Top Ten Tuesday: Longest Books I’ve Read

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is the longest books I’ve ever read. Honestly, the longest book I’ve ever read is probably a boring textbook that I’ve blocked from my memory. I was forced to read many 1000+ page textbooks in school. Since I no longer own them and don’t remember their titles, I’m only going to list books that I definitely remember reading.

The Longest Books I’ve Read

10. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (837 pages)

If I hadn’t seen the show first, I don’t think I could have finished this book. There are so many characters!

"In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens."

9. The Dark Tower by Stephen King (845 pages)

This is the final novel in a series. As a whole, I’d rate the series “meh,” but I thought this final book was phenomenal.

"King began this epic tale about the last gunslinger in the world more than 20 years ago; now he draws its suspenseful story to a close, snapping together the last pieces of his action puzzle and drawing Roland Deschain ever closer to his ultimate goal."

8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (870 pages)

I expect this book is on pretty much everybody’s list. I love all of the Harry Potter books, but Phoenix is my least favorite. It’s longer than it needs to be.

"Harry has a lot on his mind for this, his fifth year at Hogwarts: a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher with a personality like poisoned honey; a big surprise on the Gryffindor Quidditch team; and the looming terror of the Ordinary Wizarding Level exams. But all these things pale next to the growing threat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named—a threat that neither the magical government nor the authorities at Hogwarts can stop."

7. I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb (897 pages)

This novel falls firmly in the “Tragedy Porn” camp. It’s one of the most depressing books I’ve ever read. That being said, I really liked it. I’ve meant to reread it for years, but it’s 897 pages!

"On the afternoon of October 12, 1990, my twin brother, Thomas, entered the Three Rivers, Connecticut public library, retreated to one of the rear study carrels, and prayed to God the sacrifice he was about to commit would be deemed acceptable."

6. Middlemarch by George Eliot (904 pages)

I honestly don’t remember the details of this one. I was forced to read so much Brit Lit in school that it all blurred into one long, monotonous dinner party scene. Middlemarch is one of the better books that was forced upon me. It’s more readable than most classics.

"Young and intelligent, Dorothea Brooke hastily marries Casaubon, a middle-aged scholar working tirelessly on his “masterpiece,” The Key to All Mythologies. Their union soon sours, and Dorothea becomes trapped in a difficult situation that worsens upon the death of her husband. Elsewhere in town, Tertius Lydgate, an idealistic young doctor, is caught in an ill-fated union with the sweet but superficial Rosamund Vincy. Intertwined within the lives of these two unfortunate couples is the handsome artist Will Ladislaw, who is sympathetic to Lydgate’s ideas about science and medicine, and who develops feelings for his uncle’s wife—Dorthea Brooke."

5. A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin (1010 pages)

I read this book when my dog and my mom were both really sick. It was a good distraction from all the stress and awfulness.

"A comet the color of blood and flame cuts across the sky. Two great leaders—Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon—who hold sway over an age of enforced peace are dead, victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns. Six factions struggle for control of a divided land and the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms, preparing to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war."

4. IT by Stephen King (1090 pages)

I read this book last year because I wanted to see the movie. (Which I did see and recommend.) Like pretty much every King book, it’s much longer than it needs to be.

"They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them back to Derry to face the nightmare without an end, and the evil without a name."

3. The Stand by Stephen King (1153 pages)

This was required reading for my American Lit class in high school. I’m pretty confident that I’m the only student who actually finished it.

"This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death. And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides—or are chosen."

2. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (1168 pages)

It took me 3 months to finish this book. I was so proud of myself for not giving up on it. The dystopian plot is entertaining. The characters are horrible people who enjoy giving tedious speeches. By the end, I hated all of them. I just wanted everyone to shut up!

"Tremendous in its scope, this novel presents an astounding panorama of human life—from the productive genius who becomes a worthless playboy—to the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own destruction—to the philosopher who becomes a pirate—to the composer who gives up his career on the night of his triumph—to the woman who runs a transcontinental railroad—to the lowest track worker in her Terminal tunnels."

1. A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin (1179 pages)

Until I made this list, I didn’t know that A Storm of Swords was my longest book. I read it a few months ago and loved it. It’s my favorite book in the series so far.

"Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, victim of the sorceress who holds him in her thrall. Young Robb still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world. And as opposing forces maneuver for the final showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost limits of civilization, accompanied by a horde of mythical Others—a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords."

What’s the longest book you’ve read?