I’m so surprised Les Miserables wasn’t on this list! It’s such a powerful story, and as I’m currently reading the story right now, it’s really fun to see the differences between the book and the musical.
I knew there was a reason I liked your channelI so much. When I go into a bookstore, I am like a heat seeking missile, I automatically go to the biggest books in the store. I just love the hand span and the heft of a big novel. Your read Goldfinch and I thought I can buy that. I had purchased The Secret History the previous week. I saw that Amazon had an ebook special for Tartt’s The Little Friend for $1.99 so I bought it. I am just a lover of vast amounts of paper. There is just a constant explosion of ink in my hands on a regular basis. I really want to read The Count of Monte Cristo. I bought it 3 years ago and sometimes it calls to me late at night when I can’t sleep. I still haven’t read it. I would also love to read A Suitable Boy, a reread of Far Pavilions by M.M. Kay, and a reread of The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
I nearly picked up The Mists of Avalon from my local Goodwill, but it wasn't in very good condition so I ended up passing on it. I'm a heat-seeking missile too when it comes to chunksters. I just want them all! There's something satisfying about looking at them. Like you, I enjoy seeing, holding, and touching the physical copy. An e-book doesn't quite cut it.
I had wanted to read Mists of Avalon for years but I just found out that Marrion Zimmer Bradley was a monster. She (and her husband) SA'd her own children. Her daughter wrote a book about it. I hope this isn't too negative to write on an innocent book channel. But I'm glad I know and I definitely will not be reading anything by her now. There's much more to the story including how lots of people knew but didn't do anything because Bradley was a literary star and a cash cow to many. And how her husband was convicted of CSA (of an unrelated child)and ended up going to prison for a couple of years.
What a fun rabbithole! I also loved Middlemarch & The Goldfinch. Also Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell! Found on my shelves (TBR) all over 700 pages are: The Love Songs of WEB DuBois; Far From The Tree (nonfiction); ...And The Ladies Of The Club (1,176 pgs!); Through A Glass Darkly; & 2666. So delightful to get absorbed in a Mammoth - nothing quite like it! Thanks for the great suggestions!
I used to be very intimidated by long books (especially classics), but in the last couple years, I've been reading so many more massive books and I have been loving it. Now when I read short books, I find them underdeveloped, lol. And War and Peace is awesome, even if some of the characters (I'm looking at you, Pierre and Natasha) drove me crazy, lol.
I have the same copy of The Three Musketeers! I love that shade of green. My secondhand Middle March is still waiting for me to pick it up, also a delightful bright green book. 💚
Aw...thanks for the kind words about my channel. 💞 I'm really looking forward to reading Middlemarch this spring and I also want to read Ducks. I keep seeing copies at bookstores and not buying it and wanting to.
What about "It", "The Stand" and "Under the Dome" all by Stephen King? There's also "Red Storm Rising", "Without Remorse" and "Executive Orders" by Tom Clancy.
For Ducks, Newburyport - highly recommend the audio version to pair with the physical. 10 sentences for 1000+ pages, but it's so good, you get pulled into the inner monologue. Lonesome Dove was also quite good.
Along with lots of literary fiction and classics, I also read epic fantasy where mammoths can be the norm. I appreciate big books, especially if they are atmospheric, and I can fully immerse myself in the story.
Really interesting group.TY. I watched the Moby Dick discussion too and it went on my TBR as well. I did try Ducks last year but put it down. 😞 Maybe I will revisit after your review. I read Silas Marner in the fall so... gulp...I hope I'm a little ready for Middlemarch. 😳 Next up for me is House of Mirth. I'm not sure how many pages but it looks big staring at it on my TBR shelf. Loved Lonesome dove. Enjoy.
