Longest. Audiobooks. Ever.

In my review of George RR Martin's A Dance With Dragon, I commented that it was the longest audiobook I had ever listened to. I decided to go back and research that assertion, and it turns out that I have listened to a number of long books. Among them are:

1. Atlas Shrugged, 57 hours. I listened to this one in 3 parts from the library, so even though I knew it was long, it didn't stick in my memory as being that long. I actually preferred The Fountainhead more, but am glad I tackled this one.

2. A Dance wih Dragons, 49 hours. Well, it may not have been the longest one I've ever read, but to be fair, it did sort of feel like it was.

3. Gone with the Wind, 49 hours. Another one that was broken into two parts by the library, so it surprised me that this one was in fact this long.

4. The Bear and the Dragon, 46 hours. For a while, Tom Clancy's works had fallen into the pattern of each one being longer than the one before. This one represents the peak of his verbosity. To give him credit, his books do move right along, and I even enjoy the techno-babble description stuff.

5. Don Quixote, 41 hours. This one is here on a technicality, as it includes both Part I and Part II of Cervante's work, which are regularly packaged as a single book. But Part II was released about 5 years after Part I, and even includes references and commentary on the public reaction to Part I. So not only is this the world's first modern novel, it is also the world's first post-modern novel. Anyway, I think it's more appropriate to consider this two books, and book and a sequel. But it's treated as one, so for purposes of this list, I am counting it as one.

6. Anna Karenina, 39 hours. The only of the Russian classics that I've read. Tolstoy is on my long-term list, which would certainly push this one further down the long-book list.

7. Stone of Tears, 39 hours. I am a huge fan of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, so I had to make the list long enough to include his longest book. But it's fantasy, so (like Martin), it's supposed to be a long book.