Next "Big Read"?

Community Book Clubs Additional community reads
1

We’ve got about a month left in our War and Peace side read, and someone asked about a next book. So, my questions for the group (and by “group” I mean all BookBrowsers here on the Forum, not just the W&P folks):

  1. Are you interested in participating in a “big read” like the one we did w/ W&P? I’m defining it as a very long book or series that is more-or-less a classic, such as Les Miserables, the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy, or Atlas Shrugged - something along those lines.
  • Yes
  • No
0 voters
  1. If you’re interested, what kind of timing works?
  • Immediately after finishing W&P, so October 1-ish.
  • Give us a month off, so maybe November 1.
  • January 1 - kick the new year off right!
  • Don’t care! I’ll show up regardless.
  • Other (comment below!).
0 voters
  1. What books should we consider? Comment below.
War and Peace Side Read, Week 13, August 24-August 30: Book 3/Part 3
2

Some that come to mind:

The Count of Monte Cristo (1150-1500 pp)
Atlas Shrugged (1500 pp)
Lord of the Rings Trilogy (1000-1200 pp)
Les Miserables (1400-1500 pp)
In Search of Lost Time (4200 pp - now that would be an accomplishment!)
Don Quixote (900-1000 pp)
Moby-Dick (550-680 pp)
Bleak House (800-1000 pp)
Middlemarch (800-900 pp)
Vanity Fair (900-1000 pp)

… and I’m sure there are plenty of others, so post your suggestions!

3

East of Eden, so we can be ready for the new movie!

2 Likes
4

•The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer
•David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
•The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
•The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien

1 Like
5

@Lana_Maskus

Agree with David Copperfield (or other Dickens),

The Count of Monte Cristo.

Also for sure on Moby Dick! Beginning in Jan. 2027.

1 Like
6

I would enjoy tackling Dickens together (haven’t read any) or Middlemarch. However, I’m flexible.

1 Like
7

Ahhhh I’ve read (and loved most of) all suggested so far, but I do keep a list of Big Books I’d like to read – ones I’ve yet to tackle include Gravity’s Rainbow and Ulysses, most likely because they are some of the toughest, though…. :sweat_smile:

8

Some more I just found by sorting my TBR pile by # of pages…

  • World Without End (Ken Follett)
  • Mark Twain [biography] (Ron Chernow)
  • The Executioner’s Song (Norman Mailer)
  • The Instructions (Adam Levin)
  • The Eighth Life (Nino Haratischwili)
  • 2666 (Roberto Bolano)
  • Paris (Edward Rutherfurd)
  • Little Dorrit (Charles Dickens)
  • Nicholas Nickleby (Charles Dickens)
  • The Better Angels of Our Nature (Steven Pinker)
  • Joseph and His Brothers (Thomas Mann)

Okay, I’ll stop, haha! I know some of those are more offbeat titles, so if we choose something I’ve already read I’ll just keep an eye out for next time! :slightly_smiling_face: :purple_heart:

9

Oooh, those are some good ones, @Arianna_S

1 Like