I'm reading Middlemarch for Emmie's Game of Tomes book club on UA-cam, and I struggled a lot after Dorothea's marriage because I wasn't interested in the other characters. But now, I'm 30% into the book, and I'm starting to warm up to them all, hahaha. I think I'll be able to finish it, especially since you recommend it; it must be worth it. By the way, The Count of Monte Cristo, which we read for January and February. It's one of the best books I've ever read; the mix of betrayal, love, sadness, and adventure is absolutely enthralling! I hope you enjoy it :)
The longest book on my shelf right now is Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel. It's around 900 pages. I'm trying to push myself this year to read some longer books. I really want to read Fayne.
I loved War and Peace and Red Comet. I just finished Moby Dick and loved it I liked The Luminaries but didn’t love it I am planning on reading Middlemarch this year I enjoyed The Three Musketeers but it is a challenge. The Count of Monte Cristo is an all time favorite ❤️. Thanks for the great video! I really want to read Lonesome Dove. I think I will read it in June.
Wow, you have huge aspirations! When I read a big book, I feel like I'm being stalled and usually follow it up with 20 books under 300 pages, like I have to catch up. I'm slowly making my way through the gorgeous Everyman's Library edition of In Search of Lost Time. I use Bookerly to track my reading, and it's telling me at this rate (since I'm rereading so many sentences/passages) it'll take me 300 hours. 😂 Yeah, we'll see if this gets done in my lifetime. I was so excited to see Fayne, since I adored Fall on Your Knees years ago, it just blew me away. (Although I was pretty young then, I'm not sure if I'd feel the same now but I'd love to re-read it someday to see if it holds up.) But it looks like Fayne isn't available anywhere outside of Canada. Hopefully it'll be released in the US soon, with her popularity I'm so surprised it hasn't been picked up here!
I've heard only good things about Fayne so far! Everyone just loves it! I own that Everyman's Library edition of In Search of Lost Time. I just love chunky books. It helps me stick with one writing style and it's working for me I just being in the world. You know?
The biggest unread mammoths on my shelves are (1) _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_ (2003, 870 pages); and (2) _Asimov’s New Guide to Science_ (1984, 884 pages). The word density of each page is much higher in the Asimov book, though.
I have a problem ! My books are full of annotations of all sorts which means that ,even though I am far from being a teenager, my parent's library is really beautiful....first efitions, old editions, hardbacks, leather bound yes and they have a big sign on the door: " Well to read, BUT DO NOT ANNOTATE. " 😮😥 Yes, I appreciate their concern and I love the smell of the library as opposed to my shelves of paperbacks that look as if they were used to seat flat ! Here is the problem: I want to re-read " Don Quixote" having tried to do so in my teens and failed to appreciate it's real merit however, I have my old copy and it is the motteau version. I believe that I couldn't do the book justice if I try to read this translation +The "library" has 3 versions 😏......I need a pb that can be appreciated but still mutilated with my scribbles so, any suggestions please 🙂 I sincerely apologize for waffling. Kind regards from Cheshire.
"Finished reading "The Woman a White" by Willie Collins and that was quite long. I did try to read it in my teens but have up so, at my present age and as a medic, relaxing with a book is blissful !
Currently the longest books on my TBR shelves are War and Peace (1444pp), The Count of Monte Cristo (1276pp) The Lord of the Rings (1,137pp) and Bleak House (1,088pp). I have lots of big books that I want to read.
It isn't only how thick a book is because the print may be small which makes twice as big as one abnormal print. Personally, even though I've read "brick books" I find them uncomfortable....unless I am sitting at my desk. My theory is that there was a time when those who could read and afford books also had leisure time to read them eg: Dickensian times. One didn't expect the lower, and probably illiterate, workers such as miners to have time to read a Sickens book for example. Nowadays,we have become rather lazy because of the different types of entertainment eg: cinema,TV,radio etc and in the case of teenagers....well,hardly much time to waste reading War and Peace ! Anyway,whether my theory is right or wrong,I make time to read as many books as I like ! Happy New Year from GB. PS: Excuse typos but blame UT 😊
All the classics here are great and well worth reading. I’m currently half way through Herodotus and it’s much more accessible than I thought it would be. If you are following Steve’s advice, you might want to seek out his recommendations on the chapters of Moby Dick that a first time reader should consider skipping. There are many chapters in the book that a host of readers have found tedious and unnecessary. I disagree, but at least I understand why they say so. Proust is not stream of consciousness. We are not in the present thoughts of Marcel. Rather, the whole work is the memoir of Marcel (the narrator, not necessarily the author), after he retreats from the world to write his great book. Thus, from a narrative perspective, it’s closer to To Kill a Mockingbird than it is to the Molly chapter of Ulysses or the Benji and Quentin sections of Sound and the Fury. Oh, and for what it’s worth, the current longest books on my TBR are the last books of King’s Dark Tower series, the last two books of Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos, and Montaigne’s Collected Essays.
