Big Book Summer Reading Challenge 2023 discussion

Big Book Summer 2023 ends next Monday, September 4.
If you'd like to, you can leave a message in this thread to tell us about YOUR Big Book Summer! Did you read the book(s) you planned to? Did you stumble on other Big Books you read also/instead?

How was YOUR Big Book Summer?
(I'm still reading & listening!)

I only completed one Big Book this summer (The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt), but not for lack of trying. I DNFed three others (Super Gut: A Four-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight by Dr. William Davis, The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese -- I know, I'm in the minority with that one -- and Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark).

Still contemplating whether I have one more potential Big Book in me this season -- that would be Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. And I'm disappointed that I didn't get to The Overstory by Richard Powers. But! The Goldfinch had been on my shelves for 10 years, so I'm considering Big Book 2023 a success!

I read a couple big books this summer. I didn’t make it through Winter. I am only on page 250. It has 832 pages. I finished the books that are published from the Shadow Demon Saga. I also finished Cress from the Lunar Chronicles series. I also had one other big book to read. It was Lock and key by Sarah Dessen. That one will have to wait until next summer to finish. I am hoping to finish Lunar Chronicles series this year. I feel like I did well.

I read 19 Big Books this summer. I never did list them individually as I finished them. My favorite ones were - Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston - Victoria by Daisy Goodwin - A Minute to Midnight by David Baldacci - The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearley. It was a good Big Book Summer!! I enjoyed it

I completed The Ferrymwn by Justin Cronin, and Cloud Cucko land by Anthony Doerr. I’m still reading covenant of water.

I show that I read 6 books that would qualify as chunksters:

The Covenant of Water

When We Had Wings

The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece

Good Night, Irene

The Lord of the Rings

Undaunted: How Women Changed American Journalism

Okay, here is my list of big books for Summer 2023. Ten books!
1. The Murmur of Bees
2. The Girls on Chalk Hill
3. The Lincoln Highway
4. The Madwomen of Paris
5. The Girl’s Last Cry
6. The Cartographers
7. The Old Drift
8. The Raging Storm
9. Babel: An Arcane History
10. The Postcard

Had an exceptionally good reading summer due to being off work - 11 big books (can hardly believe it to be honest!), which you can find listed here.

I'd definitely recommend:

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (though very different to A Handmaid's Tale!)
If you want to make God laugh by Bianca Marais
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

As always, have very much enjoyed reading other people's reviews and recommendations - The Lincoln Highway has caught my eye this year. I had A Gentleman in Moscow on my wishlist I think, though have been considering skipping it for some time now... this might be the time to do just that!

Thank you ever so much Sue for hosting the challenge, it's been great fun :-).

I read 2 of the 5 books that I said I was going to read. The other 6 books that I read instead were just under 400 pages each.

I read:
Streets Of Laredo by Larry McMurtry which was very good
The Engines Of God by Jack McDevitt which was very good

my wrap up video
https://youtu.be/kZ-FgmpkB6I?si=mW4Yi...

I only finished 1 big book (The Betsy-Tacy Treasury) but I am happy with that because it's the first time I've been able to say I completed the big book challenge in all the years I've been trying to do so lol Thank you so much for hosting the challenge every year! I will be back again next year and I'm trying for two books next time lol

Melissa wrote: "I only completed one Big Book this summer (The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt), but not for lack of trying. I DNFed three others ([book:Super Gut: A Four-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Micro..."

Congratulations, Melissa! That is a success - The Goldfinch is a hefty one :) I really enjoyed it. I also want to read Mad Honey, and The Overstory was in my own Big Book Summer stack for two years before I finally read it - it's excellent but is a long read.

Allie wrote: "I read a couple big books this summer. I didn’t make it through Winter. I am only on page 250. It has 832 pages. I finished the books that are published from the Shadow Demon Saga. I also finished ..."

Wonderful, Allie! Sounds like a fun Big Book Summer for you!

Janna wrote: "I read 19 Big Books this summer. I never did list them individually as I finished them. My favorite ones were - Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston - Victoria by Daisy Goodwin - A Minute to..."

19?? Wow, Janna, that is amazing!! Glad you enjoyed the Big Book Summer Challenge!

Allen wrote: "I completed The Ferrymwn by Justin Cronin, and Cloud Cucko land by Anthony Doerr. I’m still reading covenant of water."

Well done, Allen. My husband just finished The Ferryman and enjoyed it - it will probably be in my BBS stack next year!

Linda wrote: "I show that I read 6 books that would qualify as chunksters:

The Covenant of Water

When We Had Wings

[book:The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece..."

Sounds like a great Big Book Summer for you, Linda! Glad you participated again - hope you enjoyed it.

Melinda wrote: "Okay, here is my list of big books for Summer 2023. Ten books!
1. The Murmur of Bees
2. The Girls on Chalk Hill
3. The Lincoln Highway
4. [book:The ..."

