Best longish book that is worth the time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro

A Heart Breaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

Not long and he’s pretty insufferable

375pp. is long enough

[Anonymous]

Pachinko
Pillars of the Earth
Lonesome Dove (800 pp!!)

All totally worth the ride

I love long books!

[Anonymous]

I fourth Pachinko and second Poisonwood Bible.

And, I guess I really need to read Pillars of the Earth.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone said Anna Karenina?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there a certain genre you prefer? Classics? Literary fiction? Historical fiction? Mysteries? Romance? Fantasy?

It's hard to know where to start.

Where to start what? Reading "longish" books? Or just plain reading? Read what you like -- what I like (literary fiction and pop cnf) isn't necessarily going to be what you like.

I believe "where to start" referred to giving a recommendation, which I have asked for. I like all kinds of genres, though I have a bit of a harder time with science fiction. "Read what you like" is generally good advice, but I asking for a something a little more specific. The poster below noted that Demon Copperfield, which has received rave reviews, is a slog at 600 pages. It's a great example of exactly what I am trying to avoid. I am asking for a book that was worth the pages.

I'd consider medium to longish anything over 400 pages.

Since you don't like Sci-Fi (and I am assuming this encompasses fantasy as well) - these are my recs for page-turners/sink-in stories that are longer (and fwiw - I am the same re: Demon Copperhead - I just can't get into it) -

Love Songs of WEB Dubois - Honoree Jeffers
Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
Harlem Shuffle (only 300+ pages) - Colson Whitehead
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow -Gabrielle Zevin
Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness (tips into fantasy territory - vampires/witches)
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
Life after Life - Kate Atkinson

And if you want to dip into scifi - you can't go wrong with:

All Our Wrong Todays - Elan Mastai - which is really a reflection on what it means to be human if you can get past the time-travel aspect of the story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there a certain genre you prefer? Classics? Literary fiction? Historical fiction? Mysteries? Romance? Fantasy?

It's hard to know where to start.

Where to start what? Reading "longish" books? Or just plain reading? Read what you like -- what I like (literary fiction and pop cnf) isn't necessarily going to be what you like.

I believe "where to start" referred to giving a recommendation, which I have asked for. I like all kinds of genres, though I have a bit of a harder time with science fiction. "Read what you like" is generally good advice, but I asking for a something a little more specific. The poster below noted that Demon Copperfield, which has received rave reviews, is a slog at 600 pages. It's a great example of exactly what I am trying to avoid. I am asking for a book that was worth the pages.

I'd consider medium to longish anything over 400 pages.

Since you don't like Sci-Fi (and I am assuming this encompasses fantasy as well) - these are my recs for page-turners/sink-in stories that are longer (and fwiw - I am the same re: Demon Copperhead - I just can't get into it) -

Love Songs of WEB Dubois - Honoree Jeffers
Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
Harlem Shuffle (only 300+ pages) - Colson Whitehead
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow -Gabrielle Zevin
Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness (tips into fantasy territory - vampires/witches)
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
Life after Life - Kate Atkinson

And if you want to dip into scifi - you can't go wrong with:

All Our Wrong Todays - Elan Mastai - which is really a reflection on what it means to be human if you can get past the time-travel aspect of the story.

Hmm… all reading counts but this seem a little bit more fluffy reads than what I would consider a long book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP who loved Kingsolver’s Demon Cooperhead. I was drawn in after the first sentence and felt transported completely into the narrator’s world.

Ugh, I am committed to finishing it, but man she needs an editor. It could be cut in half. So much dead space where nothing happens. Demon’s voice doesn’t strike me as authentic either. Kingsolver’s voice comes through.

+1 I stuck with it because it was for book club but found it a hard read.

[Anonymous]

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn (646 pages)

Dinah Jeffries historicals are usually over 500 pages.

Any of the Poldark books by Winston Graham (several are 500-700 pages).

Margaret Owen's Little Thieves and Painted Devils. YA Fantasy over 500 pages. They're gorgeous.

