The Reading Challenge Group discussion

For those of you who need a little push to read those longer books, join the Chunkster challenge in 2017 and read books over 400 pages.

Level One (Chunkster)
- Read 3 books with > 400 pages
Level Two (Flower Presser)
- Read 6 books with > 400 pages
Level Three (Back Breaker)
- Read 10 books with > 400 pages... and then see a chiropractor!

I will attempt level two for the year:
Level One:
1. Lucky Boy (472 pages)
2. Americanah
3. Stones from the River (525 pages)

Level Two:
4. Hum If You Don’t Know the Words (430 pages)
5. The Hate U Give (444 pages)
6. Shinju (437 pages)

I will go for level 2 this year- make that level 3.

Level One (Chunkster):
1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
2. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
3. Cien años de soledad by Gabriel García Márquez

Level Two (Flower Presser)
4. Children of God by Mary Doria Russell
5. Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore
6. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

Level Three (Back Breaker)
7. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen E. Ambrose
8. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
9. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
10. Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros

I'll attempt this again LOL

I want to attempt level 2

Will try all 3 levels this year:

Level One (Chunkster)
- Read 3 books with > 400 pages
1. American Gods - 635 pages
2. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America - 447 pages
3. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly - 502 pages

Level Two (Flower Presser)
- Read 6 books with > 400 pages
4. The House of Blue Mangoes by David Davidar - 432 pages
5. Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky - 431 pages
6. At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson - 497 pages

Level Three (Back Breaker)
- Read 10 books with > 400 pages
7. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith - 492 pages
8. Red Dragon by Thomas Harris - 456 pages
9. Emma by Jane Austen - 474 pages
10. Clara Callan by Richard B. Wright - 414 pages

Add me:

Level One (Chunkster) - Read 3 books with > 400 pages
1 - Crimson Death
2 - Trying to Score
3 - Empty Net
Level Two (Flower Presser) - Read 6 books with > 400 pages
4 - Blue Lines
5 - Victim Six
6 - Cold Mountain
Level Three (Back Breaker) - Read 10 books with > 400 pages... and then see a chiropractor!
7 - Golden Son
8 - Parasite
9 - Never Seduce a Scot
10 - Morning Star

The 2017 Reading Challenge Group

Year-Long Challenges 2017 > Chunkster 2017 (400+)

January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017

Completed 10/10

Level One (Chunkster)
- Read 3 books with > 400 pages

√ 1) The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin 416 pages READ 1/11/2017 5 stars
√ 2) Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King 436 pages READ 1/26/2017 4 stars
√ 3) Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris 413 pages READ 3/1/2017 4 stars



Level Two (Flower Presser)
- Read 6 books with > 400 pages

√ 4) Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult 470 pages READ 4/8/2017 5 stars
√ 5) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling 435 pages READ 5/3/2017 5 stars
√ 6) America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray 580 pages READ 5/15/2017 5 stars




Level Three (Back Breaker)
- Read 10 books with > 400 pages... and then see a chiropractor!

√ 7) Fire Starter by Stephen King 401 pages READ 6/13/2017 4 stars
√ 8) A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles 462 pages READ 7/18/2017 5 stars
√ 9) Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz 496 pages READ 10/25/2017 5 stars
√ 10) Columbine by Dave Cullen 417 pages READ 11/13/2017 5 stars

I'll give it a try this year; "Flower Presser" here I come.
1 Fallen 420pages - Read January 2017
2The Fall of Five 416pages - Read January 2017
3Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation - 480pages - Read February 2017.

This is an easy one. In.
Level One (Chunkster)
1. In the Woods
2. Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide To Thriving In The Age of Accelerations
3. The Republic

Level Two (Flower Presser)
4. Plato at the Googleplex: Why Philosophy Won't Go Away
5. Framley Parsonage
6. The Master and Margarita

Level Three
7. The Outline of History, Volume 1: Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind

Level One (Chunkster)
- Read 3 books with > 400 pages
1. Dreaming the Serpent Spear
2. Disordered Minds
3. Rome: The Emperor's Spy

Level Two (Flower Presser)
- Read 6 books with > 400 pages
4. Rome: The Coming of the King
5. The Swan Thieves
6. The Princess Bride

Level Three (Back Breaker)
- Read 10 books with > 400 pages... and then see a chiropractor!
7. Trinity
8. Game of Queens: The Women Who Made Sixteenth-Century Europe
9. Daughters of the Nile
10.

