Task 10: Read a Book Over 500 Pages Long

[Kylie]

I read Purity by Jonathan Franzen for this.

[Leigh]

I am reading A Game of Thrones. I've completed 4 books for the challenge already so I'm ready for something that is going to take a long time! I may end up pausing this one to read other books but I'm already 10% done.

[Emily]

Just started City of Light. I think I'm going to enjoy this one as I love historical fiction and murder mysteries, and this combines a bit of each. And the protagonist is the headmistress of a girls' school...love that!

[Wellington]

For this challenge I read Winter. This is the conclusion to the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. This was a fantastic series!! All of the characters are complex and their interesting hidden depths to each of them. Winter was a very satisfying ending to the series - there is a definite conclusion, but the author has left their futures to our infinite imaginations.

[Leigh]

Finished A Game of Thrones. Loved it! I'm resisting the urge to read the next one in the series until later this year.

[Audrey]

I'm with you, Leigh. I finished A Feast for Crows and put it down for this category under Certainly Long Enough. I'm taking a break for other books, but I'll probably read the next one by the end of the year.

[Angela]

This morning, I finished The Name of the Rose. Although , at times, I felt bogged down with medieval philosophy and Latin passages that I could not understand, I found it to be a worthwhile read.

[Kathy]

Tatiana wrote: "I am leaning toward All the Light We Cannot See but I have so many I could choose for this topic..."

I loved this book. Read it last year.

[Bryan]

My "over 500" pages book could have been put in the Religion category, not to mention biography or politics. For this challenge I read Erich Metaxas' Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy , the very detailed biography of German Christian theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was executed shortly before the end of World War II for his part in the Valkyrie plot to assassinate Hitler. A powerful, important work, for anyone interested in that period of time, and in the role of conscience faced with absolute evil.

[Valene]

Smoke Currently reading this for this challenge. I just joined the group, so I've got some catching up to do.

[Peng Ming]

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson,currently reading slowly(like 1chapter per day).I hope i can finish war and peace this year(seems like a mission impossible lol)

[Katie]

I was planning on reading The Shining for my horror and book published in the decade you were born. Unfortunately can't use it for this task, it's just under 500 pages. Unless I read the paperback...

[Hebah]

I'm a reader of fantasy, so I knew fulfilling this category would be fairly easy just reading what I wanted to anyway. I read Brandon Sanderson's The Hero of Ages (700+ pages) to conclude the original Mistborn trilogy I started reading a couple years ago. It reaffirmed how much I love fantasy's ability to suck me into a world (even a dying one) and then blow me away with a spectacular, mythic-feeling ending. Can't wait to see the next era in the series.

[Ehrrin]

Kylie wrote: "I read Purity by Jonathan Franzen for this."

Me too!

[Bonnie G.]

Ehrrin wrote: "Kylie wrote: "I read Purity by Jonathan Franzen for this."

Me too!"

Me three!

[Debs]

I just finished Diaries 1969-1979 and really enjoyed it, more than I expected to given that I was only a wee'un in the 70s and know Palin more from his travelogues rather than his Python days. But it's very readable, plenty of tongue-in-cheek humour, at times poignant, a fascinating insight into the creative world of comedy writing and film-making, plus there's the backdrop of lots of shift and change throughout the 70s. Recommended!

[Lorna]

Finished Cuckoo's Calling for this one. Less ambitious than City on Fire like originally planned, but still worth it.

[Kathy]

Just finished reading The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Well worth the long read and in retrospect it may be one of those books I read and reread.

[Jeanne]

Have decided to readMalevil. 589 pages. I read this 30 or more years ago and dont remember much except it was on my keep shelf so it must have been to my liking.

[Michael]

So many good books over 500 pages! The War of the End of the World by Mario Vargas Llosa and The Magus by John Fowles have been on my TBR list the longest, I think, so I think I'll use this opportunity to tackle one of them.

[Anna]

I'm between A Little Life and The Queen of the Night. Although The Orphan Master's Son has been sitting on my TBR shelf for ages, so I *should* read that!

