It’s a three day weekend here in the states which means I may actually have a day to read. And even if my family comes over, I need a shield between them and me. And a book is a great protector in any situation.
I love articles. I love lists. I love listicles. And if you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time you would know I’m a fan o the listicle. I wanted to give you all a list of fast paced books that are so good you can’t put them down.
And these are perfect for a three day weekend. Crush goal. Clear your TBR. You know. That old chestnut. Let’s get into it.
I use affiliate links meaning if you buy these books by clicking on these links I make a little money. And I appreciate it. Thank you.
Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore
by Robin Sloan
A joyous and thrilling story of international conspiracy, difficult code-breaking, cutting-edge data visualization, youthful love, wild adventure, and the key to eternal life, much of which takes place in a little San Francisco bookstore.
After being forced out of his job as a San Francisco Web designer by the Great Recession, Clay Jannon found a new job working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore thanks to luck, curiosity, and his ability to climb a ladder like a monkey. However, after only a few days on the job, Clay starts to suspect that this business is far stranger than its name may imply. There aren’t many customers, but when they do come in, they never appear to really buy anything. Instead, they keep “checking out” impossible-to-understand books from odd places throughout the store, all as part of some complicated, long-standing deal with the gnomic Mr. Penumbra. Clay comes to the conclusion that the business must be a front for something bigger, and soon he starts analyzing the behavior of the customers in great detail and enlists the aid of his pals to assist him find out what exactly is going on. It turns out, however, that the mysteries go well beyond the boundaries of the bookstore after they present their discoveries to Mr. Penumbra.
Robin Sloan has created a literary adventure story for the twenty-first century with irresistible brio and brilliant intelligence. It recalls both the fairy-tale allure of Haruki Murakami and the enthusiastic novel-of-ideas wizardry of Neal Stephenson or a young Umberto Eco, but with a distinct and feisty sensibility that is uncommon to the world of literary fiction. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is exactly what it says it is: a place you have to go to and won’t want to leave, a contemporary museum of curiosities ready to enthrall any interested reader at any time of day.
And Then There We’re None
by Agatha Christie
Top 100 PBS Great American Reads Selection
one of Agatha Christie’s most well-known and cherished mysteries, the queen of suspense! With over 100 million copies sold, a Lifetime TV movie has been produced.
Ten individuals are invited to a remote estate on Indian Island by a host who, surprise, does not show up. Each of them has something to hide and something to dread. They are shut off from everything but one other and the shadows of their own former lives on the island. The visitors reveal their most sinister secrets one at a time. They pass away one by one.
Will any of them survive and who among them is the murderer?
Act Your Age, Eve Brown
by Talia Hibbert
Eve Brown is a hot disaster in every way. Despite her best efforts, her life consistently takes a tragic turn for the worst. She has thus stopped trying. However, her parents draw the line when her unique brand of mayhem spoils a costly wedding (someone had to free those unfortunate doves). Even though she is unsure of how, Eve has to mature and show herself.
The power is with Jacob Wayne. Always. The proprietor of the bed and breakfast is determined to dominate the hospitality sector and demands nothing less than excellence. Therefore, when a woman with purple hair shows up unexpectedly for an interview for his open chef post, he tells her the truth: not a chance in hell. Then, ostensibly by mistake, she strikes him with her automobile. Right, I see.
His B&B is now understaffed, his arm is damaged, and the incredibly unpredictable Eve is flitting around, attempting to assist. She quickly gained access to his kitchen, office, and spare bedroom. Jacob despises every aspect of it. Rather, he ought to. His natural rival is the sunny, chaotic Eve, but the more time these rivals spend together, the more their hostility evolves into something else. The heat between them is unavoidable, much like Eve’s, and it is melting Jacob’s icy façade.
Final Donavan is Killing It
by Elle Cosimano
Finlay Donovan appears to be killing it, but she’s not. Finlay, a stressed-out single mother of two who is also a struggling novelist, had to send her four-year-old to school this morning with her hair taped to her head after an incident involving scissors. The new book she promised her literary agent isn’t written, her ex-husband fired the nanny without informing her, and her life is in chaos.
When Finlay is mistaken for a contract killer after being overheard discussing the subject of her upcoming thriller book with her agent over lunch, she unintentionally accepts an offer to get rid of a troublesome spouse in order to make ends meet. As she becomes entangled in a real-life murder case, Finlay quickly learns that committing a crime is more harder in reality than it is in fiction.
Finlay Donovan Is Killing is a quick-witted, delectably funny, and utterly honest portrayal of the struggles and joys of parenting in all its chaos, humor, and emotional moments. It is the first book in a fantastic series by Elle Cosimano, a YA Edgar Award finalist.
Legends and Lattes
by Travis Baldtree
Come unwind at Viv’s café, Thune’s first and only coffee shop. Opening ceremony!
After decades of wielding weapons of mass destruction and spreading hell, Viv, the orc barbarian, decides to end the warrior’s life with one last victory. She is driven to Thune’s streets by a long-forgotten legend, a legendary relic, and an exorbitant amount of optimism, where she intends to build the city’s first coffee shop.
Her hopes for a new beginning, where she would fill mugs rather than swing swords, are far from certain. Old rivals and Thune’s dubious side may well derail her aspirations. Viv will require some new collaborators and a different type of commitment if she is to finally create something that will last.
Ready Player One
by Ernest Cline
A world is at risk. a search for the greatest reward. Have you prepared?