I did this for ...3? times and gave up recording them so will at least do one this year.

I'm going to try Level One (Chunkster)

1. The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore 480 pages
2. In Pursuit of Privilege: A History of New York City's Upper Class and the Making of a Metropolis by Clifton Hood 512 pages
3.Everybody Had an Ocean: Music and Mayhem in 1960s Los Angeles by William McKean 432 pages

Flower Presser
4. Swords Against Darkness by Paula Guran 576 pages
5. Vimy: The Battle and the Legend by Tim Cook 488 pages
6. H. H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil by Adam Selzer 472 pages

Back Breaker
7. How to Be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman 458 pages

I'm going for level 3 on this one!

Round 1 *Completed*
(view spoiler)[
Level One (Chunkster)
1. Ice Like Fire (479 pgs)
2. A Symphony of Echoes (478 pgs)
3. Frost Like Night (496 pgs)

Level Two (Flower Presser)
4. To Defy a King (520 pgs)
5. The Oversight (464 pgs)
6. The Fifth Season (500 pgs)

Level Three (Back Breaker)
7. The Winter Rose (720 pgs)
8. The Likeness (494 pgs)
9. The Seventh Scroll (496 pgs)
10. Tigana (692 pgs)
(hide spoiler)]

Round 2 *Completed*
(view spoiler)[
Level One (Chunkster)
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (508 pgs)
2. A Court of Mist and Fury (432 pgs)
3. A Gathering of Shadows (512 pgs)

Level Two (Flower Presser)
4. Flame of Sevenwaters (455 pgs)
5. Moonglow (432 pgs)
6. In the Ruins (624 pgs)

Level Three (Back Breaker)
7. Cast in Fury (416 pgs)
8. Barefoot Season (400 pgs)
9. Servant of the Crown (406 pgs)
10. The Queen's Captive (416 pgs)
(hide spoiler)]

Round 3 *Completed*
(view spoiler)[
Level One (Chunkster)
1. The Edge of Worlds (400 pgs)
2. The Harbors of the Sun (416 pgs)
3. The Firebird (544 pgs)

Level Two (Flower Presser)
4. The White Gryphon (400 pgs)
5. Career of Evil (492 pgs)
6. The Midnight Rose (496 pgs)

Level Three (Back Breaker)
7. Kiss of Steel (448 pgs)
8. A Conjuring of Light (512 pgs)
9. The Waterborne Blade (512 pgs)
10. The Dreaming Suburb (480 pgs)
(hide spoiler)]

Round 4

Level One (Chunkster)
1.
2.
3.

Level Two (Flower Presser)
4.
5.
6.

Level Three (Back Breaker)
7.
8.
9.
10.

Potentials:
(view spoiler)[
Promise of Blood (560 pgs)
Mortal Heart (464 pgs)
(hide spoiler)]

Will try all 3 levels this year. All done.

Level One (Chunkster) - Read 3 books with > 400 pages
1) Of Human Bondage 611 pages *Read 14 Jan 17*
2) The Tenant of Wildfell Hall 524 pages *Read 26 Jan 17*
3) Love May Fail 400 pages *Read 7 Feb 17*

Level Two (Flower Presser) - Read 6 books with > 400 pages
4) Tender is the Night 434 pages *Read 14 Feb 17*
5) A Tale of Two Cities 448 pages *Read 31 Mar 17*
6) The Caller 471 pages *Read 9 June 17*

Level Three (Back Breaker) - Read 10 books with > 400 pages
7) The Devotion of Suspect X 440 pages *Read 21 June 17*
8) Far from the Madding Crowd 474 pages *Read 26 Sep 17*
9) The Dark Half 468 pages *Read 30 Sep 17*
10) Crime and Punishment 656 pages *Read 10 Nov 17*

Going for Level 2

Level One (Chunkster) - Read 3 books with > 400 pages
[✔] 1. Alive: Sixteen Men, Seventy-two Days, and Insurmountable Odds--the Classic Adventure of Survival in the Andes (448 pages)
[✔] 2. Lone Wolf (421 pages)
[] 3.

