Long Books: A Good or Bad Reading Choice?

Today’s (late) post is something geared more towards a discussion, but I wanted to know your thoughts on reading long books as well as sharing mine!

I’ve talked to a few friends, such as Aitana @ Aitana Reads, a while back about what book lengths they prefer and I heard a wide range. Some people like shorter ones, 200-300 pages, while others like 400+ pages.

I’d totally love to hear your thoughts on what book lengths you like (drop a comment below) and here’s mine!

I personally like the average length (I’m so creative, I know). 300-400 pages, the most common length, is the one that I find I have the most success in reading. Sometimes short books just don’t pack enough in it for me to feel invested (i.e. An Enchantment of Ravens) while some long books, despite how good they are overall, have parts that drag or I’ll just get bored reading (i.e. The Unexpected Everything).

300-400 page books have given me the most success in pacing, which is something I feel correlates a lot with book length. It gives me enough to have the chance connect with the characters while also not including unnecessary filler sometimes.

That’s not to say that all 400+ page books and all 300- page books aren’t good, there are definitely great books in these page ranges! I’ve had tons of books outside of the range that I love, but most of the books that I do like are in this range which is why I usually pick up medium sized books.

I do however, try not to think of book length when picking out books–only at a final resort when I’m forced to choose between two books at the library because both my bags and arms are full and I just cannot fit one more.

I find it’s best to just go with whatever sounds interesting, although some books will turn me off with their length when I’m in stressful times. If it’s December 31st and I have only one book left in my reading challenge (I’m usually well ahead, but still, hypothetically), I’d probably pick the shorter book just for the sake of it. Or maybe that novella…

But overall, it’s good advice just to read what interests you–it’s okay if it takes you two days, two weeks, or two months to read a book. Pick your own pace, stick with it, and hopefully you’ll have a great time reading books you love!

(This by all means does not mean I would not buy every single piece of merchandise released with the words “I Like Big Books and I Cannot Lie” because I totally would buy it all.)

What book length do you like? Why is that? I’d love to chat about books in the comment section 💖