TOP TEN TUESDAY
June 28, 2016

It’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the wonderful blog at The Broke and the Bookish! This week’s topic was FREEBIE so I selected long books and/or series! 

Lots of readers are hesitant to pick up super long books or extremely long series and I totally get it. We all value our time and want to make sure a long book is worth investing in or that a series is good and we won’t get four books into a series only to stop reading or hate-read the rest. With so many books on my TBR, sometimes I’m hesitant to pick up any books that are longer than 400-500 pages because there are just SO MANY things to read and I’m afraid of how  long they’ll take me. As far as series go, I know a lot of people wait to start a series until all of the books are out (or close) because it’s hard to remember everything with years between books.

Today I wanted to share which long books/series I’ve enjoyed to maybe ease some of those fears about starting them! These books easily sucked me in and some of those long books didn’t see long at all because I just couldn’t put them down!!

• LONG BOOKS and LONG SERIES and LONG WAIT: A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin | This is an easy to go to and I’m sure it on a lot of people’s lists, especially if you’re a fan of the show. I started reading the books before I started watching and I’ll admit — it really was quite daunting to pick them up. I read all five current books with a group of friends and we spread each book over the span of two months (so it took us 10 months to read them total). It may sound like a long time but it helped them be less daunting and it was easier to read them while reading something else and still finish other books.
  I can’t really say if they’re “better” than the show or not since I’m still only two seasons into the show (I’m so far behind) but I feel like they’re probably each their own animal by now. I really did love the books though and I wish I could re-read but that’s another daunting task in itself haha! The books were totally worth the experience though and I just loved them.
• LONG BOOKS and LONG WAIT: The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss |  These books are AMAZING. I read them somewhat recently and I just couldn’t put them down. I listened on audio but had to whispersync and read in print as well because I just didn’t want to stop. The books are long but it didn’t feel like it took me too long to read them at all. We are still waiting for news on the third book and as anxious as I am, Patrick Rothfuss can take all the time he needs to get that baby perfect!
• LONG BOOKS and LONG SERIES and LONG WAIT: The Gentleman Bastard series by Scott Lynch | When I first read THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA, it was utter perfection and I loved the next two books just as much. I’ve heard rumors that book four is coming out fall/winter 2016 so I hope all of those rumors are true! They’re long books, it’s a long series (I think seven books are planned and #4 is the next one out) and it’s been a bit of a wait in between books so you’re investing a lot of time in this series but it’s seriously one of my all-time favorites and it’s SO worth it.
• LONG BOOK: ILLUMINAE by Aime Kaufman and Jay Kristoff | This book looks long but I assure you, it goes quickly! The formatting takes up a lot of extra space so although there are almost 600 pages in the US hardcover, it’s really not that long of a read! The book is also amazing and its sequel, GEMINA, is one of my most-anticipated releases of 2016!
• LONG BOOKS and LONG SERIES: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead | I have a skewed view of these books because I read them before I started blogging or really reading YA and it was a decent amount of time after the vampire craze but the fad was already dying down. I wasn’t really into vampires any more but I heard the books were good and I was actually pretty hooked from the start. I really enjoyed Richelle Mead’s constant twists and this series is actually probably still my favorite books of hers that I’ve read. The books are long but I was easily sucked in and since vampires were already out, I liked that I was still appreciating a vampire story. They were definitely worth the time for me then but I always feel wary about introducing someone to vampire books now, just because I think we all feel like this kind of urban fantasy vampire trope is out.
• LONG BOOKS: The His Fair Assassin (companion) trilogy by Robin LaFevers | I’m not a historical fiction person but I looooved these books. I read GRAVE MERCY when I saw someone else’s review and I was a little hesitant but I’m so glad that I loved it! It does start off a little slowly but it’s not slow. The book is well-structured and lays things out and the romance is a slow burn as well (which I love). Everything comes together so well and although the books are long, they’re well worth the investment.
• LONG BOOKS and LONG SERIES: The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson | This will come as a surprise to no one but I HIGHLY recommend this series. It’s still my favorite of any of Sanderson’s works (though I haven’t read THE WAY OF KINGS yet) and I love how layered everything is. The books are long but again, I was so sucked in that they didn’t feel long at all because I honestly couldn’t put them down.
  The series is also long. It’s currently six books and counting! The first three are one “era” and then the next set of three are another, although I think this one is actually a set of four now and not three. Then after the 2nd “era” there will be a third and maybe even a fourth. I love the possibilities for this and I’ll keep reading these until the end of time. There’s always another secret.
• LONG BOOKS and LONG SERIES: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas | I have a weird sort of history with this series where I just wasn’t ready for these books and ended up picking them back up years later. But once I finished THRONE OF GLASS and read on through CROWN OF MIDNIGHT and HEIR OF FIRE (I was catching up to the most recent publication so I could read HoF), I was totally hooked. I actually feel like each book gets better and I was so enthralled and so at home with QUEEN OF SHADOWS. The books are long but the plot is extensive, character development is strong and realistic (though some readers don’t like the changes that happen to characters. Hey, do we always like the way people in our lives change? Nope), and these books just layer stories back onto themselves and it’s amazing.
• LONG BOOKS: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor | The Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy is so beautifully written. I really never thought I’d love books about chimaera but there you have it. The last book did feel a bit lengthy to me at times but I have so much love for this series and Laini’s writing.
• LONG BOOKS and LONG SERIES: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling | What would this list be without Harry Potter? The books get longer as the series progresses (although the last book is actually not the longest book) and it’s a long series at seven books but it’s truly a life-changing series. I’m sure most readers of my blog have already read it (and are in love with it and have been) but if you haven’t read it yet, don’t let the hype and time discourage you. I’ve heard from plenty of people who read them for the first time as adults that it was just as magical and special in a way that they might not have appreciated as kids. (I loved Jamie’s post on this after she finished the series this year!)

What long books or series do you recommend to people that are totally worth it? What advice do you give to people when jumping into the chunky books?