Level Two (Flower Presser) - Read 6 books with > 400 pages
[] 4.
[] 5.
[] 6.

So far, I have not even touched a book over 350 or so pages LOL. That'll change soon I hope!

As i've just started a book over 400 pages I'm up for the challenge!

Level 1 (Chunkster)
1
2
3
Level 2 (Flower Presser)
4
5
6
Level 3 (Back Breaker)
7
8
9
10

#12 - one more to go.

Count me in. I'll try and go for all three levels, but they will be physical (paperback/hardback) books instead of ebooks.

Level One (Chunkster)
- Read 3 books with > 400 pages
1. All The Single Ladies 488 pgs
2. Love Me or Leave Me 424 pgs
3. Tyrant 403 pgs

Level Two (Flower Presser)
- Read 6 books with > 400 pages
4. The Wish List 481 pgs
5. Assassin's Creed: Unity 469 pgs
6. The Daylight War 803 pgs

Level Three (Back Breaker)
- Read 10 books with > 400 pages... and then see a chiropractor!
7. The First Last Kiss 496 pgs
8. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 636 pgs
9. Golden Son 442 pgs
10. Just for Christmas 457 pgs

I'll try this, but not sure how far I'll get!

Level One (Chunkster)
1. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
2. The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot
3. The Villa in Italy - Elizabeth Edmondson

I just started 2 fat books, I'm not sure how far I will get.

Level One (Chunkster)
1. American Gods - 635
2.
3.
Level Two (Flower Presser)
4.
5.
6.
Level Three (Back Breaker)
7.
8.
9.
10.

Finished round 1. My update is in comment 14. Apparently a lot of the books I want to read this year are chunksters, so I'm coming back for round 2.

Level 1 - The Chunkster
1 - The Fireman by Joe Hill...747 pages
2 - The Twenty Three by Linwood Barclay...622 pages
3 - The Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs...458 pages
Level 2 - The Flower Presser
4 - One Mile Under by Andrew Gross...465 pages
5 - Goodbye, Nobody by Jennifer Weiner...442 pages
6 - Breaking Point by C. J. Box...428 pages
Level 3 - Back Breaker
7 - Running From the Law by Lisa Scottoline...426 pages
8 - The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss...662 pages
9 - The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon...462 pages
10 - The Husband's Secret by Lianne Moriarty...416 pages

Kathy, some of those chunksters were almost Doorstoppers! Which book did you enjoy the most?

Finished level 3!! Whoo-hoo!

Level One (Chunkster) - Read 3 books with > 400 pages
1 - Crimson Death
2 - Trying to Score
3 - Empty Net
Level Two (Flower Presser) - Read 6 books with > 400 pages
4 - Blue Lines
5 - Victim Six
6 - Cold Mountain
Level Three (Back Breaker) - Read 10 books with > 400 pages... and then see a chiropractor!
7 - Golden Son
8 - Parasite
9 - Never Seduce a Scot
10 - Morning Star

Rosemarie wrote: "Kathy, some of those chunksters were almost Doorstoppers! Which book did you enjoy the most?"

I really enjoyed reading The Fireman by Joe Hill, (who is Stephen King's son) and the Twenty Three by Linwood Barclay. That was the 3rd book in his Promise Falls Trilogy. I love his books!

I did not know that Stephen King had a son who was an author. Are his books anything like his father's?

He has written some that are horror, I think I have read about three of his books. But, no, he has a different style. The Fireman is about a community of people who have contracted a disease, they call it Dragonscale for short. It can cause you to combust and burn to death, but a group of surviors are learning how to deal with it. The story is mainly about how people who don't have it are trying to kill them, and how some groups tried to set up laws that didn't work.

Thanks, Kathy. That sounds intriguing.

