Labor Day has come and gone. So how did I do with the Big Book Summer Challenge hosted by Sue Jackson at Book by Book?
1. Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth (656 pages) 
A Victorian comedy of manners alternating with (maybe) tongue-in-cheek horror.
2. Devil House by John Darnielle (416 pages) 
Devil House by John Darnielle is a scarily realistic meta-fictional memoir about a true-crime writer. Horror readers only for this one, I think.
3. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (1104 pages)
I loved The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett in print, although I had always intended to listen to it on audio. I do want to read its equally long sequel, World Without End, but may wait for next year’s Big Book Summer challenge!
4. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry (400 pages)
Apparently, I completely forgot to read People We Meet on Vacation. That explains why I couldn’t remember anything about it for this wrap-up post!
5. Cometh the Hour by Jeffrey Archer (528 pages)
6. This Was a Man by Jeffrey Archer (544 pages)
With these two books (6 and 7) I have finally finished listening to The Clifton Chronicles by Jeffrey Archer. The spinoff William Warwick mysteries are intriguing, but the first one, Nothing Ventured is too short for BBS, at 384 pages (9.5 hours on audio.)
7. Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante (400 pages)
8. The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante (480 pages)
From my original challenge post: “The two final Neapolitan novels by Elena Ferrante are repeats from 2020 and 2021. Will 2022 be the year I finally read them?”
Sadly, no.
9. Project Hail Mary by Andrew Weir (496 pages)
Project Hail Mary is another repeat from 2021, but I couldn’t get a downloadable audiobook from the library – some kind of licensing issue, apparently. Ray Porter is one of my favorite narrators. Sue from Book by Book encouraged me to keep this one on my list, so I’ll keep trying.
10. Pursuits of Happiness: On Being Interested by Eva Brann
I didn’t tackle this big philosophy book in any serious way this summer, although I read bits and pieces.
And that’s my update! Only five books out of ten, but they WERE big books.
I tried twice to purchase a Big Book Summer Challenge mug or tote bag to commemorate the 10th anniversary, but was thwarted both times by Zazzle and a broken “Forgot password?” option, and again a third time after creating a new account with a different email.
There’s always next year!
Congratulations on a wonderful Big Book Summer, Laurie!! Sounds like you read some really great books – as you know, Pillars of the Earth is the book I read (and loved) that inspired the challenge more than 10 years ago.
And congratulations on being the 2022 Big Book Summer giveaway winner, too! I was so glad to see your name pop up as the winner since you were so enthusiastic about the challenge all summer and really seemed to enjoy it.
I wish you had told me about the troubles with Zazzle! I’m guessing others encountered problems, too, and I wish I could have fixed that. Next summer, I will look for a different platform. My two Big Book Summer mugs have become prominent fixtures at our house!
Sue
Book By Book
i read the ken follett book many years ago and thought it was fabulous. and i read the sequel too. such good reads.
[…] did pretty well with Sue’s Big Book Summer challenge last year, so when I saw Adam at Roof Beam Reader was celebrating ten years of the TBR […]
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