I used to pick the chonkiest books as a kid because I felt like I got my moneys worth and I kinda still feel the same - like why am I paying $18 for a Claire Keegan and also War and Peace?? 😂 someone wrote that they always pick a big boy to read during the week between Christmas and new years and I thought that was just genius - I read Stephen Kings The Stand last year it was wonderful 🖤
A friend of mine is the same way, she hates buying books under 200 pages unless they're on sale because she feels cheated 😂 and I love the idea of reading a big book during that holiday week! I might do the same this year 🥰
Totally with you on that! “Our Share of Night” was the book that finally cured my fear of long reads—devoured it in a weekend like it was a snack, not a 600+ page commitment. It’s worth checking out!
It was! If you haven’t picked it up yet, the book has that perfect eerie vibe for fall—great for those chilly nights when you just want to get lost in a good book.
I am part of a chonky book club and it has helped me get through long books although I admit sometimes I don’t finish them if they don’t pique my interest! I’m currently reading Our Share Of Night and flying through it because I’m loving it all, plot, writing, characters. Babel was also one that I read super fast and it’s really good imo! I even read the footnotes and I never read footnotes haha
Reading The Secret History for the first time. I don’t shy away from chunky “classics” because I find a lot of my favorites that way. But I do hesitate to pick up more modern books that are over 500 pages, unless they’re part of a fantasy series (and even then!)
I loved The Goldfinch and I’m only 150 pages in but I’ve been loving The Secret History already
I haven't read The Goldfinch but I'm currently rereading The Secret History and it is so so good. I also have an easier time reading long books if they're fantasy, probably because they tend to be so fast paced and plot-driven.
Long books don’t scare me that much 🤔 I believe it might be because I am used to the looong fantasy book series. But funny enough, I haven’t managed to finish A Little Life yet. 😂 In that case it’s not so much the number of pages but the emotional, difficult content. 🥺
Oh yeah, that's a tough read. I bet it's one of the few books you're hoping to finish throughout the long books readalong? 😄 I think a lot of people will be reading A Little Life, it'll certainly be easier to get through with some support.
I actually do have the "long book" shelf! 😆 I'm not scared of long novels, I love buying them! I do sometimes find it hard to finish shorter books if I'm not on a reading roll, so long books are definitely not where I look to most of the time. But A Little Life was the first book I read after finishing my lit degree and didn't force me back into a slump so I guess I should make more of an effort to start some of them haha
I love long books as I really love being immersed in a story, but I’m still sometimes guilty of putting them off a little, especially if they’re 600+ pages! My tip for goal oriented readers though is to set a page challenge rather than a book challenge as it means that you’ll still get that sense of accomplishment but you won’t feel the urge to avoid long books for that reason ☺️
This is a great tip and exactly what I've been doing with The Secret History! Especially if the book has longer chapters, it can be difficult to get through unless you set a page goal.
I gotta say I'm a sucker for a chunky book. I love them and seek them out. I love being in a story for hundreds of pages. I've read all of Yanagihara's books. I can't decide if The People in the Trees or To Paradise is my favorite. Plain Bad Heroines was a really fun book to read. It moves quite fast. Our Share of Night was my most anticipated read of 2022. I pre-ordered it from the UK and read it at the end of 2022 and it did not disappoint. That book lived and breathed in my bones for many many months.It seeped into my dreams (or maybe nightmares), it was a great read. I still think about it often. Good luck on your big book reading journey.
Thank you, and wow! Reading so many comments from people who loved Our Share of Night got me really excited to pick it up. I look forward to reading it in October, I think it will be the perfect month for it.
Wow, I really saw myself in this and totally agree that they need to get read! Two longer books I finally read recently (The God of the Woods and Valley of the Dolls) wound up being some favorites of the summer!
I started my Big Book Project in July!! currently slow reading Anna Karenina until September. I wanted to challenge myself. I’m thinking of reading The Secret History next hmmm 🤔
Oh I LOVE this piece!!! Anything over 400 pages is considered "scary" in my world because I just get so overwhelmed by the sheer size of the book. But this year I've been reading more and more long books - so far one 400+, one 500+ and one 600+, and I'm currently reading A Court of Mist and Fury which is also 600+ - and on the whole I've enjoyed getting into the story and really knowing the characters sooo much more than I'd expected!
All of your upcoming longer reads sound great, but I particularly love the cover of Our Share of Night.
I hear you!!! A few years ago I started setting myself the challenge of reading x amount of books per year. At first it was cool because it got me back into reading. But slowly it turned into me favouring short books over longer ones because that would mean I could finish them fast. Which defeats the whole purpose of choosing the books that I really WANT to read.
Exactly!!! It's the whole quantity over quality issue. But I'm glad to see readers shifting back towards books they actually want to read and focusing less on the amount and yearly challenges, at least in my corner of the internet.
I used to pick the chonkiest books as a kid because I felt like I got my moneys worth and I kinda still feel the same - like why am I paying $18 for a Claire Keegan and also War and Peace?? 😂 someone wrote that they always pick a big boy to read during the week between Christmas and new years and I thought that was just genius - I read Stephen Kings The Stand last year it was wonderful 🖤
A friend of mine is the same way, she hates buying books under 200 pages unless they're on sale because she feels cheated 😂 and I love the idea of reading a big book during that holiday week! I might do the same this year 🥰
Totally with you on that! “Our Share of Night” was the book that finally cured my fear of long reads—devoured it in a weekend like it was a snack, not a 600+ page commitment. It’s worth checking out!
