3mo ago

What are the best fictional books you’ve ever read?

I started reading last year, mostly productivity stuff, but now I’m really looking to jump into fiction to unwind after a long week of uni, studying, and work. I need something to help me relax during the weekends without feeling like I’m working.

I’d love some recommendations for books that are short enough to finish in a day but still hit hard and are totally worth it. No specific genre preferences right now. I'm open to whatever. Looking forward to seeing what you guys suggest. Thank you very much in advance.

171 comments

Basically most Terry Pratchett books really. Some will take more than a day, but it's like a mix of Lord of the Rings and Monty Python. Whimsical and silly with some good moments that make you think.
- The discworld collection is currently on humble bundle for cheap if you have an e-reader.
  
  Can you provide a link? Searching for Terry Pratchett or Discworld doesn't give me any results.
  
  Oh thanks for the heads up!
- I'll get these books because lots of people upvoted your comment, which makes me assume that they're worth reading. Is there any specific order that I need to follow books of this specific author?
  
  I would start with The Color of Magic, I'm currently reading them in chronological order of release, but certain books cover certain main characters. Small Gods is probably another great place to start. But if you want a more instructive set of reading directions:
  Most people prefer sub series.
  https://www.discworldemporium.com/reading-order/

I know they're not everyone's cup of tea, but The Stormlight Archive books speak to me like no other books ever have. They're a huge time investment, but they're all about the journey, not the destination. 😉
- Brandon Sanderson writes amazingly rich fantasy stories an created wild lore heavy worlds in his books. But his books are also behemoths with thousands upon thousands of pages that require some serious time and commitment to read. Maybe not the best for beginners to start getting into fiction.
  I'd recommend the Harry Potter books because they start easy and get more mature with each book. Also the story and lore is widely known and liked by a lot of people.
- I've really enjoyed everything in the Cosmere, but Stormlight is a step above the rest. Last book in this era is out soon. I can't wait.
  
  I know! Have you been reading the chapters on Reactor Mag?
- Stormlight hit hard in the ptsd feelings. I really love how the series handles mental illnesses and cycles of violence.
  
  Yeah! The latest short novel (Dawnshard) also deals with disability in a great way. He really did his research (he had multiple disabled beta readers give feedback)
- One of the few series that I love for making me want to be a better person, then hate it because that’s hard, then love it all over again because it’s worth it.
- Way of Kings blew my mind when I first read it. I loved it so much. I read it again when the last book came out because I couldn't remember everything that happened, and it's still an amazing book on the second read. Unfortunately, each of the following books in the series is less enjoyable for me. I didn't like the Rhythm of War at all. I know a lot of people love it, but it has become something I don't appreciate at all. I don't know if I'll even finish the series, assuming Brandon ever finishes it himself.
  
  How come?
- What's the reading age for this series? I know it doesn't always matter, but some novels it breaks my immersion when I become aware that the reading age is more teenage than adult
  
  Definitely not written for kids. I'd say it's in the "general audience" category. It's fairly clean as far as content goes; so kids could read it. But it's sheer length and number of characters demands the patience and commitment of an experienced reader (if that makes sense).
- Anything by Brandon Sanderson is a pretty safe bet!
- What do you love most about The Stormlight Archive books?
  
  I love the worldbuilding, mystery, and magic system, but I think it's the characters that I love the most. I can identify with these characters so much more than any book I've read before. Their struggles, their thoughts and feelings, and their growth really speaks to me.
  Also, the climax of Brando's books are awesome. Fans have dubbed it "The Sanderlanche." Something that B-Money is great at is delivering on promises. He is actually a writing professor at BYU (he's uploaded a lot of his lectures to his YouTube channel), and one of his big things for writers is Plot, Promises, and Progress. It's really exciting when you realize you're in the Sanderlanche, because a bunch of awesome shit is about to go down.
  And, most of his books are in the same universe (called the Cosmere), and so it's cool when you recognize a character from one series when they show up in another series.
- not everyone’s cup of tea
  What? These books are very popular and well-liked. What is this qualification trying to say?
  
  A lot of fantasy readers don't like Sanderson. And so I wanted to acknowledge that. They soothe my soul, but your mileage may vary...

