Not going to lie, I’m heavily relying on my Goodreads stats to bring you a semi-accurate list this week! 😛 Good luck to anyone who doesn’t use Goodreads to track their reading, unless you have a far superior memory to me which, let’s be real, probably isn’t that hard!
That said, I don’t know that this list is perfectly accurate, buuuuut they’re certainly 3 of the longer books I’ve read!
1. The Goldfinch – Donna Tartt (771 pages)
I’m not usually the biggest fan of literary fiction, but at the time of reading this I’d recently read The Secret History which I adored and I wanted to read more from Tartt. I definitely preferred The Secret History but I liked this one enough to get through it’s whopping number of pages!
2. 1Q84 (Books 1 & 2) -Haruki Murakami (628 pages)
These books started my Murakami love affair, though are still firmly my favourite book(s) by him. Technically, I guess, this is two books, but the edition I read had them as part of the same book so I’m counting it! To be honest, Book 3 wasn’t as good (in my opinion) as these first two.
3. Circle of Friends – Maeve Binchy
I’m not going to lie, I don’t remember too much of this book other than that I read it while I was in Ireland which felt fitting given the author is Irish. And as a glimpse in to my everyday life, pretty much any time I see a Binchy book on a shelf at a bookstore I point to it and say “your mate!” to my partner, who has probably never read a Maeve Binchy book in his life (he mostly responds by rolling his eyes and walking away). I’m very aware this is a very unhelpful and irrelevant tidbit to be posting on a book blog but we’ve gone this far now 🙂
What are some of the longest books you remember reading – and were they worth the slog?
I haven’t read a really long book for a couple of years, I think I tend more towards short or mid-length books now that I can sink my teeth in to. Sometimes long books are just way too daunting!
Until next week,
M xx
I honestly thought The Secret History was worth the read. I don’t think a majority of readers will agree but I like character driven stories. I also like the fact that the characters weren’t exactly likable. 😆
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I’m currently reading The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling by Henry Fielding for my Masters in English. Anything for exams. I won’t say it’s enjoyable, but being one of the first written novels, it certainly gives perspective about those days.
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Gone with the Wind and Pillars of the Earth were both over 1000 pages. They were definitely worth the time and effort 😊
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Oh yes! I read Pillars of the Earth and loved it!
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A little life, Hanya Yanagihara. Traumatic and devastating, but struck through with tragic beauty.
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Definitely one I want to read, but maybe when I can get it on Kindle to save my weak arms. ❤️❤️
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I think my longest book was The Red Queen by Isobelle Carmody. It was 1120 pages, and the 7th and final book in a series that took about 3 decades to complete. It was definitely worth it though!!
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Totally agree! The Obernewtyn series is one of my faves! 🙂
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It’s so good, and well worth the time taken to publish. I just need the final book in the Legendsong trilogy and I will be happy!!! 😂
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I’ve read the first two! I remember not understanding The Goldfinch at all for some reason…
And I enjoyed IQ84 but it went foreeeeeever!
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Haha I think we feel the same on both counts! 😅😅😅
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I think The Goldfinch is my longest read too! I absolutely adored that book. I was weirdly nervous to start it because it felt like such a massive commitment, but reading it was no effort at all for me in the end. The story totally intrigued me the entire time!
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