Task 1: Read a book you’ve been intimidated to read

[Bonnie G.]

Julie wrote: "Those are my two options as well.

Rachel wrote: "I'll either read Infinite Jest or 1Q84.""

These are both books I really loved, but I will say Infinite Jest is infinitely more difficult to read.

[Chrissy]

Karla wrote: "Chrissy wrote: "I’m not sure about this one, because books aren’t intimidating to me. Maybe I’ll try to read something short in Spanish?"

I like this idea! What did you choose? I haven't read a no..."

I’m still thinking about Cuentos de Eva Luna, which I also have in English if I get stuck. I also am thinking about Paradise Lost though...

[Judy]

The Serial Reader app, great suggestion, Anna. I hadn't heard of it.

[Judy]

I'm going to try tackling The Luminaries. I have it on my Kindle and started it once, but I immediately switched to something lighter. I'll give it another go.

[Caryn]

I've picked 2666. I was so excited when this first came out but then saw the size and said nope. I prefer to read thick books on my Kindle. Then, I started to read reviews and thought well maybe not so I kept pushing it down my TBR list but never axed it. So, I figured I'll suck it up and check it out of the library. Apparently, I am still intimidated by it because I haven't picked it up since I brought it home! If I hope to finish it this year I've got to start though.

[Sean]

Finnegan's Wake is my choice for this. It's been taunting me for 20 years after I scaled Ulysses. Time to take it on!

[Bethany]

so Les Miserable is my longest book on my to read list, but the Jonathan Stroud's Barthemaus Trilogy is longer by 200 pages and just as intimidating. For single book though, I think it's gotta be les mis.

[Melissa]

I still haven't decided what I'm going to tackle, but a while ago I added to my podcast app (and haven't yet listened) a podcast called The Moby Dick Big Read - it's 136 episodes, each chapter read by a different narrator. Some are 5 minutes long, some are a half hour, but it could be a fun and different way to tackle the whole thing. Some of the narrators include Tilda Swinton, Mary Oliver, David Attenborough, John Waters, Tony Kushner, China Mieville, Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephen Fry, and Nathaniel Philbrick.

[Manisha]

I have a box set of The fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand since 2015 on my shelves UNOPENED.. crazy! And I'm still not ready..

[Lianne]

I'm reading City of Golden Shadow by Tad Williams. It's been sitting on my shelf for a long time (since the nineties), but it's very dense, 800 pages, and book one of four equally long books in the series.

I'm a quarter of the way in, and once I got past the first chapter (much like LOTR), I started to get sucked in. Still, knowing that there is more than 500 pages to go (plus well over 2000 pages in the other three books) is pretty damned intimidating.

[Dan]

Sean wrote: "Finnegan's Wake is my choice for this. It's been taunting me for 20 years after I scaled Ulysses. Time to take it on!"

This is my choice as well - I have a few false starts under my belt. In the past year I've really gotten into audiobooks, and there's one for the Wake! I'm going to be going through the physical book at the same time, but I think it will help push through.

Now I just have to decide when to start...

[Bonnie G.]

All y'all are brave and I admire you both. I have several false Finnegan starts myself, but I am weak, I concede. You win Mr. Joyce. I am between Mason & Dixon and Underworld.

[Richard]

I'm not really intimidated by books, but I went with Pillars of the Earth because it's long and I suspected that it was Christian. Still, so many people seem to love it that I've been eyeing it warily for years. It was actually an easy read, very entertaining, but I can't say that I love it the way others do.

[Rodney]

read One Hundred Years of Solitude and it was very much worth it. I do have Finnegan's Wake on my list, too.

[Rachel]

Mine is going to be The Final Empire or The Goldfinch or possibly The Name of the wind.

[Rachel]

Tali wrote: "Carrie wrote: "House of Leaves

by
Mark Z. Danielewski

This book has such great reviews. I bought it went it came out and have let it s..."

I am reading this next month as a buddy read for The Literally Dead Book Club, I am excited but also nervous as it has alot of mixed reviews!

[Teresa]

I read Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Hound of the Baskervilles, a middle grade retelling. I first read this as a young child and the illustrations scared me. This is the first time I've reread this in 40 years.

[Kaiti]

I think I'll with The Goldfinch. Have already read lots of the longer books here and length itself doesn't intimidate me. I've heard mixed reviews on Goldfinch and that has been what has led to me putting it off.

[Cato]

I've read Dune last month. I love sci-fi, so this felt like gap in my education to be honest. I was intimidated by the number of pages. ^^'

[Elspeth]

Rouven wrote: "I've read Dune last month. I love sci-fi, so this felt like gap in my education to be honest. I was intimidated by the number of pages. ^^'"

Ha, I just read 838 pages of the 1125 of "The Stand" by Stephen King ;)

[Elspeth]

A. wrote: "I'm trying to read The Shining for this challenge! I'm already 300 pages in so far this month and I'm starting to wonder why I was ever intimidated to read it."

That reminds me of years ago I came across a copy of Silence of the Lambs. I told myself I'd read it until I couldn't stand it (since it was so scary) but I ended up reading the whole thing no problem.

I'm reading the Stand (didn't even consider reading it for this challenge but it definitely applies) and it's even better for this prompt than the poetry book. I chose because not only is it 1125 pages, but it has 2 (yes 2) rape sequences that really haunted me and I almost didn't get through them.

The Shining is an enjoyable book though. I also liked It and 11/22/63 by him.

[Elspeth]

Bonnie G. wrote: "Diane wrote: "I have always been intimidated by reading Noam Chomsky's linguistics books. This year I am taking on the challenge, but with a group of his essays The Essential Chomsky..."

