Chris's BFB of 2021

I don't really make BFBs a goal, per se. Rather, I target including some meatier reading in addition to more entertainment oriented reads.

The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien - 1359 pages. This is my most reread book. I've probably picked it back up every 3-5 years since I first read it in High School. I'm 62, so....

The Guns of August, by Barbara Tuchman, 658 pages. It's a recounting of the first month of WWI, although there is significant prelude & aftermath, too. Well written, although current historians pick it apart.

Moving On, by Larry McMurtry, 1007 pages. Part of the Houston "series" - I hesitate to call it that, as each novel stands alone & is only tangentially related to the others. In this earlier stage of McMurtry's career, he wrote mostly shorter novels, so this was an exception. He also mostly wrote more contemporary stories set in Texas, rather than the older Westerns that came along, starting with Lonesome Dove.

I'm in the midst of reading through all of his novels (and even some non-fiction) over the next few years.

Leonardo DaVinci, by Walter Isaacson, 600 pages. This had long been one of my "I ought to read that" books & I finally got around to it. Not high on my list of favorite biographies, but I did learn a few things & that's what it's all about.

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, 532 pages. Reading more classics became a goal for me this year & this is one of my favorites so far. Funny, it starts by chronicling her ophanhood & mistreatment by her resentful aunt & cousins, then being sent to a boarding school, and I couldn't help but think - Harry Potter! No magic, though...

Dune, by Frank Herbert, 688 pages. It's been a good 40 years since I last read it & it held up well. A sci-fi classic.

The Possessed, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, 583 pages. Another volume in my personal "read more classics" challenge. My first Dostoevsky & perhaps an odd choice, since it's not one of his premier novels, but I had acquired it in putting together a collection of Limited Edition Club books & so I dove in. Reading classic Russian novels is a challenge for me, but worth it.

Welcome to the BFB-ers, Chris.

I noticed you are a new member to LT and wonder if you know how to link a book and a writer to it's place in your LT Catalogue? It is explained there --->

I think that is a fun thing on LT.

Welcome. That's an impressive list of books.

David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens, 821 pages. I've acquired a dozen Heritage Press editions of Dickens novels & will be mixing them in to my reading list. Many consider this to be his best novel (he said it was his favorite) and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

The Splendid and the Vile, by Erik Larson, 503 pages - barely made it. I stopped the page count at the end of the main text, not including Acknowledgements, notes and index. Really, a fine popular history of Winston Churchill's first year as British PM early in WWII.

>12 ChrisG1: I do that too. I never tend to read notes etc.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel - 653 pages - a highly engaging tale of Thomas Cromwell's career as advisor to King Henry VIII

Classic Christianity: A Systematic Theology by Thomas Oden (859 pgs, not including notes). I've been nibbling away at this for about a year, reading 2-3 pages at a time. Obviously not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but if you have an interest in theology, Oden's thesis is built on gathering the classic consensus of the Church (defined universally of all major traditions), with particular emphasis on the great doctors of the Church from the first 5 centuries after Christ.

The Evening Star by Larry McMurtry, 637 pgs.

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel - 754 pgs

The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway - 650 pgs

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - 559 pages

Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham - 684 pages

Claudius the God by Robert Graves - 533 pages