All hail the page turner! I appreciate an unputdownable book now more than ever after the last few years we’ve had, the sort it feels you almost literally cannot put down until I find out how the story ends. Whether I need something that will grab my attention or cleanse my reading palate, a page turner is a glorious thing. I shared 17 books I read in 24 hours or less several years ago and decided it was time to share more unputdownable books I’ve read since that time.
How do I describe an unputdownable book? Specifics vary, but they share certain qualities: great characters, strong narrative drive, a premise that hooks me. The writing is often strong (though “serviceable” will suffice, if you know what I mean), and it can’t be so dense or challenging that I can’t read it while I’m sleepy, or mentally exhausted. Whatever the case, I’m talking about the kinds of books I can’t put down until I reach the last page.
While this isn’t every page-turner I’ve read since the last time—far from it—I hope these fourteen novels and one essay collection get you thinking about the qualities that make it hard for you to put a book down.
I’d love to hear about your favorite page-turning books in the comments section.
More unputdownable books
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We Are the Brennans
Let Me Hear a Rhyme
Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?
Piranesi
Wrong Place Wrong Time
Firekeeper’s Daughter
Yellowface
Hour of the Witch
With My Little Eye
Upgrade
The Bodyguard
The Golden Couple
Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give
The Anomaly
Counterfeit
What books did YOU find completely unputdownable?
P.S. Unputdownable: 17 books I read in 24 hours or less (because they were just that good) and 20 unputdownable mysteries and thrillers to keep you glued to the page.
44 comments
Totally agree on Yellowface! This one will set book clubs on fire this summer. I also couldn’t put down Upgrade and Piranesi. I would add to this list Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough, could not stop reading the last 200 pages! I’ll have reviews on my blog soon.
I recently read Drowning by T. J. Newman and literally couldn’t stop until I finished it. It was the perfect page-turning summer thriller for me.
Drowning and her first book called Falling! Read them each in one sitting!!
Yes!! I read Falling in no time but I am holding off on getting drowning on my Kindle until it’s officially summer! I know I will have no willpower and, as we are moving, that is a dangerous thing! I love her backstory. Did you know that she wrote this book while she was working as a flight attendant and wrote much of it on beverage napkins during flights? How cool is that.??
I’ve finished two 24-hour books this week, by means of a combination of hardcover and Hoopla audiobook: the nonfiction “The Wicked Child” and yesterday, the Swedish crime novel “A Nearly Normal Family.”
I read Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross a few weeks ago and read it all in one day. I loved the enemies to lovers dynamic and will be counting down the days to the sequel.
Yes, me too!!!
Oh my goodness, so many potential great reads for me on this list. I’m sorry / not sorry that there are so many holds already on some of these at my local library. I’m 114th in line on 8 copies for one, but that gives me time to read everything that’s already checked out. Looking forward to future immersive reading!
I totally agree on Wrong Place, Wrong Time. I devoured that on audio last month. Another unputdownable one I learned of here on MMD was Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone. Fantastic on audio and such a creative thriller.
Still Alice by Lisa Genova, I could not put it down.
Homecoming by Kate Morton
I am a big fan and found this book to be her best!
Thanks, Maureen. Just added to my library holds.
that is good to hear, I heard some opposite reviews…going on the hold list for this. now
I agree wholeheartedly, Maureen! Her best yet in my opinion!
This was my first Kate Morton book. I started it on my Kindle and it was slow going. I switched to audio and then couldn’t stop listening. I’m not sure if it was that the book picked up, or if the audio made a difference.
I just finished Pineapple Street in a few days. A good summer beach read.
Yes, Hour of the Witch was heart thumping good! Totally gripping! I loved it!
Thank you so much for another unputdownable list! I’ve been waiting to find more and grateful for your list and the comments. My TBR pile is on fire!
I totally agree on Piranesi. I kept telling myself to slow down and make it last, but could not stop! Recently, I gulped Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney and because of that, I was unprepared for the ending! Marvelous feeling! Also, the next book I read, Midnight Riot, the first book in a 9-book series called The Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, was another “just sit down, enjoy, and forget about getting anything else done” day!
Happy to see another Rivers of London fan here! Keep reading … the storyline just gets crazier!
My library just made Moon over Soho available. Trying to hold off until the weekend!!
Although not quite a 24 hour read I am almost finished Waypoints by Sam Heughen. Sam plays Jamie Fraser in the hugely successful series Outlander based on Diana Gabaldon’s books. He combines his description of walking the West Highland Way in Scotland with his own life story. I’m a sucker for books about walking/hiking and when it lets me learn more about an actor who plays one of my favourite characters it’s a winner.
Piranesi is one of my favorite books of all time- stunningly original, so poignant.
I just listened to Wrong Place Wrong Time over a weekend, and it was pretty riveting. Completely illogical, “hysterical strength” notwithstanding, but I was willing to suspend my disbelief.
