In it for the Long Haul!
This week we are talking about those long books we've read. In all honesty, the longest book I've read is the Bible, but I am going to stick to my fiction books for this list. I read primarily contemporaries these days, which don't tend to be super long, but I tag in for an SFF book every now and again, and those are the books that pretty much dominate this list.
Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Series: The Illuminae Files, #3
Publisher: Knopf
Although this book clocks in at 615 pages, it's not really that long, because it is a mix of graphics, text/instant message exchanges, files, and other media. I flew through this book, and I loved it!
Sarah J. Maas
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2
Publisher: Bloomsbury
This book was 626 pages of stupendous. By far, my favorite book of the series, this one left me all sorts of amped up when I was done.
Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass, #4
Publisher: Bloomsbury
This was 656 pages of emotional ups and downs for me. I loved some of the character arcs, and was a little sad about others, but overall, throughly enjoyed it.
Cassandra Clare
Series: The Dark Artifices, #1
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
At 669 pages, this is the shortest full-length by Clare, and ushered in her third series in the Shadow World. With this book, I fell in love with the Blackthorn family, and wished I was a part of it.
Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Series: The Illuminae Files, #2
Publisher: Knopf
This book was deceptive at 665 pages, and featured artwork by Marie Lu. Kaufman and Kristoff took me on another wild ride, and also introduced me to the Lollipop Song.
Cassandra Clare
Series: The Dark Artifices, #2
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
This was 701 pages, that ended in utter heartbreak for me. It was a cruel, cruel ending, and I am eager to read the final book in this series to see how it all works out.
Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass, #5
Publisher: Bloomsbury
There were many battles within these 704 pages, and my heart was broken over and over again. Seriously, I am crying a little after re-reading my review.
Sarah J. Maas
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Another SJM book filled with battles, which clocked in at 707 pages. It was good, and completed the story arc, but didn't quite impact me the way AROMAF did.
Maeve Binchy
Series: n/a
Publisher: Dell
The page count is all over the place for this one, so I am going with Amazon - 610 pages. I read this book back in the 1990s, and am shocked I read a contemporary book that was this long.
Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments, #6
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
This was a big goodbye for me, and not just because it was 725 pages long. It was the 6th and final books in the TMI series, and I was really grateful for the way Clare tied up so loose ends. A good ending and nice intro to TDA.
What's the longest book you've read?
Let us know in the comments!
Gemina *nods* and lol about Lollipop Song. I forgot about that. :)
ReplyDeleteI told my daughter how the Lollipop Song is actually performed on the audiobook, and she listened to it just for that part.
DeleteI'm tempted to get the audio just for that. :)
DeleteACOMAF was my favourite in the series too! It was so damn amazing. I am currently rereading Queen of Shadows so I remember everything for when Kingdom of Ash comes out. I am so excited!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT https://wp.me/p3ftwe-YR
I admire all of you re-readers. These books are massive. I couldn't imagine going back to them.
DeleteI still have to tackle Illuminae-maybe next month!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite series. The books are intimidating, but it goes really fast, because there are lots of pictures and formatting,
DeleteCircle of friends! I'd forgotten that was a book too!
ReplyDeleteI think I read it because of the movie.
DeleteLike you I am a mostly contemporary reader so I didn't have a ton of long books. Gemina made my list too :)
ReplyDeleteI probably love contemporaries so much, because of my short attention span. XD
DeleteLady Midnight was LONG but so good. It's one of those books I didn't feel the length of. I still haven't read Lord of Shadows though. I'm waiting for the last one to be out to just binge read them!
ReplyDeleteI am definitely happy with the TDA books. They are almost as good as the TID books. I am excited about the final TDA book, but I know I will take forever to read it.
DeleteWhen I was just married and every penny was counted I use to buy only long books..the more pages the happier I was. You just reminded me, I bought Obsidio on release day and haven't devoured it yet!
ReplyDeleteI could totally understand wanting to get more for your buck. It's one of the reason I don't really read novellas. Obsidio was great. That whole series was great. I hope you get to it soon.
