The Chunkster Challenge

The Chunkster Challenge is hosted by Wendy & Vasilly and has its own dedicated blog. And I'm back for another round. Definition of a Chunkster:

• A chunkster is 450 pages or more of ADULT literature (fiction or nonfiction) ... A chunkster should be a challenge.

The rules:

• No audio books. (There are exceptions to this rule.)
• No e-books allowed. This was discussed in much detail in the 2011 challenge. The short version: a chunkster isn’t a challenge if you’re reading it on an e-reader. (There are exceptions to this rule.)
• This year for the first time, essay, poetry, and short story collections will be allowed. Collections have to be read in their entirety to count. If you’ve needed a reason to finally pick up your copy of The Collected Works Of ____ now is the time.
• Books may crossover with other challenges.
• Anyone may join. (If you don’t have a blog, just leave a comment on this post with your challenge level and your progress throughout the challenge.)
• You don’t need to list your books ahead of time.
• Once you’ve picked a level, that’s it. You’re committed to it!

You must pick a level of participation:

1. The Chubby Chunkster – this option is for the readers who want to dabble in large tomes, but really doesn't want to commit to much more than that. FOUR Chunksters is all you need to finish this challenge.
2. The Plump Primer - this option is for the slightly heavier reader who wants to commit to SIX Chunksters over the next twelve months.
3. Do These Books Make my Butt Look Big? - this option is for the reader who can't resist bigger and bigger books and wants to commit to SIX Chunksters from the following categories: 2 books which are between 450 - 550 pages in length; 2 books which are 551 - 750 pages in length; 2 books which are GREATER than 750 pages in length (for ideas, please refer to the book suggestions page for some books which fit into these categories).
4. Mor-book-ly Obese - This is for the truly out of control chunkster. For this level of challenge you must commit to EIGHT or more Chunksters of which three tomes MUST be 750 pages or more. You know you want to.....go on and give in to your cravings.

To sign up, hop over to the site (link above), read the complete rules and use Mr. Linky.

I am being reserved and signing up for the The Chubby Chunkster. I've already got a lot going on challenge-wise. Fortunately, three out of the four books were already on tap for other challenges, so I'm only adding one more book to the 2012 TBR pile. My planned reading list:
 
1. The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Whitechapel Horrors by Edward B Hanna (471 pages) [4/8/12] 
2. The Dead Witness: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Detective Stories by Michael Sims, ed. (576 pages) [5/12/12]

3. North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell (451 pages) [7/18/12]
4. Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen (462 pages) [8/13/12]

Challenge Complete! [8/13/12]....but I still have two more Chunksters on the TBR list for 2012.  We'll see if I can complete them too.

5. The Distant Hours by Kate Morton (562 pages)
6. 11/22/63 by Stephen King (at 849 pages, this is the big daddy of my chunksters this year) [10/8/12]