12 Big Books Worth Reading

Very long novels demand a lot of time so here are my 12 suggestions of really big Booker books that are worth reading. Click ‘Show More’ for info & links.
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Join my bookclub: / thelonesomereaderbookclub
12 of the best big books from the Booker Prizes library: thebookerprizes.com/the-booke...
Interview with the author and translators of The Eighth Life: • Live Discussion about ...
Books discussed & purchase links:
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann
uk.bookshop.org/a/9054/978191...
Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess
uk.bookshop.org/a/9054/978009...
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
uk.bookshop.org/a/9054/978000...
4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster
uk.bookshop.org/a/9054/978057...
A Fairly Honourable Defeat by Iris Murdoch
uk.bookshop.org/a/9054/978178...
The Vivisector by Patrick White
uk.bookshop.org/a/9054/978009...
Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree (translated by Daisy Rockwell)
uk.bookshop.org/a/9054/978191...
Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry
uk.bookshop.org/a/9054/978057...
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
uk.bookshop.org/a/9054/978034...
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
uk.bookshop.org/a/9054/978074...
The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvili (translated by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin)
uk.bookshop.org/a/9054/978191...
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
uk.bookshop.org/a/9054/978184...
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
3:03 Ducks Newburyport
6:22 Earthly Powers
9:42 Wolf Hall
12:23 4321
14:59 A Fairly Honourable Defeat
18:06 The Vivisector
19:45 Tomb of Sand
22:12 Family Matters
24:14 Cloud Atlas
26:11 Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
27:24 The Eighth Life
29:25 The Luminaries
32:12 Conclusion
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[@malloryanderson724]

I read most of 4321 during my factory shifts -- it made the time fly by! A masterful work. (To explain: my boss let me read as long as I didn't forget to keep up with my machine. We had alot of times where we had to keep watch during long jobs and couldn't move anywhere for hours.)

[@moviemagus1921]

I would recommend Steinbeck's East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath as well, both are pretty long, but their language flows really well.

[@christophercobb249]

East of Eden is one of my favorite books of all time.

[@climatedeniersbelonginasyl4191]

"A Suitable Boy" by Vikram Seth is a big beautiful book that I enjoyed.

[@limeparticle]

Seconded! I read it when it first came out and it’s kept me company all these years.

[@TheEmzies]

I read A Suitable Boy back in July. Enjoyed it immensely.

[@AvAlanchian]

Same, read it while sailing from Australia to Papua New Guinea and will forever remember it vividly

[@booklover6963]

My favorite long book is Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.

[@cindyhaiken5644]

So many of these are books I really loved (The Luminaries, Ducks, Newburyport and Wolf Hall especially but also 4321, Cloud Atlas and Jonathan Strange) that I really want to read the others now. There is a time and a place for long immersive reads, and they are often so incredibly satisfying, but the flip-side of spending so much time with a cast of characters is feeling bereft when the book is done and they are gone.

[@bonniehickey9978]

I have 4321 in my tbr stack. I love his writing and can’t wait to crack into this one.

[@wavaleebranch]

I loved it but I am glad I took notes on the plot lines of each of 4 “stories.” It helped me keep them straight. I love Paul Auster, too.

[@inarticulable]

Cloud Atlas is great, finally picked it up this year. David Mitchell has such a way with words and each character speaks very distinctly from another in a different time/place. He also had to speculate on how the language would change; he picked up on how brand names become verbs (googling, for example). Great attention to detail. He was an English language teacher before (ESL), which probably helped.

[@cinemadupapa]

You always come up with such great recommendations and ideas! Thank you so much, Eric, for yet another brilliant selection❤️

[@EricKarlAnderson]

Thank you! 😊📚

[@sandrawallace6527]

😊

[@eyesonindie]

I recently saw a statistic about how we are buying more short books than ever (I forget the exact stat, but the point was to show how we are buying and reading shorter and shorter books). As a lover of long AND short books - I really appreciate this list!! I have some faves among the ones you listed, and also some that I know I want to get to in the future! Long live long books!

[@knitty781]

I've also noticed there are a lot of novels out there under 300 pages. While I enjoy these books, the world building just isn't as vivid.

[@user-zo4ig4xx5n]

I also loved ducks, Newburyport, the WolfHall trilogy and tomb of sand. Last year I reread the whole trilogy of WolfHall to honour Hilary Mantel's death. I found Thomas Cromwell a fascinating character and had always found the Tudor era very interesting. I was kind of hoping that Mantel would write a novel about Elizabeth, Anne Boleyn's daughter but unfortunately she died too young in my opinion.