Someone else already suggested it, but I would second Terry Pratchett. Even though most of the books are standalone, I recommend start with the Colour of Magic and follow publication order.
- And the entire collection is on sale right now.
  $18 for all 39 books.
  https://www.humblebundle.com/books/terry-pratchetts-discworld-harpercollins-encore-books?hmb_source=&hmb_medium=product_tile&hmb_campaign=mosaic_section_1_layout_index_3_layout_type_threes_tile_index_1_c_terrypratchettsdiscworldharpercollinsencore_bookbundle
- Another vote for Pratchett! I'm an economics fan, and making money happened to be my introduction, but there are far more common onramps.
  My personal suggestion for getting a feel of Pratchett's writing these days is monstrous regiment - technically in the discworld series, but it's very standalone, so you get the flavor of the writing with little of the need for additional context.
  
  I have to ask, have you read Orconomics? It's a parody of fantasy, gaming, and economics. I recommend it to anyone who likes Pratchett, and especially if you're into the extremely specific niche of financial fantasy satire.
- GNU Sir Terry
- YES!! I started with Guards! Guards! and I am hooked!! They're all so good.
  As the librarian would say, "Ook."
  
  If you read the first story (The colour of Magic + The light fantastic) you will know the story of the librarian, he start as a human there hahahah.
- Pratchett himself did not recommend reading discworld in order. The first two books are by far the weakest of the series (although still very fun). There are guides that recommend starting points, like this:
  
  I know there are several reading orders available depending on which stories you want to prioritize, but I like publication order because you can see him creating the world. As in you can usually see him writing some one liners that prompt some ideas which are fully explored in the next book, I don't remember any specific things but it's stuff like talking about Gods being as powerful as how many people believe in them right before small gods.

For you, I'd suggest 'I, Robot,' by Isaac Asimov.
It's a short story collection with a bunch of logic puzzles. the writing is clear and easy to follow and the conundrums are engaging.
- Asimov is so, so good. I first got into him by reading his collection of short stories Robot Dreams. It's really approachable, and because it's all short stories there's no long term commitment or sense of letdown if you decide to stop reading halfway through the book.
  Sally was particularly interesting (though not the best story in the book). I was working at a self driving car startup when I read it, and it was amazing that in 1954 Asimov predicted robotaxis that we were trying to build.
  
  I'm sure he's happy somewhere, knowing people are still enjoying his writing.
- If we're doing short stories, I have two recommendations:
  Ted Chiang's Stories of Your Life and Others.
  Kurt Vonnegut's Welcome to the Monkey House.
  
  I've only read Ted Chiang's exhalation, but one of the stories was the biggest thinker I've seen, and another was an emotional gut punch (in a good way)
  The ratio of lasting impact to content length of his short stories is insane. He has no business having such compelling works being readable in a lunch break.

The Culture by Ian M. Banks. It's a little difficult to approach, but an incredible exploration of Sci-Fi, humanity, AI, and life in general. Unlike a lot of other great Sci-Fi (like The Expanse, which I also highly recommend) it's gritty, but overall The Culture is a hopeful and optimistic take on the progress of humanity and technology.
The best books are The Player of Games, Look to Windward, and Excession.
Depending on how you're feeling, I think you can skip The State of the Art, Matter, and Inversions, though they're worth an eventual read. They're just less connected to the main Culture story.
It's a series that truly changed me and my perspective on life.
- Whenever anyone asks me what fictional universe I want to live in, I say the Culture universe. Hands down the best sci-fi universe to live in as a regular humanoid. It's a post-scarcity galactic paradise where if I ever get bored, I can plug into a Matrix-style simulation of any other fictional universe that's 100% real to my senses. Or I'll take any of a number of drugs that a gland in my brain can generate at will for shiggles. The possibilities are limitless.
- Big disagree on the best - Use of Weapons, Surface Detail and Consider Phlebas are the favorites of my partner and me.
  Not that the 3 listed are bad just that I like my 3 more :)
  
  I mean, fair. All great books!

Fahrenheit 451, really awesome dystopia that predicted a lot of things in our modern era
- Yes, everytime 1984 comes up I think of Fahrenheit which is much, much closer to the western world.
  
