Shortest and Longest Books On My TBR!

May 26, 2018

I was inspired to do this post after seeing Kathy’s “Shortest Books On My TBR” post, where she mentioned she was inspired by seeing another blogger’s list of the longest books on their TBR… so I decided to do both! Here are the 20 shortest and 20 longest titles currently on my TBR. I opted to exclude series-related shorts (like the ones from The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo).

As always, click the titles for Goodreads links!


SHORTEST:

01
1. Eitan’s Chord: A Lesbian Fairy Trio for Chanukah — Shira Glassman — 18pg
A Chanukah-themed story about queer polyam fairies!
2. She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World — Chelsea Clinton — 32pg
This is a children’s book about famous American activist women.
3. I Am Harriet Tubman — Brad Meltzer — 40pg
A children’s nonfic about Harriet Tubman’s life.
4. We Slept Here — Sierra DeMulder — 44pg
A poetry collection about trauma and healing.
5. Throttle — Joe Hill & Stephen King — 47pg
A horror/thriller father/son short about a very strange… duel?
02
6. John Ronald’s Dragons: The Story of J.R.R. Tolkien — Caroline McAlister — 48pg
A kids’ nonfic about Tolkien!
7. In Ageless Sleep — Arden Ellis — 52pg
A queer sci-fi novella, with cryo-sleep and space stuff!
8. We Should All Be Feminists — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie — 52pg
One of Chimamanda’s famous essays on feminism.
9. Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie — 63pg
And another! ♥
10. Sour Candy — Kealan Patrick Burke — 67pg
A horror novella about a creepy little boy and his poor victim “father”.
03
11. The Tea Dragon Society — Katie O’Neill — 72pg
An adorable graphic novel about a lost tea dragon and two little girls becoming friends. Plus, it includes queer and disabled rep. ♥
12. The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars Pt 1 — Michael Dante DiMartino — 80pg
I probably don’t have to explain this, do I?
13. Bingo Love — Tee Franklin — 88pg
A graphic novel about two queer black women finding each other again after decades apart. It looks SO damn cute.
14. The Green Mile, Pt 1 — Stephen King — 92pg
I mean, I think most of us have seen the film?
15. A Trinity of Wicked Tales, Vol 1: Jilted Love — K.T. Rose — 93pg
A horror short about heroin, demons, and a lot of murder!
04
16. Don’t Call Us Dead — Danez Smith — 96pg
An own-voice poetry collection about being an HIV+ queer black man in the US.
17. Snowpiercer: The Escape — Jacques Lob — 110pg
In a post-apocalyptic world of ice, survivors must travel a too-small train, and people are growing disgruntled.
18. Lace Bone Beast: Poems & Other Fairytales for Wicked Girls — N.L. Shompole — 112pg
A Kenyan author’s poetry collection – not sure what it’s about, frankly, but the excerpts sound glorious.
19. Mapping the Interior — Stephen Graham Jones — 112pg
The story of a native teen trying to take care of his family after his father’s passing, in the guise of a creepy ghost story.
20. Everything Belongs to the Future — Laurie Penny — 117pg
A dystopian society in which the wealthy celebrate extended lifespans while the poor die young.


LONGEST:

05
1. It — Stephen King — 1,156pg
A creepy demon/clown/monster/thing killing children… yay?
2. Words of Radiance — Brandon Sanderson — 1,087pg
Book #2 in The Stormlight Archive.
3. Kushiel’s Dart — Jacqueline Carey — 1,015pg
An epic fantasy about war, politics, and a race of angels’ descendants.
4. The Way of Kings — Brandon Sanderson — 1,007pg
Even the synopsis has too much going on for me to sum this up in a sentence.
5. The Wise Man’s Fear — Patrick Rothfuss — 994pg
Book #2 in The Kingkiller Chronicle.
06
6. Inheritance — Christopher Paolini — 849pg
Book #4 in The Inheritance Cycle.
7. Winter — Marissa Meyer — 827pg
Book #4 in The Lunar Chronicles.
8. City of Heavenly Fire — Cassandra Clare — 768pg
Book #6 in The Mortal Instruments.
9. An Echo of Things to Come — James Islington — 752pg
Book #2 in The Licanius Trilogy.
10. The Fireman — Joe Hill — 752pg
A horror story about a pandemic that causes spontaneous combustion!
07
11. False Memory — Dean Koontz — 751pg
A horror/thriller about an illness that causes sudden, unexpected terror.
12. Brisingr — Christopher Paolini — 748pg
Book #3 in The Inheritance Cycle.
13. The Name of the Wind — Patrick Rothfuss — 730pg
The origin story of a boy who grew to be the most notorious wizard of his world.
14. Kingdom of Ash (unreleased) — Sarah J. Maas — 720pg
Book #7 in the Throne of Glass series.
15. Queen of Air and Darkness (unreleased) — Cassandra Clare — 720pg
Book #3 in The Dark Artifices.
08
16. NOS4A2 — Joe Hill — 720pg
A horror story about a man who kidnaps children and takes them to a terrifying theme park called “Christmasland”.
17. Sleeping Beauties — Stephen King & Owen King — 702pg
A horror/fantasy in which the women cocoon themselves, and if they are awakened, they become feral and terrifyingly violent.
18. Lord of Shadows — Cassandra Clare — 701pg
Book #2 in The Dark Artifices.
19. Lady Midnight — Cassandra Clare — 698pg
Book #1 in The Dark Artifices.
20. Empire of Storms — Sarah J. Maas — 693pg
Book #5 in the Throne of Glass series.


Do you prefer long or short books? What’s your “sweet spot” for page counts? Mine is typically anywhere from 350 to 500, unless it’s an author I really love… then, 500-700!