I first found out about him as a linguistics student :) You could also consider some of Deborah Tannen's books. She's got some really interesting ones about talking in the workplace and among family.

[Elspeth]

Michelle wrote: " this has been staring at me from my shelf for a long time"

Did you end up reading it? I'm 75% of the way through and like it well enough. My longest book on my TBR list by a mile...

[Cato]

Elspeth wrote: "Rouven wrote: "I've read Dune last month. I love sci-fi, so this felt like gap in my education to be honest. I was intimidated by the number of pages. ^^'"

Ha, I just read 838 page..."

I'm impressed ;-)

[Cat]

It took me awhile to pick a book for this task that I actually wanted to read but I think I am going to go with In the Woods

The writing style has been intimidating to me in the past but I really do want to read this book!

[Diane]

Elspeth wrote: "Bonnie G. wrote: "Diane wrote: "I have always been intimidated by reading Noam Chomsky's linguistics books. This year I am taking on the challenge, but with a group of his essays [book:The Essentia..."

Thank you for the recommendation. I will take a look at them.

[Kass]

I'm going with 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. 925 pages and it's been on my TBR for yearrrs

[Chelsea]

House of Leaves, Life A User’s Manual, Seveneves, The Lord of the Rings, Infinite Jest, Ulysses, Gravity’s Rainbow, East of Eden, Foucault’s Pendulum, 1Q84, Kafka On the Shore, The Octunnumi, The Rise and Fall of DODO, The Brothers Karamazov, The Odyssey, 2666, Beowulf, Libra, Eragon, The Crying of Lot 49, The Goldfinch, Underworld, White Noise, Only Revolutions, Wuthering Heights, Gone With the Wind, many many more...

Series... Percy Jackson, the LOTR/Hobbit, The Dark Tower, the Da Vinci Code, His Dark Materials, Narnia, Anne of Green Gables, everything Grishaverse, Endgame

[Bonnie G.]

Chelsea wrote: "House of Leaves, Life A User’s Manual, Seveneves, The Lord of the Rings, Infinite Jest, Ulysses, Gravity’s Rainbow, East of Eden, Foucault’s Pendulum, 1Q84, Kafka On the Shore, The Octunnumi, The R..."

Wow that is a lot of reading -- good luck! It took me half a year just to read Infinite Jest and Gravity's Rainbow took longer.

[Tammy]

I chose An Unquenchable Thirst: A Memoir by Mary Johnson- a memoir by a former nun in Mother Teresa's order. A review warned: "You will never thing of Mother Teresa in the same way." The warning is true but the book is really good and I'm glad I read it!

[superawesomekt]

Kristen wrote: "House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I first attempted this in high school in an effort to keep up with my friends who were smarter than me. I didn’t make it past the first few pages b..."

I love this one! It's not as well written as The Scarlet Letter but it has more charm.

[superawesomekt]

Sarah wrote: "Tri wrote: "Might up and read The Bible...."
I thought about doing that too!"

Great idea! many years ago I had a regular plane commute and used it to finally read the Old Testament (I had read the New Testament before). I just sat and read it like a book and underlined passages that I liked the sound of. I didn't try to understand it all and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. My husband prefers the NIV version but I liked reading King James.

[Sherri]

I read Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. When it was published in 2016 I put a hold on it. There was a 6 month wait so decided to take it off hold & wait for the excitement to calm down. I guess it's safe to read now especially since Amazon is airing the show.

[Paul]

Im late to this I know, but if you’ll slow me, for this I am attempting to concur George Eliot’s “Middlemarch”. Started it and put it down years ago as too dense, but now I’m kind of getting into it.

[Octavia]

After decades of putting it off, and months of hard reading slog, I have finally finished Tolstoy's War and Peace... all 1300 pages of it. I found it bloated and tedious and though I'm glad to be able to say that I have finally read it I am never, ever, EVER so much as opening the covers of that boring bloody book ever again.

Maybe if it had been 300 pages instead of 1300, but I'm sure if Tolstoy were to come back to life to cut it down to 300 pages he'd only keep the bits about marching in snow and whinging about Napoleon and even that might be too much characterisation for him.

[Pamrev]

I'm going for One Hundred Years of Solitude. I always pass over it when perusing classics.

[Mary]

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

[Angie]

I read James Michener’s Alaska. I’ve been meaning to read it since I moved to Alaska in 2005, but it just seemed so long! I ended up really liking it and allowed myself to read it over a couple of months.

[Bonnie G.]

Mary wrote: "Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace"

My advice is to give yourself a lot of time with this. I love the book, but read lots of other books while I read that. DFW is not a desirable everyday presence for me at least.

[Nimisha]

I will read The Blade Itself for this prompt. Character-focused high fantasy novels make me nervous.

[Debbie]

Call Me By You’re Name By Andre Aciman.

Not really interested in male LGBQT books but this was really good. Can’t wait to read the sequel.

[Regan]

Jessica wrote: "I have way too many on my list, ha. I wonder what that says about me as a reader? The Book Riot list nailed me with Homegoing and Possession - both of which I've meant ..."

Both the Way of Kings and the Name of the Wind are phenomenal (although very long at times). I definitely understand the samey feeling and I didn't get that at all from either of these

[Regan]

I'm thinking of finally getting around to the Tao Te Ching. It's not long at all, but for some reason I get intimidated by reading primary sources for religious texts instead of interpretations. There's a translation by Ursula K. Le Guin that looks exciting though!

[Mandie]

Fourevver wrote: "The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. It's almost as long as Les Miserables."

I'm working through this on audio currently.

[Brittany]

I finally finished It this year and am slating it here.