SA Book & Challenge Lovers discussion

The epic challenge is for 500+ page tomes - the epic novels we sometimes shy away from especially when trying to complete other reading challenges. You only need to read one 500+ page book in the 3-month period to complete the challenge, but you can read as many as you want and list them here, with the number of pages you've read.

To make things easier for me and to be sure I get the tally right at the end of the challenge, please use one post for planning and keeping track of your total page count, and be clear about how much you've read. You can post individual updates and chat about your books, as long as you have one post with all the info :)

Happy reading!

A Crown of Swords: 896p
The Path of Daggers: 685p
Winter's Heart: 780p
Crossroads of Twilight: 822
Knife of Dreams: 837
Stealing Light: 603
Nova War: 568
Empire of Light: 544
A Clash of Kings: 969
A Storm of Swords: 1128
A Feast for Crows: 978

TOTAL: 8810

my spot!

Warlock - 501 pages
Bitterblue - 563 pages
Making History - 575 pages

The Night Circus - 512pgs
Blood of Dragons - 535pgs
Towers of Midnight - 959pgs
A Memory of Light - 912pgs
The Spirit War - 544pgs
Spirit's End - 550pgs

Total pages: 4012pgs

Why don't you make it as part of book-of-the-month? People can only make suggestions of book that are 500+ pages.

We like to keep the BoM open for everybody and not everybody has the time or the inclination to read a hefty book.

Total: 6157 pages

1) The Enchantress - 513 pages
2) The Tomb of Hercules - 630 pages
3) The Secret Of Excalibur - 500 pages
4) The Way of Shadows - 645 pages
5) Fyre - 720 pages
6) Peter and the Sword of Mercy - 528 pages
7) The Night Circus - 512 pages
8) The Kill Artist - 512 pages
9) Map of Bones: A Sigma Force Novel - 523 pages
10) The Alexander Cipher - 517 pages
11) Ender's Shadow - 557 pages

Read
- Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson - 1168 pages

Total: 1168

My spot :)

Ok, I'm in. My first official challenge acceptance.

So, I guess this is my spot then. :D

I have read:
A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin. 801 pages (And yes, I did end up going through the appendix!)
A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin 913 pages
A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin 1177 pages
A Feast for Crows by George RR Martin 852 pages

Total: 3743 pages

I am wading through:

Different Seasons by Stephen King 679 pages
A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin
(Plus, I have set 9 exams and now look 'forward' to marking them. :( Work really gets in the way of fun.)

Roz wrote: "Ok, I'm in. My first official challenge acceptance.

So, I guess this is my spot then. :D"

Yay!, welcome. Always good to have more PE people around...

I've come across quite a few books that fall just shy of the 500 mark. These are mostly TPB or HB and if the MMPB was available I'm sure those would be more than 500 pages.

Perhaps we should add a + 10page rule i.e. if a book has 490 pages or more it should still count. That way larger tomes that just don't make it will still be read.

Thoughts?

I like that idea! It has happened to me before as well :)

Crusader wrote: "I've come across quite a few books that fall just shy of the 500 mark. These are mostly TPB or HB and if the MMPB was available I'm sure those would be more than 500 pages.

Perhaps we should add a..."

I vote Yes!

I have read a lot of books that are just shy of that 500 mark. It is really frustrating when that happens. But I will read that book anyway, so for me it isn't that necessary but I will vote yes to help the others.

Most of mine are 500+ it's just that I came across one looking for something to read and saw it didn't quite make it so thought 'Meh, I'll read it later'.

I already started "Wolves of the Calla" more than a year ago, and only just finished it.

PROGRESS: 2397 Pages
Book 1: : 925 Pages
Book 2: : 896 Pages
Book 3: : 576 Pages

Henri wrote: "So, I know the rules of the challenge, but I am making this count for me (And the ones with the voices may disagree, and rightly so) since I already started "Wolves of the Calla" more than a year a..."

I started and run this challenge, and my rule is that, for simplicity's sake, you use the date when you finished the book, so Wolves of the Calla most certainly counts :)

Towers of Midnight 1245p
Game 528p
A Memory of Light 912p

Total: 2685p

I've got a question. I read the Hardback version of Nova War which comes in at 407 pages. However there's a paperback with 580 pages. Am I allowed to use the paperback page number like we do with ebooks?

I vote not, because you are already ahead of me...

Besides that point, I think it is fair to use the paperback page count.

Lol, Varla :)

@Crusader: yes, you can use the paperback page count. I think it's fair since people reading eBooks can choose their page count, and it's the same book anyway (assuming the one with a higher page count doesn't have extra content).

Great. It doesn't have any new content. I just couldn't find the original paperback. They are being re-issued next month again and all of those are 500+ pages too. Double checked on Amazon with their view inside feature and seems the actual page count for the paperback should be 568 pages.

Lauren wrote: "Lol, Varla :)

@Crusader: yes, you can use the paperback page count. I think it's fair since people reading eBooks can choose their page count, and it's the same book anyway (assuming the one with ..."

That's fair, as long as you don't choose the large print editions

Henri wrote: "That's fair, as long as you don't choose the large print editions."

I'm not THAT blind... (yet!).

Ok, I have an issue with that ruling as last year when Lu and I were both reading Angels and Demons by Dan Brown her copy had more pages than mine and I had to use my fewer page count for the same book.

You guys can fight it out and let me know the result. *Ducks*

It's not that I don't want you to be able to use the book, I just want to know why there is now a different ruling then last year and can we please dewcide it one way or the other and then stick to it.

Ah yes I also remember that, but I'm not sure how we got to the result.

I think it is a plot against you Barbara!

