Jason's Chunkster List 2014

[J]

Slick's Slugs
* = Completed

1. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
12 letters in the title
* 2. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Birds in the title
* 3. 11/22/63 by Stephen King
4. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller + War books The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Titles start with "The"
* 5. The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss Pages: 994
Fantasy Genre
6. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

[J]

Mickey Mouse's Marchers

[J]

Roadrunner's Racers

[J]

Tasmanian Devil's Trouncers

[J]

Buzz Lightyear's Bombers

[J]

Book ideas:

American Gods by Neil Gaiman Pages - 584
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling Pages - 505
Murder on the Orient Express + And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie Pages Combined - 512
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas Pages - 1276
11/22/63 by Stephen King Pages - 849
Under the Dome by Stephen King Pages - 1074
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris Pages - 960
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss Pages - 994
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry Pages - 945
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller + The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien (Both war books) Combined Pages - 709
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Pages - 504
The Green Mile by Stephen King Pages - 592
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin Pages - 835
Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson Pages - 781
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Pages -796
The Iliad by Homer Pages - 683
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami Pages - 607

[J]

Thanks Judy, you too! I have a hard time reading long books in general so reading several throughout the year will definitely be tough. Looking forward to it though. I've been putting a lot of these books off for far too long.

[Sandra, Moderator]

I loved Casual Vacancy!

[J]

Just finished Wise Man's Fear. Now that I'm done I'm not even sure what to do with myself. Totally lost myself in the fantasy world and moving on from it doesn't even feel fair. Can't wait for the next one to come out.

[Esther]

Jason wrote: "Just finished Wise Man's Fear. Now that I'm done I'm not even sure what to do with myself. Totally lost myself in the fantasy world and moving on from it doesn't even feel fair. Can't wait for the ..."

It does that to you, doesn't it?

[Travis]

If you are still in a fantasy state of minds I feel of the five completed so far A Game of Thrones was probably my favorite of the series at this point. I know it's not in your Slicks list but Einstein: His Life and Universe really was a fantastic book so don't let the science of it intimidate you because the man himself was quite an interesting one.

[Sarah]

Did you check out our buddy read thread for Wiseman's Fears? Feel free to add your thoughts to it too.

If you're looking for total immersion Game of Thrones is probably the one. I read all five back to back and when it was over the world felt very strange with no battles, dragons or wargs! Or you could go for American Gods! Gaiman is fantastic at world building - I have this one in my Slick's list too (unless I've shunted it to Mickey's - I can't remember now).

[J]

Esther wrote: "It does that to you, doesn't it? "

Very bittersweet, but the price you pay for a good book I guess.

Travis of NNY wrote: "I know it's not in your Slicks list but Einstein: His Life and Universe really was a fantastic book so don't let the science of it intimidate you because the man himself was quite an interesting one. "

That one keeps eyeballing me on my bookshelf, might have to shoehorn it in. Not sure which one I'll replace it with though on my Slick's Slugs list...

Sarah wrote: "If you're looking for total immersion Game of Thrones is probably the one. I read all five back to back and when it was over the world felt very strange with no battles, dragons or wargs! Or you could go for American Gods! Gaiman is fantastic at world building - I have this one in my Slick's list too (unless I've shunted it to Mickey's - I can't remember now)."

I wanted to give myself a bit of a break from fantasy so I started the western "Lonesome Dove" instead. I think Game of Thrones might be my next choice though, I've heard nothing but good things and I refuse to watch the show until I've read the books, which has taken quite a bit of restraint... ;-)

Excited for American Gods also. I'm reading Gaiman's graphic novel series Sandman right now and it's incredible. The man's got an infectious passion for fairy tales that pairs great with his story telling skills. I just discovered him recently but I can already tell I'll probably end up reading everything he's done before too long.

[Cherie]

I can vouch for The Game of Thrones too. I read them all back to back. :)

[Sarah]

I too only recently discovered Gaiman which means I have a good amount of books to read of his while I wait for the next Kingkiller by Rothfuss!

Yes I can imagine it being difficult holding off watching the show before reading Game of Thrones. The show is fantastic too.

[J]

Slow going, but trudging along. Just finished Lonesome Dove and it was absolutely incredible. the 945 page count terrified me a little bit but it was wonderful the whole way through. I finished and all I wanted to do was start again at the beginning. On to #3!

[Janice, Moderator]

Nice to see you posting and that you're making progress, Jason.

[Cherie]

I know how you feel, Jason, about finishing a fantastic book and wanting to start all over again. It's fantastic! I am going to look forward to reading Lonesome Dove now!

[Travis]

Lonesome Dove is probably the greatest western ever written. Will you continue in the series? Really mixed reviews on the rest of the books I haven't yet decided whether to carry on through or not. Eventually I probably will at least try #2

[Suzanne]

After reading Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History, I watched the prequel to LONESOME DOVE (which is the early story of the Texas Ranger characters and their fights with the Comanches. I loved it and now I'm interested to read the books. Glad to hear the recommendations from yourself and Travis!

[[deleted user]]

Jason
I loved Lonesome Dove too. One of my all time favorite books !
I have the others in the set, but have only read the last one (Streets of Laredo ) . It was very good ,but not as good as LD .

[J]

You probably all thought I forgot about this challenge, but really I just got caught up in life and haven't had much time for reading. Though I just now finished 11/22/63 by Stephen King and it was absolutely incredible. The man is a genius story teller and apparently has wanted to write this story since the 70's. Chunksters are usually pretty difficult for me to finish but this one flew by like it was nothing. And at the end of 800 some odd pages, I just become incredibly sad that there was nothing more to read. Gonna take me a few days before I'll be able to get to know a new book, this one did a number on me.

[Cherie]

Hi Jason. You are not forgotten. I really loved 11/22/62 also. It was such an amazing story! I read it twice before I could let it go. I have American Gods coming up soon on my list.

[Tejas Janet]

I'm still hoping to maybe fit this Stephen King book in before year end. He does have a way with making the pages fly past. But he's more of a word monster than a word master, in my opinion.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Hope life has calmed down somewhat for you Jason. Welcome back :)

[J]

I just finished what will most certainly be my last Chunkster of the year. I read NOS4A2 by Joe Hill. I was ultra-critical reading this book because I couldn't help but compare the author to his dad, which wasn't fair. There were a few cringey moments where he started to stray into cliche territory, but never with the characters themselves. He did a great job writing dialogue. All of the characters seemed real and their interactions with each other never seemed forced. If you're a Stephen King fan, or at least a fan of the "story about real people with real problems and oh what the hell here's a little supernatural-ness too" genre, I definitely recommend giving Joe Hill a try. He's a great story teller and I have high hopes of him following in his dad's foot steps.

Four chunksters for the year isn't a lot compared to some of you bibliophiles, but I usually only read about one chunkster a year, so finishing this was definitely something I'm proud of. Had fun with this challenge, looking forward to trying another one :-)

[Cherie]

Hi Jason,
We are proud that you managed to push your reading up a notch with the challenge and complete four chunksters vs one for the year. It is not how much, but that you enjoyed the books and had fun with the challenge. Maybe you can knock off some shorter series books with us next year. ☺

[Janice, Moderator]

A personal best is a job well done. :)

[J]

Thankyou guys, I appreciate that. I also appreciate your regular encouragement throughout the year, it really helps a lot.