  The Brits and the right are certainly chasing after that 1984 ideology though. Orwell is a fantastic writer, and 1984 is leagues above Fahrenheit 451 as a work of literature.
- Have any of it's predictions come true?
  
  A lot, it predicted the flat screen tv, parasocial relationships with celebrities and so much more. And of course there was the banning of books but I’m not sure if that’s a new thing or not. I highly suggest reading it and seeing all of the things it predicts, it’s not too long of a read.

It's a super generic choice, but Catch-22 (if you're looking for something less generic, Heller also wrote the more obscure Something Happened that focuses his satirical prowess on 1960s family life, but that's a longer book). It's just so effortlessly funny.
- i tried to read this more than once to figure out what the hype is, and it never made me care what happens next. every page to the halfway point is a boring slog for me-- what am i missing? i consider vonnegut's cat's cradle to be good satire. yossarian just seems like a whiny removed to me, the type of person i go out of my way to avoid irl
  
  Yossarian is kind of a whiny removed, but it's because he's trying to cover up his exhaustion and terror with anything that will keep him out of harm's way. What I liked about it was all of the silly jokes that come back to hit hard in the second half of the book.

Cryptonomicon. It's not really a short book, but it's easily digestible as it has clear divisions where it is suitable to take a break.
The way the WW2 plot and the 90's-plot intertwine is so much fun to read, especially since the 90's characters are descendants of the ww2 characters.
And of course GEB Kavistik would grow up to be a pretentious cunt...
- I disagree, I think Cryptonomicon is a very heavy book, might be too much for someone just starting, I've been slowly reading it for months, but I end up getting tired of it and reading something else to rest from it before going back and end up forgetting half of the characters and what they were doing.
  
  Fully agreed very heavy.
- Yes, it was interesting and I'm planning to reread it sometime soon, but no it's not a quick easy read. I'd recommend snow crash or the diamond age, they're both fun and easy books.

murderbot series is fantastic, I love every single entry in the series so far, and they're not very long or unnecessarily complicated; you can finish one in a day or two easy.
The first entry is called "All systems red"

The Hitchhiker’s Guide, you likely won’t be able to finish each of the 5 books in the trilogy in a day but it’s something you can read a hundred times and find a new witty joke somewhere, much like all the Discworld novels.
The Expanse is another that you could burn through a book a day but wow it’s a hell of a story and worth taking your time on each character’s perspective, Outlander is also a good one for the same reasons but those are 1k pagers
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide, you likely won’t be able to finish each of the 5 books in the trilogy in a day but it’s something you can read a hundred times and find a new witty joke somewhere
  After which you can listen to the radio show, watch the TV show, play the text adventure and maybe watch the movie depending on how much more you can take :-)

Recently, I finished Foundation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_(Asimov_novel) It's a collection of a few stories, so you can read it one by one.
- I'll check them. Thank you very much.
- Now is the perfect time for you to read "The end of Eternity", I'm not going to spoil it, just go.

Do androids dream of electric sheep by Philip K. Dick. It's the basis for the blade runner movie. Short, easy to read.
- He also did a short that became total recall. What a dude.
- That's one of my favorite movies. I'll get its eBook version right now.

Anything by Terry Pratchett (look for one of the "where to start" guides). Funny, a bit ridiculous, but always super intelligent with lots of good social commentary.
Ursula Le Guin has lots of bangers. Slow burning sci-fi with deep atmosphere and social philosophy. Any of her Hainish books are good for that. Earthsea series is beautiful. The Birthday Of The World is my favourite short stories book.
Neuromancer by William Gibson if you're into cyberpunk.
UNSONG if you're keen on religion-themed absurd fantasy. It's amazing. Good Omens by Pratchett and Gaiman is also great on that front.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Fictional account of the dustbowl migration in the US. It will make you righteously angry, especially when you realise the same shit is still happening in other ways.

I have two fantastic recommendations that are pretty short reads.
Enders Game is fantastic Sci fi and quite cut throat. Great Story. Far better than the marginal movie that came out based on it.
The Martian. Sci fi, but more realistic and the author must have researched the hell out of things to put this book together. The movie they made was actually pretty good, but the book outshines it by leaps and bounds. The internal monolog of the main character is outstanding in the book and it just can't happen through the movie.
- As you can probably tell, I'm a big fan of Enders Game. The movie, though, was absolutely devastating. It's the only time I left a cinema angry.
  
