Aitziber's Chunks and Translations Challenge for 2015

[Aitziber]

My plan for 2014 was to develop a reading habit once again. I feel that this goal has gone well, so my goal for 2015 is to read 12 of the so-called chunksters. One each month.

Chunksters

1. Chabon, Michael - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
2. Danielewski, Mark Z. - House of Leaves
3. DeLillo, Don - Underworld
4. Dostoyevsky, Fyodor - The Brothers Karamazov
5. Ellison, Ralph - Invisible Man
6. Eugenides, Jeffrey - Middlesex
7. Franzen, Jonathan - Freedom
8. Joyce, James - Ulysses
9. Lessing, Doris - The Golden Notebook
10. Melville, Herman - Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
11. Mistry, Rohinton - A Fine Balance
12. Wolfe, Tom - The Bonfire of the Vanities

Books in Translation

12 books written in a language other than English. Preferably including more women and POC, as the chunksters are predominantly white male.

Books from my shelves

I would also like to pull books from my tbr shelves, in particular from:

Flavorwire's 50 Novels Guaranteed to Make You a Better Person
Flavorwire's 50 of the Greatest Debut Novels Since 1950
Goodreads's Brain Pain Shelves

[Erica]

Some good reads there and some books I also need/want to read...like Middlesex and Freedom

[Evelyn]

There is a group read of Ulysses in progress now, planned to be complete in January.

[Chrissie]

Have fun. Some of those books I liked a lot, but others less so.

[Aitziber]

Evelyn wrote: "There is a group read of Ulysses in progress now, planned to be complete in January."

Thanks, Evelyn! I'll check it out next year, as there's no way I'll get around to reading Ulysses before January. :)

Chrissie, I'm not totally sure I'll enjoy Underworld or Freedom -- which ones did you enjoy and which ones not so much?

[Chrissie]

I was very impressed by A Fine Balance. The Brothers Karamazov isn't as good as Crime and Punishment but I adore the writing of Fyodor Dostoyevsky so any thing he writes is worth reading. I really liked Middlesex too, particularly the Greek family culture.

OK, I have tried Moby-Dick; or, The Whale umpteen times and NEVER get all the way through. So if you cannot get through it another more fun version is Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer, which I really enjoyed.

[Laurel]

I've read Moby Dick and Freedom. I wouldn't say I "liked" either one, but I'm glad I read them. Currently reading Ulysses, and I'll be doing Middlesex next summer with my f2f book club.

[Gill]

I thought Moby Dick was great. I also enjoyed Middlesex and A Fine Balance.

[Jenny]

Great selection of chunksters there! Some I've read others I would really like to, like Underworld by DeLillo who's books I generally really enjoy, or Freedom which is waiting to be read, sitting on my bookshelf already. (I think so is Middlesex!)

[Pink]

Great selection, I want to read several of these myself :)