DeleteI really need to read some Sarah J Maas someday! Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteIt seems people either love her or they hate her, but I am a fan of both her series.
DeleteI love that the Illuminae books are doorstops, but you can read them so fast. It makes me feel like I accomplished something.
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
I felt all like "look at me with my big books" when I was reading the illuminate files, which I read as physical books, but, you know, lots of pictures.
DeleteI'll be reading City of Heavenly Fire next week. I really want to start reading it today, but at 725 pages, I know it's going to take a while to read, and if I want to review an ARC on Monday, I probably won't have time. But definitely I'll start it within a week. Looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteEmpire of Storms is my next SJM book. I haven't gotten around to it because I've had all these library books and new releases coming in... but I'll probably get to it in early December. I'm not sure that I'll be reading anything too long in November due to NaNoWriMo. It might be a good month to read novellas.
I feel like I would not have read those books had I had them in physical format. With eBooks, ignorance is bliss. I thought CoHF was a nice ending for those of us, who read all of TMI. I was crying at the end of EoS. It was emotional.
DeleteI guess I have something to look forward to!
DeleteI never realized how long Sarah J. Maas books were. I've been wanting to read at least one to see what the hype was all about but that's going to be a big time investment. I hope I block out this fact and eventually pick up the books anyway :)
ReplyDeleteThey are long, partially because of her style, but also because fantasy books are always on the longer side.
Deleteum..haven't read any sarah maas books, well, I tried with both series but just couldn't get into them.
ReplyDeletecircle of friends - I did read but now I can't seem to remember anything about it except that the lead is an overweight girl, I remember the movie more.
have a lovely day.
I am pretty sure I read Circle of Friends because I saw the movie, but I remember thinking there were some major differences between the two.
DeleteI have to agree the longest book I've ever read is also The Bible! I am not surprised that your list is all fantasy to be honest, because fantasy books can sometimes get on the really long side! I think maybe the longest fiction will be Bleak House by Charles Dickens for me. 989 pages DD: It was a beast!
ReplyDeleteThere is one contemporary on the list, but yeah, fantasy books are always so long - probably why I tend to not read that many. There was the legend that Dickens books were so long, because he was paid by the word, but he just was a wordy guy.
DeleteIs Circle of Friends the book the movie was based on?
ReplyDeleteYay, my comment showed up! I'll go and comment on a couple more. 👍✨
DeleteYep, that's the book that inspired the Chris O'Donnell - Minnie Driver movie. I am sure I read the book after seeing the movie.
DeleteI’ve read many massive books in my day: Gone with the Wind, unabridged Les Miserables, IT and The Dark Tower series... I used to pick books out by the length, because I loved a good long story.
ReplyDeleteI saw a bunch of lists with King titles on them. I didn't realize his books were so long. I have a short attention span, and like me books to be 500 pages or less. That seems like my sweet spot.
DeleteI forgot that Cassandra Clare's books were so long. These days I think they might take me a whole wee to get through.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I am able to read books faster in electronic format, and part of that is mental with me. I see a big book, and cannot get past it being large. With an ebook, ignorance is bliss.
DeleteStill need to read ACOTAR. Sigh!!!
ReplyDeleteACOMAF is the best book of the bunch.
DeleteOoh nice! Seeing a lot of Maas today! And Rowling, Clare, and The Illuminae Files! A few of those made my list too!
ReplyDeleteHere's my Tuesday Post
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower :)
This week's list are dominated by fantasy books for sure
DeleteI didn't realize Clare's books were that long! Wow! I've also never caught up with the Throne of Glass series, mostly because I know they're massive books and there are SO many of them!
ReplyDeleteToG is ending soon. One last book. I am sort of sad, because I really enjoyed the series.
DeleteI have most of these on my tbr list but haven't actually read any of them. I need to get busy!
ReplyDeleteI felt like most of them read fast (especially the Illuminae books, which had a lot of pictures), but series require that extra level of commitment.
