Bryan's Big Books 2021.

Thanks john for setting up this group, great to see so many people here already.
I managed 42 big books at an average of 673 pages last year and hope to have a similar year of reading in 2021.
Hope we all have a big year of big book reading !

Hi Bryan, here we go again. Good to see you in 2021.

Nice numbers for last year.

Thanks connie, you too.

Hi Bryan mate, nice to see you here again, hope you have a good reading year. I may not post as much but i will be visiting the threads to see how everyone is going on.

Cheers John, happy reading !

1. The Complete Poems by Emily Dickinson, 717 p.

I am not such a keen reader of poetry but this book came next on my 'The Greatest Books'.org challenge, so I read maybe 15 pages a day since mid December. Plenty of clever rhymes but nothing like the awe that Walt Whitman inspires.

2. Rabbit Angstrom. The Four Novels by John Updike, 1516 p.

Another book from my 'Greatest Books' challenge, a long but quite engaging story of the life of Harry Angstrom, an American man who finds much of life frustrating. Harry is not the most likeable character but I could identify with some of his angst and enjoyed this book.

2 big books ; 2233 total pages ; average 1,116.5 pages.

3. East of Eden by John Steinbeck, 728 p.

This is a big novel with an epic story of two families, the Hamiltons and the Trasks who live in rural California in the 18th to 19th century. Themes of family, love, hate, and redemption in the lives of ordinary people made this a very good read for me.

3 big books ; 2,961 total pages ; average 987 pages.

You're making amazing progress with your BFBs!

Hi Bryan mate, awesome reading progress so far.

Thanks MissWatson and John, being on holidays helps !

Am enjoying a fantasy Return of the Crimson Guard at 1054 pages, fairly light read, but have The Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft 1101 pages coming up, not a light read.
Cheers and happy reading.

4. Return of the Crimson Guard by Ian C. Esslemont, 1054 p.

I really enjoyed Steven Erikson's Malazan 10 volume series and Esslemont has continued the series, his writing is no where near as good as Erikson's (so far) but I'll read anything about The Malazan Books of the Fallen.

4 big books ; total pages 4,015 ; average 1004 pages.

5. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, 584 pages.

Reread and very happy to be reminded of how good this novel is.

5 big books ; total pages 4599 ; average 920 pages.

6. Stonewielder by Ian C. Esslemont, 884 p.

Next in Esslemont's Malazan series, always enjoy spending time in this world.

6 big books ; total pages 5,483 ; average 914 pages.

7. Malice by John Gwynne, 628 p.

John Gwynne's debut novel is a enjoyable coming-of-age fantasy with engaging characters. It is the first of a 4 book series, apparently the writing/story improves greatly in the next book Valour so i am looking forward to it.

7 big books ; total pages 6,111 ; average 873 pages.

8. The Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft, 1102 p.

Though little appreciated during his life, Lovecraft is now regarded as one of the most original and significant writers of weird, supernatural fiction.
My favourites of his short stories and novellas ; 'Herbert West-Reanimator',' The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath', 'The Case of Charles Dexter Ward', 'The Shadow Over Innsmouth', 'The Quest of Iranon', and the delightful parody 'Sweet Ermengade'.

8 big books ; total pages 7,213 ; average 901 pages.

9. The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh, 552 p.

Friend lent me this historical fictional account of South East Asia from the late 1800s to the late 1900s, I found the historical aspects interesting, the characters not so much.

9 big books ; total pages 7,765 ; average 863 pages.

10. The Tibetan Book of the Dead, 515 p.

11. Valour by John Gwynne, 648 p.

Second in Gwynne's The Faithful and the Fallen series, engaging story and characters and I'm looking forward to Ruin and Wrath.

11 big books ; total pages 8,928 ; average 811 pages.

12. Ruin by John Gwynne, 746 p.

Next in The Faithful and the Fallen series, enjoying the series and will go straight onto Wrath, fourth and final book.

12 big books; total pages 9,674; average 806 pages.

13. Wrath by John Gwynne, 685 p.

Finale of the Faithful and the Fallen series, an enjoyable fantasy story with many engaging characters, happy to recommend it.

13 big books ; 10,359 total pages ; average 797 pages.

14. The Son by Philipp Meyer, 561 p.

15. Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb, 880 p.

15 big books ; 11,800 total pages ; average 786 pages.

You are doing so well with the BFBs!

