These 10 big books are worth your time - MUST READS!

Immerse yourself in the world of big books and discover the joy of epic reads! Join me as I explore the magic of diving into lengthy novels and uncover the beauty of getting lost in a captivating story. Whether you're a seasoned bookworm or a curious reader, this video is sure to inspire your next literary adventure. Grab your favorite novel and let's embark on a journey of big book bliss together!
Books in this video:
The Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Dumas
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Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
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Moby Dick by Herman Melville
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East of Eden by John Steinbeck
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The Odyssey by Homer
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Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell by Susanna Clarke
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Babel by R.F. Kuang
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The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostojevski
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Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
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Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:32 The Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Dumas
02:12 Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
03:42 Moby Dick by Herman Melville
05:52 East of Eden by John Steinbeck
07:52 The Odyssey by Homer
10:05 Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell by Susanna Clarke
12:07 Babel by R.F. Kuang
14:30 The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostojevski
16:49 Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
19:04 Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

[@cafeaulivre]

Do big books intimidate you or do you happily welcome the extra reading? Did you already slay some of the mammoths on this list or do you have a BiG Book Recommendation (BBR) yourself? Let me know down below and we'll talk big books some more!

[@ericchristen2623]

For me a big book means big ideas. Quality of thought rather than tedious quantity of digression. Hence, the Little Prince and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, for example, are big books.

[@cafeaulivre]

@@ericchristen2623 Oh, but I would absolutely call most books in this list high quality of thought to be honest.

[@starlasell5698]

I'm reading Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens right now for Big Book Summer challenge. Next up is Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. I loved East of Eden and liked Pachinko. Count of Monte Cristo on my shelves, and I'm looking forward to it as well.

[@teleriferchnyfain]

Love big books - I’m an avid reader, all the books on that ‘100 books to read before college’ kind of thing back in the day, 12 years hiding in university studying literature 🥰. I own over 1000 books (used to be 3000 but I downsized & got a Kindle lol). Your list is great - I’ve read most of them. Very delighted to see Honathan Strange & Mr. Norrell on here cause it’s about my favorite recent book & im sure destined to be a classic!

[@amysmith1044]

That intro is too good 😂😂😂😂🎉

[@cafeaulivre]

I regret nothing! 😋

[@amysmith1044]

@@cafeaulivre as well you shouldn’t! It is classic👌 I love your content

[@cafeaulivre]

@@amysmith1044 Aww, thank you, Amy, that's ever so kind :)

[@shisharma]

The count of monte Cristo is one of my favourite book i had such an amazing experience while reading it . After finishing the book i was utterly speechless and decided surely gonna reread it.

[@cafeaulivre]

I’m due a reread myself, I’m thinking. It’s been way too long 😕

[@shisharma]

@@cafeaulivre whenever you re-read can you make a reading vlog or you can also try reread your favourite books, it's just a suggestion i enjoy your content and your reading vlogs would be fun to watch.

[@cafeaulivre]

Good to know 😋

[@VTimmoni]

It's one of my favorite books as well.

[@aiscahill]

I genuinely adore big books. Finding a big book that you really enjoy is so great - so much more to love ☺ Every time I go to bookshops lately, I find myself looking at The Count of Monte Cristo. I've really been feeling a pull to read it lately. I tried reading East of Eden as a teenager and didn't finish it because I just wasn't enjoying it. I think I'd like to give it a go again though. Pachinko is one of my favourite books of all time 😍

[@cafeaulivre]

There are a lot of books I hated as required reading in my teens that I love nowadays. It’s all about perspective, I guess

[@johnsilver8059]

Bleak House is about 1000 pages in my Penguin paperback version, but very easy to read.

[@PamArtsValentine]

These are fabulous books! When I was 16 I decided to read all of Tolstoy, Steinbeck & Dickens- was one ot THE best decisions I ever made!

