Reading the 'Chunksters'

[Melissa]

You are doing great Roseanne! I have only cracked open my chunkster reads this year and managed a couple chapters in each. So hurrah, you are doing great!

[Srividya]

Was juggling War and Peace with Under the Dome but finally gave up on Under the Dome for present as other smaller reads were coming in between.

And now like a fool have added two more to the current chunkster reading list - The Goldfinch and Anna Karenina.

Its crazy trying to read two Tolstoy books at a single go .. but it is interesting at the same time.. lets see how I do with it :)

[Laura]

Aitziber, how about Long Walk to Freedom autobiography of Nelson Mandela? It's like 600+ pages.

[Laura]

Almost done with War and Peace myself. About 300 pages to go. Hoping to be done this weekend!

[Roseanne]

I have put off war and peace for years. I hope to one day get to it. I read Anna Karenina years ago and I loved that one.

[Srividya]

@Roseanne - I have been attempting to read and finish War and Peace for close to 15 years now!! Hopefully 2014 will be my historic year :)

[Roseanne]

Srividya wrote: "@Roseanne - I have been attempting to read and finish War and Peace for close to 15 years now!! Hopefully 2014 will be my historic year :)"

Good luck. I havent even started it yet but I bought the book years ago. I read digitally now lol

[Srividya]

Roseanne wrote: "Srividya wrote: "@Roseanne - I have been attempting to read and finish War and Peace for close to 15 years now!! Hopefully 2014 will be my historic year :)"

Good luck. I havent even started it yet..."

Same here.. the print is too small in the print version, so have given up on the physical book and am reading the digital version :)

[Amber]

I'm enjoying Midnight's Children but it's 552 pages long and three books in one so I am reading it by book. I'm on book 2 and hope to finish it soon.

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

Melissa wrote: "The Divine Comedy auditing looks interesting, we'll see...
But in the mean time, I've been spending the last two years on a historical account of Winston Churchill by William R. Manchester called"

I'm hoping to read that Winston Churchill biography this year! I just finished Edmund Morris' biography series on Theodore Roosevelt, which was awesome. :)

[Melissa]

Iasa, I loved Middlesex, you get historical fiction mixed with the story of the narrator. Very well written, couldn't put it down. It was my favorite book this year!

[Melissa]

Faye wrote: "Melissa wrote: "The Divine Comedy auditing looks interesting, we'll see...
But in the mean time, I've been spending the last two years on a historical account of Winston Churchill by William R. Man..."

I will look into the Edmund Morris' biography of Theodore Roosevelt. Did you read the trilogy? I really should focus on finishing the Churchill book first (it might take another year, with getting sidetracked and all). :)

[Brenda (aka Grandma)]

Iasa wrote: "okay guys so Middlesex, yay or nay?

Actually I meant Middlemarch, but thoughts on either are welcome."

First of all, this is really funny :)
I think I gave both Middlemarch and Silas Marner 4 stars. The extra star for Middlemarch came more from my head and the one for Silas Marner from my heart/gut. I remember Middlemarch as being really slow in parts but ending up being a very good story. What I liked: sentimental stuff that felt real and not corny to me, some sly humor, and being there in the historical setting. Did I mention it also seemed really slow in parts?

[Mayme]

33 odd hours later and I'm done with Donna Tartt's "The Goldfinch". Which was actually quite pleasant.

Most of the reviews I've seen for this were either overwhelmingly positive or scathingly negative. To be honest, I don't have strong emotions either way. It wasn't a compelling read, and at points I did think "well, this is dragging a bit". But, I feel that's almost inevitable for a volume that reaches near 800 pages.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is whilst there was enough of a story and enough conflict to make it a worthwhile read, it's not something I'd read again.

[CaptKirk42 Classic Whovian]

Yay! Just finished Under the Dome. Wow a fantastic book all 1070-1080some pages of it. Takes a while especially at first but somewhere around the 1/2 way mark it picks up speed and you don't want to put it down and somewhere near the last quarter of it that urge to keep reading is almost impossible to ignore.

[CaptKirk42 Classic Whovian]

Sandy wrote: "CaptKirk42 Classic Whovian wrote: "Yay! Just finished Under the Dome. Wow a fantastic book all 1070-1080some pages of it. Takes a while especially at first but somewhere around the 1..."

So glad. I'm only 4 books behind so it won't be too difficult to get caught up again. I'm not quite sure I remember what that feels like, but I will soon. Most of the books I read tend to be between 200-350 pages or so.

I will cheat a little, I have a children's book incoming: "Weird Al" Yankovic's second book My New Teacher and Me! I already have and read his first book and I might re-read that one. He is actually a pretty good kids author. Reminds me of Shel Silverstein who musically was known for stuff that was a bit too dirty for kids, but became a favorite of many for his children's stories.