QualismaBooks worth your time

Ranked list · refreshed weekly

A week of evenings

Ten hours and up — the books you commit to rather than squeeze in.

Ten hours or more of reading, which at an hour or two an evening is a week or more. These are the books worth starting when you want something to live in rather than finish in a sitting. The hours sit beside each title so you can see exactly what you are signing up for. Shortest first.

23 books

Sort
1
The Overstory by Richard Powers

The Overstory

Richard Powers

502 pages · 4.09★ on Hardcover

≈ 10h4.09 (430)
5
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Crime and Punishment

Fyodor Dostoevsky

536 pages · 4.26★ on Hardcover

≈ 10.5h4.26 (2k)
6
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson

Caste

Isabel Wilkerson

544 pages · 4.46★ on Hardcover

≈ 11h4.46 (305)
7
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

Moby-Dick

Herman Melville

549 pages · 3.61★ on Hardcover

≈ 11h3.61 (910)
8
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë

555 pages · 4.01★ on Hardcover

≈ 11h4.01 (2k)
11
The Secret History by Donna Tartt

The Secret History

Donna Tartt

578 pages · 4.09★ on Hardcover

≈ 11.5h4.09 (2k)
13
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Invisible Man

Ralph Ellison

610 pages · 3.90★ on Hardcover

≈ 12h3.90 (316)
15
The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett

The Calamity Club

Kathryn Stockett

656 pages · not widely rated yet

≈ 13h4.17 (15)
16
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

The Name of the Wind

Patrick Rothfuss

669 pages · 4.47★ on Hardcover

≈ 13.5h4.47 (4k)
17
Dune by Frank Herbert

Dune

Frank Herbert

704 pages · 4.32★ on Hardcover

≈ 14h4.32 (6k)
19
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

A Little Life

Hanya Yanagihara

720 pages · 4.10★ on Hardcover

≈ 14.5h4.10 (1k)
20
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

The Goldfinch

Donna Tartt

775 pages · 3.97★ on Hardcover

≈ 15.5h3.97 (1k)