This week’s Booking Through Thursday asks:
“What book took you the longest to read, and do you feel it was the content or just the length that made it so?“
I think the longest time it took for me to read one book was with A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. The Lord of the Rings complete trilogy took the longest time but that’s three books in one edition so it’s not applicable.
A Short History of Nearly Everything is a fairly big book. My edition runs over 600 pages and is divided into 6 parts & 30 chapters. It took me a while to finish it but not because it’s boring or difficult. Time constraint was a major factor. Plus, this is one book you cannot skim over. Most of it has to be read with careful attention. So, it was basically a combination of length and content.
A Paperback Life 
A Short History is on one of my reading challenges for this year. Maybe I’d better get it started soon if i want to read it before the end of the year!
A Short History of Nearly Everything is long but not gigantic. I guess it is the subject matter, the vast amount of ground it tries to cover that caused me to read it so slowly. It may not take you such a long time.
🙂
Haven’t read it yet, but have heard such good things about it 😉
http://carabosseslibrary.blogspot.com/2012/04/booking-through-thursday_12.html
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Middlemarch has been troublesome for many. I have heard many fellow readers gush about it but at the same time many of them said that reading it took up quite a bit of their time.
I never heard of the Bryson title before.
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2012/04/booking-through-thursday_12.html
Yes, I think his Notes from a Small Island is a more well known name.
I haven’t read that book before. Did you like it in the end?
My BTT
Hello! Thanks for visiting my blog! Sorry couldn’t comment on your blog as I’m still having issues with Blogger hosted blogs with OpenID and Word verification.
My experience with Jane Austen has been quite the opposite. I finished my first Austen at 12 and it took me just two-three days. I would stay way past my bedtime because I would find it hard to let it go.
Like I said in my review, I did enjoy A Short History of Nearly Everything. It took me quite some time to finish it but I liked it and rarely felt bored.
I still haven’t read any Bryson, but a lot of people love his writing style. Do you recommend this one?
A Short History of Nearly Everything is my first Bryson book. I liked it and I definitely would like to read more by him. His Notes from a Small Island is on my Wish List.
I would recommend A Short History of Nearly Everything but with some reservation about its length and the vast amount of ground it tries to cover. It is a lot to take in. So if there is no shortage of time and patience, I would say go for it.