In my Year in Review post I mentioned one of my planned reading goals for 2023. That goal was to read the many, many chunky books I’ve been collecting, most notably during the pandemic. But there are many, many others that wait patiently for my attention too. However, in 2023 I’m going to try and focus on the ones I’ve purchased most recently.
Together with Hoarder Elizabeth, we plan to set our Goodreads Reading Challenge to a low number of books so that we can devote ourselves to these big ones with (some super-sized) high page counts.
I took this picture of my stack of big books a few months ago, but of course I’ve added a few more to the list. Books like Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead, Richard Powers’ The Gold Bug Variations and the Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray.
The challenge here will be which to read first?
I keep thinking I’ll read The Ink Black Heart first, but there is also John Irving’s The Last Chairlift. Well all of them I truly do want to read, it’s just which one will set the successful launch to this challenge?
Here is the list of what is in the picture above:
- Framed in Fire by Iona Whishaw (480 p)
- Three by Valerie Perrin (552 p)
- Deep River by Karl Marlantes (820 p)
- The Enigma of Room 622 by Joel Dicker (592 p)
- Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark 592 p)
- Love in a Time of War by Adrienne Chinn (490 p)
- The Last Chairlift by John Irving (889 p)
- The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith (1012 p!!)
- Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins (544 p)
- Fayne by Ann-Marie MacDonald (736 p)
- The Mystery of Right and Wrong by Wayne Johnston (560 p)
- Never by Ken Follett (816 p)
- Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (626 p)
- The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (576 p)
- To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara (720 p)
I also have two on hold at the library – so far there are no other holds on them so I should be free and clear to be able to read them without rushing through with a painful 7-day only loan. Those two books:
- Everything the Light Touches by Janice Pariat (512 p)
- Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree (Winner of the 2022 International Booker Award) (624 p)
Clearly when I was buying books I was looking to get the most bang for my buck wasn’t I? Some of these page counts are outrageous. Will they be necessary? Fingers crossed they all give me great reading experiences!
There are 20 books listed above, however a few of them could easily count as 3 books, but if I set my Goodreads goal for 25 I should be able to read all of these right?
Bring on 2023! Which book do you think I should start with first??