[@kentcozad7275]

I love the luminaries. Compelling characters , spellbinding prose, breathtaking structure.

[@grumylynn]

I so enjoyed this, as I have all of your recommendations. Keep 'em coming!

[@user-yg6ft1iu1i]

Thank you I enjoyed this video and I read your article in the Booker newsletter. I’ve read several of these and will be adding a couple more to my list.

[@EricKarlAnderson]

Great, thank you! 📚

[@penelopegough6050]

I have read several of these novels and in fact reread a couple, the Luminaries, Wolf Hall and intend to reread the Vivisector as very keen on Patrick White. I remember very well the group read we did of the Eighth Life and then your interview with the author and translators. It was such a good reading experience. I love BigBooks and also have several on my TBR. Eric that was such a good review of possibilities and I am about to make a pile of my own big books.

[@ailsahosford5694]

As always , a fab list of big books I’ve been meaning to get to. I just love your recommendations. Thank you so much for all the time you take with your reviews. Just read my first Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage , which I loved. Looking at me imperiously on the coffee table is Ken Folletts latest, Never, a huge tome of 800 pages. It’s a long time since I read one of his. Best wishes from Adelaide, Down Under.

[@meghbanerjeemusic]

Well, Got New TBR. thanks. this is why I love your channel. Thank you.🙂

[@rebecca.reader]

What a great list!! Thank you Eric, I always really appreciate your recommendations. . I have only read a couple of these, so lots more to sink my teeth into.

[@EricKarlAnderson]

😊📚

[@lindaklinedinst9236]

I love reading big thick books myself - I always have. These sounds really good. Take Care & Happy Reading ❤️🔰❤️

[@BookwormAdventureGirl]

Great list! I’ve read the Wolf Hall Trilogy but several on your list, like Ducks Newburyport, and The Luminaries, wait patiently on my list. I also really want to get The Eighth Life. 😊💙

[@EricKarlAnderson]

Thanks! I hope you’re able to carve out some time to read those few some day. I really think you’ll enjoy them!

[@dorotheafinan2419]

Really enjoyed The Corrections by Franzen, The Information by Martin Amis and of course A Little Life. Long books are great for winter. And of course Dickens. But really neglected are the 6 Palliser novels by Trollope. Thanks for your reviews.

[@ianp9086]

I’m a fan of short books as I’m a slow reader but many of my all time favourites are LONG 😅. And you mentioned a few - Ducks, Wolf Hall, Luminaries, Cloud Atlas, and although I haven’t read Family Matters, A Fine Balance would be in there too. Thanks for the additional suggestions - I have Tomb of Sand and I really want to get Eighth Life - I’ve never heard a bad word about it.

[@michaeldornan7737]

Thanks, Eric, that was fun and very enlightening. Am reading the Bee Sting, another long book, and can hardly put it down. I loved The Eighth Life and think I will soon read Tomb of Sand because you explained it so well and do enjoy a big challenge. But only after the Booker Prize has been awarded....

[@EricKarlAnderson]

Thank you! Yeah I’m currently really enjoying Murray’s novel as well.

[@drawyourbook876]

So many of my favourites in this list too. It makes me want to put my own list together

[@elizabethmoloney6967]

I have the Wolf Hall Trilogy planned for 2024. Glad to see Burgess's Earthly Powers in the video. Now there a blast from the past! A couple of recommendations Karl that are new to me , which I have taken note of . Thank for a really informative video as always 👏 😊

[@rebelbelle1388]

I've been meaning to get to Cloud Atlas for awhile now... maybe I have to bump it further up my TBR!

[@sevsuk2011]

Great video Eric. I really enjoyed a little life, harrowing but an excellent story some other tomes that I enjoyed are: The Stand - Stephen King, 2666 - Roberto Solano, The Century trilogy - Ken Follett, Kingsbridge Trilogy - Ken Follett, Goldfinch - Donna Tart, 1942 - Haruki Murakami,

[@neetupd8510]

A fine balance and A suitable boy are 2 big books but worth it 😊 P.S Pachinko too....

[@michaelbroderick2282]

Love the long books and there are some in this video that I will soon be getting into. One of my favorites from the past was Ken Follett's The Pillars Of The Earth. Just wondering--did you have to put your arm on ice after holding up those large behemoths?

[@user-zw3hi8jx2h]

Thank you . I have tried Wolf Hall, The Luminaries and a couple of others. Maybe now is the time that they will grab and hold my attention.

