What’s the longest book you’ve ever read?

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What’s the longest book you’ve ever read?

I’m going to cheat a little on this one. 

The longest “book” I’ve ever read was actually a series—Francine Rivers’ Mark of the Lion trilogy.

And when I say I read it, I mean I read it. 

The series takes you back to first-century Rome and follows three books: A Voice in the Wind, An Echo in the Darkness, and As Sure as the Dawn.

I remember getting completely caught up in the story. It wasn’t just the length of the books; it was the way Francine Rivers pulled me into another time and made the characters feel real.

You know a book is good when you keep saying, “I’m just going to read one more chapter,” and suddenly it’s way past your bedtime. 

But here’s what I really remember about reading it:

It made me think about faith differently.

Not the easy faith we talk about when everything is going right, but the kind of faith you hold onto when life is hard, when circumstances don’t make sense, and when believing God requires you to trust Him without knowing how the story will end.

Maybe that’s why Francine Rivers’ books have stayed with me.

I’m a writer now, and I think some of the books we read long before we ever realize we’re going to become writers leave little pieces of themselves in us.

They teach us how stories can make us feel.

How characters can make us question ourselves.

And how sometimes a book isn’t just something you read…

it’s something you experience.

Thinking out loud… 

I may not remember every page I have ever read, but I remember the stories that changed something in me.