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More about Destiny @ Howling Libraries

Just a horror aficionado/geek girl trying to juggle motherhood, reading, blogging, gaming, and everyday life.

Leave a comment
    1. I had no idea Kushiel’s Dart was that long! I have a copy but it sure doesn’t look “big.” I’ll have to find it and check! I prefer to read books around 400 pages. I just have too many review books to get through and any longer than that I start to get behind?

      1. I ended up looking while I was doing this post, and apparently some editions of it are way less pages? It makes me think they must either have teeny-tiny print or maybe they’re abridged? But yeah, the 400ish page mark is a sweet spot for me – bahaha same here, I look at huge books and I’m like, “I don’t even have TIME for that!”

    1. CASSIE CLARE BOOKS ARE HUGE!! Which is why i haven’t read a single one, oops. I know I should but the mortal instruments seems like SUCH A LONG SERIES. Im scared. The same goes for Eragon. I have the whole series but never picked them *hides*

      1. I don’t blame you! I’d wanted to pick up TMI for years and years but kept putting it off because it’s very rare that I read an entire series if it’s longer than a trilogy. I just feel like they rarely keep my interest long enough! I’m on book 3 of TMI right now though, and I have to admit… it feels like the story just got started! Not to say the first 2 are slow so much as that, with all the characters and story arcs going on, there’s definitely plenty to fill the pages. For Eragon, though, I’ve never finished it. I read the first one so many times as a kid but DNFed the second one because I didn’t love the direction it was going in. Now I own them all (and I own the first 3 in first print/first edition hardbacks that are FALLING TO PIECES, lmaoooo *sob*) and I’m determined to go back and finish it soon.

    1. My favorite books are usually around 300-450 pages, but if it’s a great novel, I don’t mind what length it is! I hope you read Winter soon! Have you read the other Lunar Chronicles books prior to Winter?

      1. Yesss, same to all of this! And yes, well, so far I’ve read Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and all of the short stories that go “in between” those 3 according to Marissa’s website’s list! So I still need to read Fairest, Winter, and the rest of the short stories!

          1. I’m trying to remember if Glitches is one I’ve read yet or not! I’ll have to double check and get back to you. I’m super excited to continue the series so I don’t know why I haven’t yet. I think I might reread Cress before moving on, just because I loved Cress so much!

    1. I do like longer books, but like you said, if it’s a series or author that you adore it is a whole lot less daunting.
      IT by Stephen King is terrifying. I think I’m going to cry about it for the rest of my life ;_;

      1. OMG, yes, that one is huuuuuge! I really want to read IT at some point, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to it unless someone yanks me into a buddy read of it one Halloween or something lol!

    1. “Lace Bone Beast” is an amazing poetry collection, very much abt girls being mean & ruthless & messy & HUMAN. i absolutely loved.
      also omg im so excited for u to read sanderson!!

        1. i wouldn’t say it’s particularly dark but yeah, you probably need to be in a right mood for it. definitely worth it tho!

    1. Oh I like this. I did a tag about the longest books but this is fun to share as well. Length isn’t everthing. 😉

      1. Haha, very true! ;P Regardless of what “they” might say… it always kills me when I hear people belittle short books. Just because it’s short doesn’t mean it can’t pack a punch!

    1. I usually prefer shorter books, since I’m a slower reader and always struggling to meet my Goodreads goal ? I also tend to get bored with longer books around the 400/500 page mark, so I’d say my sweet spot is 300-400 pages. But if the book is good enough then I usually wish that it was longer, because I don’t want the story to end!

      1. That’s totally understandable! I won’t lie, last year, about this time of 2017, my reading challenge was struggling and I was in a major slump, so I read a TON of graphic novels back to back – whether they were from the library, netgalley, whatever – and by the time the month had ended, my number had skyrocketed and it honestly gave me such a big confidence booster! But yes, same on wanting a book to keep going if it’s amazing 🙂

    1. I usually stick to the shorter side of books. I feel so intimated by books that are big. I do have some on my TBR. I am slowly trying to read them. I’m currently reading Game of Thrones and that is taking me a while. I feel mainly because I listen on my echo. I usually am doing other things at home so I can’t focus on it. I feel audiobooks help with the bigger books.

      1. Same here – I have some big ones I REALLY wanna read, but I always end up passing them by for shorter books! And yeah, I feel you on audiobooks. I struggle with using audiobooks at home because I get distracted so easily. 🙁 Listening to them in the car is great, but I’m a stay at home mom who doesn’t go anywhere most days, lol!

        1. Yeah with audiobooks I really need to focus. I don’t drive but when I do go out I usually take the subway. I feel it can be hit or miss. Sometimes I find myself focusing and other times I get really distracted. It really depends.

    1. Are these all books you already own? Because, like. You could kick so MANY off your TBR by reading the shortest ones, haha!
      [Also, I’m hoping for people to do readalongs in October for IT because I want to tackle that monster but don’t want to be the only one being creeped out about it. I’ll need a support system of others freaking out about clowns. :’)]

      1. Oh no, just my Goodreads TBR! I don’t have a ton of short ones on my owned TBR because I usually read them right away to give myself a little self-gratification boost for marking them off my list. Heh. :’)
        SAME. I neeeeeeeeeeeed a buddy reading group for that one because I’m never gonna freaking get around to it without one.

        1. Hahah, I can totally relate to that!
          I’m going to write it down. We’re going to do this together. WE CAN DO IT OVER AT LIFE & LIT. Or on our blogs. Our both. Simply everywhere. We’ll make a plan! Every weekend a talk about x chapters. We’ll read the monster in a month. WE CAN DO THIS.
          [I actually seriously like this plan / idea]

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