Reality in 2045 is a depressing place. Wade Watts only truly feels alive when he is logged into the OASIS, a large virtual environment where the majority of people spend their days.
A number of difficult riddles based on the eccentric developer of the OASIS’ love with vintage pop culture are left behind after he passes away. Whoever solves them first will receive authority over the OASIS as well as his enormous riches.
Wade then deciphers the first hint. Suddenly, he is surrounded by rivals who will do anything to win this prize. The race has begun, and winning is your only chance of surviving.
Daisy Jones and the Six
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The reason DAISY JONES & THE SIX broke up at the pinnacle of their fame has never been revealed, despite the fact that everyone is familiar with the band.
Daisy is a young woman coming of age in Los Angeles in the late 1960s who dreams of performing at the Whisky a Go Go while sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip and sleeping with rock stars. Although the sex and drugs are exciting, she prefers rock ‘n’ roll over them all. By the time she is twenty, people are starting to take note of her voice, and she exudes the reckless beauty that drives people crazy.
The Six, a group fronted by the moody Billy Dunne, is also gaining attention. Billy’s fiancée Camila finds out she’s pregnant just before their first tour, and under the burden of upcoming fatherhood and stardom, Billy behaves erratically on the road.
A producer recognizes that pairing together Daisy and Billy is the secret to accelerated success, which leads to the encounter of Daisy and Billy. The events that follow will go down in history.
This captivating and fascinating book, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the 1970s, details how that mythology came to be. With Daisy Jones & The Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid, a gifted author, elevates her writing to a new level, masterfully capturing a setting and era in an absolutely unique style.
In the Dream House
by Carmen Maria Machado
The acclaimed author of Her Body and Other Parties has written a radical memoir on domestic violence.
Carmen Maria Machado’s gripping and highly inventive depiction of a love gone wrong, In the Dream House, also offers a brave analysis of the causes of and societal stereotypes surrounding psychological abuse. Machado strives to understand how what happened to her influenced the person she was becoming as she traces the entire course of a traumatic relationship with a charismatic but unstable lady.
And it is this conflict that gives the book its unique format. Each chapter is propelled by a different narrative cliché, such as the haunted house, erotica, or the bildungsroman, through which Machado exposes the events and considers them from many perspectives. She recalls her upbringing in the church, dispels the myth that lesbian relationships are secure and ideal, and broadens the perspective by engaging in essayistic investigations of the past and present of violence in queer relationships.
Machado’s bleak story is tempered by her trademark humor, fun, and curiosity. She examines court procedures, fairy tales, Star Trek, Disney villains, and enduring pieces of literature and film with a critical eye. The end product is a heartbreaking, captivating book that shatter our perceptions of what a memoir is and may be.
Summer of Salt
by Katrina Leno
The transmission of magic down the ages. an island where bizarre events take place. That will be a legendary summer.
Nova Ren meets Practical Magic In this sumptuous, evocative book by renowned novelist Katrina Leno, there are references to Laura Ruby’s Bone Gap and Suma’s Imaginary Girls.
Georgina Fernweh eagerly awaits the magic that has affected every woman in her family to tingle in her fingertips. But when Georgina’s eighteenth birthday approaches at the end of this summer, she worries that her present won’t ever arrive.
Georgina will discover the reality of magic, in all its varied manifestations, throughout the course of her final summer on the island—a season of storms, falling in love, and the mystery surrounding one unusual three hundred year old bird.
Some Kind of Happiness
by Clair Legrand
The following topics are off-limits to Finley Hart: -Her struggling parents. (However, they claim they aren’t.)
-Having to spend the summer at her grandparents’ home.
-Never knowing the grandparents in question.
-Her “blue days,” when she struggles to maintain her composure and feels that life is too much. (This occurs frequently.)
The Everwood, a woodland country that lives only in Finley’s notebook, is her lone haven. The Everwood is real and contains more secrets than she could have imagined, including a family of pirates she isn’t permitted to speak to, trees coated in ash, and a weird old wizard living in a mansion made of bones. That is, until she finds the unending forests beyond her grandparents’ house.
Finley embarks on a quest to preserve the withering Everwood and discover its secrets with the aid of her relatives. But as the riddles mount and the horrifying grief inside of Finley intensifies, she comes to the conclusion that in order to save the Everwood, she must first heal herself.
Station Eleven
by Emily St. John Mandel
Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the evening when renowned Hollywood actor Arthur Leander suffered a heart attack while doing King Lear on stage. A catastrophic flu pandemic struck the city that evening, and within a few weeks, civilization as we know it as we know it came to an end.
Twenty years later, Kirsten travels with a small group of performers and musicians between the towns in the transformed globe. They go by the name The Traveling Symphony and are committed to preserving what is left of mankind and the arts. However, as they go to St. Deborah by the Water, they run across a violent prophet who will put the little band’s survival in danger. And as the tale takes off, going back and forth in time, and vividly illustrating life before and after the epidemic, the peculiar twist of fate that binds them all will be revealed.
And there are the books I think you can binge in 24 hours or a day depending on how many loads of laundry you have to do and how many times you hear your kids say, “Mom!”
I won’t lie. One of my favorite things is when I’m lost in a book and complete forget I’m reading. It’s like the world doesn’t exist. And honestly, I’m in need of a little socially acceptable escapism. How about you?
Let me know what your binge worthy books are in the comments below. And if you got this far, let me know with a book emoji in the comments. Happy reading.
The Glorious Train Wreck Mom 
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