Long books

Well done Applegran. War and Peace is on my shelf and I must get on with reading it rather than feeling that I should be dusting it.

I bought the latest Robert Galbraith book when it came out, pre-ordered on Amazon actually because I enjoyed the previous books so much. It has sat on my coffee table since it arrived. Can only think I’ve not started it yet simply because it is too big. I blame my kindle!

Thanks for all the interesting suggestions. My daughter bought me a small bean bag to rest heavy books on in bed. It takes the weight.

Have just finished War and Peace - decided finally to read it beginning in the first lock down! Of course it is great and certainly kept me enthralled - though I didn't enjoy the long essays on the nature of history and causes of war. In the end I skipped these - but the story, notoriously long, is great. I read it on my Kindle - I prefer a paper book, but a Kindle is easy to hold. It didn't matter that its a long book once I began it - though in advance I'd been daunted.

I agree that some books are overlong . I use the borrowbox app on my phone to listen to library books when I’m out walking the dog . All free ! It’s brilliant!

I've just finished Troubled Blood too.
It was good but I wish they would get together soon. We can't wait much longer.
Now reading the new Rebus which has started well.
I can lose myself in a book for hours. On holiday I am on the beach all day reading & meet up with DH for lunch by pool & then go back until it is time to shower & get ready for evening. Missed it this year but read in the garden every day instead.
I have always been mad about books.
My Kindle has made them so much easier to read & carry around too!

I've been re-reading Thomas Hardy - comfortable reading - Wessex in the 19th century. And I enjoyed re-reading 'Rogue Herries' set in the Lake District. In Hardy the Mayor of Casterbridge sells his wife - Rogue Herries sells his mistress! Those were the days.

I must admit I prefer a shorter read I'm reading Maeve Binchy Chestnut street its a Christmas themed book with about 40 short stories it's a heavy book but great to just pick up and read for ten fifteen minutes. I love audio at night I'm listening to The Switch read by Alison Steadman it's funny and an insight into how you are never too old for change

I often give up on huge tomes and download to Kindle. It's not necessarily a new thing, as one of my more cerebral aims for lockdown I decided to read Middlemarch by George Eliot but its 889 pages long, so just sits there together with Donna Tartt's Goldfinch.

Thanks Jaxie I'll look for them.

Soda pop: try Jane Gardam’s short stories, you may change your mind. The fact that they remain in my mind might be that I taught them at A level many years ago, so got to know them inside out. The themes are very pertinent to the things that trouble Gransnetters.

Reading this with interest, for suggestions on authors I haven't read yet. Not reading books at the moment - can't concentrate on anything for long enough! But wanted to mention something that may be useful to those of you who've mentioned you have problems with holding books. I was thinking of getting one for when I'm back to reading. JML do a Pill-o-Pad, a very lightweight triangular-section foam-type thingy that will prop up tablets or books at different angles. I frequently have painful fingers, wrists and neck these days, and find myself watching far too much telly instead of reading, like I used to. I'm loving Granset, it's helping to keep me sane at the moment! It's my first ever message, so hope I'm not breaking any rules here.

I love a long book!!!

As far as I am concerned, a good book just cannot be too long.

Some books are long, some are short. Some are even middling length . . . If they're really good, doesn't matter if they're long, does it??

Long or short if I'm enjoying it, it is never long enough

I’m just starting on a 1,300 pager! I like something to get my teeth into

I love Charles Dickens and even with the lengthy descriptions I have never been bored for a moment. I have written a book, just finished it, and it is less than 75000 words long. Just can't increase it! The other one I am writing, set in the first WW, demands so much research that I can't see myself finishing it. It could be a long book... if ever...The only recent books I have read are the Fifty Shades by E L James. Could do with a complete rewrite and edit. But hey! - she sells!

Spot on Chaitriona, if you’re really enjoying a book, whatever the length, it’s almost a shame to finish it.

I can’t say the same about films though (remember the cinema?) I find no matter how much I’ve enjoyed it, it always seems at least 20 minutes too long. I’ve love to be a film editor!

A book that bores you is always too long. A book that you love is never too long. In fact you can regret coming to the end of it.

I love the story of Les Misersbles. The dramatisation excellent, the abridged book excellent......but oh the unabridged book-how hard it is to read. 1400 pages of small print. I've got to page 200 or so 3 times and then given up. Think I'll try again!!!

sayse I think you have married Georgette Heyer to Thor Heyerdahl!

I was given the complete set of 8 Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon. Just hoping the books will hold my attention the way the series has. Just starting to turn the corner from a nasty dose of covid so hopefully will be up to concentrating soon.

A few years ago, a friend complained she couldn't read a lengthy hardback she'd been given as she couldn't physically hold it for long. I saw the book as a 2nd hand paperback for £1.50, bought it, and told her to cut it in half. We did both laugh when I asked her if she was enjoying it, as after 100 pages, she decided she didn't like it. The hardback was sent to the charity shop.

My spellchecker will not allow me to type Donna T A R R T as a word. Sorry.