Tackling the Tomes: Getting Started Vol I

Hi and welcome to the reading world!

I’m back with another post on Tackling the Tomes (if you’d like to know more about this new reading challenge for myself and others, check out my Introduction to Tackling the Tomes). Today, I’m going to be giving some suggestions of tomes you might want to check out and tackle! These are going to be in the 400- 600 page mark, and are ones I’ve personally read and enjoyed!

First, a brief update on my reading: I’ve finished the first part of Anna Karenina, and while I haven’t been able to read a section every day due to some life goings on, I’m still definitely enjoying it. It’s amazing to see how far I’ve been able to read in a book I genuinely never knew if I’d be able to or not. And yet, here we are. It’s not perfect progress, but I’m excited to read on!

But now, let’s talk about books you might want to check out to get started on reading longer books. Books that are between 400 and 600 pages can still definitely be daunting, and so I wanted to suggest some ones that I personally found very readable and interesting across a variety of genres. I’ll include the page counts found on Goodreads and/or the books I have but be aware these can vary depending on edition. Without further ado, here are my suggestions for starting Tackling the Tomes between 400 to 600 pages!

This is an adult contemporary/literary fiction that follows the choices of a mother and her daughter across years. Patsy, the mother, makes a difficult choice to follow her dreams of going to the United States and reuniting with her best friend Cecily. True, Patsy’s daughter, must contend with the outcome of these choices and her own as she grows up and discovers who she is. This book is incredibly written, features some amazing LGBTQ characters, and was one I found myself wanting to read slowly so I wouldn’t have to leave the story. Definitely pick this one up if you want a novel set in more recent times that feature themes of identity, home, family, love, and the choices we make and who lives with them.

This is the start of a historical fiction/fantasy trilogy. Nahri is a quick witted woman who lives in 18th century Cairo. When one of her cons has some unusual results, everything Nahri knows about her life is turned upside down. This is now part of a completed series, all of which are longer books. So, if you want to tackle several tomes, you can also check out the sequels of this well-loved trilogy!

Emperor of Maladies is actually a non-fiction book about the history of cancer, the modern impacts, and how medicine as a whole has evolved in this field. Written by an oncologist, this is definitely an interesting read. Please be aware of potential difficult content related to cancer, and I would encourage you to check out the in depth list of trigger and content warnings for these books on Storygraph.

Bonus Recommendation: This one is just over 600 pages!

This is a work of Japanese literature that I read translated into English. Murakami is an incredibly well known author and has a very distinctive writing and storytelling style. It’s difficult to summarize, both due to the story itself having so many elements but also because it has been so long since I’ve read it, so as always I’ve linked the Goodreads synopsis above if you’d like more information. While it’s been years since I personally have read this one, I remember being very fascinated by the story as it unfolded. It’s definitely a unique one, and one that I also hope to reread in the future as I read more of Murakami’s works.

So, there are some recommendations from various genres for books to read if you want to start tackling some tomes in the 400-600 page range. Let me know your thoughts on these in the comments, and other longer books you’d recommend!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Rae