Lol! You might be right. Let's all tease the fast reader.
Might also explain why I can't access GR on my computer and can only use my mobile phone to access the site. It makes updating a pain in the you know where!

Perhaps it's time to compile a list of rules for the challenge so in future there won't be any doubts about what is allowed or not i.e.

No omnibus editions.
Although that begs the question if anthologies are allowed)

Crusader wrote: "Perhaps it's time to compile a list of rules for the challenge so in future there won't be any doubts about what is allowed or not i.e.

No omnibus editions.
Although that begs the question if anth..."

Great idea!

Barbara wrote: "Lol! You might be right. Let's all tease the fast reader.
Might also explain why I can't access GR on my computer and can only use my mobile phone to access the site. It makes updating a pain in t..."

Ouch that must not be fun!

A list wit rules would be a good idea.
I have also been thinking of compiling a list with all the different tasks we have already done so we can get inspiration when nominating tasks and can try to be original.

No it isn't. I can reach my personal home page but from there on practically every link I click on goes to a page telling me the page does not exist and please check the url. I only have this problem with GR, all other sites work as they should. I noticed it for the first time this morning. If it hasn't returned to normal by tomorrow I'll contact GR and see if they can help me. For now I can still post messages using my Blackberry and I'll try to go online at work tonight. I have to work till 11 so I will have some time to check.

We should have a rules section on the discussion page where we can have all the rules fr the different challenges on in place.

Barbara wrote: "No it isn't. I can reach my personal home page but from there on practically every link I click on goes to a page telling me the page does not exist and please check the url. I only have this problem with GR, all other sites work as they should. I noticed it for the first time this morning. If it hasn't returned to normal by tomorrow I'll contact GR and see if they can help me. For now I can still post messages using my Blackberry and I'll try to go online at work tonight...."

I had the same problem using internet explorer, switched to google chrome and that worked fine.

Hope you get it sorted out, Barbara. That would drive me mad!

I like the idea of a list of rules, and also wonder if anthologies count...

Oooh try what liezel said Barbara :)

I'll check it out tomorrow. Right now I am at work and am secretly using internet. But I will definitely see if that is the problem since I do use Internet Explorer. Thanks for the suggestion!

Barbara wrote: "Ok, I have an issue with that ruling as last year when Lu and I were both reading Angels and Demons by Dan Brown her copy had more pages than mine and I had to use my fewer page count for the same ..."

Was that for this challenge? If so, I apologise; you should have been allowed to use a higher page count.
If it was for something else, then it might have been a conflict of moderators. I started the Epic Challenge, so I set some of the rules for it, eg. using a book based on when you finished it, not how much you read within a particular time period.

But a list of rules is a good idea; I don't know why we never did it before. I'll drum up a quick list for this challenge.

Rules for the Epic Challenge: (let me know if you're happy with this or if you have changes to suggest)

- Books must be at least 500 pages long.
- Because some people read eBooks that don't have page counts, they are allowed to choose an *appropriate* page count from the editions listed on Goodreads. To avoid being unfair to those reading print copies, they may also choose a higher page count from the list, even if it differs from their copy. After all, you can't always choose the print copy you buy, because of price, availability, etc.
- Note that I said an *appropriate* page count. Use basic editions, not large print, or editions with extra content that you haven't read. Also, you may only use the editions in the language in which you read the book.
- Omnibus editions are not allowed.
- Short story anthologies are acceptable.
- If reading a book with indexes or any other content that you skip, make sure the page count of what you actually read amounts to 500+.

There was a query a while back that I completely forgot to answer, but I'll do so now. It was asked if we could use books that fell just slightly short of the 500 mark.
I thought about it, and I don't see the point. I know it's frustrating to read a long book then be unable to use it for this, but if I lower the page count requirement, then you'll be just as frustrated by books that fall shy of the new count. The only result is that you'll be allowed to use a few extra books. Which would be nice, but hey, it's a challenge :) Being able to pick your page count already gives you some leeway. Also, 500 is a much nicer number than 480 or something.

Sounds good to me. Perhaps a good idea to include it in the first post and then in any future challenges as well.

Thanks! That gives good clarity in various areas which come up.

I like it!

Sounds good! And anyway with being able to pick another appropriate page count there probably is an edition that will be over 500 pages.

The ruling was indeed for this challenge but I think it was Lu who made the ruling telling me that page count was an integral part of reading and so it should be the page count of the edition you read. I was "unhappy" with that ruling since we can use any cover we want and for me the cover is also an integral part of the reading experience.
Even though Lu was the one that made the ruling you never objected or overruled her. Not that it mattered because the difference wasn't hundreds of pages. But it made me wonder this time. But I am glad we have a set of clear rules now. :)

Are you sure I said that? I would think that I would say it was fine?

Yeah, I am pretty sure and I have a good memory. I tried to find the discussion but I can't. Maybe you said it to tease me since I read more than most and it was a way to keep my page count down. Anyway it doesn't matter. I am not angry or anything. Everyone is making a big deal out of this and all I wanted was a ruling one way or the other. Don't worry, I am not loosing any sleep over it and neither should you guys.

Kk cool :)

Lol, I don't think Lu would have teased you like that. I think it's good to decide on rules as we have done now, because we might make one ruling on one day and another three months later, simply because we have different perspectives use different reasoning.

Lauren wrote: "Lol, I don't think Lu would have teased you like that. I think it's good to decide on rules as we have done now, because we might make one ruling on one day and another three months later, simply b..."

Don't worry I will get her back when she least expects it. :P

April - June 2013 Tally

The Epic Reader: Crusader! 8810 And congrats on finding your mojo again :)

Varla Fiona: 6157
Jax: 4012
Roz: 3743
Claudia: 2685
Henri: 2397
Barbara: 1639
Lauren: 1168