24-05-2025
11 Engrossing Books That Will Be Hard To Put Down
There's always a place for a book you can't stop reading, and for me, that place is wherever I am on holiday. So, here are 11 books that you may not be able to put down.
Replay – Ken Grimwood
This fantasy/sci-fi novel follows the life of Jeff Winston, and then it follows the life of Jeff Winston again, and again. Saddened and unenthused by his life, Jeff suddenly drops dead, only to wake up as his 18-year-old self with all of his memories in tact. In repeating parts of his life, he explores different relationships, decisions, and various paths, making him, and the reader question where a meaningful life truly comes from.
City of Thieves – David Benioff
This historical fiction is set four months into the siege of Leningrad, during a brutal, biting winter. With food scarce, a teenager named Lev is caught looting the body of a dead German paratrooper, and is arrested and put in a cell with Kolya, a charismatic young deserter. Instead of facing execution, the two are instead given an almost impossible task: finding a dozen eggs for a Soviet colonel's daughter's wedding, or die. Their journey takes them through the perilous conditions of soviet Russia, and bring the two closer as they fight for their survival.
And Then There Were None – Agatha Christie
This gripping psychological thriller and murder mystery follows ten individuals, all with a wicked past, who are lured to a private island under false pretences. When, one by one, the group begin to be murdered, we wonder who is the orchestrator of this scheme, and how they have choreographed it.
Americanah – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This novel follows Ifemelu and Obinze who are young and in love when they each leave military-ruled Nigeria for different shores. Ifemelu goes to America, where defeats and successes come in equal parts, and where race becomes a potent issue, something she'd never had to consider before. Obinze arrives in London, undocumented and in danger, and his life there is fraught with it's own hardship. We follow their different stories, and what happens when they reunite 15 years later.
Hurricane Season – Fernanda Melchor
This novel starts with the murder of a local 'witch' in a desolate Mexican village. Questions as to who committed such an act, and why, begin to be asked, and a society shrouded in poverty, violence and misogyny is revealed. With a lyricism that is unique and hard to put down, Hurricane Season certainly keeps your eyes fixed on the page.
Dark Matter – Blake Crouch
This alternate reality sci-fi novel follows Jason Dessen, a physics professor who has been abducted. His life as he knew it is gone, and finding his way back there is more confusing, mind-bending, and horrifying than he ever could have imagined.
Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir
Ryland Grace has woken up – he's on a last-chance mission and the fate of humanity depends on his success. The only issue is, he cannot remember a thing. Awakened millions of miles away from home, and with no one around him other than the corpses of two others, Ryland's hazy memory begins to return, and the sheer magnitude of his task begins to dawn on him.
The 7 husbands of Evelyn Hugo – Taylor Jenkins Reid
This is the fictional story of Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo, who, after her life in the limelight, is ready to tell all of her scandalous secrets, her rise to fame, and her sacrifices to an unknown journalist, Monique Grant. Surprised that a star such as Evelyn would choose her, Monique seizes the opportunity; her conversation with Evelyn includes some shocking revelations, ones that Monique herself is somehow connected to.
Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
This novel, spanning 300 years and two continents, follows the lives and subsequent generations of two half-sisters born in different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. We follow the sorrow-filled stories of each lineage, one staying in Ghana at the height of the slave trade, and the other sold off and shipped to America where the decedents are raised in slavery. The magnitude of this novel is a feat of it's own, but the heartfelt stories are elegantly, and viscerally told.
The Firm – John Grisham
Mitch McDeere finished law at Harvard and is bombarded with offers from law firms, but one offer stands out: Bendini, Lambert and Locke. After taking the job, it becomes clear that this is the law firm of the mafia, one that is almost impossible to get out of. Mitch must figure out how to balance this new life embedded in criminal conspiracy in order to survive.
American Dirt – Jeanine Cummins
Lydia has a fairly comfortable life in Acapulco with her son and husband, a life they're content with. But when her husband publishes an exposé of the newest prominent drug mogul, their lives change forever. Forced to flee in order to protect themselves, Lydia and her son, Luca, embark on an attempt to reach the United States, along with many others who seem to be running from something, but towards what?
We'd love to hear your own recommendations, let us know in the comments below!
