# Books you couldn't put down **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803 "2011-07-30T02:30:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/61 "2011-08-02T14:16:24Z")
Dan Chaon’s _Await Your Reply_ is one of the best novels I’ve ever read. I just raced through it. Sly, chilling, intriguing and very, very readable. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/62 "2011-08-02T15:37:23Z")
A friend loaned me \*Replay \*by Ken Grimwood, and it nearly killed me to have to stop reading for real life stuff. It’s definitely a good long airplane or bus trip book. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/63 "2011-08-02T15:46:16Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I don’t know if this counts as a book but there was this instruction manual for a hot glue gun that I just could not let go of. ;):D:cool: Is that part of the “…For Dummies” series?: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/64 "2011-08-02T16:13:29Z")
I liked _Freakonomics_, as already mentioned, but my most recent “can’t put it down” was [_Desdaemona_](http://www.amazon.com/Desdaemona-Ben-Macallan/dp/1907519637/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312301394&sr=1-1) by Ben Macallan. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/65 "2011-08-02T16:28:29Z")
> [@browncoat](#): > > House of Leaves - Mark Z Danielewski Really? It was good, but long, and it felt long. Especially with all those footnotes and free verse. War and Peace was good too, but I can see putting it down for awhile. Who’s watched all of LOST in one sitting? ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/66 "2011-08-02T16:28:50Z")
> [@digs](#): > > That’s no extra charge here. 😉 > [@](#): > > And not optional. You get used to it. > I’m just waiting for someone to sneer at my “kid book” selections. Then I’ll pull out my comic book recommendations: “I stayed up all night reading Spider-Man 2099, issues 1-25, written by Peter David… I mean, when I found out Miguel’s secret, I couldn’t put 'em down!” Deserved or not (and I think not), at least that would be based on your choices. I don’t know why I read slow. If I were defensive, I would say that it’s because I read very closely and carefully, or because I have ADHD, but who really knows. The fact is that I do read a lot, and it takes me\* forever\*. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/67 "2011-08-02T20:23:19Z")
> [@YoSaffBridge](#): > > A friend loaned me \*Replay \*by Ken Grimwood, and it nearly killed me to have to stop reading for real life stuff. It’s definitely a good long airplane or bus trip book. Oh, yes, definitely. Loved that book. Have to read it again sometime! ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/68 "2011-08-02T21:02:55Z")
It sounds like your reading preferences are similar to mine. I am still unable to put down **The Doomsday Book** by Connie Willis when I start reading it, and I think I’ve read it more than a dozen times. I _always_ cry at the end, too. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/69 "2011-08-02T23:53:38Z")
I’m going to have to stop coming into this thread. Every time I do, I add at least another three or four titles to my To Read list. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/70 "2011-08-03T01:18:49Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > The book I can’t put down is Len Deighton’s _Bomber_. I’ve read it four times, every time the last quarter all in a single time. > > I agree with the above _To Kill a Mockingbird, In Cold Blood_ and _Harry Potter_. > > Let’s not let my SO know about Harry Potter, ok? It will be our little secret. 🙂 > > Len Deighton’s\* Goodbye Mickey Mouse\*, another WWII airplane novel is also gripping. I couldn’t put down Deighton’s _Berlin Game_, _Mexico Set_ and _London Match_, pretty much the best Cold War spy series ever. And _Winter_ is fantastic. It’s a very distantly related prequel to the Game Set and Match series. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/71 "2011-08-03T03:40:32Z")
Read Stokers "Dracula’. You will find out why it has stuck for a century. I had trouble putting down “Sot Weed Factor”. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/72 "2011-08-03T13:18:58Z")
If you liked _Dracula_, check out George R.R. Martin’s _Fevre Dream_, about vampires along the Mississippi before the Civil War. A good historical/horror page-turner. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/73 "2011-08-03T15:40:19Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I don’t know if this counts as a book but there was this instruction manual for a hot glue gun that I just could not let go of. ;):D:cool: Good thing you didn’t have it in the same book bag as the Helium tome!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/74 "2011-08-03T17:04:16Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > If you liked _Dracula_, check out George R.R. Martin’s _Fevre Dream_, about vampires along the Mississippi before the Civil War. A good historical/horror page-turner. Even if you didn’t like _Dracula_ all that much, check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/75 "2011-08-03T17:24:36Z")
Ed McBain’s _Downtown_. Not one of his famous series, just an incredible tale set in NY at Christmastime. Or anything by McBain, the Grand Old Master of the detective novel. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/76 "2011-08-03T18:13:11Z")
I loved _Hit Man_ by Lawrence Block - all about a sympathetic (!) New York assassin and stamp-collector, Keller. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/77 "2011-08-03T18:45:50Z")
I got in trouble in school for reading **Jurassic Park** during class, but it was much more fun than fractions. I give a +1 to the _Discworld_ books and **The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.** Finally I will admit that I’m one of those people who finished reading the last Harry Potter book the day it came out. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/78 "2011-08-03T18:59:26Z")
_Sunshine_ by Robin McKinley. One of her few novels written for adults, it’s really good and cries out for a sequel, but she only writes what she feels like writing. StG ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/79 "2011-08-03T22:31:03Z")
I also liked Sunshine, but I don’t think that it needs a sequel. I think that she said everything she set out to say in the one book. It’s a great book, and McKinley does her usual excellent job. I’d rather have a writer STOP writing when she’s said everything that needs to be said, rather than have her keep churning out slush for her fans. ---
**Author:** ![Euryphaessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Euryphaessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euryphaessa)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803/80 "2011-08-03T22:54:18Z")
The _Mistress of the Art of Death_ series. Set in 12th century England, the main protagonist is a lady pathologist retained by Henry II for the purpose of examining corpses and solving murders. Very entertaining, and the characters are wonderful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-couldnt-put-down/590803.md?page=5)