I agree on several of your choices. Two books I recently finished in a day, and thoroughly enjoyed are; Dust Child by, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai and Symphony of Secrets by, Brendan Slocumb.
I have had lots of “meh” reads this spring, including many highly touted books that I was expecting to like more. So I was thrilled to find two great ones that I finished in less than 24 hours recently. They are very different.
Sally Hepworth’s The Soulmate was literally something I couldn’t put down until I figured out what happened. Trigger warnings for suicide (clear from the book description) and mental illness (not so clear). But compelling, fascinating and thought-provoking.
One of my best reads in a long time was Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro. The characters stayed with me for days afterward. Absolutely a beautifully crafted story.
I am on chapter 3 in Soulmates as of today! I can tell it is going to be difficult to put down so I appreciate your review and comments. It’s the end of the school year and on top of it I’m moving, so it’s not entirely logical that I’m diving into books that are hard to put down, but it does help alleviate the stress and gives me a bit of a brain break on reality!
Dawn, yes I love “brain break” books, I know exactly what you mean. I felt like Soulmate was one of those, for sure! Good luck moving!
Just added Signal Fires to my TBR – sounds amazing! Thank you for sharing!
I’m so glad you think so and would love to know what you think afterward, it really was so moving. Take care! (P. S. Armstrong was my maiden name. :))
I am grateful for this list even though I have read quite a few of these already. Also, I am going to read all of the comments. I am in the worse reading slump in years. I am reading lots of books including many on various bookstagrammers’ lists and haven’t found a real page turner yet! This is unlike me. Please keep the recs coming!!!
Hi Pat, if you like thrillers, then I would wholeheartedly recommend The Eden Test. It took me from the very beginning, and, as I am having a hard time sleeping these days, when I woke up at 4:30 in the morning, it was totally natural to grab my Kindle, and keep reading! Needless to say, I finished it this morning. Strong plot with some clues in bedded in the story that will keep you guessing and wondering what is really going on. I thought it wrapped up nicely at the end and really enjoyed it. Happy summer reading!
While reading a book in 24 hours usually means I don’t remember the book, it certainly does make for a reading experience I remember fondly! I read Winter People by Jennifer McMahon and The Bride Test by Helen Hoang in single sittings, and each day sparkles in my memory as a sort of “best day ever”. I also read Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty over a weekend at the lake with family and friends. I must have been reading with an obsession that caused me to be totally oblivious to others’ reactions because when I finally shut the back cover and looked up someone said “Oh, and you going to talk to people now?” Oops! 🙂
The Winter People was really creepy, loved that.
My son recently loaned me his copy of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” and it was so good I finished it in 2 days. He said he finished it in one day.
In high school I stayed up reading And Then There Were None until about 4 AM. I really needed to know who the killer was.
I’ve read 3 books in my lifetime that I could not put down (and finished in less than 24 hours). The first two I read in proof copies (pre-publication): One Witness by Aggie Hurst, also published as Aggie: The Inspiring Story of a Girl Without a Country; and Broken, Yet Triumphant by Aimee Anderson, now a movie called A Murder of Innocence. The third was The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers.
Its a tie between One Witness and The Last Sin Eater as to which is my all time favorite book, but since one is a true story and the other is fiction, I figure I can have both.
I am sure there have been others, but the one that comes to mind, doesn’t totally fit. Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea. This book is not for everyone, but it was for me. This chonker is almost 600 pages. While it took me a couple of days to get to page 250 – once I did there was no putting it down. I sat in the same chair, had the whole room (and world) go dark on me as I tried to turn on the lamp next to me without taking my eyes off the page. If you like stories about stories, love an atomspheric, magical world and are there just for the vibes, then this story might be for you. Just block your schedule for the last 350 pages. 🙂
The last one I read in 24 hours,The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave and a little more than 24 was The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
The latest book I read VERY late into the night (actually, morning!) was Frog Music by Emma Donaghue. I love this author, and most (if not all) of her books are “unputdownable”!
Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane. Historically accurate, very graphic.
I couldn’t put down either of Rosie Walsh’s books, Ghosted and The Love of My Life! They were MY cup of tea and I HAD to find out the ending!
I love a good page-turner and there are so many on this list and in the comments. I love Blake Crouch’s books – ‘Upgrade’ (which Anne listed) but also ‘Dark Matter’ and ‘Recursion,’ and I flew through all of these. Right now I’m reading Joel Rosenberg’s thriller ‘The Libyan Diversion’; I love his fast-paced books even though they are not a genre I normally read. In fact my daughter picked up ‘The Libyan Diversion’ for me from the library and she told me that she was surprised that the hold was for me and not for her dad – hahahaha! It’s really fun to find those “unputdownable” books…
Happy Reading!
Completely agree about The Anomaly; such a propulsive and mind bending story. A completely different book that I couldn’t put down was Nine Women, One Dress by Jane L. Rosen.
Ink Blood Sister Scribe is a recent “unoutdownable” book for me!