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Original poster

Unputdownable, short-ish, not trashy books

184 replies

Europeanbanana · 16/09/2026 14:37

I need books that will grip me so much I won't look at my phone. I don't want anything trashy or too long. Let's under under 350 pages. Any suggestions for really wonderful books that fit the bill?

OP posts:
Minasama · 17/09/2026 18:49

John Steinbeck - of Mice and Men or The Pearl. (East of Eden is an amazing book but too long.)
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.
Anything by Agatha Christie.
Demon Copperhead but again too long.
The Secret Barrister.
Unnatural Causes (this is the best book I have ever read.)

Drealifegoals · 17/09/2026 18:48

TonTonMacoute · 16/09/2026 21:05

Non-fiction book I'm reading atm, and am gripped by, Free by Lea Ypi.

Its her account of growing up in Albania at about the time when their leader died. A fascinating insight into living in a dictatorship.

She is an academic at the LSE now, so there's quite a bit more interesting story to come. Real page turner

I also loved this!

Criminetly · 17/09/2026 18:46

WildExpert · 17/09/2026 12:56

Mark birthday cod coke in my shopping bag for you to get to to see if I can Josh ball daddy mammy hannh car home Mark chis is to get to to

Is this a roundabout way of recommending Finnegan’s Wake?

Comtesse · 17/09/2026 18:45

Sgtmajormummy · 16/09/2026 21:46

The English Understand Wool by Helen De Witt.
About 300 pages IIRC. You’ll finish it and go right back to the beginning to pick up what you missed. So call it 600 pages.

Very short (not even 100 pages) and very crafty and clever.

Stormontadvisor · 17/09/2026 18:43

GagaBinks · 16/09/2026 18:12

A Short Stay in Hell

A great little book, written by a Mormon, about a good Mormon who finds himself in hell and has to try to get out.

alloutofcareunits · 17/09/2026 18:41

John Boyne’s Elements series are excellent, 4 fairly short books that are interlinked and come together at the end. However, I’ve read some people find the themes difficult so you might want to check them out first

GlobalTravellerbutespeciallyBognor · 17/09/2026 18:40

Great thread, thank you

MyOliveCritic · 17/09/2026 18:40

Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers

52inJan · 17/09/2026 18:38

I'm reading Transit by Rachel Cusk, it's short and a really easy read but so succinctly and beautifully written and just full of little truths. I've only just realised it's the 2nd in a trilogy apparently (the Outline trilogy, reading book 2 first hasn't stopped me really enjoying it. Can't wait to read the other two (& her other books).

MaddestGranny · 17/09/2026 18:36

two suggestions from me
A Life's Music by Andrei Makine.
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell.

campingwidow · 17/09/2026 18:29

I really enjoyed Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth. It’s marketed as a thriller but it’s more contemporary fiction I thought.
Currently racing through Dungeon Crawler Carl which is nuts

Lolalady · 17/09/2026 18:26

The Small Hand by Susan Hill. She wrote The Woman in Black. A ghost story but very well written and gripping

Wasawills · 17/09/2026 18:25

Maybe a bit left field , maybe something a bit different:
The Road - Cormac McCarthy (terrifying but fantastic and very short)
No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy
Queens Gambit - Walter Tevis ( even better than one of my favourite TV series)
Night of the Hunter - Davis Grubb ( dated and showing its age of course but … wow)
The Shape of Water - Guillermo Del Toro
True Tales of American Life - Paul Auster ( inspiring, happy, sad, a collection of very short unusual life event stories taken from ( I think) a radio show.

thisisrubbish · 17/09/2026 18:24

Sara Cox, JoJo Moyes, Graham Norton all excellent

RastaMouse99 · 17/09/2026 18:20

NorthFaceofthelaundrypile · 16/09/2026 21:13

I’ve just read Rebecca for the first time and couldn’t put it down.

Rebecca is not a quick read 😂

RastaMouse99 · 17/09/2026 18:17

One I bought at an airport and finished waiting for my flight (might have been delayed, or maybe I missed it reading the book...) "And then there were none", by Agatha Christie. I bought it when it was called Ten Little Indians. The book has hopefully now landed on an acceptable title, poor publishers, they've been through the mill with that one 😅

SquadOfSquid · 17/09/2026 18:17

In Memoriam by Alice Winn

TheBlueKoala · 17/09/2026 18:14

drspouse · 16/09/2026 21:07

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. Lovely little book.

OK- everyone loves it. I just found it boring so even if the book is really short it was too long for me. But I have probably missed something because everybody seems to love it - I would just like to ask why? I give you that the language is perfect but how can you not find it tedious? Genuinly trying to get it.

RastaMouse99 · 17/09/2026 18:14

SuperGinger · 16/09/2026 18:14

Small Things Like These by Clsire Keegan is just wonderful

It is indeed very short! Surprisingly so 😂
Around Christmas I saw Cillian Murphy on the telly so settled down to watch and very quickly realised it was a film adaptation of Small Things! Twas excellent, if course. I don't think it veered from the book at all. Small and perfectly formed, much like Mr Murphy himself.

mrstambourinewoman · 17/09/2026 18:13

Boys don’t cry by Fíona Scarlett. Sad , gritty but I read it in a day and incredibly well written

Silverbirchleaf · 17/09/2026 18:13

Pork pie pandemonium - Steve Higgs

PhotoFirePoet · 17/09/2026 18:12

That Bonesetter Woman by Frances Quinn

Additup · 17/09/2026 18:11

Diary of a Nobody

SorryforyourlossMoveon · 17/09/2026 18:10

Five by Ilona Bannister and Julia by Sandra Newman.
Loved them both.

RastaMouse99 · 17/09/2026 18:10

Heartburn by Norah Ephron
Ordinary Time by Cathy Rentzenbrink
Four Seasons by Stephen King (four novellas in one volume)
Sorrow & Bliss by Meg Mason (not sure if it's short but I read it in a day)