it doesn’t have to be your favorite book or anything. It can be any book that you find yourself thinking of with a sense of pride for having read it.
Personally, I am really proud of myself for not DNFing A Little Life and pushing forward. I read a very good chunk of that book with tears running down my face–mind you, I was reading it on my phone during lectures for the entirety of my first semester last year–and I was always on the verge of putting it down just because of the horrible content. Also, it was pretty long; too long, actually. So when I was done, I was simultaneously Heartbroken, broken (just like in general), and relieved. It was truly a feat.
An honorable mention is A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, because I swear to God I did not understand a single thing about it even 10 chapters in. Charles Dickens is too much.
I read a different Dickens novel every Christmas. A Tale of Two Cities is my personal favourite.
Honourable mentions…
Jerusalem by Alan Moore. Purely for the sheer size of it.
War and Peace by Tolstoy. (A very difficult read due to the many characters. Some with the same name, and sometimes the names change due to the use of patronymics. ) I didn’t particularly enjoy it.
Moby Dick. Everyone I know hated it. I happened to like it. The book is very very detail heavy. That’s the attraction for me. Another book that’s detail heavy is 20000 leagues under the sea. (Which I also loved)