Top 5 Wednesday: Books over 500 Pages

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This week on Top 5 Wednesday Alexandra and Chelsey talk about their favourite books over 500 pages!

You can blame Harry Potter but now if you want to be taken seriously as an author 9specifically a fantasy author your book has to be big enough that you could kill a man with it. Just because it’s long doesn’t mean it’s good. Yet these books use their length to their advantage. Whether it’s to follow one man through out his long life or to chronicle the passage of time or even to tell an epic story of war and bloodshed, these are the first books we could think of that were over 500 pages.

GingerReadsLainey is the founder of the Top Five Wednesday Tag. Join the goodreads group to get each week’s topic and participate yourselves!

5. AMERICAN GODS – NEIL GAIMAN

American Gods is one of my favourite books ever. This novel has everything you could ever want: mythology, religion, a road trip… the list goes on. American Gods follows Shadow, a man who has just gotten out of prison to find out that his wife has just died. Shadow ends up being hired as a body guard by Mr. Wednesday, a man who may be more than he first seems to be. Over the course of the novel, Shadow encounters Gods and Goddesses from various religions as these deities try to make their last stand against contemporary culture and beliefs.

If you’re a fan of Neil Gaiman… what am I saying, you’ve probably already read this book. If you have not, it’s a ride worth checking out.

4. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO – STIEF LARSSON

If you’ve seen the movie, the book is very similar. The books keep your interest, the characters are dynamic. You’re always wondering what’s going on or what is going to happen. Some of the characters actions are easier to follow in the book. Lisbeth’s hacking and multiple money transfers are laid out clearly here, unlike in some of the film sequences. I haven’t read the books (I’m about four years behind on my TBR pile, thank you university) but Chelsey highly recommends them.

3. THE MAP OF TIME – FELIX J. PALMA

This book is so out there. It takes place in victorian England and is a bunch of different riffs on H.G. Well’s The Time Machine. H.G. Wells is a character in this novel along with another famous author Bram Stoker. All of the stories interconnect either through sharing characters of the characters encountering one another. In one of the stories, there is this company that claims it can take you on a trip to the future where you can watch the dashing Captain Derek Shackleton defeat an army of automatons who are trying to take over the world. In another story, a man tries to use a time machine to save his girlfriend from a gruesome murder. The Map of Time plays with time and the perception of time, how time travel could work and the different paradoxes that could be opened up. But, is the time travel actually happening or are they examples of elaborate hoaxes? This novel is a lot of fun and is the first book in a trilogy, which if given the chance you should check out.

2. GREAT EXPECTATIONS BY CHARLES DICKENS

Charles Dickens was payed by the word. So naturally his novels (mostly released in serials) were long. Neither Chelsey or I generally like Charles Dickens, but this one seems to defy our expectations. Since Great Expectations follows someone’s life, Chelsey managed to become more engaged with the novel.  By the end of the novel events and actions come full circle, so Expectations felt like it had a more structured narrative. There are crazy characters in this novel that you will never forget: Miss Havisham. Characters have their own motivations, your first assumptions on characters’ morality can turn out completely wrong. There is a lot to unpack in this novel. If you’re not a fan of Charles Dickens, you should give this novel a try. It might just surprise you.

1. THE NAME OF THE WIND – PATRICK ROTHFUSS

At the time of filming this video, Chelsey has just finished the first book in this series. She hasn’t picked up the second one yet because she has no idea when the third one is coming out. She’s going to wait until she can see the end and not go crazy waiting for her next fix. This was a really cool story that you can see building up. The first book serves as an introduction the main character and gives you a sense of how he’s going to develop and what he’s going to be capable of. The real action in this story is coming in the second and the third book and it promises to be explosive.

Those were our top five books that are over five pages? Tell us in the comments below. Before we filmed this video were talked about how it isn’t the length or size of a book that draws us to it. It’s not our deciding factor. Sometimes large books can be intimidating, sometimes they’re not worth it.

So until next week and next Wednesday! Happy Reading!

Written by
Alexandra is always looking for the next book she can devour. She has a love hate relationship with teen fiction specifically when it comes to fantasy, post apocalyptic and failed shakespeare adaptations.

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