DeleteI totally did not realize Gemina artwork was done by Marie Lu! That's awesome. Great list. I'm so jealous that you've already read Obsidio! I need to catch up on that one. And I should finish The Mortal Instruments. I think I read the first three or four and somehow never finished.
ReplyDeleteLu illustrated the last two books. I remember I was sad, because I got an ARC of Gemina at BookExpo, and there were mostly placeholders for the artwork. I am a Shadowhunters fan, and am actually up to date on all CC's full lengths.
DeleteHold on, the lollipop song? OMG I definitely checked out of the audiobook because I DON'T remember that part in Gemina at all. 😂😂😂
ReplyDeleteThe Illuminae Files audiobooks have won like every award. I heard they are amazing. The lollipop song was hilarious in Gemina. I thought it was fantastic, that they were being tortured with pop music.
DeleteI've read the first two Illuminae books, but I really want to re-read them so I can read Obsidio. Those are some long books I've read as are the later Harry Potter books. Ooh Circle of Friends! I loved that one.
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
The Illuminae books are long, but lots of pictures and formatting
DeleteI think the longest books I've read were Laini Taylor's, Harry Potter maybe but I tend to stay away from longer books.
ReplyDeleteKaren @ For What It's Worth
Both of those authors were on a lot of lists this week
DeleteI have not read any of the novels on your TTT post! They look like really good reads. Hopefully one day I'll be able to get around to reading a few of them!
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to my TTT post this week: http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2018/10/top-ten-tuesday-longest-books-ive-ever.html
Lots of YA fantasy
DeleteI always forget just how long ACOMAF is because it just flies by so quickly. Your list also reminds me that I still need to read Obsidio.
ReplyDeleteYou do need to read Obsidio. It was sad saying goodbye to that series, but I was very satisfied with the ending.
DeleteYeah SFF books are really looong! I still need to read Gemina and Obsidio tho!
ReplyDeleteThat is one of my fave series. I hope you get to them.
DeleteI have read a few of these! The Sarah Maas ones, well- I mean, some of them, I think I haven't read Empire of Storms yet, because... 700+ pages. ACOWAR was underwhelming for me, and I am just hesitant to go back. Which, incidentally is how I feel with the Clare books. Too many pages of Shadowhunters for this girl! I did love the Illuminae series- well, mostly (seriously, I am pretty sure that the problem here is ME!)
ReplyDeleteAlso, now I am VERY curious- how long IS the Bible?
Depends on the version of the Bible, but it usually clocks in over 1000 pages, which is really long for me, as I am a solid contemporary reader.
DeleteI can't believe I still haven't read ACOTAR and The Illuminae! The longest I read was The Godfather, Gone with the Wind and HP :)
ReplyDeleteThose are really long books. So, hats off to you,
DeleteExcellent choices - I can't wait to try Obsidio, but I just don't want it to end!
ReplyDeleteCheck out The Nightmare Before Christmas Book Tag
I am sad The Iluminae Files is over, but at least we have the next Kaufman-Kristoff series to look forward to.
DeleteI had Empire of Storms, ACOMAF and Queen of Shadows on my list this week too.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2018/10/09/top-ten-tuesday-180/
Yep, SJM and Clare write long books.
DeleteI haven't read any of these books! I'm yet to start anything by Sarah J. Maas because I've heard such mixed feelings about her books. How the MC in A Game of Thrones ends up doing things really out of character in later books, and just ruined the series for people who were previously a fan. And yet there are people who absolutely adore it.
ReplyDeleteI also ended up giving up on Cassandra Clare. I really enjoyed the first two TMI series, but I was behind, and Clare kept writing more and more, and I just decided I didn't enjoy the first two enough to want to keep going will all of these books.
I do have Illuminae, though! It's sitting on my TBR, patiently waiting for me to read it. It's been there quite a while, but, although it sounds amazing, I just haven't got round to it yet. I am looking forward to it, though!
ToG and Illuminae are two of my favorite series. I will read all the Shadowhunters books, because I am that deep in their world. ToG ends soon, and I will bid Aelin a fond farewell.
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