- The Gormenghast Novels – Titus Groan – Mervyn Peake – Finished 10/20/07
- Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen – Finished 9/27/07
- Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell – Susanna Clarke – Finished 9/19/07
I’ve finished the R.I.P II challenge. I think it’s actually the third one I signed up for, but it’s the first one I’ve actually finished.
I’m very glad I picked the tome version of the challenge, as it was a great excuse to read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and to dip my toes into Gormenghast. Both of these books (we own a Gormenghast omnibus) have been on my radar for a while, but either sheer volume (JSMN) or language barrier (the style of Gormenghast) had previously prevented me from picking either up. (I’d even originally intended to read the first two books of the Gormenghast series, but I found the first to be plenty enough of a challenge to give it singular tome status.) So it was good to get some of that reading under my belt.
That being said, if I do this challenge again next year, I’m going more of a normal book route. My book counts for the months of September and October are dismal compared to the other months of the year. I don’t feel like I’ve read less, but it sure looks like it. I’m very much looking forward to a couple of good fluffy reads now that I’m down with the weighty stuff.