Round 2

Level One - Chunkster

11. The Heart of Mid-Lothian by Walter Scott
12. Erzählte Zeit. 50 deutsche Kurzgeschichten der Gegenwart by Manfred Durzak
13. The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope

Level 2- Flower presser
14. Onze Dagen: Herinneringen Aan de Jodenvervolging by Coen Rood
15. A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk
16. The Invention of the World by Jack Hodgins

Level 3- Back breaker

17. Ivanhoe by Walter Scott
18. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
19. Count Robert of Paris by Walter Scott
20. I Had Nowhere to Go by Jonas Mekas

Updated message 20 - I've completed it :)

I'm gonna do Round 2 now.

Round 2

Level One (Chunkster)
- Read 3 books with > 400 pages
11. The Fading 487 pgs (Read in June)
12. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 766 pgs (Read in June)
13. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 607 pgs (Read in August)

Level Two (Flower Presser)
- Read 6 books with > 400 pages
14. Super Awkward 405 pages (Read in August)
15. Sister Avenue 466 pages (Read in September)
16. Full Dark, No Stars 453 pages (Read in October)

Level Three (Back Breaker)
- Read 10 books with > 400 pages... and then see a chiropractor!
17. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 620 pages (Read in October)
18. Crime and Punishment 671 pages (Read in November)
19. The Naughty Girls Book Club 464 pages (Read in December)
20. Demon from the Dark 430 pages (Read in December)

Way to go, Kay.

Wow Kay, you're knocking them out!

I lost track of this one for a while, but I've actually finished and am going for another round!

Renee's CHUNKSTER CHALLENGE (more than 400)

Level One (Chunkster)
- Read 3 books with > 400 pages
1) Framley Parsonage**
2) The Old Curiosity Shop**
3) Life After Life**

Level Two (Flower Presser)
- Read 6 books with > 400 pages
4) The Game of Kings**
5) Queens' Play**
6) Queen Margot, or Marguerite de Valois**

Level Three (Back Breaker)
- Read 10 books with > 400 pages... and then see a chiropractor!
7) The Poisonwood Bible**
8) The Power of One**
9) The Signature of All Things**
10) Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice**

Round Two Completed!

CHUNKSTER CHALLENGE (more than 400)

Level One (Chunkster)
- Read 3 books with > 400 pages
1) Esther Waters**
2) The Woodlanders**
3) Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution**

Level Two (Flower Presser)
- Read 6 books with > 400 pages
4) The Neverending Story**
5) The Small House at Allington**
6) The Last American Vampire**


Level Three (Back Breaker)
- Read 10 books with > 400 pages... and then see a chiropractor!
7) Theft of Swords**
8) Rise of Empire**
9) Heir of Novron**
10) The Last Chronicle of Barset**

Renee, I just noticed you completed 2 rounds. Fantastic!

Where did that last month go?

Thanks! Not sure I can make a third before Dec. 31. The summer just flew.

Reading The Godfather's revenge by mark winegardener 611 pages

My 2nd Round
Level 1 - Chunkster
1 - Never Come Back by David Bell...411 pages
2 - Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige...452 pages
3 - Cross Justice by James Patterson...420 pages

Way to go, Kathy.

Great work, Sonia.

Round 3:

Level 1 - Chunkster

21. Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope
22. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
23. Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

You finished! Jealous!

Rosemarie wrote: "Round 3:

Level 1 - Chunkster

21. Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope"

I am currently reading that and it will be awhile

Renee wrote: "You finished! Jealous!"

I got hooked on the book. I am fighting off a cold and used that as a good reason just to stay in and read all weekend.
I love the way it ended. Trollope has done it again.

Shannan wrote: "Rosemarie wrote: "Round 3:

Level 1 - Chunkster

21. Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope"

I am currently reading that and it will be awhile"


I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I absolutely love Anthony Trollope! But I can't believe that I didn't hear of him until I was in my 30s... Especially since I majored in English Literature!!

I majored in French and German literature so I had to discover English authors on my own. I have always been a fan of Russian authors, and they do write a lot of chunksters.

I heard about him in my late twenties. I was watching The Pallisers series. I am liking Can you forgive her. I have several other chunksters going on at the same time for book club reads.