# Real Page Turners – books u can’t put down? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 29, 2001, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-page-turners-books-u-can-t-put-down/52255 "2001-01-29T13:33:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![struuter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@struuter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/struuter)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2001, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-page-turners-books-u-can-t-put-down/52255/21 "2001-01-30T15:18:00Z")
The only reason I didn’t finish ‘In Cold Blood’ in one sitting: Reading it for a class, I actually fell asleep with book in hand. I was exhausted. I awoke some time later–in the wee hours of the morning–to the sounds of my youngest child screaming. When I went to his room (where he slept with his older brother, for security’s sake) I found him covered in blood. His brother lay next to him, also covered in blood, but didn’t move. First thing I thought–some crazed killer had crept into our home and begun slaughtering my children. When I put my glasses on I realized that my youngest had a bad nose bleed. Older son just slept through it. Yuck. Scared the you-know-what out of me. Couldn’t pick the book back up for a couple days. ---
**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:** [January 30, 2001, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-page-turners-books-u-can-t-put-down/52255/22 "2001-01-30T15:21:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Elkman \* > \*\*Maybe my taste is radically different from you folks, but the last book I read that I could honestly classify as a “page turner” was Stephen King’s “The Stand”. The first time I read it, I actually read it in one sitting, 20 straight hours. Called in sick to work, took it to the john, dinnertable, finally finished it in bed. Never felt compelled to do that before or since. \*\* Me too. I read the unabridged version in about 24 hours. Gave me a monster headache. Did the same with IT. ---
**Author:** ![RocknRoll\_Killing\_Machine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5daacb/32.png) [@RocknRoll\_Killing\_Machine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RocknRoll_Killing_Machine)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2001, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-page-turners-books-u-can-t-put-down/52255/23 "2001-01-30T15:24:52Z")
**Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas** by Hunter s. Thompson. and **The Prince of Tides** by… Someone. [Edited by Czarcasm on 01-30-2001 at 11:40 PM] ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2001, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-page-turners-books-u-can-t-put-down/52255/24 "2001-01-30T15:30:47Z")
I agree with Jeffrey Archer. He’s so good, but since those books were published a while ago, he doesn’t get the attention he deserves. I’ve loved all his books. For something recent, I found I couldn’t down “Memoirs of a Geisha.” Carl Hiassen’s books are hard to put down, although they all run together after a while (in my mind). For chick literature, I find Maeve Binchy’s storytelling is so good, I’m reluctant to stop reading any of her books until the last page. Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth was also a damned good book. ---
**Author:** ![sliv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@sliv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sliv)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2001, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-page-turners-books-u-can-t-put-down/52255/25 "2001-01-30T18:04:14Z")
I’m a little surprised no one’s mentioned James Ellroy yet. LA Confidential, American Tabloid, White Jazz, quite a few more. I’ve been avoiding him recently because I know that if I start one of his novels, I’m not going to be able to stop until I finish it. ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2001, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-page-turners-books-u-can-t-put-down/52255/26 "2001-01-31T01:37:34Z")
How about **The Secret History** by Donna Tartt or **Zodiac: An Ecothriller** by Neal Stephenson? Most people know Stephenson for Snow Crash and the Diamond Age, and they’re great books, but for sheer what-will-happen-next plot exhilaration, I always re-read Zodiac. I stopped everything until I finished The Secret History. -fh ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2001, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-page-turners-books-u-can-t-put-down/52255/27 "2001-01-31T04:18:03Z")
Page-turners I’ve read in the past 2 years: “Hannibal” by Thomas Harris. “Sieze the Night,” “Fear Nothing,” & “False Memory” by Dean R. Koontz. “A Free Man of Color” & “Fever Season” by Barbara Hambly. And if we aren’t sticking to crime novels, The Harry Potter series. ---
**Author:** ![Cyndar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cyndar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyndar)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2001, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-page-turners-books-u-can-t-put-down/52255/28 "2001-01-31T06:22:15Z")
I polished off Terry Goodkind’s Temple of the Winds in record time. I could have finished it in 2 days if only I hadn’t had to go to this terrible place called WORK. The Stand and IT are also some faves of mine. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2001, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-page-turners-books-u-can-t-put-down/52255/29 "2001-01-31T07:41:17Z")
Aside from a bunch of titles already mentioned here, other page turners for me would include: White Oleander - Janet Fitch Survivor - Chuck Palahniuk The Bonfire Of The Vanities and The Right Stuff - Tom Wolfe Eureka Street - Robert McLiam Wilson High Fidelity - Nick Hornby Various Tony Hillerman titles Wonder Boys - Michael Chabon Bombadiers - Po Bronson Preston Falls - David Gates Nobody’s Fool and Straight Man - Richard Russo Mr Vertigo and The Music Of Chance - Paul Auster Thank You For Smoking - Christopher Buckley Various Elmore Leonard titles [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-page-turners-books-u-can-t-put-down/52255.md?page=1)