10 Good Books You Can Read in One Day – This post may contain affiliate links. You can view my full disclosure here.
If you’re someone who wants to read more books but you don’t like long novels or you just don’t have the time to read them, this post is for you!
I’m definitely a bookworm but I don’t always like taking weeks to finish a story. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to get through the whole book in one day.
And when it comes to books, longer doesn’t always mean better!
So, today I’m sharing a list of some of my FAVORITE books that you can read in one day. Some of these are books I read as a teenager – or even younger – but they’re stories that I still love. 🙂 There are also books from pretty much every genre here!
And the longest book on this list takes 4 hours and 20 minutes to read, so these are definitely all books that almost anyone can read in one day.
I’m also sharing a free reading log for the list-lovers like me who would like to keep track of the books that they read. You can find it at the end of this post!
Here are 10 good books you can read in one day:
1- And Then There Were None
Ten people, each with something to hide and something to fear, are invited to an isolated mansion on Indian Island by a host who, surprisingly, fails to appear. On the island, they are cut off from everything but each other and the inescapable shadows of their own past lives. One by one, the guests share the darkest secrets of their wicked pasts. And one by one, they die…
Which among them is the killer and will any of them survive?
Average reading time: 3 hours and 29 minutes
Amazon Goodreads
2- Animal Farm
A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. Thus the stage is set for one of the most telling satiric fables ever penned—a razor-edged fairy tale for grown-ups that records the evolution from revolution against tyranny to a totalitarianism just as terrible.
Average reading time: 1 hour and 51 minutes
Amazon Goodreads
3- Crank
In Crank, Ellen Hopkins chronicles the turbulent and often disturbing relationship between Kristina, a character based on her own daughter, and the “monster,” the highly addictive drug crystal meth, or “crank.” Kristina is introduced to the drug while visiting her largely absent and ne’er-do-well father. While under the influence of the monster, Kristina discovers her sexy alter-ego, Bree: “there is no perfect daughter, / no gifted high school junior, / no Kristina Georgia Snow. / There is only Bree.” Bree will do all the things good girl Kristina won’t, including attracting the attention of dangerous boys who can provide her with a steady flow of crank.
Average reading time: 2 hours and 37 minutes
Amazon Goodreads
4- The Outsiders
No one ever said life was easy. But Ponyboy is pretty sure that he’s got things figured out. He knows that he can count on his brothers, Darry and Sodapop. And he knows that he can count on his friends—true friends who would do anything for him, like Johnny and Two-Bit. But not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids whose idea of a good time is beating up on “greasers” like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect—until the night someone takes things too far.
Average reading time: 2 hours and 59 minutes
Amazon Goodreads
5- The Bad Beginning
…I’m sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune…
Average reading time: 1 hour and 39 minutes
Amazon Goodreads
6- The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Perks of Being a Wallflower follows observant “wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.
Average reading time: 3 hours and 42 minutes
Amazon Goodreads
7- Carrie
Carrie White may be picked on by her classmates, but she has a gift. She can move things with her mind. Doors lock. Candles fall. This is her power and her problem. Then, an act of kindness, as spontaneous as the vicious taunts of her classmates, offers Carrie a chance to be normal…until an unexpected cruelty turns her gift into a weapon of horror and destruction that no one will ever forget.
Average reading time: 4 hours and 20 minutes
Amazon Goodreads
8- Looking for Alaska
Before: Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then… After: Nothing is ever the same.
Average reading time: 4 hours and 7 minutes
Amazon Goodreads
9- The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).
Average reading time: 2 hours and 42 minutes
Amazon Goodreads
10- The Alchemist
Paulo Coelho’s masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago’s journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams.
Average reading time: 3 hours and 50 minutes
Amazon Goodreads
If you’re a bookworm like me, you might be interested in this FREE reading log. 🙂 Click the image above to sign up for my newsletter and you’ll get the reading log and other freebies!
What is a book you’ve read in one day? What would you add to this list? Let’s chat in the comments!
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These are excellent book recommendations! I’m curious to hear your opinions about the movies some of these have been made into. Which ones do you like the most?
I LOVE the old Carrie movie and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. And the Series of Unfortunate Events movie came out when I was a little kid and I remember seeing it in theaters and loving it but I was so upset that they didn’t make any sequels, haha. Which one is your favorite? 🙂
Such a cool post! I’m an all-or-nothing reader. I can go weeks without reading a book, then I’ll crush one in a week, so this is perfect for me!
I’m the same way, haha! I go through periods of reading nothing then I’ll read like 3 books in no time. 🙂
Thanks for the book list. I love reading and I loved The Alchemist. I enjoyed reading the Outsiders too. I think I would like to read Animal Farm soon.
Yes, those are all great books. 🙂 And thank you for the comment!
I love a quick read! I’ve been meaning to read a few of these including The Alchemist, Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Animal Farm.
Me too! And those are all great books. 🙂
These are great recommendations! A few of these I’ve read and a few have been on my own book list for a while now. I’ve never heard of “Crank”, though- it sounds like an incredible story!
You should definitely read Crank! That entire series is amazing. <3
These are such a wide variety of books! The Outsiders was my favorite book in middle school! I probably read it a hundred times over the years. Glad to see it recommended and getting some love!
Good list. I have already read some of them but I will read the rest.
Great list! Summer has been a great time to read some amazing books. I remember having to read The Outsiders growing up in school.