The biggest books in my home library

Big books big books big books! The longest novels in my home library, whether or not I’ve read them & a few thoughts on reading very long books.

People:
@RoisinsReading

Books:
3:56 Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree (2021)
4:56 Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (1877)
6:30 The good soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek (1921)
7:07 Devils by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1872)
7:51 Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon (1973)
8:35 The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (2013)
9:40 Ulysses by James Joyce (1922)
11:00 The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (2013)
11:52 Middlemarch by George Eliot (1871)
12:55 La Vérité sur l’Affaire Harry Quebert by Joël Dicker (2012)
13:53 Daniel Deronda by George Eliot (1876)
14:34 2666 by Roberto Bolaño (2004)
16:34 The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1879)
18:34 Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon (2006)
19:31 Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (1996)
21:45 War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (1869)
23:10 why read long books & how I approach doing so

Socials:
StoryGraph: @sdelphis

[jay_poet]

Anna Karenina was my first chonker and also my first foray into Russian literature. I was surprised by how accessible it was despite its size and finishing it gave me the confidence to tackle more biggies. I always start by dividing the page count into manageable chunks until I get into the rhythm of the book.

[thelefthandedreader]

I couldn’t agree more to your point about not getting hung up…just keep swimming.

[yvespiderssmells]

Thank you for this. After finishing a big novel, i always get the sense if not wanting to say goodbye to the characters. I don't quite get that feeling from smaller books.

I enjoyed Minae Mizumura's A True Novel. Anna Karenina is also a favorite.

[nathansnook]

your thoughts on The Goldfinch really summed up my feelings about big books! there's something spellbinding about spending a large amount of time with characters. i think at some point, my feelings for Theo changed, for good, for worse. i loved him, i spited him. i became apathetic, even sympathetic! it was a journey! and that's the beauty in big books.

and totally agree on not needing to know all non-english words in the text! if anything, a good writer will provide context in what those words mean!

[aniazmar]

I'm currrently reading War and Peace and I agree with everything you said about reading big books, specially in the summer. Love your videos! much love from Mexico. The Count of Montecristo is among my favorite chonkers.

[marleneartigues]

Loved seeing your chunkers! I'm about 100 pages shy of finishing War and Peace and I am loving it. I usually read two or three books simultaneously and that helps when reading a big one. Infinite Jest keeps calling out to me so that may happen soon.

[Carolina.FrayedPages.]

Awesome video! And perfect timing for me since I plan on reading 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami in Autumn. What caught my attention was when you said that sometimes you do want to spend a longer time with characters. 🍃🌾

Thanks for all the tips as well!

[benreadsgood]

So fun! Love that the second shortest on your list is nearly the biggest on my list 😂 You’re putting me to shame!

Thanks for the mention. I actually didn’t realise you had a channel, so I’m now subbed 🙏

[mediumjohnsilver]

I admit I have not read any of those books. The last big books I’ve read are Don Quixote (940 pages) and 1Q84 (1157 pages). My approach to reading big books is to keep a list of characters and the page numbers of their first appearance. In the case of 1Q84, I also kept track of clues to the overarching mystery.

[quinntessentialreads]

I've always said "twenty six sixty-six" but just cause i think it sounds cooler 😊. Love love love that book. Glad to hear you enjoyed Infinite Jest -- i'll be tackling it with a book club this winter --eek! I mostly consume my big books on audio so i can sort of breeze through the stickier, less interesting bits (like all that religious talk in The Brothers K). With all the footnotes in Infinite Jest, though, i'll probably have to brave a physical copy. Love your channel!

[jorjastonej]

Big books are lovable. Random question. Have you read Anais Nin? Love? meh Hate? Any that you’d recommend? I haven’t read her yet. Just learning now that she was a city walker, which is a draw for me

[starr_wolf-ch]

excellent t-shirt! conversely, i had fun.

[byina]

I am so intrigued by Middlemarch and Devils, I might look for a copy in our local bookstores. Also, there's a new local big book that I'm interested in picking up so, I might use your tips and tricks to get through all the chunky novels (I also have East of Eden and a collection of Clarice Lispector works with me right now so I'm kind of drowning lol)

The only 'big' book I remember reading leisurely is Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood and it's only 500+ pages. However, I did read three big books for school (local novels) and one of the tips I remember that work is to talk to someone about it to really immerse yourself not only in the plot and characters but to hold yourself accountable to reading and finishing it. Though I myself struggle with finding 'big book' buddies, I remember having fun talking to people, getting their own take on it, and through that, you remember more from the story (and the tangents you take with your friend/the other person). Another tip is to make notes? or like, keep a reading diary to also hold yourself accountable and just let out your feelings. This way, you can look back at how far you've come and it may push yourself to conquer another big book. :D

[Literatiloves]

I always love your videos, Sophie! “Just keep going” is such good advice and I appreciate it as I am working my way through War and Peace this year. Great video!

[thelefthandedreader]

This was fun! You’re inspiring me to finally get to either Anna Karenina or Middlemarch soon. I’m going to dip into both….see which one sticks. I’m leaning towards Eliot just because I’m reading War & Peace - a chapter a day 😊😊😊

[erinh]

You made me look! (fun! 🤪) My top page count book weighs in at 1474pp (A Suitable Boy, I've read it!), and Magic Mountain at 984pp is #9... (I read it in German - English translations usually shrink page count). I just finished The Luminaries (#14) last month after it sat on my shelf for a decade - enjoyed it!! Three of my top 15 are kind of cheats in that they're trilogy bind-ups (LOTR, Gormenghast, Kristin Lavransdatter), but I have read 10 of the top 15 longest books on my shelves. And none of them are W&P or Middlemarch, both of which I've read and loved but don't own. Anna Karenina is actually #15 (I have read it, and also enjoyed it even more than W&P).
Never ever going to read Thomas Pynchon or David Foster Wallace. Nope.

[yenasung]

She buys pynchon at the airport? She’s a queen 🙇🏻‍♀️

Ah what is it about summer and big books? They just fit perfectly into the long endless days 🌻 summer is also when i most feel open for a juicy messy kdrama series lol. Same but different vibes!

[kiranreader]

we love big and i agree w/ your hot take. the french/latin or w/e other language they drop in is not really that important lol

[egorsurimov]

i cant stay silent youre as i'd say ПРЕКРАСНА! no english word will suit you better than this one. god how good you look!

[jackseney]

"The Devils" is about nihilist terrorists (early precursors of the communists) in Russia in the mid-1800s. It is that RARE long book that's in my view worth slogging through, but then I am a Dostoyevsky fan and most of my favorite long books come from him, including "Brothers Karamazov" which can be maddeningly dull but is finally deeply rewarding, just in time for the end of Dostoyevsky's life. My "method" for long books when I'm rarely reading them is just to attack them directly until it's all over, the simpler the better. "Infinite Jest" is okay, "okay" being great praise from me for a book that long. I could not continue with the blabbering of "Ducks, Newburyport, " another thousand-pager. I much prefer shorties and the reviews you just did of a stack of them was much appreciated. Found some longer very beautiful singing from you on Instagram 👍I don't know why you're so shy about it you are the only timid diva I've ever known of! Hey there's a title right there - "The Timid Diva."