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30 Beloved Long Books to Curl Up With
The new year has arrived. The clock has been reset. Now is the time to tackle the really ambitious reading challenges–those massive books that have been on your list for far too long.
We’ve collected below 30 beloved books from various genres that clock in at 600 pages or more. These are the big reads, the serious titles. Beasts, we call them.
Reading a really thick book has several advantages. The novel remains the most immersive of storytelling formats, as far as we’re concerned. When you’re really locked in, you’re engaging your own imagination to provide the sounds and visuals, and that trumps any big screen special effect. Extra long novels can transport you, for weeks at a time.
Two, if you have a print copy, it looks very impressive when reading on a train or park bench or other public space. (It’s less impressive on an e-reader, but you can always drop subtle hints. Announce your page turns aloud. “Aaaaand…page five hundred and thirty….”)
The selections below wander about through several styles and genres. You can go with a straight-up classic, like Dickens’ David Copperfield or Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. For historical fiction, Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth is a remarkably detailed depiction of 12th century England.
For the sci-fi-curious, now is the perfect time to tackle Frank Herbert’s 1965 classic Dune. Part two of director Denis Villeneuve's heralded film adaptation is slated to drop next year. For a real cerebral workout, consider David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest or the granddaddy of all big reads, Tolstoy’s War and Peace.
Scroll over the book covers to learn more about each title, and add the ones that pique your interest to your Want to Read shelf!. Good luck and happy reading!
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Your turn! What's a favorite doorstopper that you'd recommend to your fellow readers? Let us know in the comments!
Check out more recent articles:
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Check out more recent articles:
Readers' Most Anticipated Speculative Fiction of 2022
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Kat
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Jan 26, 2022 12:17AM
Les Misérables, where is it? 😱
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Ooh, I feel like reading The Stand again.
Definitely Les Mis, 365 small chapters, one per day and you will have read by next year.
Many great books on this list!I have read three of them: The Stand, The Other Boleyn Girl, and The Eye of the World. All of them were five stars!
Many of the others are on my TBR.
Wives and Daughters should be on this list... author died before finishing (1865) and still almost 700 pages and truly amazing!!
For a fantastic work of historical fiction, check out The Winds of War and War and Remembrance. I personally plan to take a crack at Bleak House and Ulysses this year.
Jerusalem by Alan Moore (1393)XX by Rian Hughes (992)
The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel (879)
Bubblegum by Adam Levin (784)
The American People: Volume 1: Search for My Heart: A Novel by Larry Kramer (800)
Wanderers by Chuck Wendig (802)
Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany (836)
Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders by Samuel R. Delany (818)
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (821)
Barbara wrote: "Definitely Les Mis, 365 small chapters, one per day and you will have read by next year."Oh, I had no idea it was divided into 365 small chapters. The length intimidated me. Maybe I will give it a go...
I've been meaning to re-read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn; it's been years!
To this list I would add:Gone With the Wind
The Clan of the Cave Bear
The Count of Monte Cristo (unabridged, longest book I've ever read at 1,450 pages)
I will be reading Eye of the World this year, and also will be reading my first Penman book: When Christ and His Saints Slept
Of the books you have on the list, The Stand is my favorite, and I also loved Lonesome Dove, Pillars of the Earth, and The Other Boleyn Girl.
The Passage was ok.
I am not a fan of The Goldfinch, I wish I would have skipped at least 300 pages of the Vegas drug abyss.
I quit both Dune and Outlander.
I have Life After Life on my TBR shelf.
Potentially interested in trying War and Peace, The Brothers Karamazov, David Copperfield, Middlemarch, The Name of the Rose, A Brief History of Seven Killings, and maybe A Suitable Boy (but I recently finished Shantaram and wasn't a fan, so I am not eager to dive back into India at the moment).
Love Name of the Rose; first read it in a single sitting as a student. Brothers Karamazov is enthralling; I love his detailed descriptions of thoughts and emotions and the normalisation of the grotesque.
2666 might have you curling up in the foetal position
Lord of the Rings, Gone With the Wind, The Thorn Birds, The Seven Sisters series
Don Quixote by Cervantes, Ducks Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann, Barkskins by Annie Proulx, The Terror by Dan Simmons, Master of the Senate by Robert CaroI have to stop and praise "Ducks" for a moment... this is such a tremendous book that I felt sorry to see end even after a near 1000 pages.
I would humbly add:The Count of Monte Cristo
The Color Purple
Call Me By Your Name
After Dark
The Outsider
Norwegian Wood
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories
Susan wrote: "James clavells Hong Kong books, especially now"Shogun was the 1st humungous novel I ever tackled. The paperback was so big, it fell apart and I ripped off the pages as I read them.
This list is good. I loved the Passage trilogy.
Battlefield Earth. Luckily I read the book before I saw the movie, or I might never have picked up this book.
Gerhard wrote: "Jerusalem by Alan Moore (1393)XX by Rian Hughes (992)
The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel (879)
Bubblegum by Adam Levin (784)
[b..."
You have reminded me I have to revisit Samuel R Delany, really liked The Two Towers, and others.
The count of Montecristo by Dumas, The amazing adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Chabon and Life and destiny by Grossman
Some long but lighter reads :- Naamah's Kiss by Jacqueline Carey . Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith , Dark Hearts of Chicago by William Horwood , Natchez Burning by Greg Iles , Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King , By Gaslight by Steven Price , and last but not least Silk and Song by Dana Stabenow . About 5,000 pages of pleasure .
I add Martin Chuzzlewit by Dickens to the list. I think it was his longest book and he was disappointed that readers didn't much like it. I liked the beginning but it became too much during the travels in America. Some may like it.
Dare I recommend a couple of old tumultuous romance books 'The Wolf and the Dove' and 'The Flame and the Flower'. I probably would not read them now but 40+ years ago I loved them so much, I re-read passages over and over again. ❤
I rather liked "The Physician." And it's part of a trilogy, so...yay!
Cristina wrote: "The count of Montecristo by Dumas, The amazing adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Chabon and Life and destiny by Grossman"LOVED The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay! I heartily agree with this recommendation!
Anyone wanting to give War and Peace a go, definitely read the edition shown. The translation is superb. It really is a story about families. Who knew? Might want to research the story of the translation, which hooked me right off. I know, I know. Retired research librarian here, and I can’t help it!
Australian authors rarely feature on lists. For the first time this century, the top five bestselling books in Australia in a calendar year were all by local authors. Early classics from Miles Franklin, Ethel Turner, Patrick White and Tim Winton are worth reading but the newer authors are making their mark like Liane Moriarty and Trent Dalton's Boy Swallows Universe and Love Stories.
A Dance to the Music of Time series by Anthony Powell. It is actually written as twelve short novels, but usually published in four volumes. It is all one long story, though.
The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my all-time favourites.I also loved Anna Karenina and Gone with the Wind
