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A Selection Of Chonky Books That If You Can Hack It, You Should 100% Read

A Selection Of Chonky Books That If You Can Hack It, You Should 100% Read

Look, I understand that not everyone likes reading, and even fewer are courageous enough – or even like – reading books over 600 pages, which is why when you do start one, you want it to be good. There’s no disappointment like starting a long book and you can’t stop checking Instagram because it’s as gripping as a slippery bathtub.

I’ve read quite a few looong books in my time, but the ones that are good, are so good. You know how when you watch a movie or a TV show and you fall in love with it and you never want it to end? Long books are like that. They satisfy you until you’re absolutely full and can genuinely say you feel you’ve had enough – like the feeling you have after a Sunday roast at your mum’s. Delicious.

I’m sure you’ve heard me rant about ‘A Little Life’ before, but considering it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read, I’m going to keep ranting about it. Another of my Top 5 Books Ever (!) is on this list, and it’s called ‘Shantaram’. A story so long and so winding that it feels like you and the character have lived through several lifetimes by the time you turn the last page (in the best way), it’s one you just can’t miss. Even crazier, the story is based on fact. You’ll be blinking in shock as well once you read it. Apparently it’s autobiographical – although I’m sure considering he’s an escaped convict the author might be pretty easy to track down.

Kingdom of Ash clocks in at 984 pages, and believe me when I say, every single page is worth it. It’s the seventh and final book of the Throne of Glass series, so you do have a lot of legwork to do to get there, but it’s one of my favourite series of all time and I reread it every year. Did you hear me? I reread 7 books – one of which is 984 pages – every year. What are you waiting for? Get to the book store, immediately.

‘La Belle Sauvage’ is the first series of ‘The Book of Dust’ series by Philip Pullman, and a prequel of his cult series ‘His Dark Materials’. Fantastical, mystical, and set in-between the academia of Oxford, Philip draws you into a world so deeply that it feels like you’ve fallen down a literal rabbit hole. Incredible.

I have well and truly given up on my quest to read 100 books this year, as once again I have favoured 600+ page books instead of poetry anthologies, so while I’m on this train: if you have any chonky books you love and think I should read, slide into my DMs. The sexiest kind of DMs – 600+ page book recommendations. Ooh baby.


Feature image via Walter Wick, ‘I Spy: Fantasy’, 1994