Tuesday, October 9, 2018

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?











79 comments:

  1. You know, I must not have IT on Goodreads because I've read it and it didn't show up on my top 10 of longest. Then again, I read it WAAAAAYYY before Goodreads so that's probably the issue. I bet there are lots of Martin books on lists today.

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    1. Yeah, these might not be the longest books I’ve ever read. I was reading big books long before I started using Goodreads. Most of the stuff I’ve read isn’t on there.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  2. I haven't read any george martin (not really all that interested in his books) or stephen king (I don't read horror). both of these authors seems to be on everyone's list this week.

    I have read all the harry potters. and middlemarch which I remember nothing of except what was in the tv series.

    it's a bit sad that these days all the long books are part of book series.

    have a lovely day.

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    1. I didn’t know that Middlemarch was a TV series. I should watch it and remind myself what happened in that book.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  3. I think I'm one of the few that really loves Order of the Phoenix, haha, but I do agree it was a bit long. I didn't realize how long Atlas Shrugged was! Middlemarch is one that I'd really like to try one of these days.

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    1. A few people on Instagram told me that they love Order of the Phoenix. I think if a book takes me longer than 3 days to finish, I start getting bored with it. Phoenix took me a while.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  4. Great list! I haven't read any of them. I'm not usually a fan of big books.

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  5. oh wow I do give you a lot of credit for finishing the Stand when you were in high school! I wish I could read King because that's my fav of his movies. I would also like to try GoT again because that's my fav TV Show of all time :) I think HP are the longest books I read along with Gone with the Wind :)

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    1. I need to get back to the GoT books. I took a break after the third book because they’re so massive. I need to read Gone With The Wind, too.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  6. Harry Potter would probably be mine as well. I've read a few 500-ish page books but I tend to steer clear of anything long.

    Karen @ For What It's Worth

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    1. I have no problem buying long books, but then they sit on my shelf forever because they’re intimidating!

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  7. Nope, not read any of these! I did look at the Ayn Rand recently, but didn't get as far as opening a copy!

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    1. I’ve read two Ayn Rand books. I probably won’t read any more because philosophy is not my thing. Also, they’re kind of boring.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  8. I think Martin's stuff are some of the longest books I own, for sure. My thing with him is- instead of taking 17,000 years to write each book, I wish he's just... give us what he has now for the next one? I mean if it's 500 pages, that's fine lol! Still longer than most books! Share George!!!!!

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    1. Exactly! Instead of giving us a 1000-page book every million years, can he give us a 500-page book every half million years?

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  9. I've always wanted to read the Dark Tower series, but it's SO LONG! Same with It!

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    1. What makes it worse is that a few of the Dark Tower books are profoundly terrible. There’s one book where a character spends 300 pages walking across New York. It’s bad.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  10. I knew you would have lots of massive books. My longest book (excluding the Bible) is in the 700 page range. I don't really like reading long books.

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    1. I don’t read a lot of long ones, either. I have a very short attention span.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  11. I really enjoyed A Game of Thrones and need to get back to the series. I read it before seeing the show--which is my preference. I have only seen the first season so far.

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    1. I’ve only read the first 3 books, but I’ve seen every episode of the show several times. I’m a little obsessed.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  12. I'm reading Middlemarch right now! And yes, it's LONG. I'm doing a group read with my book group, and we're really enjoying it.

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    1. I’m glad you’re liking it! I read it so long ago that I barely remember it.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  13. George R.R. Martin was a big player on my list this week, too!

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    1. I expect he’s on a lot of lists this week. His books are monsters.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  14. Order of the Phoenix is on my list this week too! In a weird way I think it's kind of my favourite, which probably says... something... about my personality, although I'm not sure what.

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    1. A few people have said that it’s their favorite. I love all of the Harry Potter books, but I think Phoenix could have been edited.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  15. We really do have a lot of books in common on our lists! And every book on your list that I haven't read yet, I already wanted to read.

    Hope you have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog. - Katie

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  16. I have yet to finish A Game of Thrones. I'm still halfway.

    * TTT: Top 10 longest books I've read in 2018 🌻❤🌻❤

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  17. Wow, I actually didn't realise how long King's books were!

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    1. Yes! Most of them are very long. The dude has no self-control and no editor.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  18. Lots of King and GoT! I had HP on my list too.

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  19. I’ve read most of what you have read, though I’ve only read book one of GoT.

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    1. The GoT books are such a huge commitment. Each one takes me a month to read.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  20. Man, Stephen King and his doorstops! I used to love long books, but now I don't have much tolerance for them. They have to be absolutely amazing to warrant that many pages. The Heart's Invisible Furies is a recent example of one that warranted all its pages, but it still wasn't close to as long as many on this list.

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    1. I’ve heard good things about that book. One of the booktubers I follow loved it and talks about it a lot.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  21. Yes the same Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and Stephen King books show up on my list too!

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  22. Those GoT books are super long. I tried reading the first one after watching the first season of the show and I just couldn't do it. Even know that good parts were coming up, I just wanted to get to the action. LoL

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    1. I know! There’s a lot of stuff crammed into those books. I also get impatient waiting for things to happen. Probably because I’ve seen the show and know what’s coming.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  23. I still haven't made it through Middlemarch and Atlas Shrugged, both are on my tbr. I'm eyeing both with suspicion and apprehension! Read the GOT, HP and King books! Love them!

