Some readers love to read short books: super short flash fiction or bite-sized short stories and novelettes or easy-to-finish novellas are for them. Some readers love long books: epic tomes and multi-volume family saga that go on and on and on. Some readers enjoy what’s in between: not too short and not too long. What about you?
What’s your favorite book length?
I almost posted a chart of book lengths, but turns out that the word counts are all different depending on who you ask. Book lengths vary when you ask romance writers verse science fiction writers. I don’t know why. For example, some science fiction book awards organizers said that 40,000 words is a short novel, which is what most indie authors would consider too. However, I have heard publishers an agents calling that length a novella instead.
On Amazon, you don’t see word counts at all. You only see page counts. Have you ever checked your preferences for book lengths? Or do you just read the book because you find it interesting? I’m the latter. I don’t check book lengths when I read, but I do veer toward longer books.
For example, I can comfortably finish reading a 400-page novel anywhere from three to six hours non-stop. I hate to say that I suspect I could read faster in my heyday before I had to wear reading glasses (ahem). Back when I was younger, I could read anywhere and at any time. Sometimes I read all night long if the whodunit mystery intriguing and I must know if the butler didn’t do it. These days, though, I must have the right lighting, the right chair, the right snacks, the right this and that. Sigh!
Do you like shorter books?
If I read a 100-page book, I might echo Jane Austen and say it’s “too short.” When I am waiting in the car for someone or when I’m waiting at the doctor’s office, I might enjoy a 100-page book because I can finish it quickly, especially if the story is nice and sweet. Some 100-page books are page turners, and some 400-page novels can be quite a chore to finish, yes?
What about short stories? Do you think it takes a different type of reading hat? For example, when I read a short story that’s well written, it begins in medias res and we’re already in an action sequence right away. I see it more like a slice of life rather than a long drawn out situation that can be fleshed out in a long novel.
I would say that novellas are the shortest books I prefer to read (and write), though I have written short stories and novelettes in the past. I’m writing a Christmas novella for the Once Upon a Starry Night anthology of twelve Christian romance stories by twelve authors. It’s on preorder right now and will be released in October 2023.
As for poetry, I prefer shorter poems. I think the shorter the poem, the harder it is to write. As an erstwhile poet myself, I have found that if my poems were short, I had to work very hard at them to make sure every word is meaningful in multiple ways.
Do you like longer books?
As a novelist, I prefer to write longer books, at least 80,000 words or more. I do have some super long books, including His Morning Kiss (Seaside Chapel Book 3), which is 149,000 words long.
I tell my readers that the way I work is this: I write the book until I am done telling the story and there is no more for me to say. I do have an idea about the ballpark word count I want to shoot for, but I often edit up and sometimes add as much as 20,000 words to a book. This is good and bad. Good because my readers get a fuller story. Bad because it can take me longer to write a book, sometimes months longer.
Which is the longest book you’ve ever read? Did you finish reading it?
Free eBooks: One Short, One Long
NOVELLA: My friends-to-more coastal city romance novella, Time for Me (A Vacation Sweethearts Prequel), is still free via BookFunnel. You can download it and read it on the Kindle reader on your phone. This novella is the story of art gallery archivist Sheryl who has been in love with her sculptor friend for eight years. It works out so far because they don’t live in the same state (one is in Savannah, GA, and the other is on Folly Island, SC) and she doesn’t have to confront her feelings for Winton. When her boss sends her to ask the sculptor to help save the art gallery she works in, she has to come face to face with him. Can she do her job?
NOVEL: This weekend only, my Caribbean romance novel, Smile for Me (Vacation Sweethearts Book 1) is FREE worldwide from June 22-26, 2023. You can also borrow this novel via Kindle Unlimited, but free means you can keep it on your Kindle reader app forever plus free up space for you to borrow more KU ebooks. This summer novel is the story of assistant principal Byron from the Bahamas who can’t get along with art and pottery teacher Tina from Savannah. Somehow there’s always friction between them, but they have to work together at the summer art camp at the Chapel by the Sea Christian School in Nassau in this enemies-t0-friends-to-more workplace romance.
Whether you like long or short books, I wish you happy reading this summer!
USA Today bestselling novelist Jan Thompson writes clean and wholesome multiethnic contemporary Christian romance with elements of women’s fiction, Christian romantic suspense with an air of mystery, and inspirational international thrillers with threads of sweet Christian romance. Join Jan's mailing list for her latest book news: JanThompson.com/newsletter
Hi Jan! For this retiree my favorite book length is the novella or a short book. I have always enjoyed reading an entire book in one setting. But being over seventy my eyes get tired quicker. For our monthly library book club I have read some longer best sellers (500 pages) and the history of Berlin, a non-fiction book that had 1,000 pages. Before e-books, as a teen and newly wed / young mom I always enjoyed my magazine subscriptions that had a monthly short story. Thanks for the post and free book. Praying for rain – our Midwest farmers need rain desperately. Enjoy your weekend.
Hi Jan, I like stories if all different lengths – I really understand what you mean when you say you write until you’re done telling the story, as long as the author has told the story and told it well I don’t really mind how long or short it is.
