Oh the joy of discovering a book you just… can’t… put… down. I have a profound memory of being 12 years old and reading the mystical children’s book, When Marnie Was There by Joan G. Robinson (now out of print). I tried to read it slowly to stretch out the adventure, but I couldn’t stop. And I will never forget how I cried when I was finished. I cried not necessarily because it was a sad book, but because the adventure was over.
I have been lucky to read many books I just can’t put down. Below is a list of 100 Books You Can’t Put Down, compiled from both your recommendations as well as suggested titles from our HPB Bibliomaniacs.
(1) The Road, by Cormac McCarthy (2) The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis (3) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling (4) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson (5) The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown (6) The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls (7) The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (8) The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger (9) The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini (10) The Help, by Kathryn Stockett (11) To Kill a Mockingbird,by Harper Lee (12) Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card (13) The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak (14) The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, by Stieg Larsson (15) A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving (16) The Fault in our Stars, by John Green (17) The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien (18) City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare (19) Storm Front, by Jim Butcher (20) 11.22.63, by Stephen King (21) Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon (22) The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky (23) The Giver, by Lois Lowry (24) Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradlez (25) Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, by John Berendt
(26) A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini (27) Night Circus, by Eric Morgenstern (28) Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen (29) East of Eden, by John Steinbeck (30) On the Road, by Jack Kerouac (31) Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld (32) Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts (33) The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver (34) Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom (35) Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett (36) Twilight, by Stephenie Meyers (37) Circle of Friends, by Maeve Binchy (38) Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan (39) Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin (40) Life of Pi, by Yann Martel (41) The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant (42) Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert (43) The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein (44) Sarah’s Key, by Tatiana de Rosney (45) The Time Travelers Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger (46) Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell (47) The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams (48) The Good Earth, by Pearl Buck (49) Divergent, by Veronica Roth (50) The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson
(51) Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden (52) The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman (53) Someone Knows my Name, by Lawrence Hill (54)
The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd (55) The Other Boleyn Girl, by Phillipa Gregory (56) The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton (57) Big Stone Gap, by Ardiana Trigiani (58) Skinny Dip, by Carl Hiaasen (59) She, by H. Rider Haggard (60) The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros (61)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou (62) Teacher Man: A Memoir, by Frank McCourt (63) Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck (64) And the Band Played On, by Randy Shilts (65)
Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann (66) World War Z, by Max Brooks (67) Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer (68) Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (69) History of Love, by Nicole Krauss (70) Girl in Translation,by Jean Kwok (71) Explosive 18, by Janet Evanovich (72)
Bossypants, by Tina Fey (73) The Leftovers, by Tom Perrotta (74)
Siddhartha, by Herman Hess (75) Catch 22, by Joseph Heller
(76) I Love Everybody (And Other Atrocious Lies), by Laurie Notaro (77) You Shall Know Our Velocity, by Dave Eggers (78) Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret, by Judy Blume (79) Me Talk Pretty One Day, by David Sedaris (80) The Man Who Planted Trees, by Jean Giono (81) The Princess Bride, by William Goldman (82) Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett (83) Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl, by Susan McCorkindale (84) Halfway to the Grave, by Jeaniene Frost (85) Prey, by Linda Howard (86) The Thin Man, by Dashiell Hammett (87) The Crying of Lot 49, by Thomas Pynchon (88) High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby (89) A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson (90) Deerskin, by Robin McKinley (91) Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn (92) The Perfect Storm, by Sebastian Junger (93) The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon (94) The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery (95) Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James (96) Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris (97) Murder on Astor Place, by Victoria Thompson (98) Deadly Sins, by Lora Leigh (99) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S. Thompson (100) Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison
Do you remember a book you just couldn’t put down?
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