
Cherie, I might give the 2nd one a try. Seems worth it then!
You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
Books mentioned in this topic
11/22/63 (other topics)The Stand (other topics)
The Kite Runner (other topics)
The Housekeeper and the Professor (other topics)
And the Mountains Echoed (other topics)
More...
# = currently reading
Slick´s Slugs (1-6 books) ✔
1. ✔ 06/01/14The Analyst - 512 pages
2. ✔ 31/01/14 Die Rache- 512 pages - same author
3. ✔ 12/01/14 The Passage - 1019 pages - male author
4. ✔ 15/02/14 Divergent - 487 pages - common theme is dystopia
+ ✔ 13/02/14 The Professor of Desire - 263 pages - author´s surname is Roth
5. ✔ 29/01/14 The Housekeeper and the Professor - 180 pages - "Professor" in the title
+ ✔ 14/02/14 The Help - 451 pages - maids as protagonists
6. ✔ 26/01/14 The Kite Runner - 372 pages - author´s first name starts with "K"
+ ✔ 08/02/14 And the Mountains Echoed - 404 pages - same author