Wow, Melinda - 10 Big Books! Way to go!

Elinor wrote: "Had an exceptionally good reading summer due to being off work - 11 big books (can hardly believe it to be honest!), which you can find listed here.

I'd definitely recommend:

The Testaments by Ma..."

Congratulations, Elinor - 11 Big Books is wonderful! So glad you enjoyed If You Want to Make God Laugh and Pachinko - two of my favorites! Will check out your wrap-up post. I'm behind, but be sure to add it to the Challenge page links list (the 2nd one) so others can find it, too.

Bill wrote: "I read 2 of the 5 books that I said I was going to read. The other 6 books that I read instead were just under 400 pages each.

I read:
Streets Of Laredo by Larry McMurtry which was very good
The E..."

Well done, Bill! Sounds like a fun Big Book Summer. I think Lonesome Dover might be my Big Book Classic for next summer (and for June on the Range).

D.L. wrote: "I only finished 1 big book (The Betsy-Tacy Treasury) but I am happy with that because it's the first time I've been able to say I completed the big book challenge in all the years I've been trying ..."

That's great, D.L.! Glad you enjoyed the challenge this year!

I finished two big books this summer: Greenwood by Michael Christie and How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny.
I am already looking forward to next year.

While I went completely off-script from my original Big Book plans, I did pretty well! I did DNF a couple, Mad Honey and The Overstory (for now?), though in addition to some great "regular-sized" reads, I finished:

The Postcard - Anne Berest (464 pages)
Girls and Their Horses - Eliza Jane Brazier (400 pages)
Three - Valerie Perrin (560 pages)
Summer Stage - Meg Mitchell Moore (400 pages)

Unless I can somehow read 700 more pages today, The Covenant of Water will be post-challenge, though will hopefully finish this hefty tome before the autumn equinox arrives!
Thank you, Suzan, for the summer fun!

Lynne wrote: "I finished two big books this summer: Greenwood by Michael Christie and How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny.
I am already looking forward to next year."

Congrats on a good Big Book Summer, Lynne! I'm listening to the latest Louise Penny now - going to finish it today for my last Big Book!

Kiersten wrote: "While I went completely off-script from my original Big Book plans, I did pretty well! I did DNF a couple, Mad Honey and The Overstory (for now?), though in addition to some great "regular-sized" r..."

Well done, Kiersten! I've been hearing such good things about The Postcard. I hope you enjoy the rest of Covenant of Water - that was definitely a popular one for Big Book Summer this year!

Last summer, I read 6 Big Books which was an outlier for me, in general, I only have read 3. Back to my old ways, I read only 3, but I gave them all 5 stars. I read Summer Sisters by Judy Blume, Somebody's Fool by Richard Russo and David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. All things considered, I feel like my Big Book Summer was a success. Thanks so much, Sue, for hosting! Of course, I am looking forward to next summer.......

Echoing everyone else to say thanks to you, Sue, for hosting once again! This is always a fun event no matter how much or little we read. Cheers to summer 2023 and here's looking forward to 2024!

I read 2, the ferryman by Justin Cronin and cloud cucko land . I didn’t get to love songs of WEB Dubois but may read that over Christmas. My schedule didn’t really work out for me to actually sit down l lol. But audio version of covenant of water is still being played.

See you in 2024

Kate wrote: "Last summer, I read 6 Big Books which was an outlier for me, in general, I only have read 3. Back to my old ways, I read only 3, but I gave them all 5 stars. I read Summer Sisters by Judy Blume, So..."

That sounds like a wonderful Big Book Summer, Kate ... but what about Ulysses? Didn't you also buddy read that with Chris?

I've been meaning to read Russo for years - he's going on my Christmas wish list.

Glad you enjoyed another Big Book Summer, Kate!

Melissa wrote: "Echoing everyone else to say thanks to you, Sue, for hosting once again! This is always a fun event no matter how much or little we read. Cheers to summer 2023 and here's looking forward to 2024!"

Thanks, Melissa!! It's fun for me, too :)

I'm not actually a fan of summer anymore - just too hot and humid for me (though this summer had a few high points) - so I always look forward to Big Book Summer - it definitely brightens my season!

Allen wrote: "I read 2, the ferryman by Justin Cronin and cloud cucko land . I didn’t get to love songs of WEB Dubois but may read that over Christmas. My schedule didn’t really work out for me to actually sit d..."

Wonderful, Allen! Love Songs of WEB DuBois is on my list for next year, for sure.

I posted the Wrap-Up for Big Book Summer 2023! You can read it on my blog:
https://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2023/...

Or watch the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpGF3...

Both include the overall summary of the entire challenge, plus my own wrap-up. We had a record 60 participants this summer, and Greg of Another Bibliophile Reads YouTube channel won the end-of-summer giveaway.

I hope you all enjoyed your Big Books and the discussions this summer!