Five Compulsive Page-Turners You Won't Be Able To Put Down

forsaking all others to read is my favorite personality trait

Hello and welcome to another book list! To recap: I keep a book account on Instagram and on Substack, I take those books and put them into lists, including one on thicc books and this one on novels I recommend to anyone, anytime, anywhere. Today’s list: books you pick up at nine in the morning and don’t put down until you’re finished at nine at night.

I love a good thriller, though some of these novels skirt genre lines and end up in the general (but incredibly necessary) category of simply unputdownable. Below are five books I could not stop reading from five incredible authors. They are all 5/5 stars from me. I wish I could read them again for the first time.

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1. The Guest by Emma Cline

   Why: Sharp prose, electric tension, the kind of buzzy book that’s worth the buzz

   What: Summer is coming to a close on the East End of Long Island, and Alex is no longer welcome.
   

   

2. Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
   Why: Delicious, timely, with MUCH to talk about in the group chat when it’s done

   What: Annie Bot, a custom AI girlfriend, was created to be the perfect companion for her human owner Doug.
   

   

3. My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
   Why: Dark, fast paced, an absolute delight

   What: Korede’s sister Ayoola is many things: the favorite child, the beautiful one, possibly sociopathic. And now Ayoola’s third boyfriend in a row is dead, stabbed through the heart with Ayoola’s knife.
   

   

4. How To Be A Good Wife by Emma Chapman
   Why: Creepy, disturbing, thriller facing

   What: Marta and Hector have been married for a long time. Through the good and bad; through raising a son and sending him off to life after college. So long, in fact, that Marta finds it difficult to remember her life before Hector.
   

   

5. Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
   Why: To quote Stephen King, “Hard to put down, harder to forget.”

   What: Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars in the world of literary fiction. But Athena’s a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.

   What would you add?

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   PS: No one is sponsoring these suggestions, Bookshop is the only affiliate link, a website supporting independent bookstores. Bezos? Never heard of him. xo