Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books Over 600 Pages That are Totally Worth Reading

600 Pages is a LOT

Do you like long books? Even though I’m a fairly quick reader, I tend to avoid long books whenever possible. I like a book I can finish in a single sitting. But occasionally I come across some exceptions, though it’s admittedly pretty rare. (Even my review guidelines make note of this.)

This week, as part of Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, I’m sharing ten of the longest books I’ve ever read with a bit of a caveat. Obviously more than one of the Harry Potter books is over 600 pages. I only included the longest book in any of the series mentioned, but with the exception of Lady Midnight and Gemina (only because I haven’t gotten around to Obsidian yet), I’ve read the whole series.

The Deed of Paksenarrion - 600 PagesThe Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon – 1040 pages

Okay, this is a bit of a cheat, since The Deed of Paksenarrion is really a repackaged paperback with three books put together. It’s a whopper, though, and I devoured this mammoth novel in three days. I don’t know how exactly that happened, because at the time, my first daughter was just a few months old. It’s got some intense violence (read: torture) scenes but has a really cool spiritual tone to it, which is what really drew me to the story.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling - 600 pagesHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling – 870 pages

This might be my favorite book in the Harry Potter series, but if you ask me tomorrow, I might say my favorite is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I don’t know. True story: Harry Potter was not allowed in my house growing up, so I didn’t read them until probably my mid- or late-twenties when someone was like, wait, you review young adult books and you haven’t read these? And I was like, oh. Yeah. I suppose I should do that. And I did, and yay!

Side note: I don’t think the ban on Hogwarts hurt me, honestly. I was so busy with so many other things and always had plenty of books to read that I didn’t really feel the loss. And the truth is, no matter what limits parents set during our growing up years, at some point we get to make decisions for ourselves. I repeat this to my daughter now when she’s irritated at boundaries. These are temporary. Someday you get to set your own boundaries. But for now, it’s my job to do what I think is healthiest for you. And I know that’s what my parents were doing.

Other side note: Harry Potter is allowed in our house. Also, my mom has read the books now, and loves a lot of things about them, like the message about the power of love.

End side notes.

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini 600 pagesInheritance (#4) by Christopher Paolini – 849 pages

I kind of had to read this book. It took forever to come out, and I’d followed the story of Eragon all the way to this point, so I wanted to know how it ended. The book felt long to me, though. It’s not a hard read, but it’s definitely one of those where some of the length comes from the sheer volume of minute descriptions of things. That’s not my favorite writing style, but in the fantasy genre, sometimes it works.

Winter by Marissa Meyer 600 pagesWinter by Marissa Meyer – 832 pages

This book wrenched my heart. Oh, man. All the storylines from earlier books collided in this massive epic drama, and just… Wolf and Scarlet, y’all. That’s all I can say. I cried so many tears. I still love this series so much.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer 600 pagesBreaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer – 756 pages

So… here’s another funny story. At the time that the Twilight books came out, I was in a large Christian writing group made up primarily of romance writers, and one of the bigger authors in the group wrote an email to everyone talking about how as writers, we needed to read this series and study what things about it made it so successful. So, okay, I read the series. And it was super addicting. I remember feeling like the descriptions of Bella’s depression when Edward left her in book two were so on point for bad breakup feels. I don’t think I’d read another book at that point which made me feel that way.

Later of course, I feel like I had a “hey, wait a minute” moment about Edward’s creepy watching-Bella-while-she-sleeps thing. And every time I watch this spoof about Twilight and Call of Duty (there’s some profanity and violence, sorry), I find myself nodding along to the character’s ridiculous sounding summary of Breaking Dawn. Because OMG RIGHT?! Also it makes me laugh. Every time.

Nevertheless, I’ve never been sorry I read those books, even though I have some issues with them.

To Darkness Fled 600 pagesTo Darkness Fled by Jill Williamson – 681 pages

This series. Jill Williamson is one of the authors I discovered through the Christian organization I mentioned above, and she’s so awesome, y’all. This is the sequel to her debut novel By Darkness Hid, and it’s a great series. I love the fantasy elements and the vaguely King Arthur feel to it. If you haven’t read this series, please check it out.

Glass by Ellen Hopkins 600 pagesGlass (Crank #2) by Ellen Hopkins – 681 pages

Crank was the first novel-in-verse I’d ever read, and I ate it up. I’ve gone on to love other novel-in-verse authors like Sarah Crossan, Kwame Alexander, and Linda Vigen Phillips, but there’s something really special about the first time you encounter a style like this. If you don’t know already, Ellen Hopkins wrote Crank and Glass after going through the heartbreak of her own daughter’s addiction to methamphetamines. Her writing is gritty, and often goes to some dark places, but always has a strong message.

Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay KristoffGemina by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman – 659 pages

THIS SERIES IS SO FUN! This is definitely the kind of sci-fi novel that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s sort of like the hipster version of Star Trek? Maybe. Actually, I probably shouldn’t say that because some hipster will school me on the truly un-hipster-ish nature of the role cows play in the story or something. Anyway. Gemina made me laugh so much. I loved Illuminae for its quirkiness and the use of instant messages and descriptions of video feed as scenes. And the banter between characters! I’m a total sucker for great banter. So this one was a win for me.

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor 600 pagesDreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor – 613 pages

Before I read this series by Laini Taylor, it had been a long time since I’d read a fantasy series which felt truly epic to me. The love story swept me away, but the minor characters – Raz and Ziri – absolutely stole the show for me in this book. It’s another one where the finale absolutely met every expectation I had and more. I keep stalling on reading Strange the Dreamer because I’m afraid I won’t like it as much as Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I know that’s silly, but there you go. So if you’ve read Strange, tell me how awesome it is.