  Yeah. They really blew that one. Still not as bad as live action DragonBall or ATLA, though.
- Oh hey, I'm reading The Martian right now! Also loved Project Hail Mary by the same author, Andy Weir. It's a bit more fantastical and just a great read.
  
  I haven't read Hail Mary yet, but I'll have to check it out now. How far along with you on the Martian? You enjoying it?

The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear
- It’s not a short book as OP requested. However the episodic nature fits his requirements. The genre is comedic fantasy.
- Love that book

Hermann Hesse’s Steppenwolf is a short book about the adventures of an alienated young man in a big city. Hesse also wrote a really good novella about Buddha titled Siddharta.
Ray Bradbury’s Mars Chronicles is a collection of short stories around the settlement of Mars.
- Seconding the Mars Chronicles, its one of those books that sticks with you to some degree (but I also really like Ray Bradbury so YMMV)

Hyperion Cantos. All 4 books are great, even if the 3rd and 4th are quite different. But it's a masterpiece. It's kind of like the LOTR for sci-fi if you ask me.

The Lathe of Heaven by LeGuin is pretty short, and great
- Everything by LeGuin is fantastic. The Dispossessed, The Left Hand of Darkness, The Fisherman of the Inland Sea. So many beautiful worlds and stories.

A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers easily can be finished in a day.
Then Murderbot series by Martha Wells. They are fun, yet insightful and novellas. Easily finished in a day too.

Blood Meridian is critically acclaimed and you could read it in a day. I only got around to reading it last winter despite my "litbro" friends recommending it for years. It's very violent but the prose style is really unique and original. The plot is kind of Moby Dick-esque where it examines mankind's place in nature (mixed with a fair amount of Heart of Darkness).
Actually Heart of Darkness is extremely worth reading and it is probably less of an ordeal. Maybe start with that if you haven't read it. Conrad spoke like 5 languages and English was the ~3rd he learned so he has a very interesting prose style.

Finish in a day isn’t a great requirement to put alongside “best ever”, as others have already covered. That aside, check out The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. You’ll be surprised by how fun it is to learn about medieval technology development and stone cathedral building techniques when it’s all wrapped up in a gripping narrative.
- Love love love these books.
- In this same category is Cathedral of the sea by Ildefonso Falcones. It is a great book and one of my favorites! Not a one day read for sure.

I think Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes fits the bill. Not too long and has punched everybody I've recommended it to in the guts.

I have an ambitious offering i dont think anyone else will suggest.
ambitious but you also want something you can read a day at a time. Books are fairly small.
My favourite BIG STOMPY ROBOTS but in chronological order.
Battletech Novels.
Book descriptions

The Martian and Project Hail Mary are some of the best sci-fi-of-tomorrow books I have ever read. Maybe not a single day, but neither are overly long.
- I read Andy Weir's The Martian in a single sitting. Book really grabbed me by the face.

I've never read a fictional book. They don't exist. hurhurhur
But seriously, I did kind of enjoy reading the Manifold series (Origin, Space, Time) by Stephen Baxter way back when. If you're a quick reader, I reckon you could probably zip through one of the novels in a day.
And I'd recommend reading at least a couple in order to get to know the characters, because then you could pick up the short story anthology set in the same multiverse (Phase Space), where for some you'd only need half an hour.
(Baxter has a bunch of other books and short stories - the Xeelee Sequence springs to mind - but I never got around to those, so have no idea how long the novels are, or whether they're any good.)
- Arguably the elder scrolls series has tons of fictional books.
  
  The Lusty Argonian Maid is probably my favorite fictional book.
- They don’t exist
  You, sir, are a punk.
  Take this upvote and carry on.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is the most impactful book I've ever read. It completely changed my perspective of the system I was born into. A Farewell to Arms is the first book I read that mirrored my inner emotional state, and let me know it was okay for me to feel as I did back then. Both are top-tier books.