Good afternoon. I am reading The January 6 Report right now. I think I have now read all the books about the Trump presidency except The Trump tapes. Why do I think I need to read all these books?
Did you happen to watch Tucker Carlson's footage from Jan 6th that proved the entire thing was a lie? If you haven't please watch it and make your own determination.
Great choices . Can't miss with Tolstoy! Trump? Our next president...really?!?! Love Donna Tartt. Moby Dick! Herodotus on myTBR. LOVE Dumas Les Miserable Dumas. Protest didn't resonate with me. Tom Jones okay. Don Quixote overrated. Count of Monte Crispy ish awesome!!!!! Lonesome Dove one of my favourites!!!! Shogun! Bleak House Dickens!!! Life and Fate rocks!!!!! Love Plants poetry also Bell Jar ! Susanna Clarke Jonathan StraNge and Mr. Morrell
I'm reading a mammoth recommended by Steve Donohue, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Not gonna lie but reading all the details, dates, and names of 1920-30s German politics is a slog. I'm determined to read it because it's historical significance. I tried to read The Priory but I dnf it. I'm not a huge fantasy fan and this did not hold my interest
Good luck! I read about half of The Rise and Fall and eventually needed to put it aside. Though packed with great information, it’s a lot to get through.
@@HelenBurns-y8c I hear ya. It is frightening how it reflects what is happening now. This book should be required reading in high school so that we can prevent the exact situation we find ourselves in.
![A Little Life || Rant Review [CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kxPVhTIhWIk/mqdefault.jpg)
I’m so surprised Les Miserables wasn’t on this list! It’s such a powerful story, and as I’m currently reading the story right now, it’s really fun to see the differences between the book and the musical.
Just finished Dune. Recently read Shogun. Plan on reading Count of Monte Cristo soon. Best wishes.
Thank you!
Count of Monte Cristo is great. What you think of Shogun might read it?
another lovely video from you as always!! thank you!!
Thanks again!
I knew there was a reason I liked your channelI so much. When I go into a bookstore, I am like a heat seeking missile, I automatically go to the biggest books in the store. I just love the hand span and the heft of a big novel. Your read Goldfinch and I thought I can buy that. I had purchased The Secret History the previous week. I saw that Amazon had an ebook special for Tartt’s The Little Friend for $1.99 so I bought it. I am just a lover of vast amounts of paper. There is just a constant explosion of ink in my hands on a regular basis. I really want to read The Count of Monte Cristo. I bought it 3 years ago and sometimes it calls to me late at night when I can’t sleep. I still haven’t read it. I would also love to read A Suitable Boy, a reread of Far Pavilions by M.M. Kay, and a reread of The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
I nearly picked up The Mists of Avalon from my local Goodwill, but it wasn't in very good condition so I ended up passing on it. I'm a heat-seeking missile too when it comes to chunksters. I just want them all! There's something satisfying about looking at them. Like you, I enjoy seeing, holding, and touching the physical copy. An e-book doesn't quite cut it.
I had wanted to read Mists of Avalon for years but I just found out that Marrion Zimmer Bradley was a monster. She (and her husband) SA'd her own children. Her daughter wrote a book about it. I hope this isn't too negative to write on an innocent book channel. But I'm glad I know and I definitely will not be reading anything by her now.