I think the longest book I’ve ever read is Samuel Richardson’s ‘Clarissa’. I finished it and enjoyed it, but it was back when I was a student, I don’t think I’d ever find the time to finish something like that now!
Hi Jan, I prefer shorter books. I shy away from books that are long because they take me too long to finish.
Thank you. Happy reading to you this summer also. I like both short books and long books, depending on my mood and the author.
I like books of all lengths—like you, I don’t really look at page/word counts & just choose books I think I’ll like. A good story is a good story no matter the length. I’ve read some long books I wish would never end & some novelettes I thought would never end 😂
It’s extremely hard to say how many “pages” a book is! I’ve read some that are smaller (Harlequin) and some that are much longer (Hope Harbor series by Irene Hannon). However, some of the “pages” are blank between chapters, some chapters start halfway down the page. So, even though it may be 400 pages, the actual pages with written words may be much smaller. I’ve even read some where the back “ads” are counted as actual pages. So, that said, I think most of the books I read are around 50k words. Some are much longer. I do like the ones that are at least 50k best, but I will read novellas sometimes. Longer books definitely help build up the suspense and the backgrounds for characters!
I like books that are both long series and short novels. When I read I usually alternate between the two, I will read a long book and then I will read a short book. Have a great weekend.
300 pgs or so- depending on how much time I have before the review is due!!
Hi Jan. For me, it does not matter on the length of the book. For me, it is all about the story. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.
Hi Renate! Thank you for your comment.
I hear you about reading a book from start to finish. That’s why I usually set aside a block of time to read so that I don’t have to stop halfway.
That 1000-page history book sounds like an epic tome! I was reading a 3-volume first person account about colonial life back in the 1730s and it’s taking me forever to read all three books LOL. To this day I haven’t finished reading all of it (older form of English nothwisthanding).
Did you also read short stories in Readers Digest? I remember those. Magazines have short stories too. They are bite-size and fit into a busy life, for sure.
Prayed for rain too. Hope the farmers get rain soon.
Have a marvelous weekend in the Lord!
Hi Ruthie! Thank you for your comment and understanding!
Lord of the Rings was supposed to be one giant book until Tolkien’s publisher split it into three volumes. IDK whether that’s good or bad but they did make three 3-hour movies out of that LOL.
I hear you about long books. I haven’t read Clarissa but the Penguin Classic edition listed it as 1534 pages. That’s more than twice as long as my longest novel at 714 pages.
Have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
Hi Kimberly! I do agree it takes a long time to finish reading long books. It’s like watching a long multi-episode drama that takes multiple seasons to complete.
Have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
Thank you for your comment!
Thank you, Lori!
Same here re: long and short books. Depends on so many variables for sure, including seasons of life and seasons of the year. If we’re busy doing family activities, I won’t have much time read.
Have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
Hello Texas Momma! Good comment there and yes, indeed, it depends on the book and the writing and sometimes external things such as how much time you have to read a long book.
Thank you for your comment and have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
Hi Trudy! Thank you for your comment!
50K is a good length. Love Inspired is about 55-60K in length too.
Mine runs the gamut. I have a 25K Christmas novella and I have a 149K beach romance about a widowed single father who happens to be burned-out billionaire businessman.
I’m writing another Christmas novella that is also 25K. Christmas is such a busy time that a short book is easier and faster for my readers to read.
Have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
Hi Alicia!
You’re the first person in today’s comment section to said that, but I also do the same, that is, alternate reading between short and long books. Sort of give myself a reading break, you know. I do that with writing too. I alternatively write long and short books, and I also alternate genres.
Thank you for your comment.
Have a wonderful week in the Lord!
Hi Becky! That’s a good reading length! That’s down the middle between 200-page and 400-page books.
I like 300 pages too, though I don’t usually land there when I write. It’s not on purpose at all because as I mentioned in my post, I write until the story is done and then I stop and then see how many words I end up with.
Thank you for your comment, and have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
Hi Debra! I agree that it is about the story. After all, if the story is interesting, I would read the book, whether long or short.
Thank you for your comment.
Have a wonderful weekend in the Lord!
I am late its been an interesting week. I will be moving in about 4 weeks and the reality has hit.
I do like novellas at times as they are an easier read especially when I am tired or the pain is high. My ideal length is probably 200 – 250. I don’t know it in word count. Which is what most of the cozy mysteries are and also a lot of the Love inspired type books.
Occasionally I will read up to 300 depending on the book but I give books 350+ a miss normally cos they are a bit too long for me. Even the middle length books can take me a week to read. Right now I probably won’t get to read much til I have moved. I am just to exhausted.
For writing, I also write the book until I am done telling the story and there is no more for me to say. But I write short stories as well (having received some prizes for them). As for novels, I have 40-50,000 ones, but also a two-volume story (two volumes not separately to be read, but to avoid a 550+ pages doorstop) and shorter novels as mentioned above, but which are 2 or 4 in the series (in this case, each novel in the series able to be read also individually, but recommendable all in order for the readers best experience).
For reading, I do not mind if shorter or longer books, but I guess I preferred longer when I was younger and now, shorter are better for my lack of time to read.