I have to admit that I do tend to be put off by long books. It’s not fair – I have read some that were absolutely fantastic and earned their page count. I think it just comes down to that reticence to commit to something that will take that much time and effort from me. I have trouble doing it, especially now I have less time to read. But there have been some lengthy tomes I’ve read over the years – plus one that felt quite long (One Hundred Years of Solitude) because keeping track of the characters took a huge amount of energy! I’ve also included a few I started but didn’t finish. I’m not saying it was because they were so long… but that didn’t help (not including Guide to Getting It On! in that as it’s more of a reference book which is why I’ve only read bits of it)!In rough page number order, here they are!
Books I’ve read:
The Cornish Trilogy by Robertson Davies (1,152 pages)
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann (1,030 pages)
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (1,009 pages)
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (720 pages)
The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones (624 pages)
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (417 pages)
Books I’ve started but not finished:
Bleak House by Charles Dickens (1,037 pages)
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (671 pages)
Guide to Getting It On! by Paul Joannides (1,506 pages)
Phew, I’m tired just looking at those page counts! What about you guys? What’s the longest book you’ve read? Was it worth it? Any long ones you’d absolutely recommend in spite of the page count? Have you read any of these?
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link-up feature created by The Broke and the Bookish and hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every week TTT has a different topic, and everyone who links up has to create a link of ten items that fit that topic. To see past and upcoming topics, go here.
A Little Life just can’t be missed on these lists 🙂
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2025/08/19/top-ten-tuesday-the-beasts/
Same. Even though I have lots of time on my hands and I’m a fast reader, I still shy away from books with 400+ pages. I just don’t have the patience for them most of the time. Not anymore. UNDER THE DOME is one I really wanted to read, but I DNF’d it pretty fast because it was so slow. (See what I mean about no patience?? LOL)
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
No idea what the 1619 project is without looking it up, but the title appealed, It reminded me of another book, 1421: The Year China Discovered The World (another tome!)
https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/2025/08/19/%f0%9f%93%9atoptentuesday-10-books-with-a-high-page-count-tuesdaybookblog-booktwitter-booktwt/
I’ve heard of many of these, but can’t say I’ve read any of them. Thanks for sharing.
I feel like a lot of people I went to school with read The Fountainhead, but it never grabbed my attention.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/ten-biggest-books-on-my-tbr/