We all have read a book that we couldn’t put down and finished in one sitting. You must know what happens next. Turns out, this is something that many readers can relate to. We have a list of 19 books that readers finished in one sitting. Keep reading to find out what they are!
Many readers shared their story (no pun intended) of a book that they ended up reading in one go. This is almost never planned but happens because the book is too good to put down. Some of these books are best-sellers and others are classics. You can see the full list below.
19 Books Readers Finished in One Sitting
- The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
- Circe by Madeline Miller
- Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
- Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
- The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
- The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold.
- Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- I’ll be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
- The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
- The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
- The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz
- The Silo series (Wool, Shift, and Dust) by Hugh Howey
- Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
- Severance by Ling Ma
- The Stand by Stephen King
- Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
- A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas.
Finished in One Reading Session
This list includes a few long books which can take up to 6-10 hours depending on your reading speed. And these things tend to happen naturally. Some people will lose sleep and regret it and others will cancel plans because they must know what happens next.
Some readers shared the books that they finished in one session on Reddit. Here are some of their anecdotes.
“Just finished reading Circe by Madeline Miller and I stayed up until 5 a.m. one night to finish it.”
-cocoamonster
I loved this novel and can relate to this. It is a really good story and it isn’t too long.
“The first time I read Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, I couldn’t put it down. I was late for stuff.”
sparkymiddlefinger
Same. Jurassic Park is such a great novel. It is no surprise that the movies became as popular as they did.
“Most recently it was Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. I really enjoyed the author’s writing style.”
afoxcalledwhisper
This novel came out in 2022 and is already getting a movie made. That should tell you how good it is. Or the fact that is was in many best books of 2022 lists.
“Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. One of the rare books that had me sobbing at times. It makes you question the world around you.”
–cindyloohoos
Adichie is such an amazing writer. I loved this book and when you can’t compare a book to anything else you have read, that says a lot.
Conclusion
That is all for our list of 19 books that readers finished in one sitting. What book did you finish in one sitting? Let us know in the comments below!
I finished The Great Gatsby in a day. I know it’s not that long but it was enjoyable.
The Priory of the Orange Tree is 848 pages, you could not seriously consider this a book you can read in 1 sitting.
The Stand is some 1500 pages long, who in there right mind would do that in one sitting?
seriously. This makes me doubt the whole list.
Yeah I call BS, it took me a week and I’m a pretty fast reader
I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 8 hours. I started the moment I got home after its 6am release at my B&N. I was first in line after getting there at 2am.
‘We Need T Talk About Kevin’ was a one sit read,as well as ‘The Secret History’.
Yup, and I read Les Miserables, the LOTR trilogy, Ulysses, Don Quixote and every Song of Ice and Fire book back to back in one night. Because that’s as possible as some of these allegations.
No one on the planet finished The Stand in one sitting.
Never happened.
Inferno by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Couldn’t put it down. A modern retelling of Dante from the view of a science fiction writer.
There’s no way anyone finished The Stand in one day. The audiobook is like 50 hours long.
Ender’s Game took me less than a day