[@cafeaulivre]

They’re always there for a reread 😉

[@PamArtsValentine]

@@cafeaulivre Absolutely! And, it also made me into a decent writer! 🙂

[@par-1900]

Just found your channel. I’ve read almost half of those books. Actually I love reading long books. Thank you for introducing great books. 🌹

[@cafeaulivre]

Thank you for watching ☺️

[@jenniebaker7180]

I recommend "Kristen Lavransdattar" by Sigrid Undsett. A trilogy depicting the event ful life of a Norwegian woman and her family in medieval Norway. War and Peace is my favorite log read. Also: "Greenlanders" by Jane Smilry. Wonderful.

[@cafeaulivre]

Love getting recommendations from all over the world , thank you ! ☺️

[@jenniebaker7180]

Thank you for your wonderful suggestions of newer books I've never hear of.

[@cafeaulivre]

My pleasure 😃

[@marspi6772]

The brothers Karamazov is the best book ive read in my life, it genuinely save me from a depressive episode i was living, Dostoevsky is incredible at depicting both emotional and intelectual wisdom. Also babel was so worth it, incredibly witty and sharp and also taught me so many things about linguistics, i definitely had to look up a lot of terms and words (i loved it)

[@cafeaulivre]

A great testimony to the transformative power of books 💪

[@wolis7178]

A big book that I've recently read is "Life and Fate" by the Soviet author Wassili Grossman. Grossman, who experienced the Second World War as a war journalist and participated in many important events of the war (for instance the Battle of Stalingrad, the first arrival at the Treblinka extermination camp, ...) , was a supporter of the regime in his early career but became disillusioned later on due to rise of antisemitism in Stalin's final years (Grossman was a Jew himself). In "Life and Fate" he compares the Nazi regime and Stalin's regime and emphasises the simple humanity of each individual in the face of these oppressive regimes. But it's about so much more than that and really gives a panorama of Soviet society during this time period. It tells the story of civilians suffering during the war, soldiers participating in the war and prisoners enduring both German as well as Soviet camps (there is a really haunting chapter which tells the final walk to a gas chamber). Many compare the book to War and Peace, however I haven't read that book yet and can't comment on that. In any case, the over 1000 pages were an incredible experience and I surely will read it again in the future.

[@cafeaulivre]

Sounds like quite the read indeed!

[@enasan9406]

When it comes to big books my first though is Les Misérables, it's big in length but easy to read, and almost anything you read after that will seem short in comparison 😆

[@cafeaulivre]

I have traumas after having to sit through the musical in high school 🤣

[@enasan9406]

@@cafeaulivre 😂

[@marthacanady9441]

Oh, I do so agree. No book, including the fantastic Brothers Karamazov, has moved me and touched my soul like Les Miserables. There are no words to truly convey it’s impact.

[@teleriferchnyfain]

I read it in French for one of my graduate French lit courses. Loved it! I also got to see the musical in the West End.

[@ReadingIDEAS.-uz9xk]

Recently finished the Count of Monte Cristo. A different experience to be with a book for so long. Read Shogun three times. Best wishes to all with your big books.

[@user-gr5ps6hq2z]

I absolutely loved Babel

[@cafeaulivre]

I think it’s one of those books I’ll often reread in the years to come!

[@FrankMorlock]

I think MonteCristo is a great choice although I've never actually read it. But as an alternative those who are still intimidated by its size might want to consider reading Dumas pere's 4 part adaptation of his own novel. MonteCristo Part I, Part II The Count of Morcerf Part III and Villefort Part IV. These plays track the novel pretty well. The French Actor Charles Fechter, who bore a strong physical resemblance to Dumas and his son and played the lead in Camille by Dumas fils, was also a playwright and wrote an adaptation of MonteCristo as one play which was very successful.Surprisingly, he wrote it in English, I believe, and he played various roles in England and America and was a friend of Dickens and Wilkie Collins. I translated all 4 of Dumas pere's previously mentioned adaptaions and they are available on Amazon in case anyone is interested. Strangely enough they actually do sell though not much. Dumas also adapted his Musketeer novels to the stage. MonteCristo is often considered the greatest revenge novel ever written, which puts it up there with Hamlet. Oh, and by the way Dumas wrote at least 90 plays and is capable of producing stunnigly good theatre

[@cafeaulivre]

Thanks 🤩

[@octb109]

Read Babel recently. Excellent story!

