Top Ten Books I Read in One Sitting

Or would have, if I had the time. I don’t think I have read a book in one sitting since I was a kid, I simply do not have that kind of free time anymore. However, there are books that I have inhaled – read very fast, because they were so good I couldn’t put them down. And these are some examples, there were (of course) much more than 10! Top Ten Tuesday is run by Artsy Reader Girl.

1. The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah
2. The Martian by Andy Weir
3. A walk in the woods by Bill Bryson
4. Flowers in the Attic by Virginia Andrews
5. Left Neglected by Lisa Genova
6. Fault in our Stars by John Green
7. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
8. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
9. The Woman who Stole my Life by Marian Keyes
10. The Clock-Makers Daughter by Kate Morton

1. The Great Alone was probably the best book I read last year, and I read 73 last year so there was a lot of competition. It was my second Kristin Hannah book that our work bookclub had read and we were not disappointed. It is a real rollercoaster ride this book, it keeps you on your toes. A very quick summary would be that a family move to Alaska to start a new life, in the middle of nowhere; they actually have to fish and can salmon ready for the Alaskan winter. But they are trapped in their log cabin with a father who is a little volatile to say the least.

2. The Martian is probably the funniest book I have ever read; it is so my sense of humour, very dry and sarcastic and I love it. It’s a bit technical at times but not off-putting. If you loved the movie you will love this even more. if you’ve never heard of the book or movie (where have you been? Living under a moon rock?) then a quick summary is a mission to Mars goes wrong, leaving one man behind, to fend for himself on Mars, to try to survive without enough food before the next mission will land and save him.

3. A walk in the Woods is a funny book about Bill Bryson going for a c.2000 mile hike on the appalachian trail, my review is here.

4. Flowers in the Attic – ahhh this takes me back. My best friend at school introduced me to this book when I was about 14/15 years old. What a heartbreaking story this is. The Dollanganger family lose their father in an accident, and after his death they move in with their rich grandmother and are forced to live in the attic, the four young children were visited by their mother, but then her visits become less and less frequent.

5. Left Neglected – this is one of my most recent reads, and it absorbed me straight away. I found the main character so relateable (a busy mum). The story is about a high-flyer couple with three children; the mother gets into a car accident and suffers from a head injury which leads to a condition called “Left Neglect” – it is a condition where the brain cannot see, understand or even acknowledge that the left side of anything exists. The mother is in a rehabilitation centre training her brain to recognise the left side.

6. The fault in our stars is about Hazel, a teenage girl who has cancer and is terminal. She finds some unlikely friends in her cancer support group who change her life. I love this book, it is so witty that you forget that it should be sad.

7. Me Before you is a story about Louisa Clark, who loses her job at the cafe she works at, only to end up working at the big house for the family of Will Traynor who is left wheel-chair bound by a terrible accident and needs daily care. Louisa becomes that carer.

8. Eat Pray Love is an autobiographical tale of Elizabeth Gilbert’s life, where in the her thirties she decides to divorce her husband and go travelling to find herself. Eating and learning italian in Italy, praying in India and will she find love in Bali? Another book I have read many times; it is so easy to read/listen to. It is so evocative.

9. The woman who stole my life is probably my favourite Marian Keyes and as I write this I am just realising the pattern of my last few books, it really looks like I enjoy reading books that are medical. I hadn’t realised that, hmmm I don’t know what that says about me, I also love Grey’s Anatomy. Anyway I digress. This story is about a woman who suddenly gets struck down with an extremely rare and serious condition called Guillain Barre syndrome which completely transforms her life.

10. The Clock-makers Daughter – is not medical, phew. This is a historical fiction, actually it was my first. I loved how it jumped through time trying to solve a mystery that had been buried for c150 years.

Did you find any of these books as absorbing as I did?