I like big books and I cannot lie. After spending some time looking though my 1,000+ books on Goodreads, I found the Top 10 Biggest Books I’ve Ever Read. There are two series that I just counted as onebook and gave the total pages and I used the hardcover as the page count for all.
1. The Harry Potter series clocks in at 4,012 pages for 7 books. That averages about 543 pages a book, although the last four were 734, 870, 652, 759 pages. Those were long and yet I never wanted them to be over.
2. The first four books of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon have 3,399 pages, with 896,743, 870, 880 each. Love them and will one day continue with the series.
3. War & Peace by Tolstoy (1,421 pages) is one I never would have gotten though on my own, but luckily a blogger buddy of mine read it with me and we cross posted about it. Made it a lot easier!
4. It by Stephen King (1,153 pages) was a chunkster that I read in a blogging read-along so that kept me on track.
5. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (973 pages) was recommended by a friend and took me a month and a half to finish.
6. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (944 pages) was an epic story set mostly in India.
7. The Passage by Justin Cronin (766 pages) was a little out of my wheelhouse, but an intriguing dystopian story.
8. Roots by Alex Haley (688 pages) was so good except toward the end where it got a bit boring.
9. Into the Wilderness by Sarah Donati (691 pages) was a beautiful historical romance.
10. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (609 pages) is a timeless classic that I’m glad to have read.
So, what are some of your favorite chunksters?
EDIT!
Oops! As I’m researching another list I see that I missed The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer which clocks in at 1,056 pages. It’s really #5.
I read “War and Peace” and was pleased to have done so although I found Pierre a little boring. I read the Harry Potter series and would buy each book as they came out but didn’t find the last two books very satisfying. I thoroughly enjoyed “The Woman in White” and wouldn’t have regarded it as a big book – I found it an easy and enjoyable read. I enjoyed thinking about the books I read – I can still remember reading them and the sensation of reading them if that makes sense. Regards Anne fellow A to Z-er http://ayfamilyhistory.com/2018/04/02/b-is-for-beatrix/
War & Peace was one of those that I was happy to finish. I liked it, but don’t think I could say it was necessarily worth the reading time. I found a book I missed so technically that knocks Woman in White off the top ten 🙂
I’ve only done Harry Potter, Pillars, and Roots. Pillars is in my top 3 all-time. Roots top 12. And I definitely enjoyed HP. It seems like War & Peace is something I should have read. Don’t think I will ever get to it at this point.
I wouldn’t worry about War and Peace at this point!
I read all except the last of the Harry Potters. I only got halfway through The Woman in White; I may try again sometime. My favorite chunkster is The Count of Monte Cristo. My version had 1462 pages.
I’ve had that on my wish list for a while!
Before blogging, I never paid attention to the length of a book. My sister loves big books because she says she gets more for her money that way.
Everyone loves a bargain 🙂 I like them because they allow me to get more invested.
Big books used to be very popular in the ’80’s and ’90’s. Lots of family sagas or that’s what I read anyway. Of the ones you listed I have read Harry Potter (all of them multiple times), Outlander (twice and have never continued), and It (more than once, but The Stand will be my favorite forever). The Woman in White is my Classic Club Spin book for this time. OK, I’m not going to finish it by the end of April. I’ve decided to leave it on my list, but try it another time. Just not a good match for me right now.
I need to read The Stand, I think. Classics, especially, have to hit me at the right time.
I just read Map of Time recently, that was 609 pages and is the first in a trilogy. The Stand by Stephen King was another chunky one but I don’t know how many pages. I have It on my shelf to be read.
Was Map of Time good?
Yes! I have the other two in the series to read for this year’s PopSugar challenge as well.
Out of all of them I’ve only read War and Peace – and it was worth the length, and a good sense of achievement to get to the end!
https://iainkellywriting.com/2018/04/02/b-is-for-birkirkara-malta/
Most of these chunksters are on my list as well. I’d add the Rose books by Jennifer Donnelly, the Pen Gage series by Greg Iles.
Hello, Nice Blog! I wrote a blog post at 500 words once and several people told me it was too long! Oh Boy!! Good Luck on the A-Z challenge! Zulu Delta
Harry Potter! Yes. I’m reading war and peace now and it is a bit of a slog! I need to catch up on my reading schedule. I don’t read long books. Which is why I find King a bit pretentious. His It book was the longest book I’ve read in a long time and it could’e been cut down to 600 pages easily. So King is out for me. Gone with the wind was huge and I read that multiple times in high school. The Kingkiller Chronicles are both really long and I read the first one which took me forever. I find myself becoming bored if it drags too long. And the Lord of the Rings series. I didt’ quite finish Return of the King but I still count it! Ha! You have more patience than I!