(I just realized I somehow never reviewed the books in this series, and that’s… crazy. So I’m going to have to go back and reread them so I can post the reviews here.)

Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman 600 pagesShadow Scale by Rachel Hartman – 602 pages

I actually read the first book in this series (Seraphina) because I was able to get an ARC for this book. So I pretty much read them both back to back, and I think that was a huge advantage. There’s such a broad cast and so much storyworld and culture that I feel like I would have lost some of it if I’d had a long gap between the books. It was definitely a fun read and well worth the time it took to get from one cover to the other. I liked the unusual take on dragons in this series, and Serafina’s development as she realizes the dragon part of her, which she’s always tried to hide and has been ashamed of, is exactly what her people need.

What’s the longest book you’ve ever read?

If you use Goodreads, there’s an easy way to figure this out. Simply go to your “Read” list. At the top, click the “settings” option and check the box next to “number of pages.” That will add a column to your list showing the number of pages in each book. You can then sort your list by that column and viola!

So which book is it? Let me know in the comments, and leave a link to your own Top Ten post. I’d love to check it out.

 

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About Kasey

Reads things. Writes things. Fluent in sarcasm. Willful optimist. Cat companion, chocolate connoisseur, coffee drinker. There are some who call me Mom.

24 Responses to Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books Over 600 Pages That are Totally Worth Reading

  1. Gina W says:

    Inkdeath, by Cornelia Funke, is 699 pages long, according to Goodreads!

  2. I like how you phrased the topic this week! I definitely found a few favorites on your list (Winter, Gemina, Dreams of Gods and Monsters) and a few others I enjoyed reading.

    Awesome list! 🙂

  3. Jo says:

    The Order of The Phoenix was on my list this week too-it actually is the longest book I’ve ever read! I haven’t read Dreams of Gods and Monsters yet, the sheer size of it is intimidating.

    • Yay for Order of the Phoenix! Awww – I know what you mean – big books are super intimidating to me, too. I hope you have a chance to read it, though!

  4. I’ll be read the DOSAB finale soon – but you know, I really don’t want it to end..

    Check out The Nightmare Before Christmas Book Tag

  5. I’ve been meaning to buy Seraphina because…. dragons. But I wasn’t sure if it was good, because I saw some mixed reviews.
    Based on what you’ve said though, it sounds like something I would really enjoy! So, I’m gonna give it a go!!! 😀
    100% Agree with you on Illuminae! Banter for dayyyyyyys! Obsidio is AMAZINGGGG!!!!! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND FLYING INTO IT AT ONCE!!! (although… just to warn you, it made me cry a bit… so be careful)

    Scarlet and Wolf are one of the best couples in TLC buuuuuuut Cress and Thorne…… aaaall the ships are cute who am I kidding??
    Happy Reading!! 😀

    • Aaaaaah!! I can’t wait to read Obsidio. I’m not afraid of a little bookish weeping, so we’re good. 🙂 And yeah… Cress and Thorne were very cute, too – I have to agree. 😀

  6. Oh! I totally forgot about Paksenarrion! That should be on my list, too!

  7. Sam@WLABB says:

    I agree, 600 pages is a lot. My sweet spot is less than 500 pages, but I have read quite a few SFF books which exceeded that. The Illuminae files books made my list. I loved that series!

    • I’m a total wimp – I think my sweet spot is like 350 pages. Ha. Yeah, it seems like SFF gets away with much longer books, but I guess that makes sense when the author has to create the entire story world, too. 🙂 Thanks, Sam!

  8. Greg says:

    Ooh I loved Gemina! It was awesome how those books don’t feel quite as long as they are, thanks to the unique format. And Gemina WAS funny at times in spite of all the carnage. The Lollipop Song, which someone on another list mentioned, and the little running tally as the troopers were eliminated, plus Nik’s sister. She cracked me up too. 🙂

    • Yes! I agree. The format definitely made it feel like a shorter book. More white space on the pages, I guess. But also I think the pacing of the story made it feel quick because there was so much tension and so much happening. I can’t wait to read Obsidio.

  9. Amanda says:

    Great list! Gemina is next up on my TBR!

  10. I enjoy a good chunky novel, but I tend not to read a lot of them anymore either. Which is a shame because some of them do read fast. I forgot about Order the Phoenix–I read that during my pre-Goodreads day and so it didn’t show up when I did my search. From your list, I have also read Breaking Dawn and Shadow Scale.

    • That happened to me with Jane Eyre – I must not have that marked on my Goodreads either. Oh the dark days before we tracked our book journeys with technology! Ha! 🙂

  11. I just read your About Me section and noticed you like re-imagined fairy tales. I wanted to recommend KM Shea to you. I’ve only read three books by her. She has quite a few. Maybe around 20-30. At least twelve are fairy tale retellings. My favorite that I’ve read is probably Cinderella. Highly recommend it.

  12. First off, I really love your banner. It’s so cute! I have never read the Inheritance series. I’ve seen it on someone else’s TTT, too. I’m not for sure how I’d feel about the minute details. Scarlet and Wolf are my favorite couple from The Lunar Chronicles. Thanks for stopping by!

    • Awwww, thanks. I got that done as a birthday present. 🙂 (Not sure what it says about me that a blog banner was on my birthday list, but hey, at least it’s not a tattoo I’ll regret in 20 years? Ha.) Yay for another Scarlet and Wolf fan! 🙂 Happy reading, Amy!