What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

My brother and I have been bickering about this for the past few days and we finally want to settle it.
When does a book become considered a long book?
For me, I think average book size is about 370 pages, but when a book gets past 450 - 500 + is when a book becomes fairly longer.
My brother think that 450 pages is pretty average book size and that 550 - and up is when a book can be considered long.
I understand that people have different reading levels and that some are faster readers than others, but what do you think?

I side with you. I just looked at a few books in my collection that I consider long. Anything over 500 is definitely there, and I would also include anything over 450.

It depends a bit for me, as I feel a 600 page 12 font, is starting to get long, as well as a 500 page 10 font. I probably think more along the lines of your brother, 500 is not unusual for the types of books I read, so it's starts to get long a little after that. Start calling them bricks at about the 700-750 page mark, a beastie at 900

i think it depends, i've read really short books that feel long; and long ones that feel really short - it isn't just a physical thing

I think it also depends on the genre and how entertaining the book is. In romance a 300 page book is really long, in mystery not so much. And if the book enthralls you 400 pages doesnt feel so long...if its dragging even 200 pages feels long

When I'm reading a book and I'm into the characters and their story, nothing is too long. I don't even think about page number.

However, it becomes long when I get bored with the story, the characters, or their dialogues, when it feels as if it's not advancing and repeating itself.

Edit: Even a book with only 150 pages can be considered long if it doesn't hold my attention.

I've always considered a book long when it hits 450 pgs.

It depends on the subject and sometimes I am also surprised by the large font. Often newer books have more pages and less text on the page.

Most mysteries I read tend to be around 250 pages, other novels between 300-400 pages, historical novels often over 500-600 pages. If the font is normal or on the smaller side, I start thinking twice when the book gets over 500. Not many books have a story that can carry over 600 pages.

For me, it isn't about the number of pages. It is the content. If I'm ready for the book to be over, then it is too long. As long as the story keeps me engaged and entertained, I don't care about the length.

I consider 300 pages average/normal. Approaching 400 pp. is approaching long, for me. 450-700pp. is definitely long. 800-1,100 pp. I classify as a gorilla.

But if you're hating a book, 240 pages feels interminable.

Technically, we should be speaking about number of words, since typefaces vary. Of course, it's hard to do that unless you know how many words are in various books.

My rank would be

<300 is fairly short
400-500 average
>500 getting long
>650 is long

I feel like books have been getting longer over the past thirty years.

I used to work in a used book shop, and the old books (from 1960s, 70s) were about a half inch thick, and the newer ones about an inch.

From listening to authors, all the ya was limited in page number (120 pp?) until Harry Potter got so popular, and so much longer with the third and fourth books.

For me, anything over 400 pages is long!

If it's a fantastic story that you don't want to end, then I'd consider even a 1,000 pages SHORT! :)

kvon wrote: "I feel like books have been getting longer over the past thirty years."

That may be partly true but book -- paperbacks at least -- use a larger font than they used to. For an extreme example I recently read an E.R. Burroughs paperback printed in the early 60s and the print was tiny. It was a little over 200 pages, but a printing from today would probably be twice that.

Anyway, I consider 300-400 pages to be average by today's standards. 500 starts getting long. I just read a 988-page novel, that was very long (but good!)

If it takes both hands to hold it while reading it, it's long :)

Michele wrote: "If it takes both hands to hold it while reading it, it's long :)"

Doesn't work for me as I always use both hands to hold a book no matter the size so I don't risk breaking the spine. :P

Yeah, I guess it doesn't really apply for Kindle versions either lol

I think it depends. I've read long books like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows which was almost 800 pages I believe? and that didn't feel very long because I enjoyed it so much, and I've read short books that felt long because I hated them. I'd have to say a book gets long after about 550 pages or so.

Agreeing with what a lot of people have said -- it's not so much about the specific length of the book (in part because of font sizes, page sizes, margins, etc) but more about how into the story you get. I've read some really short books that were REALLY painful to get through and as a result felt insanely long and took forever to finish. Other books visually look like they'll be long, feel heavy, etc., but fly by because you don't feel like the action is dragging at all. :)

I used to regularly read books of 600 pages or longer when I was in high school and when I had time in college (Les Miserables 1200pgs, Middlemarch 800pgs, etc.) I loved immersing myself in the story and the language. Now that I'm a mom of three young kids, anything that takes longer than a day or two to read (400 pages) gets lost in my mind- I can't keep track of the story, especially if the language is especially wordy, what with all the interruptions if I try to read during the day or reading late at night when I'm tired.

J. wrote: ...anything that takes longer than a day or two to read (400 pages)..."

If you can do 400pp in two days, with two kids, you are doing AMAZING lol!!!

The books I like tend to be on the longish side. Nothing for Neal Stephenson, say, or Tom Clancy to go over a thousand pages and I love them both. MIchael Connelly is great but his books seem to top out at about half that. but they are long enough. Guess it depends on genre. To me. long is good, and good is never a chore.

It depends for me. If I'm really into the book it flies by. But if it's boring or just no good then a short story can seem insanely long.

Whether it not I've read it before can affect how long it seems. If I've read it before it's easier to put down. If it's a book i love though, like Jane Austen, I'll fly through it.

I think once you hit the high 500s, the book is getting long. So, I guess I'd say it's definitely long at about 580 pages.

kvon wrote: "I feel like books have been getting longer over the past thirty years."

This *is* the case, and you can thank the distributors for it. Paper went up in price, so publishers told their distributors - and distributors came back and told then that they needed to bulk the book up (customers pick up books; and if it costs more it needs to be bigger), so publishers told their authors, and that was that. There are technical reasons for upper limits on paperbacks, so that's why they mostly top out, instead of never-ending increases.

I'm the type of reader to read a 1,000 page book and still want more. But, to me, a book begins to get long-ish when it hits the 400 marker. Long to me is around 500 or 600 pages. It all depends on the reader, though, and on how big they like their books.

For me, it depends on how quickly it reads.
Even if it's more than a 1000 pages, it might feel short if it's well-written and fast-paced. But I've also read 1000-page books that literally dragged on for no reason.
Objectively though, if it's above 700 pages, I consider it long.

I would probably consider anything around 250,000 words or longer long. Most of the books I read are 500-800 pages long, and I don't even like reading books shorter than about 400 pages, with some exceptions, obviously.

I'm going to say when events start to feel like a repeat. Sometimes it feels as if the author ran out of ideas so they keep having the main character get kidnapped or almost killed ALL THE TIME. And that's when it starts to be too long for the author and the reader.