[@cafeaulivre]

Think I’m due a reread next autumn myself

[@FrankMorlock]

I'd like to comment on translatioins of Holmer. I have no Greek and had l,ittle interest in the Greek Classics until my Sophmore year in college when I took courses in Greek and Roman Drama , and Greek and Roman Literature in English translation with Professor Emily Vermeule who later became famous as an archeolñogist..We read the Iliad translated by Richmond Lattimore, The Aneid translated by British poet C.Day Lewis and The Odyssey in a prose translation by E.V. Rieu. Rieu's translation was in prose and I thought it very adequate. The emphais in the Odyssey is on story not on poetic narrative so the heightened tension that poetry brings to a story was probably not very approriate or much loss to the enjoyment of the adventures of Odysseus-. I've never gotten into the modern translations of the Iliad. I liked Lattimore. So did Professor Vermeule and I only recently learned that she had him as her Ph.d. coach. The more heroic poems of the Iliad and the Aneid benefit from the heightened poetic tension, so a verse translation of these works adds to the reader's enjoyment. So, I agree weith your views completely. In my day there were very few translations of these books available. Rarely more then one in print. We didn't have a luxury of choices. I sometimes think that people who are overly fussy about the translation are using it as a way of avoiding the commitment to read the book. For those who like Operatic versions of these classics there are quite a few good librettos by French writers such as Marmontel, Berlioz, Offenbach _(La Belle Helene) as well as others..Many of them focus on the Odyssey especially The Return of Odysseus. They are usually very well crafted asnd could be stand alone plays. One other thing I'd like to mentio. Professor Vermeule would occasionaly recite from these and other Greek works.both in the original Greek and in modern English. She had the most beautiful voice of anyone I have ever known in reciting poetry.It left a great impression on me and her voice still lives ^rent free^ in my mind 60 plus years later..

[@asexualatheist3504]

Thanks for this information. Just subbed. Good luck on growing your channel. With a title like café au livre, I’m in.

[@cafeaulivre]

Thanks for being here!

[@vesch5083]

Lonesome Dove is my BBR for just about everyone. I would like to read the Emily Wilson translation of The Odyssey and The Iliad

[@cafeaulivre]

I had not even considered that one 🥰

[@susan3037]

Your enthusiasm is contagious. I have just put East of Eden and Demon Copperhead on my tbr, but I’m also considering The Odyessy , which I failed to appreciate in high school back in the 60s. A more modern translation might just spark my own enthusiasm for the classic.

[@cafeaulivre]

It’s often the case with required reading: it turns you away from some books, simply because it’s not the right time to read then.

[@YayCatMonster]

What an intro, love it! I've always felt quite intimidated by the chunky classics but perhaps some of your more modern suggestions might be for me. I do already have Pachinko on a bookshelf as I read a lot of Korean authors, perhaps I should start that one next. Great video.

[@cafeaulivre]

Pachinko is such a beautiful book 🥰

[@monicai.3034]

Great intro! 😄🥰 Big books don't scare me at all. The longer and more engaging the story, the better. I've already read three of your recommendations, Anna K, East of Eden & The Brothers Karamazov. I have Moby Dick and Pachinko in my library. Soon I will also have The Count. Happy summer reading!

[@cafeaulivre]

Happy summer reading to you as well! ☺️

[@jjcabello1]

I LOVE your channel!!!!

[@cafeaulivre]

Thank you, that’s ever so kind ☺️

[@doyle6000]

Thanks - just ordered 3 of your recommendations!!

[@cafeaulivre]

Thank you very much! Which ones did you pick?

[@doyle6000]

@@cafeaulivre The Brothers Karamazov, Pachinko, and Demon Copperhead 😁

[@cafeaulivre]

Excellent choice 👌Enjoy!

[@doyle6000]

@@cafeaulivre Thanks so much! 🙏

[@von20808]

I finished The Count of Monte Cristo. I enjoyed it very much. What do you think of War and Peace?

