Top Ten Tuesday | Chonky Books

Posted October 7, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 40 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Bookish Brags (or Confessions!)

I’m not sure that I have anything book-related worth bragging about, tbh, other than I love reading chonky books. So this week I’m just going to go with a list of chonky books I’ve read. These are the chonkiest books I’ve read and they are 800 pages and above. Some of these are my favorite of favorite books, but there are also many less chonky books I’ve loved more than others listed that are only here because they are chonky. Most of these are worth reading though!

Top Ten Chonky Books

  1. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas – 1276 pages. This is one of my favorite books of all time. I’ve read it many times and loved its chonkiness every time because I never want it to end. It’s so intense and engrossing that I finish it very quickly despite its size, and then I want to reread it again!
  2. Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell – 1037 pages. Another favorite I’ve read several times. I haven’t read it in a while though, because while I swooned over the romance as a child, I realize now as an adult that it was such a toxic relationship. I still think it’s a work of art as a historical novel though.
  3. The Stand by Stephen King – 1152 pages. There are so many Stephen King chonkers I’ve read and loved; It, Under The Dome, 11/22/63, and many more, but I thought for the sake of this list I’d stick to one per author, otherwise this whole list would be saturated with Stephen King’s books!
  4. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin – 835 pages. Technically, every book in this series is a chonker, and this one is the smallest one compared to the others, but it’s the first one so it’s the one chosen to represent them all!
  5. The Light Bearer by Donna Gillespie – 1024 pages. The most underrated chonker on the list and one of my favorite books! I’ve read it many times and I still love it now as much as I ever did. I’ve talked about it so many times and featured it on so many TTT lists!
  6. Swan Song by Robert McCammon – 956 pages. I don’t remember much about this book except that it was compared to Stephen King’s The Stand, and I rated it 4 stars. I’ve forgotten much about it though, and it’s only here because it’s a chonker I read.
  7. I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb – 897 pages. Another book I don’t remember much of but I’m haunted by this one and another book by the author I’ve read. I remember loving them and having my heart broken, and I rated them both 5 stars but I can’t bring myself to reread them just yet because I’m not sure I want to get my heart broken like that again. I need a little more time to heal! I also really want to read his other books, but same reason for why I haven’t yet.
  8. Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey – 1040 pages. It was hard to get into at first, but it got really good later. Not sure that I like it enough to continue the series though. It’s a relatively recent read so I haven’t decided what I want to do with it.
  9. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens – 882 pages. Another relatively recent read that I loved! Especially because I had just finished Demon Copperhead not long before.
  10. The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber – 922 pages. I actually love another book by this author – The Book of Strange New Things – more, but it was only 500 pages. I rated The Book of Strange New Things 5 stars, and this one only 3 stars, but this one is rated higher on Goodreads, so take what you will from that. I would highly recommend The Book of Strange New Things though!

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?

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40 responses to “Top Ten Tuesday | Chonky Books”

  1. Rissi JC

    The fact that you read so many books this length is IMPRESSIVE. 🙂 I am quite bookworm scared of novels this length. David Copperfield may be one I would perhaps want to try someday though since I do like the story as an adaptation.

    Reply
    • Haze

      David Copperfield is worth the try! I know I’m biased because I love big books and most of the ones listed here, but I really think there are some very good thick books that are worth the investment.

      Reply
  2. Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!

    I’ve read the first two books you’ve listed. Monte Cristo doesn’t feel that big when you’re reading it, other than the heft of the physical book. It’s easy to fall into and not want to put down. Gone with the Wind, I loved the movie growing up but didn’t read the book until recently. It felt like such a slog. I just wanted to rip out some pages because they weren’t needed.

    Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
    https://readbakecreate.com/goals-for-2024-3rd-quarter-check-in/

    Reply
  3. Carla

    I’m so laughing right now. One of my confessions was the complete opposite of yours. I did not realize The Stand was that long. I used to read Steven King when I was in middle school/high school but had to stop after he scared me way too much. Was Charles Dickens ever made into a shorter story because I do feel like I read that at some point.

    Reply
    • Haze

      I’m sure there must be several abridged versions of Charles Dicken’s books. I feel like I used to see a lot of abridged versions of most classics.

      Reply
  5. Lydia

    There’s nothing like getting lost in a chunky book! I haven’t had the patience for that for years, but someday I’d like to get back into it. You can really get to know characters and setting well if you have 800+ pages to read.

    Reply
  6. Dini @ dinipandareads

    I’m admittedly so very intimidated by the chonks but I have enjoyed a few in my lifetime! 😂 I do have a couple of these on my TBR as well so I’m even more keen to check them out—especially Count of Monte Cristo! Great list 🙂

    Reply
  7. Stephen @ Reading Freely

    The Stand was the first King I read — I was attracted because its premise was more SF than horror, and most of his books I’ve read have been the non-horror ones (Firestarter, 11/22/63). I’ve ventured into some of the smaller ones like Carrie and The Shining, though.

    Reply
  12. Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads

    I am quite in awe of you being able to read so many chonky books! I tend to get frustrated when I spend too much time on one book. Even if it’s a really good one! I know it doesn’t make sense, but that’s why I mostly prefer shorter books lately.

    Reply
    • Haze

      Totally valid. I enjoy shorter books too. I like big books because I didn’t have access or money for a lot of books when I was younger and big books gave me more hours of enjoyment for less money. Of course, that’s not as much as an issue now with my awesome library but I still love big books!

      Reply
  13. Cindy's Book Corner

    I have read Gone with the Wind and I think The Stand (I used to read Stephen King when I was a teenager and read a ton of his). I don’t seek out chunky books and actually tend to avoid them now. It has to be really good to keep my attention and I am not the biggest classics reader either. Great job!

    Reply
  18. RS @ Literary Loot

    I am so impressed by people who can read massive books! I read like 3 books over 500 pages last year and it took me out so much that this year I haven’t read a one. Kudos for being able to do an entire top-10 list. I have DEFINITELY never read a book that hit a thousand pages!

    Reply
    • Haze

      Some thick books are a slog and really difficult to get through, but some of these are so thrilling that you get engrossed and you don’t even realize how fast you’re going. 😂

      Reply
  19. Jaime

    I wish I would have thought of mentioning “chonky” books I’ve read because it is such an impressive feat to get through some of these really long books.

    I’m proud to say I’ve read The Count of Monte Cristo and Gone with the Wind! I also have read Les Mis, Lord of the Rings (combining all 3 into one volume), and The Bible 😂

    Reply
    • Haze

      Ooohh, I have yet to read Les Mis, and I’ve finished the first LOTR book but not the other two and at this point I need a reread of the first!

      Reply

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