BIG FAT BOOKS CHALLENGE RUNNING TOTAL

Post your BIG FAT BOOKS that you have read on here and see if we can match or beat the 2017 total.

1. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell 766 pages

2. Sue Grafton, A Is for Alibi / B Is for Burglar / C Is for Corpse (omnibus @768pp)
3. Sue Grafton, D Is for Deadbeat / E Is for Evidence / F Is for Fugitive (omnibus @736pp)

4. Jack London: Novels and Stories (Library of America) @1021

5. The Gulag Archipelago Volume I by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 884 pages

6. Sue Grafton, G Is for Gumshoe / H Is for Homicide / I Is for Innocent (omnibus @816pp)

7. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell 766 pages 3 stars

8. Mount by Jilly Cooper, 681 pages.

9. The Unholy Consult by R. Scott Bakker, 620 pages.

10. Sue Grafton, J Is for Judgment / K Is for Killer / L Is for Lawless (omnibus @876pp)

11. By gaslight by Steven Price. 731 pages

12. The Forsyte Saga by Galsworthy, 912 pages

13. Wolken boven Montana by Nora Roberts, 622 pages

14. Roots by Alex Haley, 729 pages

15. Sue Grafton, M Is for Malice / N Is for Noose / O Is for Outlaw (omnibus) @916pp

16. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (607 pages) 4.5*

17. Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner - 676 pages

18. Taboo by Elizabeth Gage, 623 pages.

19. Juliet Barker, Wordsworth: A Life @992pp

Glad i found you back. I have starred this site.

20. Wilson, by A. Scott Berg (read 22 Jan 2018) 701 pages plus an index

21. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell 1086 pages.

22. The Forest by Edward Rutherfurd, 883 pages.

23. The Scar - China Mieville, 608pp

24. Jack London: Novels and Social Writings @1192pp

25. Fiery Cross by Gabaldon. 967 pages

26. Gillespie and I by Jane Harris - 605 pages

27. Zeven stenen by Diana Gabaldon - 618 pages

28.

5532. Blood in the Water The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy, by Heather Ann Thompson (read 17 Feb 2018) (Pulitzer History prize in 2017)
684 pages (not including the index)

29. Never Look Back by Lesley Pearse, 737 pages.

30) Kristin Lavransdatter by Undset. 1168 pages

31) A Breath of Snow and Ash by Gabaldon. 967 pages

32. The Penguin Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe; 1026 pages.

33. Joyce Carol Oates, Blonde @738pp

34. Forge of Darkness by Steven Erikson ; 922 pg.

35. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, 620 pgs.

36. The 6th Extinction - James Rollins, 608 pp

End of February and we're on track to hit 200 BFBs this year!

37. The Gay Revolution by Lillian Faderman, 832 pages

38. The Fell Sword by Miles Cameron - 640pp

39. Bad Boy Jack by Josephine Cox, 632 pages.

40. No Angel by Penny Vincenzi, 626 pages.

41. Fall of Light, by Steven Erikson, 837 pages.

42. Die Jugend des Königs Henri IV by Heinrich Mann. 741 pages.

edited for touchstone

43. An Echo in the Bone by Gabaldon. 813 pages

44. Protect and Defend by Richard North Patterson, 704 pages.

45. The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikbu 1176 pages

>45 Tess_W: Congratulations! One of these lifetimes, I may give it another try.

>46 CurrerBell: I did not enjoy it.....I forced myself to read 30 pages at a time and then walked away...it has taken months. I rated it 3 stars only because it has withstood the test of time, supposedly the first "novel", and written by a woman. It is really the story of Don Juan.

46. The Crusades by Zoe Oldenbourg, 650 pages

47. The Americans by John Jakes, 793 pages.

48. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, 1006 pages

49. Blood Sisters by Barbara Keating and her sister Stephanie Keating. 601 pages

50. Dune by Herbert. 896 pages

51. Heks by Camilla Läckberg, 688 pages

52. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts 936 pages

53. De twaalf by Justin Cronin 618 pages

54. Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson, 1243 pages.

55. Give us this Day by R.F. Delderfield, 767 pages.

56. De stad van spiegels by Justin Cronin 806 pages

57. Alaska by James A. Michener, 1,073 pages.

58. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy - 1395 pages

59. De oversteek by Justin Cronin - 993 pages

60. King's Dragon - Kate Elliott - 640 pages

61;

5557. Journals 1952-2000, by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Edited by Andrew Schlesinger and Stephen Schlesinger (read 16 May 2018) 858 pages plus 33 page index

First bfb I've read since Feb 17, but is the 3rd such book I have read this year--which is not bad, especially since I make no particular effort to have a book I choose to read be a Big Fat Book.