Hi MissWatson, thanks for your message, hope your reading is going well.

Oh yes, just no big books right now.

16. The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb, 906 p.

Second in The Liveship Traders trilogy and I an enjoying the saga and characters, Ship of Destiny is here and I am keen to see how the author brings the story to a close.

16 big books ; 12,706 total pages ; 794 average pages.

>26 bryanoz: Such good memories of this series, Bryan. Enjoy.

Hi Connie, I am enjoying the series, I have 3 more books to finish/start before Ship of Destiny.
I read the Farseer trilogy a couple of years ago but didn't enjoy the ending-cannot remember why-
looks like I will have to continue Fitz and the Fool's adventures with Fool's Errand and the rest.

>28 bryanoz: I don't remember a lot of these books, but I have an overall feeling of it being very entertaining. I especially loved the living ships series.

17. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn, 643 p.

18. Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb, 903 p.

18 big books ; average 792 pages ; total 14,252 pages.

Wow! That is a lot of pages.
I like how you are adding the pages and doing an average as you go along.

Thanks Jayne, I got the idea from someone else on this challenge. Also I track my reading on an excel spreadsheet (also got the idea from Librarything) so the adding and averaging is easy !
Happy reading Jayne.

19. The Waste Lands by Stephen King, 584 p.

Third in the Dark Tower fantasy series, interesting enough to persist, Wizard and Glass up next.

20. Orb Sceptre Throne by Ian C. Esslemont, 844 p.

Fourth in Esslemont's Malazan series, the Malazan universe is brilliant !

20 big books ; 15,680 total pages ; 784 average pages.

Forgot two big books !

21. Mutiny on the Bounty by John Boyne, 541 pages.

22. The Hod King by Josiah Bancroft, 570 pages.

22 big books ; 16,791 total pages ; 763 average pages.

23. Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor, 517 pages.

24. Wizard and Glass by Stephen King, 845 pages.

24 big books ; 18,153 total pages ; 756 average pages.

25. The Golem & the Djinni by Helene Wecker, 646 p.

Reread of a favourite fantasy novel in preparation for the new sequel The Hidden Palace.

26. Anne of Green Gables & Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery, 527 p.

We enjoyed the Netflix 'Anne with an E' series so decided to reread the first book and read the second, very nice stories but I'm happy not to continue the series and trust Anne lives happily ever after.

26 big books ; 19,326 total pages ; 743 average pages.

Now to start my next challenging big read - House of Leaves 662 pages.

Time for an update.

27. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, 662 p.

Meant to be one of the most horrific and frustrating books ever written, I found it weird but engaging enough, not sure about it being horror.

28. The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie, 520 p.

Completion of his Age of Madness grim dark fantasy trilogy, very enjoyable read for me.

29. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles, 576 p.

Not up to his remarkable A Gentleman in Moscow but still an engaging story.

29 big books ; 21,084 total pages ; 727 average pages.

>37 bryanoz: Yeah, I never considered House of Leaves horror, but have enjoyed the complexity of it several times.

Way behind with my reading due to teaching full-time for the last 7 weeks. Holidays have arrived so serious reading time.

30. Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King, 771 pages, 5th in the Dark Tower series and an intriguing story so far, 2 big books to go in the series.

30 big books ; 21,855 total pages ; 728.5 average pages.

Hi Bryan mate, your reading has been very good so far, i have just four to my name this year. Your boys overran us at the Gabbatoir, hopefully we will put up a better show in Adelaide in the day/night Test.

Look after yourself mate and the family.

Hi John, 2 more big books to come this year, thanks for your support.
Ashes wise it cannot be easy to get here and take on a strong bowling attack on hard pitches without much preparation, as the English players get used to it here they will be more competitive. We haven't been that good for a while so I am looking forward to a more even game tomorrow.

Cheers mate !

31. The Fall of Babel by Josiah Bancroft, 638 pages.

Great finale to this excellent fantasy series !

31 big books ; 22,493 total pages ; 725 average pages.

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Thanks John, Merry Christmas to you and everyone !

32. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman, 544 p.

33. The Dark Tower by Stephen King, 686 p.

34. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie, 517 p.

34 big books ; 24,240 total pages ; 713 average pages.

And that will do for the big books of 2021, I am happy to meet my 100 book _target and plenty of big books as well.
Lots more fantasy to read next year so many books over 500 pages will be involved, will see everyone in 2022 !

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