There's much more to the story including how lots of people knew but didn't do anything because Bradley was a literary star and a cash cow to many. And how her husband was convicted of CSA (of an unrelated child)and ended up going to prison for a couple of years.
What a fun rabbithole! I also loved Middlemarch & The Goldfinch. Also Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell! Found on my shelves (TBR) all over 700 pages are: The Love Songs of WEB DuBois; Far From The Tree (nonfiction); ...And The Ladies Of The Club (1,176 pgs!); Through A Glass Darkly; & 2666. So delightful to get absorbed in a Mammoth - nothing quite like it! Thanks for the great suggestions!
I've since read Middlemarch and The Goldfinch which were both wonderful!
That sweater! It is so Your Color!
Love Moby, count of Monte Cristo & Don Quixote!!
I enjoyed Priory very much.
I really really want to read Kristen!!
Thank you! We should plan a buddy read of Kristen! :)
@@Shellyish Yes! Yes! Yes! You let me know when you think you’ll be ready for it. May is really the only month I can’t. 🤗
my daughter and I are almost finished with The Count of Monte Cristo and we absolutely love it
I used to be very intimidated by long books (especially classics), but in the last couple years, I've been reading so many more massive books and I have been loving it. Now when I read short books, I find them underdeveloped, lol. And War and Peace is awesome, even if some of the characters (I'm looking at you, Pierre and Natasha) drove me crazy, lol.
Ha! Natasha was a piece of work! She was really underdeveloped as a character - just saying.
I have the same copy of The Three Musketeers! I love that shade of green. My secondhand Middle March is still waiting for me to pick it up, also a delightful bright green book. 💚
Twinsies! It's such a lovely copy!
Aw...thanks for the kind words about my channel. 💞 I'm really looking forward to reading Middlemarch this spring and I also want to read Ducks. I keep seeing copies at bookstores and not buying it and wanting to.
Middlemarch is excellent! :) Ducks keeps staring me down. I'll have to get to her soon.
Red Comet is phenomenal, it would make a perfect April Poetry read!
April Poetry! Is that a thing?!
What about "It", "The Stand" and "Under the Dome" all by Stephen King? There's also "Red Storm Rising", "Without Remorse" and "Executive Orders" by Tom Clancy.
Thanks!!
Enjoyed the video so much I had to subscribe! Is that a Tiffany lamp behind you? 😉
Yes, it is! :)
For Ducks, Newburyport - highly recommend the audio version to pair with the physical. 10 sentences for 1000+ pages, but it's so good, you get pulled into the inner monologue. Lonesome Dove was also quite good.
Several people mentioned the Ducks audiobook. I'm just so curious about it.
Along with lots of literary fiction and classics, I also read epic fantasy where mammoths can be the norm. I appreciate big books, especially if they are atmospheric, and I can fully immerse myself in the story.
Yes! When did epic fantasy become the norm?! Not a bad thing in the least, but I don't know when that trend became so popular.
Really interesting group.TY. I watched the Moby Dick discussion too and it went on my TBR as well. I did try Ducks last year but put it down. 😞 Maybe I will revisit after your review. I read Silas Marner in the fall so... gulp...I hope I'm a little ready for Middlemarch. 😳 Next up for me is House of Mirth. I'm not sure how many pages but it looks big staring at it on my TBR shelf. Loved Lonesome dove. Enjoy.
House of Mirth is excellent! Enjoy! ❤️
What versio of war and Peace did you read
The Maud translation
Ever heard of Rand's Atlas Shrugged?
I have!
I'm reading Middlemarch for Emmie's Game of Tomes book club on UA-cam, and I struggled a lot after Dorothea's marriage because I wasn't interested in the other characters. But now, I'm 30% into the book, and I'm starting to warm up to them all, hahaha. I think I'll be able to finish it, especially since you recommend it; it must be worth it.
