Gone.

"Never Let Me Go" wasn't that long....

and Crime and Punishment was sort of long, but not exactly a doorstop! My paperback copy can't be more than an inch thick.

Year of Wonders is a great book, but it's really pretty short - 300+ pages

And now it's gone....

It was an imposter.

And Hitchhiker's Guide?

While I love the list feature here on goodreads, I really wish they'd let the creators set criteria for some of these. Goodreads has the page count on file, it'd be cool if any book submitted could be checked with the database to be sure it was over 500 pages. Do people just not pay attention to the lists purpose?

The Thirteenth Tale is only around 400 pages. Fablehaven 3 is almost 500, while the second is about 50 away, but the first one is also on the list and it's only around 350 pages. And as mentioned, The Hitchhikers guide is very short, only a bit above 200 pages. If the anthology was selected then it'd break 500, but the listed title is just the one short book. If a series is available in a single volume of great heft, then I say vote away, but that volume should be chosen and not the individuals. For instance, for the Hitchhikers Guide series, you could choose ISBN 9780345453747 which is a single volume with all 5 books in it weighing in at 832 pages.

This is ridiculous, How did The Host make it onto this list? IMO it is light reading...

War and Peace, Atlas Shrugged etc are challenging and long, which the category name implies.

I liked The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy just as much as everyone else, but is that reason enough to include it or something similar (think Twilight) in every category?

Hitchhikers Guide only has about 225 pages, should it be on this list?

Shantaram should be here!

Likewise, Bishop's Black Jewel trilogy is only long if you have all three volumes together.

And I think while some of the YA entries here have a high page count they don't actually take long to read.

Well, books for younger readers do tend to have larger print. And if I remember correctly Crank is written in very short lines of blank verse, so a lot of each page is empty.

I find this list disappointing. There are too many books here that are less than 500 pages. Why set a rule if you are not going to abide by it?

And although Hitchhiker does continue a story I don't think you can call it one book - why is it STILL published in multiple volumes then? If it is listed as the Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide - which I believe does combine all of the volumes, then fine.

I'll go through and weed the short ones out. Pride and Prejudice, I'm lookin' at you. Great book you are, but long you are not!

Have hit problem. The Canterbury Tales would, I think, qualify. "Chaucer's Canterbury Tales" which is on here is a 49-page children's redaction.

I added a Canterbury Tales that qualifies, and removed the 49-pager.

Some books which are not over the 500 pp mark, particularly long poetic books (Homer, Vergil, Chaucer) should be able to qualify for this list because of the effort that has to go into reading them. Other works, no matter how long they are, simply are not a lot of work to read (Harry Potter for example). I would allow Crime and Punishment on this principle, but I am not the lists creator, and 500 pp seems like a nice objective cutoff.

There are editions of The Canterbury Tales that are over 500 pages, anyway. Troilus and Cresida isn't nearly that long (or I would have voted for it!).

P.S.: Deleted Fathers and Sons, as it's not nearly long enough.

Time Traveller's Wife? I read that in one day. It's SHORT.

The same goes for many of the books on here.

Time Traveller's Wife is, believe it or not, over 500 pages.

I think if you can read something in one week, it should not be on this list. It should be on this list if reading it felt like climbing a mountain - not a hill. If there were days where you felt like you might never finish. Days where you had to stop at a way-station and pause, for hours and hours, to replenish your energy. Where, after four months of reading, you saw a tiny glimmer of light that might conceivably be the end of the tunnel.

But perhaps, on your way back down the mountain, you got caught in a blizzard and died - and your body won't be found until spring.

Susanna wrote: "Time Traveller's Wife is, believe it or not, over 500 pages."

See? Just because a book has a lot of pages doesn't make it long. I agree with Lobstergirl. It isn't about the number of pages; it's about the amount of effort required to read those pages...

I can't believe I had to add The Golden Notebook!

Lobstergirl wrote: "I think if you can read something in one week, it should not be on this list. It should be on this list if reading it felt like climbing a mountain - not a hill. If there were days where you felt..."


On these criteria, I'd have to nominate Sophie's World - it's been YEARS since it took me so long (five, six months?!) to plod through any book of any length - but imho it does NOT qualify as "worth the effort."

Prisoner of Azkaban isnt anywhere near 500 pgs either.

Thom wrote: "Karin wrote: "Prisoner of Azkaban isnt anywhere near 500 pgs either."

Dear Karin, Not everyone who posts books on this list can read, or bothers to, perhaps. That said, I can only recommend that e..."

