A former Booker prize judge has recommended six books that can be read in a single day, offering a solution for readers who struggle to finish longer works. The selection comes as new research suggests 35% of readers find it difficult to complete books, prompting publishers to release collections of shorter masterpieces.
The list includes Natasha Brown's Assembly, a hundred-page debut narrated by a young Black woman in finance, which blends success with a searing critique of empire. Kathryn Scanlan's Kick the Latch offers an insider's view of American racetracks through the eyes of a horse trainer, filled with vivid details such as priests blessing horses' legs and jockeys vomiting to make weight.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, translated by HT Willetts, immerses readers in the brutal daily struggle of a Soviet gulag over 150 pages. Roberto Bolaño's By Night in Chile, translated by Chris Andrews, follows a priest on his deathbed through a monologue touching on falconry, war and Catholic guilt, including a torture chamber hidden behind a literary salon.
James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room centres on a white American's love affair with a Parisian bartender, praised for the intensity of its descriptions. Denis Johnson's Train Dreams is described as a haunting and beautiful novella about a life shaped by loss and solitude.
The judge, who read 153 books for the Booker prize, notes that reading an entire book in one day can be a memorable experience, especially with summer holidays approaching. The recommendations avoid classics such as Heart of Darkness and The Great Gatsby, focusing instead on lesser-known works that reward a concentrated read.
