Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
Sometimes I have to include books I haven’t actually read in my answers to Top Ten Tuesday posts because those weekly topics cover things I have little to no experience reading about.
Luckily, this is not one of those weeks! While I didn’t quite come up with a full ten answers, I have read and enjoyed all of these books. If they catch your attention and you’re interested in older tales, consider this a personal recommendation from me.
1. The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1) by Ken Follett (976 pages)
2. Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley (729 pages)
3. Hawaii by James A. Michener (937 pages)
4. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (502 pages)
5. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Earth’s Children, #1) by Jean M. Auel (516 pages)
6. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (1216 pages)
7. The Stand by Stephen King (1152 pages)
8. Dracula by Bram Stoker (488 pages)
9. Watership Down (Watership Down, #1) by Richard Adams (478 pages)
I’ve read three of these–the Lord of the Rings, Dracula, and Watership Down. The last two I actually read for the first time this year. Great picks!
Nice! And thanks.
I loved Clan Of The Cave Bear and once re-read the series just because…!
https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/2025/08/19/%f0%9f%93%9atoptentuesday-10-books-with-a-high-page-count-tuesdaybookblog-booktwitter-booktwt/
Excellent!
Ohhh, I didn’t think of LOTR.
It’s such a long series!
I had Pillars of the Earth on my list today as well but I have a few others you’ve mentioned on my TBR. I wish the big books weren’t so intimidating to read! Great list 🙂
Honestly, same.
And thanks.
That’s a fantastic list of books! I’m so glad to see some of those classics on there, especially *The Lord of the Rings*, *The Stand*, and *Watership Down*. It’s a great selection of high-page-count books.
Thank you. I rarely read very long books these days, so classics it needed to be. 😂
I didn’t realise that Watership Down was so long. I loved the audiobook read by Peter Capaldi.
Oh, cool! Yeah, it’s a long one.
Cave of the Clan Bear is one of those books I’ve had recommended to me over and over, but I have not read yet.
I really loved the first few books in that series, but no pressure. 🙂
Whoa. TLOTR title has a LOT of pages. That classic is a great fit. 🙂 Thanks so much for visiting my list today.
You’re welcome. Yeah, it’s a door stopper for sure.
Some books which are beloved don’t seem that long, like Watership Down.
🙂
I read the expanded version of The Stand while riding in the car on family vacation. I think it helped me to continue onward.
Oh, cool! That seems like a fun vacation read.
I am really itching to read The Pillars of the Earth and LOTR! I also have been wanting to reread The Clan of the Cave Bear. So many great books on this list!
Thank you. Happy reading and rereading!
Great titles here! I had forgotten about a couple you mentioned.
Thanks. 🙂
I always forget that Dracula is a chonker! I’ve enjoyed reading it (multiple times) and it never feels that long to me.
One of these days I want to read Michener’s Hawaii.
Yeah, it definitely feels shorter.
ooh I really want to read Pillars of the Earth
Dracula never feels like a long book when I re-read it, I always forget that it is
Same here. 🙂
The Lord of the Rings and Dracula are both great choices!
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
Thank you!
While I’ve heard of most of these, I’ve read none of them. I find myself hesitating if a book has over 400 pages.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/ten-biggest-books-on-my-tbr/
I can’t blame you there. Most of these are books I read many years ago.
Great list! I love Dracula; and the Stand made my list, too. 😀
Woohoo! And thanks.
Although I don’t read big books and chose a different topic this week, as I travel the blogs I see books I read many years ago. Roots is one of them. I used to read all of Stephen King’s books and those were probably big, too. Maybe I’m more familiar with big books than I realize.
You just might be.
I rarely read very long books these days as well.
These sound so intimidating!
They took some effort to get through for sure. 🙂
I read The Stand a million years ago (my teenage years, they feel light years away, LOL). That is the only one from your list I have read. I have thought about trying The Grapes of Wrath, but nothing has compelled me to pick it up yet. My husband loves The Lord of the Rings, he has read them several times.
The Grapes of Wrath is an intense read, so I can’t blame you for feeling hesitant.
My spouse is obsessed with Lord of the Rings as well. Ha!
Good list! I forgot James Michener
He wrote some great books. 🙂
I’m reading Dracula right now! I’m doing the ‘daily’ version that breaks it into reading chunks by the days the letters are received, and that’s helping take the edge off the length.
Oh, cool! I signed up for those emails but keep forgetting to check then.
The Lord of the Rings is also a great series!
For sure!
I have seen The Pillars of the Earth on so many lists today! I give in; I’m adding it to my TBR list and will hunt for a copy. Since I focused on fantasy and sci-fi chonksters, The Lord of the Rings headed my list. I tried reading Watership Down as a child, and couldn’t get into it (or more accurately, I was put off by the violence and death, having expected something more along the lines of Rabbit Hill); perhaps I should try again as an adult.
Watership Down definitely shouldn’t be marketed to kids. I was surprised by the violence, too.
May you enjoy The Pillars of the Earth.
I only read Dracula this year, it was a set text for a course I was taking.
Roots is definitely one I want to read.
Cool!
I’ve read several of these, but a long time ago. I’ve always wanted to read Roots, thanks for this reminder. I never watched the mini-series, so that is one of the reasons why I want to read it. Nice list, Lydia.
You’re welcome. The original miniseries was excellent, too. I have not seen the remake that came out a while ago, so I can’t comment on that yet. 🙂
It’s funny, different editions of the same book can have very different page counts — so even though I did read some of the books on your list (including the Michener), the page count came out lower for me!
Oh, too funny! I didn’t know that.
The Stand was amazing. Slow for me until halfway through, but then a page-turner. I still want to read Roots and The Grapes of Wrath. Thanks for sharing and for visiting my blog, Lydia.
You’re welcome, Cheryl! Yes, it was slow at the beginning for sure.
I read four of your books, all interesting. But then, most of the chunky ones are, right?
Thanks for visiting my post:
https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2025/08/top-ten-tuesday-high-page-count.html
You’re welcome, and absolutely!
Completely forgot that Dracula is so long! I remember being completely glued to it when I first read it. I still want to read The Grapes of Wrath!
They were both great reads!
Ken Follett’s books sound amazing, but I’ve yet to try them out. I even have a few of them on my shelf. They’re just so big and intimidating…
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
They are very long for sure.
It’s funny, when I was younger I’d have said a book was long if it was 700 pages or more, but these days even 400 pages feels a little much sometimes. Busy busy! (That just popped into my head seeing Watership Down on the list, and being surprised, as I didn’t remember it being so long!)
I’ve had a similar evolution in my book length preferences.
Someone else said that different publishers can have different page counts for books, so the one I shared may be different from, say, your copy of it.
It definitely felt like a shorter book to me when I read it as well.
Lord of the Rings is impressive. I’ve always been intimidated by that work.
Thank you. It took a long time to read for sure.
I can highly recommend Edward Rutherfurd if you like sagas. He is influenced by James Michener, so will be of special interest to Michener readers!