Do not recommend: The later Outlander books. They're approaching 1000 pages now and all I could think of during some of them is how desperately she needs an editor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stephen King's The Stand.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m reading Demon Copperhead. 600 hundred pages long and it is sagging. I want to quit! I can’t bare to read it anymore, I don’t care about Demon. Too much internal dialogue and not enough plot.

I feel the same. But last summer I read David Copperfield by CD himself so I find myself just trying to directly compare the two - chapter and verse. which is a fun distraction.

Also, while CD's version was an autobiography, I try to see Demon Copperhead as a metaphor for the most poor and oppressed in extremis. I mean, some of his misadventures are just comical.

And the original IS about making your way poor and orphaned in england at a certain time in history. It ultimately is a happy ending and CD is great at painting pictures. Set in mid 1800s england, i feel distance of time and space -and less emotionally invested in his plight.

But in Demon Copperhead, I'm more aware of these issues, they are physically and temporally closer, and the impact is greater.

As well, i believe the author is giving a voice to those who rarely get one, and the issues are au currant.

The writing is good and i feel like i'm learning something - which is a criteria for my time spent reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anna Karenina

+1

Also, The Thornbirds and Where the Crawdads Sing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m reading Demon Copperhead. 600 hundred pages long and it is sagging. I want to quit! I can’t bare to read it anymore, I don’t care about Demon. Too much internal dialogue and not enough plot.

I feel the same. But last summer I read David Copperfield by CD himself so I find myself just trying to directly compare the two - chapter and verse. which is a fun distraction.

Also, while CD's version was an autobiography, I try to see Demon Copperhead as a metaphor for the most poor and oppressed in extremis. I mean, some of his misadventures are just comical.

And the original IS about making your way poor and orphaned in england at a certain time in history. It ultimately is a happy ending and CD is great at painting pictures. Set in mid 1800s england, i feel distance of time and space -and less emotionally invested in his plight.

But in Demon Copperhead, I'm more aware of these issues, they are physically and temporally closer, and the impact is greater.

As well, i believe the author is giving a voice to those who rarely get one, and the issues are au currant.

The writing is good and i feel like i'm learning something - which is a criteria for my time spent reading.

I thought DC was pretty compelling through the first half but it is an unusually slow read for me, and I'm stuck at around the 400-page mark. Just finding the football years less interesting and it's feeling like a slog at the moment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stephen King's The Stand.

+1

I read that in a week when I was 17. I didn't do much else that week, its about 1000 pages. I read it as a bet with my BF that I couldn't read it in a week and I did. I've never been inclined to pick up a Stephen King book since.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there a certain genre you prefer? Classics? Literary fiction? Historical fiction? Mysteries? Romance? Fantasy?

It's hard to know where to start.

Where to start what? Reading "longish" books? Or just plain reading? Read what you like -- what I like (literary fiction and pop cnf) isn't necessarily going to be what you like.

I believe "where to start" referred to giving a recommendation, which I have asked for. I like all kinds of genres, though I have a bit of a harder time with science fiction. "Read what you like" is generally good advice, but I asking for a something a little more specific. The poster below noted that Demon Copperfield, which has received rave reviews, is a slog at 600 pages. It's a great example of exactly what I am trying to avoid. I am asking for a book that was worth the pages.

I'd consider medium to longish anything over 400 pages.

Since you don't like Sci-Fi (and I am assuming this encompasses fantasy as well) - these are my recs for page-turners/sink-in stories that are longer (and fwiw - I am the same re: Demon Copperhead - I just can't get into it) -

Love Songs of WEB Dubois - Honoree Jeffers
Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
Harlem Shuffle (only 300+ pages) - Colson Whitehead
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow -Gabrielle Zevin
Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness (tips into fantasy territory - vampires/witches)
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
Life after Life - Kate Atkinson

And if you want to dip into scifi - you can't go wrong with:

All Our Wrong Todays - Elan Mastai - which is really a reflection on what it means to be human if you can get past the time-travel aspect of the story.

Hmm… all reading counts but this seem a little bit more fluffy reads than what I would consider a long book.

Btw, I am OP and did not post the message above. I appreciate all recommendations!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anna Karenina

+1

Also, The Thornbirds and Where the Crawdads Sing

WTCS is not long, it doesn't even break 400 pages. Completely average