In a weekend!!! I'm very excited to read it in October 💗
In a weekend! Wow that must’ve been an experience!
It was! If you haven’t picked it up yet, the book has that perfect eerie vibe for fall—great for those chilly nights when you just want to get lost in a good book.
I am part of a chonky book club and it has helped me get through long books although I admit sometimes I don’t finish them if they don’t pique my interest! I’m currently reading Our Share Of Night and flying through it because I’m loving it all, plot, writing, characters. Babel was also one that I read super fast and it’s really good imo! I even read the footnotes and I never read footnotes haha
Footnotes can be so intimidating for some reason 😂 so glad to hear you're enjoying/enjoyed Our Share of Night. I'm reading it in October!
Reading The Secret History for the first time. I don’t shy away from chunky “classics” because I find a lot of my favorites that way. But I do hesitate to pick up more modern books that are over 500 pages, unless they’re part of a fantasy series (and even then!)
I loved The Goldfinch and I’m only 150 pages in but I’ve been loving The Secret History already
I haven't read The Goldfinch but I'm currently rereading The Secret History and it is so so good. I also have an easier time reading long books if they're fantasy, probably because they tend to be so fast paced and plot-driven.
hope you love TSH until the end! I’m working on the draft of my review & I want to give it justice, so many thoughts!
Huge fan of the long boys over here 🙋🏼♀️🙋🏼♀️🙋🏼♀️
Long books don’t scare me that much 🤔 I believe it might be because I am used to the looong fantasy book series. But funny enough, I haven’t managed to finish A Little Life yet. 😂 In that case it’s not so much the number of pages but the emotional, difficult content. 🥺
Oh yeah, that's a tough read. I bet it's one of the few books you're hoping to finish throughout the long books readalong? 😄 I think a lot of people will be reading A Little Life, it'll certainly be easier to get through with some support.
I actually do have the "long book" shelf! 😆 I'm not scared of long novels, I love buying them! I do sometimes find it hard to finish shorter books if I'm not on a reading roll, so long books are definitely not where I look to most of the time. But A Little Life was the first book I read after finishing my lit degree and didn't force me back into a slump so I guess I should make more of an effort to start some of them haha
I love buying them too. It's so exciting to find a long book and think "look at all these pages! I bet they'll take me on a journey!" 😆
I love long books as I really love being immersed in a story, but I’m still sometimes guilty of putting them off a little, especially if they’re 600+ pages! My tip for goal oriented readers though is to set a page challenge rather than a book challenge as it means that you’ll still get that sense of accomplishment but you won’t feel the urge to avoid long books for that reason ☺️
This is a great tip and exactly what I've been doing with The Secret History! Especially if the book has longer chapters, it can be difficult to get through unless you set a page goal.
I gotta say I'm a sucker for a chunky book. I love them and seek them out. I love being in a story for hundreds of pages. I've read all of Yanagihara's books. I can't decide if The People in the Trees or To Paradise is my favorite. Plain Bad Heroines was a really fun book to read. It moves quite fast. Our Share of Night was my most anticipated read of 2022. I pre-ordered it from the UK and read it at the end of 2022 and it did not disappoint. That book lived and breathed in my bones for many many months.It seeped into my dreams (or maybe nightmares), it was a great read. I still think about it often. Good luck on your big book reading journey.
Thank you, and wow! Reading so many comments from people who loved Our Share of Night got me really excited to pick it up. I look forward to reading it in October, I think it will be the perfect month for it.
Love me a long book from time to time! Right now I'm tackling two - Fire & Blood and The Count of Monte Cristo.
Wow, I really saw myself in this and totally agree that they need to get read! Two longer books I finally read recently (The God of the Woods and Valley of the Dolls) wound up being some favorites of the summer!
Ahh I loved Valley of the Dolls!
So good! A classic for a reason.
I started my Big Book Project in July!! currently slow reading Anna Karenina until September. I wanted to challenge myself. I’m thinking of reading The Secret History next hmmm 🤔
I love that you're doing a Big Book Project and highly recommend The Secret History! I'm rereading it right now and enjoying it very much 😁
Oh I LOVE this piece!!! Anything over 400 pages is considered "scary" in my world because I just get so overwhelmed by the sheer size of the book. But this year I've been reading more and more long books - so far one 400+, one 500+ and one 600+, and I'm currently reading A Court of Mist and Fury which is also 600+ - and on the whole I've enjoyed getting into the story and really knowing the characters sooo much more than I'd expected!
All of your upcoming longer reads sound great, but I particularly love the cover of Our Share of Night.
A really great read, thank you for sharing!
Thank you Soph! So cool to see how many of us are taking time to focus on longer reads these days 💗
I hear you!!! A few years ago I started setting myself the challenge of reading x amount of books per year. At first it was cool because it got me back into reading. But slowly it turned into me favouring short books over longer ones because that would mean I could finish them fast. Which defeats the whole purpose of choosing the books that I really WANT to read.
Exactly!!! It's the whole quantity over quality issue. But I'm glad to see readers shifting back towards books they actually want to read and focusing less on the amount and yearly challenges, at least in my corner of the internet.