Thom wrote: "Karin wrote: "Prisoner of Azkaban isnt anywhere near 500 pgs either."

Dear Karin, Not everyone who posts books on this list can read, or bothers to, perhaps. That said, I can only recommend that e..."
That's true. I put down the boxed series in my 'read' list, even tho listing them seperately would give me a higher book count.

Removed Prisoner of Azkaban.

Need any more removed, just mention it.

I had seen one about the Prophet Muhammeds wife and now I cannot find it.

Can we get rid of House of Mirth? It's only 352 pp.

The edition of House of the Seven Gables is only on here because it's a Norton Critical edition, which usually has 100-200 extra pages of commentary. I think it should be axed.

Thom wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I had seen one about the Prophet Muhammeds wife and now I cannot find it."

There are news reports from early August saying that Random House has scrapped plans it had to publish "a..."


Yep!! that was the one, Jewel of Medina by Shery Jones. Thank you so much for the info Thom. I was able to look into it and find further information. Here are some links for other who might have wondered as well.

.wsj.com/article/SB121797979078815073...

.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/08/19/2...

The Jewel of Medina is a historical novel by Sherry Jones. It was scheduled for publication by Random House in 2008, but subsequently canceled; it was subsequently announced that it would be published by Beaufort Books in the United States and by Gibson Square in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.[1:][2:] Eventually it was published in the U.S. by Beaufort Books.[3:] The novel tells a fictionalized version of the life of Aisha, one of the wives of the Islamic Prophet, Muhammad, and the person who reportedly accompanied him as he received most of his revelations.[4:] The novel tells Aisha's story from the age of six, when she was betrothed to Muhammad, to his death.

By Sherry Jones

" 'I can't' never does anything," my mother used to say. " 'I can' does it all."

When I set out to write a book about A'isha bint Abi Bakr, favorite wife of the Prophet Muhammad, I never doubted that it would be published. After all, I had all the elements I needed for a terrific work of historical fiction: a remarkable heroine, little known in the West; a famous hero, widely misunderstood here; a setting unfamiliar yet exotic; and an exciting tale of love, war, spiritual awakening and redemption.

Five years and seven drafts later, I had indeed landed a publisher for "The Jewel of Medina." Not just any publisher, either, but Random House, the biggest house in the world. I was thrilled not only by the two-book deal, which included a sequel detailing A'isha's life after Muhammad's death, but also by the passion with which everyone at the publishing company seemed to embrace this novel. I was thrilled, but not surprised.

Soon, the foreign rights sales started coming in: Spain, Italy, Hungary. I still wasn't surprised. My agent called to tell me of an eight-city U.S. book tour -- gratifying, but not surprising. Book of the Month Club signed on to feature "The Jewel of Medina" in its August 2008 issue, and Quality Paperback Book Club would follow up six months later. My book seemed destined for the best-seller list.

Then, a university professor, asked for an endorsement, called Random House with warnings of a terrorist attack by angry Muslims if my book were published. "A national security issue," University of Texas associate professor Denise Spellberg reportedly said. "More dangerous than the Satanic Verses or the Danish cartoons."

Now this surprised me -- stunned me, in fact. The follow-up letter from her lawyer provided the second hit in Ms. Spellberg's one-two punch, threatening to sue Random House if her name were associated with my book in any way, including, I assume, a listing in my bibliography. Her reason had me reeling: She objected, she said, to the book's "sexual content," of which there is almost none.

Several weeks later, Random House associate publisher Elizabeth McGuire delivered the final blow. After consulting with other academic "experts" in Islam as well as the company's head of security, Random House executives had decided to "indefinitely postpone" publication. Not because of terrorist threats, mind you -- but because of threats of terrorist threats. Because, in other words, of fear.

I was, of course, devastated by this news, coming as it did less than three months before my Aug. 12 publication date. I was also chagrined to realize the far-reaching ramifications of this historic decision to quash a work of art before it could even reach the public eye. Is Random House no longer publishing books about Islam? How does this bode for the future of publishing? What will be banned next? Art? Music? Theater? Dance?

As a journalist for the last 28 years, I hold the right to free speech especially dear. The First Amendment is, in my view, the very best thing about living in the United States. Publishing houses can, of course, do whatever they want. But university professors? Ms. Spellberg urged Random House to abstain from publishing. The reason, she is telling reporters now, is that she doesn't like my book. Does this development mean our public universities no longer support the free exchange of ideas?

