Thursday, September 3, 2009

Booking Through Thursday--Recent Big


Here's today's Booking Through Thursday question:

What’s the biggest book you’ve read recently?

(Feel free to think “big” as size, or as popularity, or in any other way you care to interpret.)

I like the freedom to interpret, here. The biggest book I've read recently in terms of popularity is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson. It was all over the blogs and everywhere else, and I really enjoyed it, but I believe there was also a lot of hype over it because the author died before the book came out.

The biggest physical book I've read recently, hmm...I have not been reading chunksters lately. But I am in the middle (okay, still somewhere near the beginning) of George Eliot's Daniel Deronda, which weighs in at a not inconsiderable 768 pages, and which I was supposed to finish over the summer. When does summer end, technically, anyway? I think I have a couple more weeks. I'd better get reading...

13 comments:

Susan said...

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo seems to be everywhere recently:) Here's my BTT.

jlshall said...

I had "Daniel Deronda" on my summer reading list, too, but never even started it! Probably just as well - I know I'll need more than three months to get through it.

Jessica said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gautami tripathy said...

Wally Lamb novels are tomes but are really great books!

Booking through Big

Ti said...

I am reading Dragon Tattoo this weekend. I don't care for hype too much. I nearly always feel let down after reading something so highly hyped.

Brooke from The Bluestocking Guide said...

I have this one, but I haven't read it yet. Here is mine

Gentle Reader said...

Susan--Yeah, Dragon Tattoo seemed to be everywhere this summer! I like your list, too. I'm interested in reading Helen of Troy, now :)

jlshall--I've been meaning to read it for years. It's actually quite good, but for some reason other books have been getting in the way...

gautami--I do enjoy Wally Lamb books, too. Big, but good :)

Ti--It's a good book, but I'm not sure if it quite lives up to the hype. But it's somewhat shocking, too, so that might be part of why it's been so popular...

Bluestocking--I loved your BTT list. I want to read Brisingr, too.

Iliana said...

Ah yes, Girl seems to be everywhere. I did enjoy it a lot which kind of surprised me given that once a book gets a lot of hype sometimes I'm disappointed.

Big books... hm, I tend not to read too many chunksters so I can't even think of one that would fit this question.

Marce said...

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is on my list but I continue to get distracted with something else. I do want to read it soon. You have some interesting books, I'll have to add to my list.

Rosemary Brennan said...

I've got to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo! LOL, I'm in the middle of the ghastly huge Infinite Jest and since I'm participating (I use this term loosely!) in Infinite Summer, I'm supposed to finish it by summer's end as well. Not sure if I'll be successful.

litlove said...

I also have the Steig Larsson but haven't got around to reading it yet, and you remind me I'd like to read more George Eliot. Although I would probably baulk at almost 800 pages. I have a lot of difficulty with chunksters and start to resent any book that thinks it needs more than 500 pages to tell a story! :)

Matt said...

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is popping up all over the radar of book bloggers! I've got the galley that is still untouched. I heard the sequel is coming out soon as well, I've gotta get on it! :)

So far this year the biggest book I've read is Gone with the Wind...960 pages.

Gentle Reader said...

iliana--I often don't enjoy hyped books, either, but I didn't know much about the actual story going into Girl, so maybe that helped...

Marcej--I know how easy it is to get distracted away from the books on the bedside table, and on the TBR list--happens to me, too!

Rosemary--I almost joined in to Infinite Summer, too--great project, but I KNOW I wouldn't have finished!

litlove--lol! I tend not to read more modern chunksters for the very reason you cite--they really ought to be able to tell their stories more succinctly! But I forgive the 19th century writers, since often they were, like Dickens, paid by the page :)

Matt--Gone with the Wind definitely counts as a big, big book!