[Mary Sue]

I chose All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr for this task - 4 stars.

[Carol]

Anna wrote: "I'm between A Little Life and The Queen of the Night. Although The Orphan Master's Son has been sitting on my TBR shelf for ages, so I *should* read ..."

The Orphan Master's Son is 443 pages, so . . you're off the hook, Anna! (Plus, I gave it 5 stars, but you have to really want to read it to struggle through the tough stuff, and 90% of it is tough stuff. Be kind to yourself.)

[Anna]

Carol wrote: "Anna wrote: "I'm between A Little Life and The Queen of the Night. Although The Orphan Master's Son has been sitting on my TBR shelf for ages, so I *..."

Ha! My copy is more than 500 pages. (I looked.) But I'll pretend it's 443. Thanks for letting me off the hook! :)

[Carol]

Anna wrote: "Carol wrote: "Anna wrote: "I'm between A Little Life and The Queen of the Night. Although The Orphan Master's Son has been sitting on my TBR shelf fo..."

lol. Life's too short to spend it reading any book over 300 pgs that you don't actually want to read - at least that's my view.

[Hebah]

Nicola wrote: "I really can't decide for this one ... Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, American Gods, The Corrections, Inkheart, Clash of Kings [Because I'm already halfway through lol], The Causal Vacancy and Th..."

Ooh. American Gods, Jonathan Strange,... or Time Traveler's Wife! There. I narrowed it to three for you ;).

(I'd take the started book, personally.)

[Elle]

Nicola wrote: "I really can't decide for this one ... Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, American Gods, The Corrections, Inkheart, Clash of Kings [Because I'm already halfway through lol], The Causal Vacancy and Th..."

Have to agree with Hebah recommending American Gods. It's Neil Gaiman - obviously it's great. I can also recommend Inkheart - it's a lighter read even though it starts off a little slow. I would not recommend Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel. It starts off slow and stays slow, only picking up at the 75-80% point. A 500-page book takes some time - make sure it's a fun time with a well-paced book.

After all that, I also have to agree with Hebah on going with the book you've already started.

[Sarah]

Nicola wrote: "I really can't decide for this one ... Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, American Gods, The Corrections, Inkheart, Clash of Kings [Because I'm already halfway through lol], The Causal Vacancy and Th..."

Another vote for American Gods here and yeah, I'd also be cautious about Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell because if you're not into it, it's tremendously hard going in my opinion.

[Julia]

Nicola, Are you enjoying A Clash of Kings? If yes, then keep going and make that your 500 page book. If no, get a copy of American Gods. You might be able to squeeze American Gods into # 20, as a book about religion. And from your list, Inkheart qualifies as #5 as a middle grade book.

[Elle]

Julia wrote: "Nicola, Are you enjoying A Clash of Kings? If yes, then keep going and make that your 500 page book. If no, get a copy of American Gods. You might be able to squeeze Americ..."

Nicola, American Gods will also satisfy Task 1: Horror. It's the book I used to complete that task. If you're interested in "multi-tasking" that is. : )

[Robin P]

I loved Jonathan Strange but it literally took me months to finish, it's very slow going. On the other hand American Gods or Time Traveler's Wife will be fast reads.

[Chessa]

I read The Name of the Wind for this and it was excellent!

[Elle]

Chessa wrote: "I read The Name of the Wind for this and it was excellent!"

Oohh! This has been on my TBR for a while and I really want to read it, but I've delayed starting this trilogy until the third book has a publication date. It's been George R.R. Martin-type stalled [Game of Thrones]. Glad you liked it though, Chessa.

[Chessa]

Elle wrote: "Oohh! This has been on my TBR for a while and I really want to read it, but I've delayed starting this tril..."

I totally hear you, Elle, I put it off for years because I wanted to let all three be published first! But I ended up finding it used at a bookstore and then my husband read it in the fall and was Very Insistent that I would love it, so I finally read it in January. It really is so good! We have the second installment and I'm trying to hold off for a while before reading it because I'm nervous about how long I'll have to wait for #3! ;)

[adeservingporcupine]

Any thoughts on reading a series for this task (or is that cheating?). I am finishing My Brilliant Friend (which I don't think fits anywhere) and wonder if I can continue it to make it count for more than 500 pages?

