Chunkster Challenge Complete

I was thinking about the books that I have read this year, when I suddenly realised that I had read quite a few Chunksters. A quick double check confirmed that I had in fact completed the Chunkster Challenge which started on 1 February and is running until 31 January 2011.

I had signed up for the Morbookly Obese level, which means I was aiming to read six or more books which meet the definition of a chunkster (being 450 pages or more of ADULT literature (fiction or nonfiction) or 525 pages of large print books.

Here are the books I have read that qualify as chunksters so far this year:

Roses by Leila Meacham (609 pages)
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (662 pages)
The Champion by Elizabeth Chadwick (501 pages)
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson (602 pagees)
The Endless Forest by Sara Donati (626 pages)
Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati (876 pages)

That's a mere 3876 pages right there!

Are you sitting down?

  

I would hate for anyone to fall over and hurt themself, because I tell you this is a shock to me, let alone to any one else! This week I managed to write not one, but two reviews! The first was for Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland, and the second is a guest post that I wrote for Royal Reviews reviewing Roses by Leila Meacham.

Head on over to see what I had to say!

TSS: February reading round up

This week's unofficial Sunday Salon post is my February reading round up, although I am still wondering how on earth can it possibly be the end of February already. I know it is a short month, but it really should still only be near the middle of the month, maybe the 21st, not the end of the month.

The biggest casualty of the fact that the end of the month is upon us is my LOTR Readalong book, The Fellowship of the Ring. My intention was to read 100 pages a week, but I am still stuck on page 160 having not read anything for a couple of weeks at least! And, I haven't even requested the next book from the library so it isn't like I would be ready for the next month's readalong anyway!

So, if I haven't been reading the Tolkien book, what have I been reading? This month I read 12 books, which is not bad, especially considering that two of those books were chunksters.

The books I read were:

If His Kiss Is Wicked by Jo Goodman (4.5/5)
Leonardo's Swans by Karen Essex (4/5)
First Comes Marriage by Mary Balogh (4/5)
A Distant Shore by Peter Yeldham (4.5/5)
Tears of Pearl by Tasha Alexander (3/5)
Graceling by Kristin Cashore (4.5/5)
Emma Vol 2 by Kaoru Mori (4/5)
Remember When by Nora Roberts/J D Robb
Roses by Leila Meacham (4.5/5)
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (5/5)
Betrayal of the Blood Lily by Lauren Willig (4/5)
Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland (4/5)

And how did I go with my challenges?

I had several books which covered multiple challenges this month. I love it when that happens! The book that I read for the Year of the Historical challenge was Jo Goodman's If His Kiss Is Wicked (excellent dialogue) also qualified for the Romance  Reading Challenge as did First Comes Marriage.

The books that I read for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge this month were Leonardo's Swans, Roses, The Betrayal of the Blood Lily and Mistress of the Sun. I am making good progress through the Historical Fiction Reading challenge having read 6 of the 20 books required to get to the Obsessed level of achievement. Karen Essex's Leonardo's Swans also qualified for the Tournament of Reads (just), and Mistress of the Sun for the French Historical Challenge.

I am happy to report that I am still doing okay on the Aussie Authors reading challenge. This month I read A Distant Shore by Peter Yeldham, and I am currently over half way through Lord Sunday by Garth Nix, the final book in the Keys to the Kingdom YA series.

So far I have read 27 books for the 100+ Reading challenge and 22 books for the Support Your Local Reading Challenge. I did notice that there is new reading challenge called 100 Books in a Year that is being hosted by Reading with Sea which runs from March 2010 to February 2011. I am still deciding whether to sign up or not for that challenge. It does seem to be a duplication 100+ challenge that I am already participating in, but covers a different period, so I might still sign up.

I made a start on the Chunkster Challenge this month by reading Roses by Leila Meacham and The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (excellent, excellent book). Roses also qualified for the Pub 2010 challenge.

I also read a book for the In Death Reading Challenge. Remember When is a bit of a strange book really. The first half of the book is written in the style of Nora Roberts, and the second half is J D Robb featuring Eve Dallas from the In Death books. Nora Roberts and J D Robb are the same person writing under different names but it was still a bit strange to read.

The challenges that I didn't make any progress on this month include the Harry Potter Reading Challenge, the Vampire Series Challenge (which I kind of surprising - a whole month without reading a vampire novel. I can't remember the last time that happened), the Tudor Book Challenge, the L J Smith reading challenge and also my own Terry Pratchett Reading Challenge. I am planning to put a post up for the Terry Pratchett Challenge this week. Actually, I have been planning that for a while now, but this week I will actually do it!


No progress on these challenges doesn't stop me from joining new challenges. This time I am joining Carrie at Books and Movies in her Ireland Reading Challenge. It runs from February to November and I am planning to meet the Luck O' the Irish level of achievement by reading 4 novels that are either set in Ireland, written by Irish authors or involving Irish history or Irish characters

More Challenges - yes more!

The Chunkster Challenge is one of my favourite challenges, and this will be my third year of participating. I was really glad when Wendy decided to run the challenge next year. If she hadn't have volunteered, then I was definitely thinking about stepping up. All the challenge details can be found at the challenge blog. I will be signing up for the Mor-book-ly Obese level, which means that I am planning to read six or more books which meet the definition of a chunkster. This challenge runs from 1 February 2010 to 31 January 2011.

The Tudor Book challenge is being hosted by Benedictionary. I am only planning to sign up for The Commoner level, which is to read 5 Tudor novels. I was tempted to go for more, but in the end I decided to go for the lowest level in recognition of the fact that I am signed up to so many other challenges.

Like many other people, Meghan from Medieval Bookworm is one of my favourite Historical Fiction focussed blogs, so when she announced her A Tournament of Reading, I was pretty much instantly going to participate. Again, I am entering this one at the lowest level of Peasant, in this case not only because I have signed up for other challenges, but also, because as much as I love reading historical fiction set in this period, I am not in a hurry to read any medieval literature. Maybe there is something out there that I really should read though. Any recommendations?

And just because I can, have all you Richard Armitage fans out there seen the picture that has recently come out of Richard in his new role in Strike Back. Looking good as always! Thanks to the Richard Armitage Fan Blog for posting this!