[@DebMcDonald]

Brilliant video! Thanks for reminding me about Earthly Powers. I read it 25 years ago and thought it was one of the best books I’ve ever read. I don’t know what happened to my copy or why I haven’t re-read it. I’ve read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell twice and saw the tv adaptation. So worth every minute of my time.

[@EricKarlAnderson]

Thanks! Yeah, I feel like Earthly Powers has become a book that’s been forgotten about but it’s so entertaining and thought provoking.

[@NeetuSingh-eo4iu]

I have read and really enjoyed Family Matters, Tomb of Sand , Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell and The Eighth Life. Some are in my tbr.

[@vanhouten64]

From Here to Eternity by James Jones (1951) and 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (2010) are two other 1000+ pagers I've read. I liked both but not quiiiiite sure they were worth that much time commitment.

[@deirdre108]

Looks like I'm getting in late here, but just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for including "Earthly Powers" on your list. I consider it one of the great novels of the 20th century and have constantly badgered friends in real life and on line to READ THIS BOOK! I'm lucky to have my hardcover first edition (that I refuse to loan out) and I'm glad its hardcover since I re-read EP about every 3/4 years and need an edition that can hold up to wear. Even though it's 600+ pages it doesn't drag or get boring--there's delight on almost every page. Again thanks--I never thought I'd hear a mention of EP on KZbin except by me! Edit: Also "The Magus" by John Fowles is another fantastic, long book that's also a "page-turner'.

[@pratgarg]

Excellent video there (again), Eric. Embarrassingly enough, I haven’t read any of the books (except Family Matters) you mentioned. Tomb of Sand keeps staring back at me from the bookshelf. Guess I need to muster the courage and pick it up.

[@GenWivern2]

Oh, I read The Vivisector a couple of months ago. Very old hat, Patrick White, but he was a major talent when it comes to enjoyably waspish dialogue and portentous cod mysticism. Voss is easy to recommend provided you like long novels.

[@BunnyDracula]

Hello, Eric. I just discovered your channel, and was immediately caught-up in your obvious enthusiasm for these novels. Of the ones listed, I have only read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, which I loved, but I'm thinking that both Wolf Hall and 4321 are soon to be precariously perched atop my To-Read pile, per your recommendation. Thanks for that, I guess. I have many long novels and authors of long novels I could recommend to you, but I will only name the one novel that has had the biggest impact on me in recent times, and that is The Overstory by Richard Powers. It is a novel of trees, told from multiple character's povs, but always in service to the tree. It's almost a combining of the mystic, the preternatural, and the scientific the way Powers presents the often hidden relationships between Human and Tree. I learned so much from this book, mainly not to take what life that surrounds us for granted, but to have a better understanding of our connection to the natural world. The writing was beautiful and descriptive, the plotting was plausible and tight with direction, and the characters were interesting and recoginisably human. This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I was hooked from the very get-go. I think it might be your cuppa, as well. Thank you, again, for the thought provoking video.

[@EricKarlAnderson]

Thanks so much! It's wonderful to meet you. I hope you enjoy Mantel and Auster's novels when you get time to read them. Your thoughts on The Overstory are excellent and I enjoyed thinking about this novel again. I read it when it came out and posted about it here: lonesomereader.com/blog/2018/10/2/the-overstory-by-richard-powers And, in case you haven't seen, I interviewed Powers here on my channel about his novel Bewilderment: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJWphmSkg6ikrac

[@rjrastapopoulos1595]

I have Cloud Atlas on tbr.

[@camillodimaria3288]

I had a hard time abiding with the Ducks. I enjoyed The Vivisector & am eager to read other work by White. The Burgess sounds interesting. I didn’t quite hold with the Auster.

[@TheLeniverse]

I've read A Brief History of Seven Killings and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I thought they were both great, but I bit of a slog at times. I have Cloud Atlas and Wolf Hall on the shelf, but haven't quite gotten around to them yet. Ducks, Newburyport and 4321 sound great! Adding them to my tbr. My favourite mega chunksters are probably Middlemarch, Lonesome Dove, and Infinite Jest. The Mandarins (Simone De Beauvoir) and North and South (Elizabeth Gaskell) are also worth every page. (Ulysses, on the other hand, I was just happy to get through and be done with.)

[@jamesduggan7200]

I tend to prefer bigger books tho in the past I have puffed up my read list for the sake of puffing it up with several shorter works - individual plays for example. Now however I think I just read what I want at the pace I like short or long, poetry or prose. Thanks, and congratulations on becoming a spokesperson for the Booker Prize. Have you been doing it a long time?

