Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.
The rules are simple:
- Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
- Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
- Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
- Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.
This week’s topic is Books I Read In One Sitting (Or Would Have If I Had The Time). I can’t recall many books I’ve read in one sitting, which I’m defining as starting and finishing a book on the same day. For one thing, with most books being 300 pages at least, it means carving out a significant amount of time. In addition, I like to reflect on what I’ve read so reading in chunks over the space of a few days works better for me. Therefore, I’ve concentrated on the ‘or would have if I had the time’ part of the topic in coming up with my list. However, I’ve included some short books that even I – if I had the inclination – could read in a day.
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett (it’s only 128 pages long)
The Power-House by John Buchan (it’s a classic page-turner, written before the more well-known The Thirty-Nine Steps)
Vanish in an Instant by Margaret Millar (a modern classic by an author known for her ‘surprise’ endings)
Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller (this one’s on my 20 Books of Summer 2021 list and, at less than 300 pages, is a good candidate for ‘in one sitting’ if reviews are anything to go by)
Together by Luke Adam Hawker (a beautiful book of illustrations accompanied by thoughtful words)
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (a masterclass in brevity and storytelling)
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor (a poignant and closely observed little gem)
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill (a chilling ghost story with plenty of thrills despite its size)
The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley (“The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.”)
Call For The Dead by John le Carré (the first appearance by George Smiley but in a murder mystery)
What Cathy Read Next... 