15 #Unputdownable books you should read

How shall I begin to tell you about the books which when you start reading, you’ll never be able to  stop until you’re done?  Er,  maybe this can help.

Some books are just that. #Unputdownable. When you are reading one of these you just keep going, and saying to yourself, “Just one more chapter”, till you are done reading the book. Ok . I’ll get to it already.

Here’s my list of top 15 Unputdownable novels. 

1

John Grisham’s Sycamore Row is a direct sequel to his first novel, A Time to Kill and was originally published by  Doubleday in October 2013. Seth Hubbard wealthy lumber businessman and recluse is dying of cancer.  He eventually takes his own life by hanging himself on his property but not before writing a will in his own hand and  sending same to Jack Briggance with orders to defend it at all costs. The will left the largest fortune ever in the history of Ford County  to Mr Hubbard’s maid, Betty Lang and excluded the  offspring of  Seth. Naturally, his children sue and a legal battle ensues. 
     

2

Gone Girl written by Gillian Flynn. The story follows a married couple, Nick and Amy Elliot Dunne who are both writers. They lose their jobs and the husband suggests they move to his hometown in Carthage, Missouri as his mother has taken ill. Amy is not happy about the move but she goes with her husband anyway. Their marriage begins to fail and a few days before their wedding anniversary, Amy goes missing . The police gets involved and as investigations proceed all clues point to Nick as the primary suspect.  Amy’s been cheated on by her husband. She is an angry and will stop at nothing including framing her husband for her well calculated and supposed murder.

3

Everything I Never Told You is Celeste Ng’s debut novel about mixed race Chinese American family living in 1970’s Ohio. James and Marilyn Lee have three children Nathan, Lydia and Hannah. One morning Lydia who is their middle child and favorite child doesn’t come down for breakfast and no one knows where is . The police is informed and it is eventually discovered that Lydia has drowned in a lake near the homes of the Lees. Lydia is a mystery to her family. The novel explores the danger in silence, repression and the repercussions of never voicing how you really feel.

4

Liane Moriaty’s Truly, Madly, Guilty: A Sunday afternoon, three Couples, one barbecue. What can possibly go wrong? But something does go very horribly wrong.  Erika is still recovering from the trauma and shame caused by her mother’s compulsive hoarding habit. Now she and her husband Oliver, who have long been a childless couple by choice, have decided they want to start a family, and have asked Erika’s childhood friend Clementine, who already has two daughters, to help. But Clementine has her own problems to contend with. However, what they hoped would be a discussion about the subject is made brief and sudden as Erika’s next-door neighbors, Vid, his wife Tiffany, and their daughter, Dakota, invite everyone over for a barbeque. As such, Erika, Oliver, Sam, Clementine, and Holly and Ruby (Sam's and Clementine's children), go next door.  At the barbecue alcohol flows and only Oliver is not tipsy. Tiffany’s past as a stripper gets revealed
Erika screams when Ruby disappears in Vid’s fountain. Erika and Oliver are the first to reach Ruby, saving her life by administering CPR. Everyone comes to regret the barbeque, wishing it had never happened in the first place.

5

The House We Grew Up In, By Lisa Jewel is  the story of the Bird family. On the outside they are picture perfect English family, happy and united. Devoted stay at home Mom, responsible working Dad and 4 kids living and growing up in the Cotswolds, but no one really knows, not even them, what they hide inside themselves. Everything seems fine until one Easter day, something tragic happens, one of the twins hangs himself. The family is devastated and we read how each family member reacts and copes with the situation through the years.

6

If Tomorrow Comes by Sidney Sheldon is another page turner and is sure to keep you up all night. Tracy Whitney is a woman on mission. Her mission is to avenge her mother’s suicide as a result of the loss of her business to con men and criminals in New Orleans. Tracy is driven by her desire for vengeance into a world of criminals, hustlers, burglars and assorted human parasites. She outwits career criminals and one after the other leads them to their own destruction.

7

Megan Abbot’s You Will Know Me is a Psychological thriller about Katie and her husband Eric who have made their daughter Devon, the centre of their world. Talented, determined, a rising gymnastics star, Devon is the focus of her parents' lives and the lynchpin of their marriage. There is nothing they wouldn't do for her. When a violent hit-and-run accident sends shockwaves through their close-knit community, Katie is immediately concerned for her daughter. She and Eric have worked so hard to protect Devon from anything that might distract or hurt her. That's what every parent wants for their child, after all. Even if they don't realize how much you've sacrificed for them. Even if they are keeping secrets from you.

