I’m a lifelong reader and the mother of a very energetic toddler. Over the last year of my life, I have sadly fallen out of the habit of reading and nothing I start has grabbed my attention. What I really want is a big, long book I can truly get lost in for weeks. Some of my favorite books that have served this purpose for me in the past are A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Middlesex, The Mists of Avalon, A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Little Life, and The Secret History.
by No_Mud_No_Lotus
34 Comments
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
The Eight by Katherine Neville
The Quincunx by Charles Palliser
Okay, this isn’t book but a trilogy. Have you read the mistborn series? I’ve been lost in them for the past couple of months. I only recommended this one because I see you mentioned another fantasy series.
Johnathan Strange and Mr Norrell, for sure
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
I’ve been enjoying Brandon Sanderson books recently. I’m currently reading The Way of Kings, it’s over 1000 pages.
Priory of the orange tree
Between by LL Starling 🙂
Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle, starting with Quicksilver. Fascinating story with a mix of history, science, economics and conspiracy
Colleen McCullough wrote a series of 7 books on ancient Rome. The first one is The First man in Rome. They are stunningly well researched and each is around a thousand pages.
If you like fantasy books the wheel of time series will keep you in 600+ page books for months!
I feel bad for recommending a book I haven’t read yet, but I’m personally saving “The Will of the Many” for a moment in time where I need exactly that.
Anna Karenina
Lonesome Dove
Prince of Tides
The Stand and It are both great long reads
The Goldfinch by Donna tartt
Well try The Wandering Inn by Pirate Aba. It’s free on https://wanderinginn.com as well as ebooks and audio books available through Amazon. It’s about a girl who has been taken to a fantasy world. Some of the best worldbuilding with lots of fun characters. There are currently 10 or so ebooks so far at about 1,000-1,500 pages each.
The 2 massive Ken Follett historical fiction series for sure, and I loved The Daevabad books by SA Chakraborty. My wife recommended and I loved them. Disappeared into the world for weeks.
Mark Lawrence – The Book That Wouldn’t Burn
I know this much is true by Wally Lamb.
Seconding Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and putting in a vote for Katherine by Anya Seton. It’s a sweeping historical novelized version of the love story between Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt in 14th century England.
the outlander series by diana gabaldon……
You might enjoy Babel by R.F. Kuang which is a thematic response to The Secret History. It’s definitely layered!
The passage by Justin Cronin
Omg you have to read Through A Glass Darkly and its sequel Now Face to Face by Karlene Koen. It’s my favorite book. So gorgeous. Epic, sweeping novel set during the Jacobite uprisings in the early 1800s. Her research was so thorough that it took her ten years to write it.
*Chesapeake* by Michener
not quite what your asking for, but i’ll still leave it as an option.
this is a series my best friend and i read and could not put down. i don’t see people really talk about it. it’s not for everyone, but we enjoyed it years ago and still reminisce. it’s called hush, hush and the following novels. 🙂
The Sparrow
I loved Gone with the Wind. Although is was crazy long, I was sad when it ended.
11/22/63
The Thorn Birds
The Physician
Coming Home by Rosamund Pilcher
in other lands by sarah rees brennan isn’t the thickest book in the world, but the way that it’s written made it one i needed to read more slowly, and it spans years, so it feels like a world you truly escape into.
East of Eden. It’s the best book I’ve ever read, I think about it so often in life.
Shogun
Pynchon “Gravity’s Rainbow”
Buckle up!