Let’s Talk Bookish – Long Books vs Short Books

Aria @ Book Nook Bits will be the new host for Let’s Talk Bookish! If you aren’t following her yet, good check out her blog and give her a follow!

July 22: Big Books vs. Short Books: Which Do You Prefer? (Jillian @ Jillian the Bookish Butterfly)

Prompts: Do you prefer to read longer books or shorter books? Does it depend on the genre? Why is that? What are the pros and cons of long books? What about shorter books? What long books do you love? What are some of your favorite short books?

Welcome back to another week of LTB here at DTRH, everyone! Today’s topic is certainly a classic, and I honestly wonder if people do have preferences in general. I think at the extremes of very long or very short most people may have an opinion, but I assume the length of a book may not always be even in consideration for a lot of readers. That’s just conjecture though, I’d love to hear what you all think!

For me, the older I get, the more I want short books. I just don’t really have the time to sit down for a 1500 page fantasy book like I used to, even if I still enjoy them from time to time. Of course I don’t need a book to be only 200 pages long, but anything beyond 500 will generally make me pause before taking it up. The good thing is that I tend to enjoy thrillers which are usually on the shorter end anyway, so I don’t run into this problem too much.

I think the length of book really is often determined by the genre. Fantasies and adventures will tend to run longer, while mysteries and thrillers fall on the shorter end. I think for fantasies, authors need time to build up the world to really create something believable. On the other hand, it is difficult to hold a reader’s suspense for too too long, and I think therefore mysteries and thrillers are able to be quite short. After all, the imagination can do a lot of work in those cases!

Longer books tend to have more description, and more time to dive into and develop characters. On the other hand if it’s over done, it can be boring and drag on. Short books can be great, leaving things to the imagination. But again, it could just be underdeveloped. I don’t think a book being long or short on its own is really a pro or con. It’s really how you make use of the space that counts!

If it is long books, I’d actually much prefer series! Harry Potter is probably already one of the longer books (and series) that I’ve read already. As for short books, I really have liked the ones that revolve around folk tales or short stories. Those are always short and sweet, and usually make me think from a new perspective as well.

What do you all prefer – long or short books? Or is length of a book something you don’t consider at all? Let me know in the comments below!

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