2014 Chunkster Challenge

I have (somewhat belatedly) stumbled across the Chunkster Reading Challenge this week and am gleefully going to sign up. Because, quite frankly: I like big books and I cannot lie. (Except when I fall asleep reading them in bed and they fall on my face. Ouch.) I love getting lost in a long sprawling tale, love the depth big books can go into, the meandering paths they can take.

Last year, my total was 12+ books that fit into the challenge's definition of "chunkster" (450 pages or more), from those just squeaking into the category (e.g Scarlett Thomas' excellent Pop-Co, 450 pages exactly) to the 1,000 page +ers (e.g. Haruki Murakami's 1Q84). This year, I am going to aim for a slightly lower goal of reading 8+ chunksters. Why less? Because this year I have also set myself a goal of reading 50 books, and realistically that's not going to be achieved if I aim to read a load of chunksters as well. Plus, there's many a shorter books I am eagerly waiting to read :)

I do of course also have keep my book-buying ban in mind, but having a look at my bookshelves, my husband's bookshelves, and books available at my library, it's clear I still have a wonderful selection of chunksters to choose from. Here are just a few possibilities to start with:

• Liveship Traders trilogy, by Robin Hobb
• The Court Of The Air, by Stephen Hunt
• Burning Your Boats, by Angela Carter
• The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, by Gordon Dahlquist
• Villette, by Charlotte Brontë
• Under The Dome, by Stephen King
• Hyddenworld, by William Horwood
• Consider Phlebas, by Iain M. Banks
• ... And finishing off my current read, Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy.

Have you read any of these? If so, what did you think? Any other suggestions for chunksters to pursue very warmly welcome :)