It’s been a good long while since I updated you on this year’s reading challenge (4 books of 1,000+ pages in 4 seasons). After a strong start—finishing Bone, Les Miserables, and The Lord of the Rings before the summer solstice—my schedule filled up and I didn’t have as much time for lengthy reads. Study abroad was perfect for 4 in 4; regular life isn’t.

But like so many this year, I picked a week (Thanksgiving break) to get ensnared by the Hunger Games trilogy, and devoted many an hour on the long drive between Little Rock, AR and Upland, IN to finishing what I will consider the fourth thousand-page book. If the 1,069 pages of the Lord of the Rings trilogy counted, then why not the 1,176 pages of the Hunger Games series?

The writing style was decent. Though Collins is a gripping storyteller, her prose is merely adequate, and her narration often made me less sympathetic with the protagonist, not more. That said, I couldn’t put this series down, and I found in it a more realistic picture of war, revolution, romance, and heroism than the typical action story of the 21st century. For that, it is to be highly commended.

All in all, I ended up reading half as many books this year as last (the year of 52 in 52): still a pretty good record in my “book” (GET IT????). What’s next year? Maybe 12 in 12?

1. The Art of Manliness by Brett & Kate McKay, 274 pages (4 Jan)
2. True Grit by Charles Portis, 215 pages (13 Jan)
3. Bone by Jeff Smith, 1332 pages (13 Jan)
4. All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison, 308 pages (13 Jan)
5. Generous Justice by Tim Keller, 230 pages (25 Jan)
X. The Fellowship of the Ring (2 Feb)
6. Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by H.G. Bissinger, 367 pages (10 Mar)
7. Austrian Macroeconomics: A Diagrammatical Exposition by Roger W. Garrison, 36 pages (12 Mar)
8. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, 1330 pages (11 Apr)
9. The Trip of a Life by James Lepine, 105 pages (17 Apr)
10. Anarchism: A Very Short Introduction by Colin Ward, 98 pages (18 Apr)
X. The Two Towers (23 Apr)
11. King’s Cross by Tim Keller, 238 pages (29 Apr)
X. The Return of the King (30 Apr)
12. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1069 pages (30 Apr)
13. Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth E. Bailey, 426 pages (23 May)
14. A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O’Connor, 7:35:09 (8 June)
15. Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis, 160 pages (11 June)
16. Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger, 198 pages (12 June)
17. Slave Ship Captain by Carolyn Scott, 92 pages (25 June)
18. The Runaway’s Revenge by Dave and Neta Jackson, 141 pages (1 July)
19. Forgotten God by Francis Chan, 208 pages (? Sep?)
20. Spousonomics: Using Economics to Master Love, Marriage, and Dirty Dishes by Paula Szuchman and Jenny Anderson, 352 pages (9 Sep)
21. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superatheletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Ever Seen by Christopher McDougall, 304 pages (26 Sep)
22. Once A Runner by John L. Parker, Jr., 274 pages (19 Nov)
X. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, 374 pages (20 Nov)
X. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, 404 pages (23 Nov)
X. Mockinjay by Suzanne Collins, 398 pages (26 Nov)
23. The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins, 1176 pages (26 Nov)
24. Finally Feminist by John G. Stackhouse, 141 pages (8 Dec)
25. Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, 96 pages (26 Dec)
26. The Reason for God by Tim Keller, 281 pages (26 Dec)

The fourth month draws to a close (by the way, make sure to listen to “April Anne” and “April Come She Will” while their titles are still so seasonally appropriate). We’re a third of the way through the year. This has been no cruel April for me—I traveled and wrote a paper I was proud of and did loads of reading. So much, in fact, that I’ve just finished my third 1,000+ page book, The Lord of the Rings (1,069 pages). Now, I realize that 4 in 4 is supposed to be 4 millepaginal books in the 4 seasons of the year, and that finishing two such books in springtime (in the same month, no less!) slightly contravenes the letter of the challenge.

But c’mon. I’m going to be a camp counselor (almost) all summer. Last year from the start of week 1 to the end of week 8, the only books I finished were Chronicles of Narnia books that I read to my campers at nap time and bedtime (this year I might try Pligrim’s Progress!). I think I can be forgiven for working ahead.

Especially since I’m hoping to make Man, Economy, and State (with Power and Market) by Murray Rothbard my fourth book. This one will be a bit denser than a graphic novel, fantasy epic, or even the masterpiece of French literature. I’ve already read about two or three hundred pages of it, but it’s been nearly a year now and I’ll probably have to start over. The good news is that while the whole book is 1,440 pages, the last bit—Power and Market— was not originally published along with the first bit, as Rothbard had intended. Man, Economy, and State by itself is just shy of 1,100 pages, which gives me some breathing room if December comes and I’ve still got miles to go.

In related news, I also finished Anarchism: A Very Short Introduction by Colin Ward (98 small pages) and King’s Cross by Tim Keller (238 pages), meaning that this April has probably been about my most productive month ever in terms of reading. My May book might be Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, or I could get back to reading Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, which I haven’t picked up in a while.

Since I last posted about this year’s reading challenge, I’ve decided that the official goal this year is “4 in 4”—four books of over 1000 pages in the 4 seasons of the year. So far:

1. Winter: Bone by Jeff Smith, 1332 pages, finished on 13 January. This graphic novel, besides being full of characters that are sympathetic, and funny, and flawed, and heroic, and petty, and eminently likeable, does a fantastic job with scale. The book is an Epic, there’s no doubt about that, but it starts off so small and whimsical that by the time you’re finished, you appreciate how much bigger than you ever imagined the story became. Definitely the easiest thousand-page book I’ve ever read. 
2. Spring: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, 1330 pages, finished on 11 April. When I was 12 or 13, I read an abridged version of this story, which I loved because of the musical, that was about 550 pages. Stories about the dauntingly long detours about Waterloo and Parisian sewers scared me away from reading the unabridged version until this challenge got me to do it. I started on March 23 (reading the recent Julie Rose translation), but did the bulk of the reading on the Trip of a Life, finally finishing on a terrace at a restaurant in Marrakesh. I have never cried while reading a book or watching a movie, but I cried at the end of Les Miserables. I felt lost for the next few days; I was with Tim and Ben, but had said goodbye to my third traveling companion.
   Anyway, it’s the best novel I’ve ever read, and I even loved the parts about Waterloo and the sewers. It didn’t hurt that I read the chapter about Waterloo in a city that still has statues of Napoleon (Paris). 
3. Summer: I’m more than halfway through The Lord of the Rings, and I don’t know if I’ll get it finished before summer starts or not. I’m in no hurry. Reading it in Great Britain has been wonderful; it makes every castle and glen seem that much more magical.
4. Winter: Maybe Man, Economy, and State (with Power & Market) by Murray Rothbard. I need to read it at some point, and honestly, the challenge is the likeliest thing to ever motivate me to actually finish an economics treatise of more than 1400 pages.

Other books that I’ve read this year:

• The Art of Manliness by Brett and Kate McKay, 274 pages
• True Grit by Charles Portis, 215 pages
• All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison, 308 pages
• Generous Justice by Tim Keller, 230 pages
• Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by H.G. Bissinger, 367 pages
• Austrian Macroeconomics: A Diagrammatical Exposition by Roger W. Garrison, 36 pages
• The Trip of a Life by James Lepine, 105 pages

I might end up doing the 12 and 12 Challenge with my sisters and mom alongside the 4 in 4 Challenge. If so, January’s book is True Grit, February’s is The Fellowship of the Ring, March’s is Friday Night Lights, and April’s is Les Miserables.