8

Chevy Stevens’ debut novel Still Missing is about  Annie, a realtor who is abducted by a Psychiatrist who kept her hostage in a mountain cabin for a year. In her attempts to overcome the mental damage done by her abduction and captivity, Annie is seeing a psychiatrist. In her sessions with the psychiatrist, Annie tells her story of captivity and reveals clues in the investigation.

9

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant.But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong…

10

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by  Rachel Joyce follows Harold Fry, a timid man in his later years, discovers that a former friend and colleague is seriously ill, he sets out with the intention of posting her a letter but instead embarks on 600-mile walk from Devon to Berwick-upon-Tweed. He believes that in some way his journey will help his friend to live. Without maps or waterproofs and only yachting shoes on his feet, he walks and walks, while his wife Maureen waits at home; at first she is angered by what she perceives as abandonment but eventually his distance allows her emotions to resurface. She remembers her husband as he once was and everything he once meant to her.

11

Defending Jacob by William Landay. Andy Barber is a top ranking Attorney, whose world is turned upside down when his 14 year old son, Jacob is accused of and charged for murdering his classmate. All evidence  points to Jacob but he insists he is innocent and his father believes him. But Jacob’s mother has her doubts and as there are damning facts and revelations.  The trial reveals how little Andy really knows his son. Andy is torn between loyalty and justice as he does all he can to protect his son, including facing his own father who he has not seen since he was a little child and obtaining a DNA sample for testing.

12

Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse. Hannah, independent, headstrong, and determined not to follow in the footsteps of her bitterly divorced mother, has always avoided commitment. But one hot New York summer she meets Mark Reilly, a fellow Brit, and is swept up in a love affair that changes all her ideas about what marriage might mean. Now, living in their elegant, expensive London townhouse and adored by her fantastically successful husband, she knows she was right to let down her guard. 
But when Mark does not return from a business trip to the U.S. and when the hours of waiting for him stretch into days, the foundations of Hannah's certainty begin to crack. Why do Mark's colleagues believe he has gone to Paris not America? Why is there no record of him at his hotel? And who is the mysterious woman who has been telephoning him over the last few weeks? 
Hannah begins to dig into her husband's life, uncovering revelations that throw into doubt everything she has ever believed about him. As her investigation leads her away from their fairytale romance into a place of violence and fear she must decide whether the secrets Mark has been keeping are designed to protect him or protect her . . .

13

The Perfcet Girl by Gilly Macmillian: Zoey Maisey is a seventeen yeay old musical prodigy with the IQ of a genius. Sometime agao she was involved in a tragic accident that left three of her classmates dead.  After serving her time, her mother, Maria does everything her power to hide her daughter’s past including hiding same from her new husband. When Maria is found dead, on the night of a very important recital of Zoey’s, her mother is found dead and Zoey fears she might become the prime suspect having been previously institutionalized.

14

The Book Thief By Markus Zusak. Liesel a young German girl and orphan who is unable to read is taught to do so by a painter. She grows to love books and even rescuing one from a Nazi bon fire. Ilsa Hermann sees Liesel rescue the book and decides to share her own love of books with Liesel by inviting her into her library. For Liesel, the library is the most beautiful sight she has ever seen. Liesel joins a gang of youths who steals apples and potatoes. She earns her title of book thief one day when she sneaks in through the window and steals The Whistler from Ilsa Hermann’s library.

15

The Roanoke Girls By Amy Engel: Shortly after her mother’s suicide , Lane Roanoke goes to live with her granparents  and cousin Allegra on their large  estate in Kansas. Lane did not know much about her mother’s mysterious family but she quickly embraced life as one of the rich and beautiful Roanoke girls. She soon discovers the dark truth at the heart of her family, she ran… fast and away. Eleven years later, she is adrift in Los Angeles when her grandfather calls to inform her that cousin has gone missing. Unable to resists her grandfather’s pleas she returns to help search and ease her guilt at leaving Allegra behind. She has to face the devastating secret that made her flee, one she might not be strong enough to run from again.    

PS: Don’t have anywhere to go? Have you been grounded?  Can't go anywhere? Then GRAB A BOOK!!! Read it.