[@donaldcohen5196]

Big books on the American frontier: Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen, The Son by Philip Meyer and of course Lonesome Dove.

[@murpesc43]

Loved Mantel’s trilogy, have read the three books twice and feel like I was present with Henry VIII and his court.

[@tonybennett4159]

This is such a fascinating list, even though there are some books or authors in the list who I don't like. I am in full agreement with you in regard to Hilary Mantel's trilogy, Cloud Atlas, Ducks Newburyport and The Luminaries. I'm intrigued by Earthly Powers and Tomb of Sand. Nobel winner Patrick White a very literary writer and almost like Australia's Henry James has sadly fallen out of fashion, but a few years ago I went on a White binge, reading Voss, The Tree of Man, A Fringe of Leaves, The Solid Mandala, The Twyborn Affair and Memoirs of Many in One, all dense but very rich and involving. There's not much that could be considered overtly gay in his work, but he lived with his Greek partner for many years. Among personal favourites I'd mention This Thing of Darkness (Thompson), Life and Fate (Grossman), A Strangeness in My Mind (Pamuk), Confessions (Cabre), The Betrothed (Manzoni), The Baroque Cycle (Stephenson) and Kristen Lavransdatter (Undset) the last two actually being trilogies.

[@jackiesliterarycorner]

Both Jonathan Strange and The Luminaries are books I'm in the middle of, but I have trouble with committing to 500+. I love what I read of both, but then I remember all the others I haven't read or want to read that aren't as long.

[@marjoriedybec3450]

I'm predominantly a non-fiction and classics reader so my choices might be slightly off-topic but here are my top five big books: Victor Hugo, Les Miserables (a life changing read); Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickelby, George Eliot, Middlemarch; William M Thackeray, Vanity Fair, and James Fenimore Cooper, The Deerslayer (just to have the US on the list.) NOTE: I am currently reading The Count of Monte Cristo and it is possible it could subplant Deerslayer. :)

[@charol.2764]

The Count of Monte Cristo ...still my heart throbbing. It is one of the first books to broach topics that are currently pasabble, and in a literary way whose pace and intrigue are never broken. Dumas is said to have most of his works ghostwritten. I did not notice a single flaw, masterpiece however

[@marjoriedybec3450]

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm definitely liking it more than The Three Musketeers (which I did enjoy) but for me, it doesn't come close to Les Miserables, Middlemarch or Vanity Fair. Yes, your comments on pace are true. One could describe it as "unrelenting." I loved the beginning. Hoping the end will be as satisfying. :) Thanks for the comment.@@charol.2764

[@melissamybubbles6139]

Ooh, another nonfiction reader! What big nonfiction books would you choose? To me, a long nonfiction is over 500 pages, or maybe over 400. Hero of Two Worlds by Mike Duncan is good.

[@Bessie-On-Wheels]

I like a bigger book more than shorter ones in general. The Eighth Life is a very special book

[@EricKarlAnderson]

👍📚

[@melissamybubbles6139]

I'm a mostly history reader, with some fantasy, and other assorted novels, so here are some of mine. Hero of Two Worlds by Mike Duncan, Rush by Stephen Fried, The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed, Sons of the Waves by Stephen Taylor, the Bone Witch series by Rin Chupeco, Washington A Life by Ron Chernow, Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Children of Ash and Elm, Democracy and Dictatorship in Europe by Sheri Berman, The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish, Race and Reunion by David Blight, When the United States Spoke French by Francois Furstenburg, Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, The Secret Wife of Aaron Burr by Susan Holloway Scott

[@colorswordsandlearning]

Love the video , as always . But I haven't read any of the bigger books recommended... Wolf Hall has always sounded tempting but I hate the Tudors . Some of my favorite big books are : Les Miserables , Middlemarch , Bleak House , Lord of the rings , Jane Eyre , Our Mutual Friend , Three Musketeers , Grapes of wrath , The Name of the Rose , The gift of rain , if I may add HarryPotter books ... ,Tree grows in Brooklyn , War and Peace & Brothers K I am reading just now .. and loving it... Count of Monte Cristo ,Hard Times , Light in August . How do you shrten the list ?

[@kathleenbrady9916]

Eric, two questions: is there a way I can learn to read more quickly, and is there a course/training that I can take to learn how to review books? Thanks for your channel , love it. Kathx

[@user-zw3hi8jx2h]

I took the Evelyn Woods method many many decades ago. Don’t know if it is still available

[@stephenevans9248]

Paul Auster is a master craftsman and certainly 4321 is a masterpiece - my all time favourite.