By the way, The Count of Monte Cristo, which we read for January and February. It's one of the best books I've ever read; the mix of betrayal, love, sadness, and adventure is absolutely enthralling! I hope you enjoy it :)
The longest book on my shelf right now is Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel. It's around 900 pages. I'm trying to push myself this year to read some longer books. I really want to read Fayne.
I have the exact same feelings about Fayne. ☺️ Ninth Street Women is a new-to-me title.
@@Shellyish It's non-fiction about five influential women artists who entered into the male dominated world of modern abstract art (1928-1959).
I have read several hundred pages of Red Comet. It is good, but quite dense. I plan on reading it piece by piece over several years. Lol
Ha! Great plan!!
'de-weaponize' ---> disarm?
Yes! Thank you!
I love your content, Shelly!
Thank you!!!
I loved War and Peace and Red Comet. I just finished Moby Dick and loved it I liked The Luminaries but didn’t love it I am planning on reading Middlemarch this year I enjoyed The Three Musketeers but it is a challenge. The Count of Monte Cristo is an all time favorite ❤️. Thanks for the great video! I really want to read Lonesome Dove. I think I will read it in June.
I’m so encouraged by your enjoyment of Moby Dick. ❤️❤️❤️
Wow, you have huge aspirations! When I read a big book, I feel like I'm being stalled and usually follow it up with 20 books under 300 pages, like I have to catch up. I'm slowly making my way through the gorgeous Everyman's Library edition of In Search of Lost Time. I use Bookerly to track my reading, and it's telling me at this rate (since I'm rereading so many sentences/passages) it'll take me 300 hours. 😂 Yeah, we'll see if this gets done in my lifetime.
I was so excited to see Fayne, since I adored Fall on Your Knees years ago, it just blew me away. (Although I was pretty young then, I'm not sure if I'd feel the same now but I'd love to re-read it someday to see if it holds up.) But it looks like Fayne isn't available anywhere outside of Canada. Hopefully it'll be released in the US soon, with her popularity I'm so surprised it hasn't been picked up here!
I've heard only good things about Fayne so far! Everyone just loves it!
I own that Everyman's Library edition of In Search of Lost Time. I just love chunky books. It helps me stick with one writing style and it's working for me I just being in the world. You know?
I love all the big books!! You’ve got a mix here of books of read, books I want to read and books I do not (I.e Ducks!)
Ducks seems to be a very polarizing read, tbh.
@@Shellyish stream of consciousness just isn’t my jam at all, so I’m not even going to attempt that one 😅
I loved Ducks. You just have to sit back and let the narrator think out loud.
The Three Musketeers seemed about 200 pages shorter
The biggest unread mammoths on my shelves are (1) _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_ (2003, 870 pages); and (2) _Asimov’s New Guide to Science_ (1984, 884 pages). The word density of each page is much higher in the Asimov book, though.
Harry Potter! I forget how long those books actually are.
I have a problem ! My books are full of annotations of all sorts which means that ,even though I am far from being a teenager, my parent's library is really beautiful....first efitions, old editions, hardbacks, leather bound yes and they have a big sign on the door: " Well to read, BUT DO NOT ANNOTATE. " 😮😥
Yes, I appreciate their concern and I love the smell of the library as opposed to my shelves of paperbacks that look as if they were used to seat flat !
Here is the problem: I want to re-read " Don Quixote" having tried to do so in my teens and failed to appreciate it's real merit however, I have my old copy and it is the motteau version. I believe that I couldn't do the book justice if I try to read this translation +The "library" has 3 versions 😏......I need a pb that can be appreciated but still mutilated with my scribbles so, any suggestions please 🙂
I sincerely apologize for waffling.
Kind regards from Cheshire.
PS: Sorry for UT typos 😠
A Suitable Boy is great. It's incredibly easy and fun to read - just long.
Thanks! I cannot wait to read it!
"Finished reading "The Woman a White" by Willie Collins and that was quite long. I did try to read it in my teens but have up so, at my present age and as a medic, relaxing with a book is blissful !