I'm optimistic, but not naive. I expected my book to spark controversy. "The Jewel of Medina" is a novel of women's empowerment, never a popular theme among fundamentalists of any faith. I was also aware that some would take offense at any fictional portrayal of Muhammad, especially one by a non-Muslim American woman. Given the respect with which I treat the Muslim prophet, however, I never expected to be killed because of it. I still don't.

As an advocate for peace, I have high hopes for "The Jewel of Medina" and its sequel, in which A'isha and her rival, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, Ali, are dual protagonists facing off in the first Islamic civil war. Already I've had many requests for interviews with Muslim journalists and have been invited to participate in a 90-minute chat on IslamOnline.org, a Muslim website which boasts of 13 million hits weekly.

This type of dialogue is long overdue. So far, discussion has centered around my not-published book, which almost no one has read. Soon, I hope, we will address the text itself, in published form, and my ideas, derived from research and experience, of moderate Islam as a religion of egalitaranism and, yes, peace.

In the meantime, using A'isha as my example, I challenge all to do as I am striving to do: Rise up against the culture of fear that pervades our society, refuse to succumb to racism, stand up for our rights, and live courageous lives.

Journalist Sherry Jones is a correspondent for BNA, an international news agency in the Washington, D.C. area, and for Women's eNews in New York. "The Jewel of Medina" is her first novel

House of Mirth removed.

Lobstergirl wrote: "Can we get rid of House of Mirth? It's only 352 pp."

Out with it.

Lobstergirl wrote: "The edition of House of the Seven Gables is only on here because it's a Norton Critical edition, which usually has 100-200 extra pages of commentary. I think it should be axed."

Likewise.

Removed for length:

Trickster's Queen
The House of the Seven Gables
House of Mirth

I added Can You Forgive Her by Trollope and Under the Dome by King

I think "The Host" by Stephenie meyer was WAY better than the 'Twilight' series because it actually showed you how very good Stephenie could actually right.

Lolita - 330 pages.

Removed for length:

Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov

Les Mesirables definitely. One hell of a long book, but definitely worth reading. Some even consider it reading for a few more times (like me).

Can we get rid of Time Traveler's Wife? I also didn't think Grapes of Wrath was that long, but maybe that's just my opinion.

Time Traveller's Wife is over 500 pages, as is Grapes of Wrath.

Although TTW is over 500 pages, it's such an easy read ... I just have trouble putting it on the same level as say Atlas Shrugged ...

And Grapes of Wrath was over 500 pages but it was large font and small pages. Took me half as long as Gone With the Wind or The Fountainhead. Guess it depends on the edition! I can see why some would include it in the list.

Christina wrote: "Although TTW is over 500 pages, it's such an easy read ... I just have trouble putting it on the same level as say Atlas Shrugged ...

And Grapes of Wrath was over 500 pages but it was large font..."

When in doubt, leave it out.

So - What? Are you taking The Grapes of Wrath out?

I read it in a trade size and as I recollect it was fairly big. I don't remember the size of the font at this point but I think it was average.

It is probably about the same size book as Atlas Shrugged but I have seen Atlas Shrugged as a paperback and not trade sized. I have never seen the Grapes of Wrath published as a pocketbook (it could have been I just haven't seen or heard about it).

Jan wrote: "So - What? Are you taking The Grapes of Wrath out?

I read it in a trade size and as I recollect it was fairly big. I don't remember the size of the font at this point but I think it was average...."
Well, it may be on the bubble. I, your list initiator, take nothing out on my own. GoW is an epic, maybe it just FEELS long to some. Why split hairs.

My personal view is that Grapes of Wrath is worth the effort but I wouldn't put the effort in on Atlas Shrugged.

But, as you say, it is not worth arguing about. It is apples and oranges.

Jan wrote: "My personal view is that Grapes of Wrath is worth the effort but I wouldn't put the effort in on Atlas Shrugged.

But, as you say, it is not worth arguing about. It is apples and oranges."

This is one of those no-argument type lists. If it's big, and YOU think it worth the effort, you list it. Period.(That's three periods--oh well)

Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho? Really? I read it in under three hours. Hours I will never get back.

This list is too fraught with errors to continue.

Corey wrote: "Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho? Really? I read it in under three hours. Hours I will never get back.

This list is too fraught with errors to continue."

Corey, People who read Paul Coelho aren't interested in reality, pay no attention to them....All good lists have a "kite tail" of luntic detritus....look to the first 200 items.

just because a book is long doesn't mean it's a heavy read. and 'the tenderness of wolves' is not long, nor are a few others. this list shows, as does this website, that there are readers, and then there are real readers.

You want me to remove Eleven Minutes? It seems to be well under 500 pages.