[@camillodimaria3288]

I enjoy the writings of Mistry.

[@elscruffomcscruffy8371]

Any book in A Song of Ice and Fire is long and epic

[@janethansen9612]

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead is the standout big book from recent times that I found so immersive.

[@EricKarlAnderson]

Yes! ❤️

[@SarkoMontaug]

The Fountainhead

[@OneSon744]

Glass bead game, H.H.

[@johnpauluberto]

Hi Eric thanks for your channel and reviews. I have a quick personal question - where are you from/where did you grow up and where do you live? I cant place the accent but I love it! ❤ JP =^,,^=

[@EricKarlAnderson]

Thanks! I’m from New England in the States but I’ve lived my whole adult life in England.

[@jacquelinemcmenamin8204]

The best big book I’ve read this year so far is Deluge by Stephen Markley ( on audio) ☘️👋🍀☕️📕📚🇮🇪💐

[@heatherkirkland9056]

Very old book 2003 found in book box hidden away ( trying to read oldest books between current reads ) Have you read "Future" by Peter Hamill interesting book about Irish folklore, making New York , great fire etc... historic facts slave trade , indentured Irish trade passages to America. English American history. Must read ending with 9/11.

[@Bookspine5]

It was a good book. 😊😊😊

[@tmtb80]

It is always kinda wierd when I am telling someone about a great book, and I say "Oh, it's not a very big book. It goes by quick!" Then, I go back and see that the book was actually a big honkin' book. That I had enjoyed it so much, I thought it was just a couple hundred pages when it was actually many, many , many hundreds!

[@felixrenedo1228]

In spain we say when a book is ver long and difficut to read, that is a 8000, as the mountains

[@EricKarlAnderson]

Oh that's so interesting. I'd never heard that before. 📚

[@p11116]

Hi! at 20-01 you say the protagonist is named Ma. Considering the author is Indian, I think Ma here means Mother, the Hindi noun, though I haven't read Tomb of Sand.

[@EricKarlAnderson]

Yes, she's called by several names throughout the book but she's most often referred to as Ma as in Mother.

[@parvathykutralingam4961]

No infinite jest?? 🤔

[@purplecrayon7281]

I'm surprise you selected Family Matters over A Fine Balance, both by the same author, when the latter is a longer and much better book. I wanted to pull my hair out (or whatever strands are left) while reading the second half of The Luminaries. I compare this novel to the TV series Lost -- the author created such intricate mysteries during the first half but she was unable to resolve them satisfactorily in the second half. Her cop out solution was drugs -- the characters were unable to recall anything because all of them were on some hallucinogens. What a waste of a potentially great mystery novel.

[@marcevan1141]

Love your podcast but I have to disagree with you about "A Little Life " I despised it. Whatever its ostensible subject, the real subject of the novel was the relentless. sadism of the author toward her readers.

[@tonybennett4159]

I have to agree with you. It was impossible to empathise with the main character because there is no way such an unrelenting and implausible series of abuse could happen to one person, so she was aiming to move the reader by the cheapest of means. She admitted not having done any research into mental health for this book, which explains the coarse way in which she attempts to employ the issue.

[@marcevan1141]

@tonybennett4159 Absolutely. I remember thinking that the first 200 pages or so weren't bad. It was fairly absorbing. After a while, though, the book just went completely, ridiculously off the rails. I think I really began hating it (and resenting the author) once Jude became involved with that guy in New York . Once the man was revealed to be a violent psychopath, I pretty much gave up on the novel. It just devolved into a meaningless orgy of abuse and sadomasochism; and instead of sensitizing us to the horror of the abuse, it became absurd and numbing. I couldn't believe in any of it after a while; I was only aware of the author's cheap manipulations. I heard that the editor warned her about all this while she was writing the book, but she insisted on keeping all of the gratuitous violence in there, and once it became a bestseller, the editor stopped complaining.

[@tonybennett4159]

@@marcevan1141 What amazes me was that the Booker committee was fooled by this and short listed it for the award! Some people love to be manipulated, but a group of writers and critics???

[@EileenBrown-bb2cd]

Queer is a slur. Very sad to hear you using this term.

[@tubeguito9555]

Hi, congratulations for your reviews. I have always followed your advice. I was really struck by the beauty of "Motion Detection", a thriller book that I found by chance on Amz while looking for a book by Freida McFadden. The cover intrigued me, it's an unusual book with a spectacular ending, I highly recommend it!