My Big Book Summer Plans 2024

Book By Book

I have just announced the 12th year of my annual reading challenge, Big Book Summer Challenge, so I guess I should be the first to sign up!

I always enjoy tackling some big books in the summer, since I first came up with the idea in 2011, and I’m looking forward to finally reading some of these bricks that have been collecting dust on my shelf (for this challenge, a Big Book is any book with 400 pages or more).

NOTE: Don’t let my stack below intimidate you! You only need to read ONE Big Book over the next three months to join in the fun and participate in the challenge. I like to make a “pile of possibilities,” but you do you 😀

I definitely won’t get through all of these, but I like to have some options to choose from. These are all currently on my shelves, waiting patiently to be read (along with many others!):

From the top of the stack:

•  Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (574 pages)
• White Teeth by Zadie Smith (448 pages)
• Empire Falls by Richard Russo (483 pages)
• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (858 pages)
• Trust by Hernan Diaz (402 pages)
• The Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley (488 pages)
• Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (880 pages)
• The Ferryman by Justin Cronin (538 pages)

I know that looks like a huge stack–and it is!–but as you can see, many of my choices are in the 400-500 page range and several are fast-paced reads. 

All of these also qualify for my Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2024. My shelves are overflowing, so this is good!

I also devote my summer to listening to Big Audio Books (audios and e-books count). I will choose those as I go, throughout the summer, though I know one of them already: I’ve been saving The Women by Kristin Hannah for Big Book Summer!

And here’s my husband’s stack for Big Book Summer 2024–he began participating several years ago:

Check out my 2024 Big Book Summer Challenge Video for more on what I plan to read this summer, plus some great suggestions that I enjoyed in past summers. You can also find more great Big Book recommendations on my Big Books! list on Bookshop. I have read and enjoyed every single book on that list, and it includes a wide variety of book types and genres–something for everyone! And visit the Big Book Summer Goodreads group to see what everyone else is reading this summer!

 How about you? Are you up for tackling a Big Book (or two or three) this summer? 
Join me and sign up for the 2024 Big Book Summer Challenge! The rules, details, and link-ups are on that page.

NOTE: You don’t need a blog or YouTube channel to participate–you can either leave a comment on the Challenge page or sign up in the 2024 Big Book Summer Goodreads group. Either way, first read the details on the Challenge page.