A former Booker prize judge has compiled a list of 20 short books that can be read in a single day, responding to research showing that 35% of readers struggle to finish books. The selection aims to fit into 'contemporary reading lives', with many works under 150 pages.
The list includes Natasha Brown's 'Assembly', a 100-page debut about a young Black woman in finance, and Kathryn Scanlan's 'Kick the Latch', which delves into the world of horse racing. Classics such as James Baldwin's 'Giovanni’s Room' and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich' also feature.
Other notable picks are Roberto Bolaño's 'By Night in Chile' and Denis Johnson's 'Train Dreams', both novellas that pack emotional and narrative intensity into a brief span. The judge advises turning off phones and not answering the door to fully immerse in these one-sitting wonders.