[@cafeaulivre]

It is by all means an excellent book, but I was too young when I first read it. I’ve always found some scenes rather strange, like when Pierre ‘finds god/religion’ It was too much on the nose for a young teenager. I have reread it since and it is an excellent novel, but it will never become a favorite of mine.

[@veronicagarcia2025]

Great list! I"d read most o them (except Pacchinco). I do not know if you already read these books but if you not I think you"ll like. 1) The war of the end of the world by Mario Vargas Llosa, 576 pgs (19 century Brazilian land -canudos- where there not money, no tax, no laws. A revolutionary history.). 2) On Heroes and Tombs by Ernesto Sabato 500pgs (Set in the 50s Buenos Aires Argentina around a violent crime of Argentinian family in complicate times). 3) Half of a yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, depends on the editions (448pgs - 509pgs) Story of the Biafran War 1969-1970.

[@cafeaulivre]

Thank you for these recommendations , I’m going to look into these ☺️

[@teleriferchnyfain]

I read Pachinko after watching the TV series on Apple TV. Cause Lee Min Ho. Yes, I’m a total KDrama addict lol

[@fiddlinmike]

Don Quixote is another well worth the page turning.

[@cafeaulivre]

Very true!

[@ericchristen2623]

Recommendation: try SF. Historical novels mostly bore the pants of me. Odessey being the exception in your list. Dune series, Foundation series, Ringworld series, Hitchhikers Guide through Galaxy series, Lord of the Rings series. A lot of ingenuity in SF realm..😊

[@cafeaulivre]

Don’t remember how many pages it was, but I really enjoyed Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

[@Calcprof]

The Sot Weed Factor by John Barth

[@bunnygirlerika9489]

Iv never read Moby Dick, well i have when i was child, but it was a short simplifed abriged childrens version of it. I think I'd probably like the actual book. I like learning about new things, especially history stuff, so i get the feeling I'll like the stuff about whales and whaling. Honestly, I'm grateful that my reading tastes are very varied, and that im open minded and willing to give just about any book a chance and judge it for myself. A book I'd like to add to you're list, is Demons also by Fyodor Dostoevsky. The social and political issues see in the book that are recurring all througout history, thing you can even see in the world today. Seemingly insignificant or unimportant details that ultimately connect to each other later on. How the book seems like a slow read where thongs drag on but actually gets progressively more chaotic and kinda dark. Twists you dont expert, seeing the arragance and snobbery people have, stubbornly holding on to beliefs and opinions while refusing to come to any kind of compromise or trying to seeing things from the other side etc.... its a book thats very relevant (though that could be said about all of Dostoevsky's works).

[@ericchristen2623]

Well, I read the Encyclopedia Britannica at 1, and after that the books got thinner...😅

[@cafeaulivre]

Did you get all the way to Z? 😉

[@GladysHunnam]

I read East of Eden last year. Steinbeck 💙

[@cafeaulivre]

What did you think of it?

[@GladysHunnam]

@@cafeaulivre I liked it, I still think about the ending sometimes. But my favourite so far from his longer novels is Grapes of wrath.

[@57hound]

@@GladysHunnamyes, Grapes of Wrath for me too! IMO the ending is perhaps one of the most powerfully emotional things I have ever read-human compassion at its most elemental.

[@michaeldornan7737]

Just ordered Babel thanks to you! My recommendation for a huge (over 900 pages) book is The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvili. A magnificent Georgian family epic that I couldn't put down.

[@cafeaulivre]

I’ve heard of it, but haven’t read it myself yet. Guess I’ll have to add it to my ever-growing tbr list now 😋

[@AWitchAndACat]

New subscriber here. I love big books. I adored Babel❤

[@cafeaulivre]

Welcome and thank you for being here ☺️

[@KELLY2NE1]

I'm 3/4 through Anna Karenina and it's so good!. I watched the move like 10 years ago and I loved it! but I've come to realize that there's so much more to the story other than the affair between Anna and Vronsky. I liked the Anna from the movie, but I'm hat!ng her in the book, she's just so aghhh. I've also read 5 out of the 10 books you've recommended because I love thick books. "East of Eden" is one of my favorites.

