If you’re looking to increase your number of pages and knock out the “A Book with More Than 500 Pages” Book League Bingo square, you still have time to grab a long novel before the end of the Summer Book League. These books are definitely worth their weight!
The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton, 2013
In 2013, Catton became the youngest author to win the Man Booker Prize for this beautiful novel set in the gold fields of New Zealand in 1866. Central to the plot are several unsolved crimes (Murder! Attempted suicide! Theft! Opium abuse! Communing with spirits!) and mystery which ties them all together. This mystery is what makes The Luminaries a quick read, despite its 800 pages.
http://pegasus.luc.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=2041386
2666, Roberto Bolaño ; translated from the Spanish by Natasha Wimmer, 2004
This five-part book was the last Bolaño wrote before his death in 2003, Its parts—the part about the critics, the part about Amalfitano, the part about fate, the part about the crimes, and the part about Archimboldi—are loosely connected by the murders of hundreds of women in a Mexican border town. Maybe one of the darker, more violent books you could read this summer, 2666 is a gritty and labyrinthine epic that spans centuries and continents.
http://pegasus.luc.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=1167628
1Q84, Haruki Murakami, 2011
Part mystery, part love story, part dystopian novel, 1Q84 is Murakami’s longest novel. Aomame, a female assassin and Tengo, a writer pressured into plagiarism by an enigmatic high school student, inhabit “a world that bears a question.” Surreal, complex, and enthralling, this novel will have you speeding through to its dramatic conclusion.
http://pegasus.luc.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=1708969
East of Eden, John Steinbeck, 1952
Steinbeck’s allegorical novel details the lives and fates of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—in early twentieth century California. Full of detail and biblical allusion, East of Eden was an instant bestseller when it was first published and has endured as one of the greatest American novels.
http://pegasus.luc.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=456983
Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace, 1996
Clocking in at just over 1,000 pages, Wallace’s best-known work is a challenge to carry, much less complete. The plot of the novel centers on a children’s tennis academy, a drug and alcohol recovery center, and a group of French-Canadian wheelchair-bound assassins, but is mainly focused on the perils of addiction, entertainment, and corporate advertisement. It may take you a few attempts to finish, but Infinite Jest is considered one of the best modern novels for a reason.
http://pegasus.luc.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=849673
Didn’t find what you’re looking for? Here’s a link to popular books on GoodReads with over 500 pages https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/over-500-pages
