Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
What we're reading

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

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:
ridingfreely · 17/09/2026 22:00

F

SharonEllis · 17/09/2026 22:06

Any early Jeannette Winterson - and her autobiography.

mamamamamamamamamamachameleon · 17/09/2026 22:07

Where the Crawdads Sing. Totally absorbing!

Stardogchampion · 17/09/2026 22:13

Heart the Lover, Lily King

BoulevardOfBrokenSleep · 17/09/2026 22:29

I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in a day or two - it's not the sort of thing I normally read but i really enjoyed it
It flips back and forward between the story of each husband and the journalist she's telling the story to and it all, kind of... ties up neatly in the end (no spoilers) so it feels short, haven't counted pages

@campingwidow I love Dungeon Crawler Carl 😆discovered the series on audiobook recently but the op did say not trashy and i fear it might be 😥

SixtySomething · 17/09/2026 22:29

SuperGinger · 16/09/2026 18:14

Small Things Like These by Clsire Keegan is just wonderful

I thoroughly agree. It really is very short, too.

IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere · 17/09/2026 22:35

Very short but well worth reading "The Uncommon Reader" by Alan Bennett.

SorryforyourlossMoveon · 17/09/2026 22:50

SevenKingsMustDie · 16/09/2026 21:11

I see lots of people have suggested this - it’s great!

Alsp, I Who Have Never Known Men by Jaqueline Hartman. Short, but devastatingly powerful - I think about it often.

Show quote history

Reading that currently, loving it.

Pieceofpurplesky · 17/09/2026 22:51

The Grace Years

GingerTeaLove · 18/09/2026 06:53

Two by Taylor Jenkins Reid ;

Atmosphere: A Love Story

and Daisy Jones & The Six.

dominose · 18/09/2026 07:21

Piranesi By Susannah Clarke

Reading2 · 18/09/2026 07:22

I couldn't put down Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone or The Woman in White. I love 19th-century novels but don't normally find them unputdownable! They both ruined my sleep for a couple of days.

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 18/09/2026 07:30

The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Tuesdays with Morrie

Both by Mitch Albom

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 18/09/2026 07:31

IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere · 17/09/2026 22:35

Very short but well worth reading "The Uncommon Reader" by Alan Bennett.

Lovely book

ihatethewordhubby · 18/09/2026 08:03

SevenKingsMustDie · 16/09/2026 21:11

I see lots of people have suggested this - it’s great!

Alsp, I Who Have Never Known Men by Jaqueline Hartman. Short, but devastatingly powerful - I think about it often.

Show quote history

I also feel the same about this book. Think about it often.

Chocolateistheanswer2026 · 18/09/2026 11:05

I really enjoyed:
Remarkably Bright Creatures
Lessons In Chemistry
The Women was incredible but 480 pages and not light hearted - worth a read sometime though.

Stephanie1311 · 18/09/2026 11:11

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald. A perfectly formed short book.

SereneGoose · 18/09/2026 11:25

Absolutely brilliant book.

menopausalmare · 18/09/2026 11:44

The curious incident of the dog.....
Secret diary of Adrian Mole.

campingwidow · 18/09/2026 12:20

BoulevardOfBrokenSleep · 17/09/2026 22:29

I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in a day or two - it's not the sort of thing I normally read but i really enjoyed it
It flips back and forward between the story of each husband and the journalist she's telling the story to and it all, kind of... ties up neatly in the end (no spoilers) so it feels short, haven't counted pages

@campingwidow I love Dungeon Crawler Carl 😆discovered the series on audiobook recently but the op did say not trashy and i fear it might be 😥

Intergalactic gameshow trash 😂😂. I’m loving it!

Tamrastarr · 18/09/2026 17:40

Thank you so much for this thread! I have a holiday coming up soon and I have added a few of those mentioned.
I also agree with The Names x

Kensingtonbuns · 18/09/2026 18:49

Tamrastarr · 18/09/2026 17:40

Thank you so much for this thread! I have a holiday coming up soon and I have added a few of those mentioned.
I also agree with The Names x

The Names should come with a trigger warning for domestic abuse, it is super harrowing.
Worth reading though.

Lee21C · 19/09/2026 18:08

These might not be short - but they are all books that I’ve really enjoyed.

i bought most of them for my niece (24) when she moved into her own place and commented she’d like to start reading for pleasure having completed her degree.

  1. The Glass Palace - Amitav Ghosh
  2. Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens
  3. The Mystery Bakery - Evie Woods
  4. The Secrets of Flowers - Sally Page
  5. The Olive Branch - Jo Thomas
  6. The People on Platform 5 - Clare Pooley
  7. A Dutiful Boy - Mohsin Zaidi
  8. The Paris Novel - Ruth Reichl
  9. The Beasts of Paris - Stef Penney
10. Missing, Presumed - Susie Steiner 11. The Dictionary of Lost Words - Pip Williams 12. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman 13. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid 14. Elizabeth is Missing - Emma Healey 15. Fresh Water for Flowers - Valerie Perrin
Lee21C · 19/09/2026 18:12

London Falling is a great book, really thought provoking. Not short though.

FrannieMabel · 19/09/2026 18:16

Cactus
leonard and Hungry Paul
the Correspondant
mad Mabel

Swipe left for the next trending thread