It’s a freebie topic this week, and I’ve decided to focus on chunksters. I’ve read quite a few chunksters in my life, and some of them are right up in my favorite books. In no particular order, here are some of the best of them:
1. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser – This book is over 1000 pages long, but feels so much shorter, and the story is soooo good. I’ve read it twice and loved it both times.
2. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo – This was one of the most intimidating books I’ve ever gone into, but MAN it was good. Especially on audio. I didn’t even mind all the weird tangents on nunneries and the Paris sewer system.
3. The Host by Stephenie Meyer – So, so, so much better than Twilight. Really.
4. pretty much all of Brandon Sanderson’s adult chunksters, including the Mistborn Trilogy, Elantris, the Stormlight Archive, and Warbreaker – What can I say? The man is simply a genius novelist.
5. Insomnia by Stephen King – I’m not a huge fan of King, but this one is a book I’ve read many, many times over the last 15 years.
6. East of Eden by John Steinbeck – I liked Grapes of Wrath better, but that one isn’t long enough to be considered a chunkster, and this one was still very good. Cathy still creeps me out.
7. Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon – This is another of those books that feels much shorter and faster than it really is.
8. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway – My favorite Hemingway is The Old Man and the Sea, but that one’s tiny. This one is much longer, and not quite as good, but still very powerful.
9. The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart – I read this one ages ago, back in early high school, and still adore it.
10. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke – Brilliant book, brilliant audiobook, probably going to be a brilliant TV show whenever that comes out.
What are your favorite chunksters? Have you read any of mine?
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
The Zen Leaf 
Yay for Les Mis! I found it much easier to tackle that one because I somehow had the story broken up into several books.
I really want to tackle Jonathan Strange soon. I think it’s going to be a miniseries on BBC this year!
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It will be! I listened to it and it was amazing. Actually, I listened to Les Mis as well. Those audiobooks take forever but I don’t mind!
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East of Eden is one of my favorite all time reads!! I want to reread it again. As a side note, I visited the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, California in January of this year. What an awesome place to visit, especially if you’re already a Steinbeck fan!!
Here’s the link to my Top Ten Tuesday post for this week: http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2015/05/top-ten-tuesday-sexy-male-characters-in.html
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Ooh that sounds fun! I would love to go out that direction one day.
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Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell starts on BBC America on June 13!!!! I’m really excited about it!
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I know me too!!! I don’t think I have access to that channel (unless it’s PBS?). Hopefully I’ll be able to see it online.
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I could barely believe that the same author wrote Twilight and The Host. The Host is just so awesome.
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I know! The Host is amazing.
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Who was the narrator for Les Miserables? I LOVED the book…even though it took me 5 months to read it BEFORE I had kids…but as soon as I finished it I wanted to start it again. Would love to pair it with audio next time, though (and you better believe I’ll be skipping Waterloo)
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I got the newest translation by Julie Rose, narrated by George Guidall, who did a pretty good job. It took me several months to listen to it, but the only time I was bored was any time the ABC club was front-and-center. I didn’t like Enjolras at all!!
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