30 Beloved Long Books to Curl Up With
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The new year has arrived. The clock has been reset. Now is the time to tackle the really ambitious reading challenges–those massive books that have been on your list for far too long.
We’ve collected below 30 beloved books from various genres that clock in at 600 pages or more. These are the big reads, the serious titles. Beasts, we call them.
Reading a really thick book has several advantages. The novel remains the most immersive of storytelling formats, as far as we’re concerned. When you’re really locked in, you’re engaging your own imagination to provide the sounds and visuals, and that trumps any big screen special effect. Extra long novels can transport you, for weeks at a time.
Two, if you have a print copy, it looks very impressive when reading on a train or park bench or other public space. (It’s less impressive on an e-reader, but you can always drop subtle hints. Announce your page turns aloud. “Aaaaand…page five hundred and thirty….”)
The selections below wander about through several styles and genres. You can go with a straight-up classic, like Dickens’ David Copperfield or Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. For historical fiction, Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth is a remarkably detailed depiction of 12th century England.
For the sci-fi-curious, now is the perfect time to tackle Frank Herbert’s 1965 classic Dune. Part two of director Denis Villeneuve's heralded film adaptation is slated to drop next year. For a real cerebral workout, consider David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest or the granddaddy of all big reads, Tolstoy’s War and Peace.
Scroll over the book covers to learn more about each title, and add the ones that pique your interest to your Want to Read shelf!. Good luck and happy reading!
Your turn! What's a favorite doorstopper that you'd recommend to your fellow readers? Let us know in the comments!
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Check out more recent articles:
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Kat
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Jan 26, 2022 12:17AM
![Kat](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1694725806p1/63448764.jpg)
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Ooh, I feel like reading The Stand again.
![Constantine](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1688651251p1/7115890.jpg)
I have read three of them: The Stand, The Other Boleyn Girl, and The Eye of the World. All of them were five stars!
Many of the others are on my TBR.
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XX by Rian Hughes (992)
The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel (879)
Bubblegum by Adam Levin (784)
The American People: Volume 1: Search for My Heart: A Novel by Larry Kramer (800)
Wanderers by Chuck Wendig (802)
Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany (836)
Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders by Samuel R. Delany (818)
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (821)
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Oh, I had no idea it was divided into 365 small chapters. The length intimidated me. Maybe I will give it a go...
![Susan](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1451913069p1/4776673.jpg)
Gone With the Wind
The Clan of the Cave Bear
The Count of Monte Cristo (unabridged, longest book I've ever read at 1,450 pages)
I will be reading Eye of the World this year, and also will be reading my first Penman book: When Christ and His Saints Slept
Of the books you have on the list, The Stand is my favorite, and I also loved Lonesome Dove, Pillars of the Earth, and The Other Boleyn Girl.
The Passage was ok.
I am not a fan of The Goldfinch, I wish I would have skipped at least 300 pages of the Vegas drug abyss.
I quit both Dune and Outlander.
I have Life After Life on my TBR shelf.
Potentially interested in trying War and Peace, The Brothers Karamazov, David Copperfield, Middlemarch, The Name of the Rose, A Brief History of Seven Killings, and maybe A Suitable Boy (but I recently finished Shantaram and wasn't a fan, so I am not eager to dive back into India at the moment).
![Paul](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_25x33-ccd24e68f4773d33a41ce08c3a34892e.png)
Brothers Karamazov is enthralling; I love his detailed descriptions of thoughts and emotions and the normalisation of the grotesque.
![Josh](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1262626706p1/2891893.jpg)
I have to stop and praise "Ducks" for a moment... this is such a tremendous book that I felt sorry to see end even after a near 1000 pages.
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The Count of Monte Cristo
The Color Purple
Call Me By Your Name
After Dark
The Outsider
Norwegian Wood
One Hundred Years of Solitude
![Little Women by Louisa May Alcott](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1562690475l/1934._SY75_.jpg)
![All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451445646l/18143977._SY75_.jpg)
Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories
![Warren](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_25x33-8a3530ed95c3dbef8bf215b080559b09.png)
Shogun was the 1st humungous novel I ever tackled. The paperback was so big, it fell apart and I ripped off the pages as I read them.
This list is good. I loved the Passage trilogy.
![Allyn Voorhees](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1676299616p1/141780728.jpg)
![Allyn Voorhees](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1676299616p1/141780728.jpg)
XX by Rian Hughes (992)
The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel (879)
Bubblegum by Adam Levin (784)
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You have reminded me I have to revisit Samuel R Delany, really liked The Two Towers, and others.
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LOVED The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay! I heartily agree with this recommendation!
![Carol](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_25x33-ccd24e68f4773d33a41ce08c3a34892e.png)
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I also loved Anna Karenina and Gone with the Wind