[@cafeaulivre]

Like I said: Anna is my least favorite character from the book 😋

[@asexualatheist3504]

Although the books are not classics, I enjoy the Expanse series of books. There are nine hefty books in the series. The series is full of political intrigue, betrayal, ethics, and being true to oneself.

[@cafeaulivre]

Doesn’t need to be classics: all reading is valid ☺️

[@arekkrolak6320]

Moby Dick may be read as whale nonsensopedia, many readers just do not realize Melville was pulling their leg :) One flaw of East of Eden is that the book is very superficial, the characters act as plot devices to follow the Bible stories so if you try to understand motivation of any action you will fail

[@teleriferchnyfain]

I just couldn’t deal with Moby Dick. I liked a couple of Melville’s shorter books tho.

[@Zack-xv2yc]

These "10 big books you should read or I've read" videos are probably a BookTube trend that I don't want to end. Can't afford the books still, but nevertheless EXTREMELY entertaining.

[@catgladwell5684]

Maybe join a library?

[@SuperBookdragon]

Use the Library ...take advantage of your tax dollars at work

[@lanaringoot2168]

Out of these books, I've only read Babel. But I do like big books! Have you read the Priory of the Orange Tree already?

[@cafeaulivre]

I havn’t no…now there’s a book that intimidates me, especially since I know it’s a series of mammoths 😋

[@lanaringoot2168]

@@cafeaulivre it helps if you can tackle them with a reading club, with a discussion every few days. I'm not sure I would've been able to read these that "quickly" otherwise

[@andreasplosky8516]

I love to lose myself in a huge tome.

[@cafeaulivre]

Do you have a favorite?

[@pattube]

Great list! 😊 The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorite books! However, as mentioned in the video, the translation really matters if one can't read the older French from Dumas's time. Plus, a bad translation can make reading the book a chore or even a pain, while a good translation can make the book sing and soar! For example, beware the Everyman's Library edition of The Count of Monte Cristo. That's a translation from 1846 known as the Chapman-Hall translation. Peter Washington only slightly revised the Chapman-Hall translation for Everyman's Library. However, the Chapman-Hall translation is known to have omissions and other issues, and in general isn't considered to be a great translation. Probably the best available translation in English today is the Robin Buss translation. I forget if Lawrence Ellsworth has a translation as well. If he does, his translation should also be excellent. Ellsworth is working on The Three Musketeers series of books and he's considered the gold standard for many if not most of Dumas's novels now. In any case, I would strongly recommend reading The Count of Monte Cristo in the Buss translation or the Ellsworth translation if Ellsworth has also done a translation of The Count of Monte Cristo. By the way, there's both a Count of Monte Cristo film as well as a mini series coming out this year. So it should be a good year to get into the book! Again The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorite books of all time. I read it in the Buss translation. Happy reading or rereading! And enjoying the movie and/or mini series if people watch them. 😊

[@cafeaulivre]

I didn’t know about the mini series, will it be available on any streaming services? Might check it out!

[@dipikamondal6840]

Can I read count of monte Cristo as a classic beginner?

[@cafeaulivre]

If the sheer size of the book doesn’t scare you, I’d say you absolutely can. If you’re not certain about its readability, open a copy at the bookstore and read the first page. If you find the language too sloggish, don’t pick it up. If you read through it with ease, then it’s absolutely the book for you ☺️

[@orionduelge1761]

420 likes! Woo!

[@cafeaulivre]

I know, right?! 🫣

[@susanp.collins7834]

Any Enid Blyton?

[@cafeaulivre]

Are they that big?

[@phyllisriley1013]

I agree with all but Demon. Realllllly didn’t like that one. First half is very good then it just gets repetitive.

[@cafeaulivre]

That’s okay, tastes do differ, but are all valid. I can see what you mean by repetitive, it just didn’t bother me much, I guess ☺️

[@DonnaGisellaTranchel]

Hello!!! The origin of the story can be found in Nîmes, France!!! I agree! The very best REVENGE!!!💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙🦩