Top Ten Books to Read in a Day

This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for our top ten books to read in a day. This list idea is well-timed as the Dewey Read-a-Thon is coming up on April 21! For anyone participating (and you should!) it’s fun to pick shorter books so you don’t get burnt out on a single massive tome.

1) Graphic Novels: I think this format is particularly good when read all at once. They are easy to read, especially once you adjust to that format. A few good ones to start with: The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Maus and Watchmen.

2) Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – Pick up any of the books featuring Sherlock and you’re in for a treat. Even if you only have an hour or two, you can enjoy some of his cases and see his brilliant mind at work.

3) Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn – An epistolary novel that plays with language, too fun!

4) Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty – Jessica and Marcus’ banter is addictive and this is one book that’s even better when consumed in one sitting.

5) The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby – This unbelievable piece of nonfiction was written by Bauby after he had a stroke and become a paraplegic. Using a system of eye blinks, his work was transcribed by aides. It’s short and very moving.

6) Plays: This is another great format to read in one sitting. A few good possibilities: Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire, Death of a Salesmen by Arthur Miller, A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen or and anything by Shakespeare!

7) Hunger Games – Just try to put this one down. Once you get caught up in the intense competition, it’s hard to peel yourself away.

8) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger – Every time I read this one, I mean to read just a little bit and I end up lost in the story until it’s done and I’m crying.

9) 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff – Short and sweet, this collection of letters is perfect for any book lover.

10) Half Magic by Edward Eager – I somehow missed this great book when I was a kid. I only read it recently, but it’s a treat.

Image from here.

Perfect Fifths

Perfect Fifths
by Megan McCafferty
★★★★


This is the fifth and final book in the Jessica Darling series. I’m not going to spoil anything about this book, but I’d skip this review if you haven’t read the rest of the series.


This series perfectly corresponded with my personal timeline. I graduated from high school in 2002, just like Jessica. I have always been sarcastic and snarky and felt like I finally found a character who was the same way. She was smart and funny, when so many teenage or twenty-something "heroines" are ditzy or struggling with shopping issues or how to talk to the cute boy next door. Obviously our lives are very different, but there was something about her personality that I immediately connected to.


In this final book, which came out in 2009, we are the same age and I love that. I don't know if I would have become so attached to this series if I hadn't read each book around the same time Jessica was going through the same things I was. I read the first book my senior year of high school and each time a new one came out I read it immediately. We finished high school at the same time, went to college, graduated, started real jobs, watched our friends marry, etc.


Jessica and Marcus have a long and complicated relationship. They’ve been on and off and then finally, in the fourth book, they broke up for good. Now, a few years later, they run into each other in an airport and we readers get to reconnect with the unlikely pair. The scales are tipped a bit as Marcus realizes just how badly he wants to reconnect with Jessica and that gives an added sweetness to the books.


I didn’t love this one as much as the earlier books, but I really wanted closure and that’s what I got. If you aren’t a fan of the series, obviously you don’t need to read this one, but if you love Jessica and Marcus in all their quirky brilliance, this book is a must.


"...writing those editorials when I was sixteen, seventeen... it was the first time I found the courage to speak aloud about issues that were important to me."

Top image from Write Meg.