One-Sitting Books

A little while ago, Book Riot published an article on "one-sitting books." The post was part of their Read Harder challenge and included suggestions for books you might be able to inhale in a day, should you be so inclined. Though making a habit of it would likely wreak havoc on my health, I love it when a one-sitting book reveals itself to me out of the blue, when I find myself swallowed up in a novel and it dawns on me that I'm going to be finishing it in one gulp. That, in fact, I don't really have much of a say in the matter—the characters, the writing, the sheer magic of it all have me in that much of a glorious stranglehold.

So I thought I'd share a list of titles I actually did read in one 24-hour period the very first time I cracked them open. These memories are all choice ones for me, as evidenced by the fact that the sights and sounds of where I was when I read them are imprinted in my memory. I can still feel the slats of my son's crib pressing into my back, the cold tile of my in-laws' bathroom floor underneath me, the precise texture of the duvet cover tucked around me in a small Moroccan riad. There are more than these, of course. But when I started sifting through my mind, these were the ones that immediately stood out (with links to my reviews, should you be in the market for an all-nighter this weekend).

The Road Home
How I Live Now
A Certain Slant of Light
I am the Messenger
My Heartbeat
Song of the Sparrow
Such a Pretty Girl
I've Got Your Number
Eleanor & Park
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
When You Reach Me
Speak Easy, Speak Love

Do you ever give yourself up to a book and finish it in one go? I'd love to hear.

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Review | The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vols. 1 & 2 by Beth Brower

I feel a bit giddy finally talking to you all about this series. If you'll remember, I fell madly in love with The Q when it came out a few years ago. Now, Beth Brower is writing The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion — a series of novellas set in London in 1883. Each volume is an excerpt from the incorrigible Emma's journals, and the first two volumes are already available with the third on the way soon. I think they'd make rather perfect pandemic reading. Humorous and charming down to their bones, they're just what the doctor ordered to lift your spirits in this uncertain time that just proves to be too much some days. If you're experiencing one of those days, I suggest giving Volume 1 a go (it's only 99 cents on Kindle, $4.99 for a trade paperback copy). It will surprise exactly none of you that I own print and digital editions of both volumes. Miss Emma M. Lion has waited long enough. Come hell or high water (and really, given her track record, both a...

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

I know this is an almost unpardonably early review. But honestly, I waited on it as long as I possibly could before the effort of holding it in caused me some sort of bodily harm. I've been anxiously looking forward to For Darkness Shows the Stars for going on two years now, and the day an ARC showed up on my doorstep was just a very good day indeed . When a book you've been dying to read finally falls into your lap, do you ever just hold onto it and savor the possibilities? I do. I did with this one for a little while. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I just tear into it immediately. But sometimes I don't. Because sometimes dreaming about it while you're actually holding it in your hands is special, too. So I savored and I dreamt and I started reading and . . . I was gone. My first reaction to finishing it was a sense of complete satisfaction mingled with sadness that it was over. My second was thinking that I cannot wait to see For Darkness Shows the Stars work ...

Angie's 2026 Must Be Mine

As ever, begin as you mean to go on. And so here are my most anticipated titles of 2026: And no covers on these yet, but I'm just as excited for each one: The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 9 by Beth Brower Finest Kind of Fate by J.J. Mulder My Kind of Guy by Sarina Bowen Ravenous by Kresley Cole Mastermind by Sarah MacLean Game of Rogues by Julie Anne Long Grim Tidings by B.K. Borison Villain Edit by Rosie Danan What titles are on your list?

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