The Book That Wouldn't End

Congratulations to Jacqui Botes, who is this month's book club winner. You've won yourself our top 10 books from Kalahari.net and a case of wine from Perdeberg. Enjoy!

I recently read a book called Angelology.

It was one of the most interesting books that I've had in my hands this year, but I have to confess that I found myself wishing throughout the novel that the book would just come to an end.

As an avid bibliophile, I can happily (and easily) immerse myself in the world of a thick, juicy novel. And yet, the fact that I actually enjoyed Angelology but secretly hoped it would end made me wonder:

At what point does a book become too long to read?

Before Angelology, I was convinced that only boring books were excessively long, but the fact that I enjoyed the book and still found it excessively long suddenly had me questioning all my previous notions.

I asked my colleagues what they thought - and besides receiving the rather obvious answer, here's what they had to say.

Parent24's Robyn: "A book becomes way too long for me when I've reached chapter 3 and the author is still introducing characters to me. It's an absolute pet hate of mine."

Another colleague said that when she finds herself having to spend more time going through a dictionary than reading, then the book loses its appeal.

But, why don't you tell me what you think? What makes a book too long of a read? And what book, although a promising read, have you given up because it proved to be too lengthy?

I'm eager to hear what you think.

Here are this month's top 10 reads

Angelology
The Mistaken Wife
The Jewel of St. Petersburg
Vampire Rising
I, Alex Cross
The Hand that First Held Mine
Long Lost
House Rules
Free Food for Millionaires
Need

Giveaways
This month we're giving you a chance to win a copy of Kate Furnivall's latest novel, The Jewel of St. Petersburg. All you need to do is answer one easy question and click here to enter. Don't forget, we're also featuring your reviews on our site and as part of our book review challenge, we're giving you the opportunity to win our top 10 books from Kalahari.net as well as a case of wine from Perdeberg.

In fact, Jackie, one of our reader reviewers wrote a lovely article on just how much writing reviews for women24 has changed her perception about the kind of books she loves to read. You can also check out our fabulous interview with Jodi Picoult - where she answers some of your lovely questions.

We are also still calling for nominations for our Top 50 reader book selections. I'm putting the list up next week, so you still have a chance to tell me what you'd like to see on that list before it goes up.

Until next time
Happy reading everyone!

Yours in drag-free books