Currently the longest books on my TBR shelves are War and Peace (1444pp), The Count of Monte Cristo (1276pp) The Lord of the Rings (1,137pp) and Bleak House (1,088pp). I have lots of big books that I want to read.
Absolutely! Thanks for sharing!
Bone is a great story!!!
🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣
Longest unread book on my shelf: A Suitable Boy.
PS. Fayne is fab!
Eeeh! Fayne seems like a gem!
Just loved Red Comet! Also Moby Dick is a treasure.
I cannot wait to get to both!!
It isn't only how thick a book is because the print may be small which makes twice as big as one abnormal print.
Personally, even though I've read "brick books" I find them uncomfortable....unless I am sitting at my desk.
My theory is that there was a time when those who could read and afford books also had leisure time to read them eg: Dickensian times. One didn't expect the lower, and probably illiterate, workers such as miners to have time to read a Sickens book for example.
Nowadays,we have become rather lazy because of the different types of entertainment eg: cinema,TV,radio etc and in the case of teenagers....well,hardly much time to waste reading War and Peace !
Anyway,whether my theory is right or wrong,I make time to read as many books as I like !
Happy New Year from GB.
PS: Excuse typos but blame UT 😊
Don’t worry about the typos in the least. ☺️
All the classics here are great and well worth reading. I’m currently half way through Herodotus and it’s much more accessible than I thought it would be.
If you are following Steve’s advice, you might want to seek out his recommendations on the chapters of Moby Dick that a first time reader should consider skipping. There are many chapters in the book that a host of readers have found tedious and unnecessary. I disagree, but at least I understand why they say so.
Proust is not stream of consciousness. We are not in the present thoughts of Marcel. Rather, the whole work is the memoir of Marcel (the narrator, not necessarily the author), after he retreats from the world to write his great book. Thus, from a narrative perspective, it’s closer to To Kill a Mockingbird than it is to the Molly chapter of Ulysses or the Benji and Quentin sections of Sound and the Fury.
Oh, and for what it’s worth, the current longest books on my TBR are the last books of King’s Dark Tower series, the last two books of Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos, and Montaigne’s Collected Essays.
I found the Stand by king to be spellbinding.
I love a big book last one I read was the eighth life written by Nino Haratischvwili
How wonderful!
Good afternoon. I am reading The January 6 Report right now. I think I have now read all the books about the Trump presidency except The Trump tapes. Why do I think I need to read all these books?
He’s a fascinating and infuriating figure, truly.
@@Shellyish I want to know more so maybe we can prevent a repeat.
@@annegibson6072 My thoughts exactly.
Did you happen to watch Tucker Carlson's footage from Jan 6th that proved the entire thing was a lie? If you haven't please watch it and make your own determination.
A suitable boy ❤❤
Boyz gotta be suitable.
@@Shellyish one would hope!
Great choices . Can't miss with Tolstoy! Trump? Our next president...really?!?! Love Donna Tartt. Moby Dick! Herodotus on myTBR. LOVE Dumas Les Miserable Dumas. Protest didn't resonate with me. Tom Jones okay. Don Quixote overrated. Count of Monte Crispy ish awesome!!!!! Lonesome Dove one of my favourites!!!! Shogun! Bleak House Dickens!!! Life and Fate rocks!!!!! Love Plants poetry also Bell Jar ! Susanna Clarke Jonathan StraNge and Mr. Morrell
I'm reading a mammoth recommended by Steve Donohue, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Not gonna lie but reading all the details, dates, and names of 1920-30s German politics is a slog. I'm determined to read it because it's historical significance.
I tried to read The Priory but I dnf it. I'm not a huge fantasy fan and this did not hold my interest
Good luck! I read about half of The Rise and Fall and eventually needed to put it aside. Though packed with great information, it’s a lot to get through.
I cannot read it because of what is going on in America these days.
@@HelenBurns-y8c I hear ya. It is frightening how it reflects what is happening now. This book should be required reading in high school so that we can prevent the exact situation we find ourselves in.