BIG books in 2012 - (The Tea & Books Reading Challenge)

For Birgit (and her hero C.S. Lewis) size matters, which is why she has posed the Tea & Books Reading Challenge, which demands that we tackle 2 or more books that are 700 pages in length or
greater. I am joining at the Berry Tea Devotee level, meaning I intend to complete 4 of these books before Dec. 31 2012. Given that my TBR pile already has five on these monsters, I don't even have to abandon C.B.'s Double-Dare to do it. I thought I had even more, but two of the long books I wanted to tackle this year were both in the neighborhood of 680 pages. As I will be writing my dissertation this year, reading a few books this length will remind me how short the piece of writing I'm producing actually is. I plan to choose from the tomes below:

Gustav Mahler - Jens Malte Fischer

1Q84 - Haruki Murakami

In Europe - Geert Mak

A People's Tragedy - Orlando Figes

and if I can manage it, Simon Callow's massive two-volume biography of Orson Welles The Road to Xanadu and Hello Americans that Sheila gave me about two years ago. It's not the length that intimidates me, it's Callows obsessional enthusiasm expressed in page-long run-on paragraphs with tiny little margins.

and...evidently, I have added Charles Dickens's Our Mutual Friend.