Weekly Lists #77: Books that took me the longest to finish

Recently, I’ve found myself going back to my favourite genre for relaxing reading: chick lit. You see, at times I can really enjoy reading something that requires some thinking. You know, the kind of book that has you looking up, realising your world changed. Right now, though, I absolutely do not have time for that type of book. As if! Seriously, with the amount of work I have for schools, I don’t even want to put that kind of energy in. None the less, I kind of wish I could. So here, out of some (no doubt misplaced) feeling of nostalgia: some of my longest reads. Also known as: the books that took me the longest to finish!

Btw: quick notice: I got the idea for this post from Top 5 Wednesday, a Goodreads Group that offers bookish prompts for every Wednesday!

1. How to Be Single, Liz Tuccillo

This one technically didn’t take me all that long to read. However, a month and a half to read 404 pages? That’s entirely longer then I like to read any one book. It especially felt like a really long time. Thinking back, that actually kind of makes me wonder why I ended up giving it 4 stars, so thanks to this post, I’ve now gone back and changed that to 3 stars. Oops?

2. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler

Compared to this one, the previous book was a breeze.

This book has 310 pages. It also took me over 3 months to read it. That’s not even 100 pages per month – and one of those months was a holiday. Shame on me, basically!

(In my defence, this book requires an enormous amount of mental power. Like, serious, it’s awesome, but oh my god was it awful reading it.)

3. The Next Together, Lauren James

Another one that took me over 2 months to finish. That’s mainly shocking because I actually loved it, and only on looking back just now did I realise that it actually took me that long to finish. I mean, still, it’s 356 pages. But, come one! 2 months to finish a book I enjoy? Unheard of. Kinda, at least J

4. NW, Zadie Smith

I persevered for over 2 months. And this book has only 296 pages.

And, well… I still failed majestically. No matter how much I tried or turned, I could not finish this one. I don’t really do that that often – not finish a book, that is. Usually I just kind of push myself and force my way through it. With this one, I just plain old couldn’t do it. That might have been because I had to read it for school, that might have been because this was the first year I decided to drown myself in schoolwork, or just plain old because I didn’t enjoy it. Nonetheless: I gave up.

5. Meneer Vogel

At least, that’s what I think it was called. You see, when I was younger (we’re talking 8 or 9, here) I was part of a reading club. Every month, we had to read 1 book, and write down our meaning on it. Then one night every month, we would all get together with a librarian and discuss it.

Throughout the years I participated in that reading club (probably until I was 13) I loved most books we had to read. One in particular, that featured a teacher who was secretly a vampire, I had to read covered in blankets because it was so delightfully scary. Yeah, I really haven’t changed all that much, have I?

Anyways, this is the sole exception to that book. In my memory, it’s about 50 pages. Like, 50 tops. Probably even less. I got it on the first day of that month, and never finished it. I think I read, like, the first 10 pages and just sort of went to the last one to be able to form some kind of opinion. I also distinctly remember feeling like such an imposter that night, because I hadn’t actually read the book. Again, I really haven’t changed a thing.

So, there you have it! That’s 5 of the books that took me the longest to read. What are some of the books that took you the longest to finish? Did you read any of these and have the same experience? Be sure to let me know below!

-Saar