[Bea]

Personally, I would say no. The task is to read "a book" which is over 500 pages long.

[Bonnie G.]

Heather wrote: "Any thoughts on reading a series for this task (or is that cheating?). I am finishing My Brilliant Friend (which I don't think fits anywhere) and wonder if I can continue it to make it count for mo..."

Wasn't it great? I am 3/4 done with the second in the series. I did not think they counted for any category as I understand the rules, but I read a lot of stuff that isn't on the list.

[Britany]

My first 5 Star read of the year
Finished: by Hanya Yanagihara

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Katie]

This book is absolutely haunting

[Britany]

couldn't agree more Katie.

[Susan]

I'm still in the midst of it, but it's great. Words in Air: The Complete Correspondence Between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell. I love reading author's letters. It's as good as their other writing and you get move through their lives as they did....

[Bobby]

It took two months—twice as long as I had planned—but I finally finished Anna Karenina.

[Leslie]

Bobby wrote: "It took two months—twice as long as I had planned—but I finally finished Anna Karenina."

Wondering why so long? Your regular reading speed, or was it a lot of work to get through? Worth it, other than saying you did it? Thanks.

[Bea]

Bobby wrote: "It took two months—twice as long as I had planned—but I finally finished Anna Karenina."

Ha, ha! I am reading it on my Kindle when I have trouble sleeping. So far, it has been 5.5 months, and I am at 52%. Of course, it means I am having a lot of good sleep rather than restless nights!

[Bobby]

Leslie wrote: "Bobby wrote: "It took two months—twice as long as I had planned—but I finally finished Anna Karenina."

Wondering why so long? Your regular reading speed, or was it a lot of work to get ..."

My normal reading speed is fairly slow, but I've been trying to maintain a pace of about 50 pages a day. I tend to get distracted easily by other books, by the Internet, and by life in general interrupting my scheduled reading. This book was very enjoyable, well worth reading, and only occasionally difficult — sometimes it is hard to keep track of all the Russian names for the same character, and sometimes the translation is not very idiomatic English. Some passages were so brilliantly written I had to go back and read them again, or at least read them slowly to savor the full effect. So far I've read this book, War and Peace (which only took a month, although it was much longer than this), and The Law of Love and The Law of Violence, and I plan to read several more works by Tolstoy.

[Bobby]

Bea wrote: "Bobby wrote: "It took two months—twice as long as I had planned—but I finally finished Anna Karenina."

Ha, ha! I am reading it on my Kindle when I have trouble sleeping. So far, it has ..."

I hope it's not Tolstoy that's putting you to sleep! When I got down to the last 75 pages or so, I ended up staying awake until 2:00 a.m. finishing the last chapter just because I couldn't stand waiting until the next day to get to the end. I don't think I accomplished much at work the next day.

[Betty]

I, too, am reading Anna Karenina. I am enjoying it immensely...beautifully written...but most decidedly not a quick read! I keep having to flip back to the explanatory notes, list of characters, and the list of Russian words, but am grateful those are included as they elucidate many of the situations/scenarios Tolstoy is writing about. Desiring a visual of the sweeping Russian landscape and period costumes, I couldn't resist peeking at the 1948 film version starring Vivian Leigh, available on Netflix! In what, for me, is a remarkable show of restraint, I only watched up to the point where I've read...I have 200 pages to go. Lots of train scenes chugging through the snow, but the Vronsky/Anna casting is pretty good. No comparison to the book, of course, but nice 1940s eye candy!!!

[Mary]

I read Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott coming in at just 513 pages.

[Anissa]

I read Handling Sin. So good. Here's my review: Right in my wheelhouse: HILARIOUS, about families, road trip, ethnically diverse characters. A hefty 656pgs. but it flies by. Great writing. Written in the 80's.

[Britta]

I am reading Dickens' Bleak House for this challenge. And it is a challenge indeed...