62. Les rouges du midi by Félix Gras. 1000 pages

63. Something Dangerous by Penny Vincenzi, 893 pages.

64. Nimmernacht by Jay Kristoff 651 pages.

65. Into the Silence by Wade Davis 672 pages

66. Through A Glass Darkly by Kathleen Koen 673 pages

67. The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George 976 pages

68. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang 669 pages

69. Into Temptation by Penny Vincenzi, 876 pages.

70. Two Brothers by Ben Elton, 617 pages.

71. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, 793 p.

72. Godchildren by Nicholas Coleridge, 711 pages.

73. Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset, 1146 p.

74. The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F. Hamilton - 1120 pp

75. 5563. Hawaii, by James A. Michener (read 18 Jun 2018) 1130 pages

#76 - Remembrance of Things Past, Volume 1 by Marcel Proust - 1018 pages

77. Trinity by Leon Uris, 890 pages.

78. A Conjuring of Light - V.E. Schawb, 625 pages

79. Exodus by Leon Uris -- 608 pages.

80. Shadow and Claw by Gene Wolfe; 603 p.

81. 5567. Into the Silence The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest, by Wade Davis (read 9 Jul 2018) 623 pages, (not counting the 30 page index.)

82 Rode zee onder een rode hemel by Scott Lynch 608 pages

83. Sword and Citadel by Gene Wolfe, 615 p.

84. The Crimson Campaign - Brian McClellan 640 pages

85. De zeven zussen by Lucinda Riley, 616 pages

86. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher, 671 pages.

87. I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes, 895p.

88. Mark Twain: Mississippi Writings @1104pp, accompanied by....
          Tom Sawyer (Norton Critical)
          Huckleberry Finn (Norton Critical)

The Mississippi Writings (Library of America) volume includes Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, Huckleberry Finn, and Pudd'nhead Wilson. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn are REREADS but read in the Norton Critical Editions for a FIRST READ of the NCE supplementary materials. Life on the Mississippi and Pudd'nhead Wilson are FIRST READS.

89. Barkskins by Annie Proulx 736 pages

90. Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Gabaldon. 1152 pages

91. The Dwarves by Markus Heitz, 733 pages.

92. Barbara Bush: A Memoir, 608 pages

93. The Talisman by King and Straub. 930 pages

I have a question about what constitutes a BFB. Is there a definitive rule that states what counts and what doesn't? For instance, I recently finished reading the Complete Little House on the Prairie set (revisiting my youth!) I started reading individual books out of a box set that I had but halfway through switched over to the Kindle version, which includes all books in one omnibus. I didn't log it here as I wasn't sure if it would be cheating to count it but maybe it does?

>96 Yells: Personally, I don't count Kindle books at all, but I do count omnibus volumes of paper books (see, for example, >3 CurrerBell: as to some Sue Grafton omnibus volumes). That's just my personal practice though, and it derives from ROOTing. If I've finished a volume clear through, I count the volume.

One reason I don't count Kindle books is that I personally have a lot of Delphi Classics, many if not most of which are complete collections of an author's work. And that means the complete works of Henry James {heh-heh, try it some time}.

As to the Little House series, last year I personally counted a five-in-one Barnes & Noble omnibus, which clocked in at 618pp (see Item 9 in my 2017 BFB list). I wouldn't have counted it if I'd read five separate volumes.

I said that I don't count Kindle, but I will let myself use a Kindle ebook for convenience if I've got a comparable treeware volume that would otherwise qualify. As an example, most Library of America editions are omnibus editions. This year, I counted the two Jack London volumes in the LoA (see items for Jan 9 and Feb 6 in my 2018 BFB list) as two individual BFBs, one @1021pp and the other @1192). I may very well have read/reread some of the LoA content on Kindle just for convenience, but I allowed myself credit for the LoA volumes.

Also, note the Jul 24 entry in my 2018 BFB list. I reread the Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer novels in the Norton Critical Editions for convenience (and also first-time read the NCE supplementary materials) and read Life on the Mississippi and Puddn'hed Wilson in the LoA (and may even have used Kindle for convenience). Here I gave myself credit for the LoA volume, which contained all four of these Twain works in omnibus, and also noted my having read the HF and TS novels in NCE.

I also have most of the Delphi collections including Henry James. I agree... they are huge!

