book lengths and impact

Books come in all shapes and sizes. I own copies that fit in my mini purse and others I could easily knock someone over with. And while my House of Leaves copy might look intimidating on the outside, once you immerse yourself in the story, you don’t really think much about the format or the number of pages.

Much like with a good movie. You won’t look at the time if the screen holds your attention.

On the other hand, I recently struggled with a book so much that those 111 pages I did manage to read took forever. Unfortunately, it was so bad that I couldn’t suck it up, even though the book only had around 250 pages.

I remember in high school, I was reading while waiting for the next class to start, and this guy walked past me and said: “This one’s reading the bible!” Plus, a profanity I will not repeat now. Wouldn’t even know how to translate it.

The book was Jane Eyre. I can’t remember the exact edition, but it must have looked like a whole brick. I don’t know. But I do remember being annoyed at that remark because I didn’t ask, and I didn’t like his tone.

One other time, I was reading the Inkheart series, and if anyone has ever spent time with those books, you know how captivating that story is. And yes, depending on the edition (there was one in my language with beautiful covers, but the publishing house closed years ago, and I tried every second-hand bookstore under the sun to find this edition, to no success, but I’m not giving up!), they can seem like bigger books. But I went through them in a matter of a week – again, to the surprise of the audience!

The longest book I’ve read so far is Alchemised by SenLinYu. It’s fiction, fantasy, and romance. Most readers appreciate that aspect the most, and it is something to appreciate because the author crafted a beautiful and devastating love story for the main couple. Part of the book’s appeal also comes from the fact that it was fan fiction, or based on fan fiction, in the Harry Potter world. So the fanbase is built on that.

Anyway, back to the book’s main aspect that future readers should know: the war setting. The book is not a light romantasy with a power couple, dragons, and a happily ever after. It is heavy and gruesome, and introduces the real practices and experiences of war. Whatever the author’s intention or the story’s background, the book is sober and full of graphic details in various contexts of war.

I don’t want that to go over everyone’s head when they pick up this book.

If I’m looking at page count, Alchemised wins for the longest book, and it stayed with me long after reading it because of what I said above.

That lasting impact is what reminds me of some titles I would like to share.

1. Women who blow on knots by Ece Temelkuran
2. Temporary by Hilary Leichter
3. Women’s Coupe by Anita Nair
4. Minor Detail by Adania Shibli
5. The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey
6. Daughters of Sun and Moon by Lisa See
7. Rifqa by Mohammed El-Kurd
8. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
9. I Hear the Black Raven: A Petite Memoir by Claire Ishi Ayetoro

All of these resonated with me long after I closed the last page. It’s also the list of the books I would most recommend people read, for various reasons. I have many titles on my shelf (I don’t have a shelf yet – it’s a pile on the floor) that made me cry, made me smile, made me enjoy the craft, made me visit different places and worlds, made me learn a lot, and out of that, this is the shelf I want to highlight.

Okay, thanks, bye!

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