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    1. Both of those books took me months to finish. I’m a slow reader, so big books are a huge commitment.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  24. I enjoyed Order of the Phoenix despite how long it was... with the goal of getting those huge chunks of AR points, haha. Well worth it, but I would probably lose my attention span if I reread the book due to its length.

    Also wow! I never read the Stand, but kudos to you for dealing with such a lengthy book in high school!

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    1. I’m surprised by how many long books I read in high school. I didn’t have reading goals back then, so it didn’t bother me to spend months on the same book.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  25. Nice list! The only one of these I've read is the Harry Potter book (and several others in the series that rival it for length.) I missed making a list this week, but if I had, it would have also included both of Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicle books so far, plus The Lord of the Rings (I have a one-volume set), several other fantasy novels, and Gone With the Wind.

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    1. I tried so many times to read Lord of the Rings when I was a teen. I never made it the whole way through.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  26. I always forget how long the Harry Potter books really are since they're always such quick reads.

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  27. Ha, there seems to be a theme here. I guess Stephen King writes lots of long novels, no? xD I didn't realize Atlas Shrugged was that long! :o I've read that multiple times, along with The Fountainhead, which is also pretty darn long.

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    1. Stephen King books tend to be extremely long. I’ve thought about reading The Fountainhead, but two Rand books are enough for me. They take too long to read.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  28. I've read some (but not all) of GoT. But I think the loooongest books I've read have been the Wheel of Time Series. Those books are all seriously huge---way bigger than they needed to be. :-)

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    1. I’ve heard that the Wheel of Time series is big. That’s one series that I’ll probably never read.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  29. Wally Lamb--great addition to the list! His books are pretty hefty.

    Middlemarch is high on my TBR, but I keep putting off such a long classic, knowing it won't be a fast read. I'm glad to hear it's pretty readable!

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    1. I’ve always meant to try another Wally Lamb book, but the length puts me off them.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  30. Some of the HP books are surprisingly long! :-)

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    1. I know! I’m kind of surprised that kids love them so much. I guess kids aren’t afraid of big books.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  31. I didn't realize that so many Stephen King books were so long before this week. The GoT books took forever to read last year. Reading them back to back was probably not the best idea.

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    1. I don’t think I could have handled them back-to-back. That would have been intense!

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  32. I would like to read Game of Thrones. I think the longest books I've recently read are City of Heavenly Fire and a Stephen King.

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  33. Phoenix really needed to be edited a bit more didn't it?! I think that is my top book for length as well. I had no idea that the Stephen King books are long as well. Sometimes those long books are a bit overwhelming to me. :)

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    1. Yes, Phoenix could have definitely been shorter. There are long stretches of it where nothing is really happening.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  34. Woah! I couldn't even imagine reading a 1000+ page book - how would you even hold that kind of a beast?!?

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    1. Not easily! Between typing and reading big books, my hands hurt all the time.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  35. I've wanted to read a long Stephen King book, but they are kind of intimidating. I'm glad you were able to get through It and that you enjoyed the movie.

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    1. They are intimidating. I have 20-something King books that I still need to read. I’m slowly working my way through all of his books.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  36. When I saw this topic on the list of TTT, I thought, "Bet most of the lists have Game of Thrones on them." I should really start a crystal ball business. ;) Still, the longest book that I had the hardest time getting through was the second Outlander book. I stopped reading the series after that one.

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  37. Besides the books you mentioned, the longest ones I've read are Les Miserables, War & Peace, Chesapeake, and Gone with the Wind. All of which I read over 25 year ago. I wish I'd appreciated my attention span more when I had it.

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  38. Ahhhh all the Game of Thrones and Harry Potter books are showing up this week!!😂 I kind of forgot Harry Potter was so incredibly long?! Which is weird because I complain about the Goblet of Fire so much lmao. And I'm SO glad I listened to GoT via audio because I think my wrists would've died under all those bazillion pages. (Shh I am dramatic and exaggerate and can't be stopped.😂)

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  39. The longest book I've read is Under the Dome by Stephen King :)

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  40. I've been reading this top ten post in a lot of places and the books I see appear often are Harry Potter and also George R R Martin's books I am not surprised they are on this list. And yes, It is huge! Bleak House by Dickens is one of my tomes I recently read.

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  41. The Order of The Phoenix was on my list this week too.
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2018/10/09/top-ten-tuesday-180/

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  42. Game of Thrones and Order of the Phoenix made my list too. The GoT books are like bricks but man are they awesome.

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  43. I saw LOTS of HP, and Thrones on many lists last week. They were, appropriately, a popular choice. :)

    Thanks for the Finding Wonderland visit; apologies it took me so long to make a return visit.

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  44. I 100% sympathize about the number of characters in Game of Thrones. I don't usually enjoy third-person novels as much as those written in first-person (though there are some exceptions), and the fact that G.O.T. jumped around among a zillion different characters made it that much harder for me to enjoy. I ultimately set the book aside without finishing it, which I hate doing. I keep hearing great things about the show, though - maybe I should try watching that instead.

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  45. I need to try Martin... Mine is a French classic, can you guess? https://wordsandpeace.com/2018/10/09/top-ten-longest-books-ive-ever-read/

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