Thanks for the response. That definitely helps :)

94. Mary Queen of Scotland and The Isles: A Novel by Margaret George 870 pages 5 stars

95. Mademoiselle de Maupin by Théophile Gautier. 629 pages

>98 Yells: Oh, and as to Henry James, I also have the entire Library of America collection! (ETA: Now you see my need for ROOTing?)

96. The Country Escape by Fiona Walker, 601 pages.

97. It by King. 1152 pages

98. Dune by Frank Herbert - 896 pages

>105 frahealee: Welcome, and thanks for breaking the Hundred point for the group.

>105 frahealee: I will gladly take the blame :)

103. City of Saints & Madmen by Jeff Vandermeer, 704 pages.

>105 frahealee: I count e-books here but I generally check the page count on librarything just in case. As I get older, I find reading larger books on a tablet is just easier overall.

104. Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson, 1180 pages.

>111 frahealee: On the main page of the book you are adding, there is a tab on the left called ' book details' and the page count is in there. There is also a tab called 'work details' but that gives you other info.

It looks like you have to add the book to your library before that tab appears.

106. The Bone Labyrinth - James Rollins - pages: 688

107. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami 623 pages

108. Pilaren van de aarde by Ken Follett - 1006 pages

109. Area X by Jeff VanderMeer, 881 pages.

110. Jack Kerouac, Road Novels: 1957-1960 (Library of America), 864pp

111. Brug naar de hemel by Ken Follett, 1103 pages

112. The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joël Dicker, 670 pages.

113. The Novels of Muriel Spark: Volume 2 @ 624pp

114. The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks, 645 pages.
115. Perfect by Judith McNaught, 805 pages.

116. The Search for Modern China by Jonathan D. Spence, 912 pages

117. The Novels of Muriel Spark: Volume 1 @671pp

118. The Tommyknockers by King. 992 pages

119, 5585. Grant, by Ron Chernow (read 10 Oct 2018) 1035 pages excluding the index.

This is my 6th BFB this year.

120. Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton, 1087 pages.

121. Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher, 698 pages.

122. Die Vollendung des Königs Henri IV by Heinrich Mann, 981 pages

123. Het eeuwige vuur by Ken Follett - 861 pages.

124. Iron Gold - Pierce Brown - 624 pages

125. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. -Neal Stephenson - 768 pages

126. War No More: Three Centuries of American Antiwar & Peace Writing (Library of America) @868pp

128. Lethal White by Robert Galbraith - 647 pages

129. Morgan's Run by Colleen McCullough, 883 pages.

130. The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks, 661 p.

132. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Duma 1312 pages 4 stars

133. My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie 637 pages

134. Killing Commendatore by Murakami. 704 pages

135. Farthest North by Fridtjof Nansen 656 pages

136. European Travels for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss, 708 p.

137. The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson, 772 pages.

138. Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks, 636p.

139. The Love Letter by Fiona Walker, 665 pages

140. Winston's War by Michael Dobbs, 685 pages.

141. The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne, 713p.

142. Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks, 636 pages.

145. Die Reise in den Westen, 1319 p.

146. Ulysses by Joyce. It took a year and a lot of help but I am done. 736 pages

147. Kristin Lavransdatter parts II and III read as one chunk, Sigrid Undset 768 pages.

148. Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks, 689p.

152. Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas. 928 pages

>155 frahealee: I started Ulysses because of a group read but there were only two us left after the first chapter so it quickly became a solo read. It was a lot more accessible then I thought it would be.

153. The Dread Wyrm - Miles Cameron - 608 pages

154. American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from the 1940's to Now (ed. Peter Straub) @750pp

156. Finished The Soprano Sorceress by L.E.Modesitt Jr yesterday, 658 pages, my last book of this challenge and of my reading year is Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks, 689 pages. If I finish it by midnight on the 31st of December it will be my 30th BFB of 2018.

157. Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock, 690 pages.

158. The Source by James Michener 1104 pages 4 stars 8 BFB's this year (9 if I finish one that I'm currently reading)

159. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (David Duff Translator). 621 pages 5 stars

160. Don Quixote by de Cervantes. 992 pages

>163 Tess_W: I am in the middle of Crime and Punishment right now and it's fantastic so far.

>164 Yells: I'm glad you like Crime and Punishment. I read 50% of Don Quixote and quit! (twice). I just can spend time reading that inane thing!

>166 Tess_W: If you've read half of it, you might as well consider it done as the second half is pretty much a review of the first part :)

>165 frahealee: You are welcome! I am always happy to enable others. Happy reading!

161. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. 992 pages

I definitely didn't love it, but it's one of those classics it's nice to check off the list.

162. Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks, 689 pages.

Where is the 2019 Big Fat Books --someone should tell us