How long (as in pages) do you like the books you read to be? Do you pefer short and to the point, or a very long adventure?
This is single books, not how many book in a series
I prefer books between 200-300 pages, less time for the other to monologue or forget the plot entirely.
Long enough to tell the story the author wanted to tell. I’ve read books that were far too short and far too long, regardless of the page count.
Getting hung up on the page count is something modern book packagers do… putting generic marketing ahead of actual quality. My understanding is that’s why the third Hunger Games novel is so bad… she had to fit the expanding story into a contractually set length. Packaging the set for the marketing plan took precedence over story matters.
I suppose your question could be limited to what each reader prefers, but I don’t think I’ve ever picked a book because it was some “right length” over the many other qualities. I wonder if any serious reader ever has?
I cannot even conceive of paying attention to page count. If it’s good, it might be too short at 1000 pages. Band and 200 pages might feel like 3000.
I buy hardbacks and, yes, I do pay attention to page counts. Why spend $21.99 for a 200-page book that I will finish in 2 hours?
Short books I buy used. Long books I’ll buy new. Sorry, but it’s the economics of the thing…
Buying them new or used or checking them out of the library is a different question. I don’t think the OP meant how long are the books that you buy. Unless I’m mistaken, he meant how long do you like to read?
I know a fellow American here in Bangkok who firmly believes any book that is more than 300 pages is worthless for no reason other than it is over 300 pages.
I don’t have a preferred length for a book. If it needs thousands of pages to tell the tale properly, so be it. If it makes the point in barely a hundred pages, that’s fine too. I love both Lord of the Rings and Lord of the Flies, even though they are probably ten to one in terms of page counts.
It is especially immaterial since as soon as I finish one book, I’m going to start the next one on my stack. It’s not like they have to fit into tidy little time slots!
As for the “bang for your buck” factor, I consider that trivial, since I get most of my books dirt cheap at the used book store, or download eBooks from free sites.
I tend to like shorter books, so I voted the first option, but optimal length, in general, for me is somewhere around 250 pages. Obviosuly, this is not a strict rule, but that seems to be where my preferences lay. I just generally prefer a good short story or novella to a full-blown novel. I have little patience for epic 1000 page tomes.
Agreed. I’ve read thousand-pagers that felt like page turners, the writer and story were so good. So long as it serves the narrative, I LOVE when I book “isn’t over yet.” Sad, even, when I approach the end and know I’ll never read this for the first time again.
If that sounds like a bias toward long books, it’s not. The book should be long enough to accomplish what the author intended. If he had no clear purpose, or if he loses sight of it, that will become evident whatever the length of the book.
250 to 300 is about right. I lose interest if the book drags on and on. Its hard to justify a mystery or war novel much longer.
If the story was exceptional then length doesn’t matter. But I can’t recall a long book that sustained that level of writing throughout. The “middle” part of many books gets slow and drawn out.
This.
I’ve finished plenty of 1000+ page books and wished for more. And plenty of shorter books don’t get finished if I don’t like them. There is no “optimal book length” for me.
I’m currently re-reading Clavell’s Shogun for the seventh of eighth time and when I reach the end on page 1210 I know that I’ll wish it were longer, just like every other time I read it.
Sufficient pages to fit all the words.