Short book that hit hard:
Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes
Never let me go, Kazuro Ishiguro
The last unicorn, Peter S. Beagle
1984, George Orwell
Prince of Thieves, Chuck Hogan
- Never Let Me Go is the most "not for me" book I've ever read. I can see why people love it. And I respect what it's doing. I just don't want to play a long.
  
  Nice, I like it very much when one can separate between personal fit and quality! :-)
  For me the whole point of the book is to accept the story, while your own sense/mind tells you to not play along, which made me reflect about how much - dare I say everyone of us - plays along everyday... Besides this, I simply like Ishiguros writing style (non native English speaker here, so wonder what a native would think about it.)
  Would love to get a list of books from you that you respect and like (or respect and don't like ;-)).

Just read Terry Pratchett or Larry Niven. Also Lois McMaster Bujold is a writer that will make you laugh and often start look at the world around you differently.

Roadside Picnic. it's a story of unmanaged survivors guilt, in an increasingly desperate and accurately depicted Soviet dystopia, where the players hustle and vie for mediocre survival even in an exceptionally bizarre, hostile, and literally alien environment, just as they would in any other terrestrial conflict zone.
There's a good reason it spawned an epic film and 4 outstanding games so far

Rn I'm currently rereading The Inheritance Cycle, it's fantasy, but it goes very in depth, there are your different races, elves, "orcs", dwarves, you got dragons, there are different languages that the author made, its very good. Of course I might be biased since I'm rereading it rn lmao
Edit: I did not read the bit about reading it in a day. I guess you could if you read fast

The End of Eternity (Asimov) might be short enough for you, and has some interesting ideas about the implications of time travel.

Cradle! Or better, the cradle series. It's a sort of adventure story in a fantasy world.

Pretty much anything in the "Known Space" series by Larry Niven (et al - there are works by some other authors in that space).

The Martian by Andy Weir is a book you could finish in a day. I could recommend a ton of books that I can read in a day but not sure how long they take you. How pages do you read a day OP?

Catch 22 Tom Jones Good Omens Double Whammy (Carl Hiassen)
- Catch 22 is just about the funniest thing I've ever read. I don't think you'll finish it in a day, but it's amazing.

I second someone else suggestion: the murderbot diaries. It's great.
\ Most of the books people here are recommending are fairly lengthy, but you can get through the first murderbot book in a dedicated evening.

Recommend high quality short stories. Edgar Allen Poe has a collection that is some of the most thrilling, mysterious and fun, imaginative, adventurous, grotesque and other depending on the story. https://www.amazon.com/Edgar-Allan-Poe-Complete-Collection/dp/1453643141
Robert Louis Stevenson was also a fantastic writer of short stories.https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Short-Stories-Robert-Stevenson/dp/030680882X
I like short stories sometimes as I can't commit to a larger read.

Two for you:
《The Wild Girls》 - Ursula K Le Guin
《Piranesi》 - Susanna Clarke
And if you read fast I reckon you could do China Miévilles 《The City and the City》 or Tade Thompson's 《Rosewater》 in a day.
Edit bonus: anything by Douglas Adams.
- I second Piranesi.

I reccomend hopping on !chat@literature.cafe

The Locked Tomb series is refreshing. It’s weird, it’s fun, it’s dark, and it’s trash, but it’s trash that the author is having fun with.
Discworld is also just amazing
- Each of the novels is more detached than the last - it's great but probably not for someone just starting their journey into fiction
  
  Fair, I’d probably recommend starting with some Sanderson and discussions of his theming and subtler meanings. Once you’re breaking down symbolism in Stormlight as you read it then you may be ready for Professor Muir throwing mean girl’s references into stressful scenes before making you feel like you lost your mind in between trips to the dictionary. But she breaks your mind in such a satisfying way.
- Each of the novels is more detached than the last - it's great but probably not for someone just starting their journey into fiction

If you're into short stories the Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury is a good one.
And while I didn't read much Issac Asimov myself my wife, who loves reading but dislikes sci-fi, read one of his books (Foundation) in a day and said he's an excellent writer.

I would recommend checking out audio books as a medium for reading. It allows you to increase the speed to whatever works for you, so 2x for me, and listen to a lot more in a day. It also frees you to listen at any times you have nothing cognitive happening, so dishes, washing, cleaning, etc.
As for single day books, the first book of the Bobiverse series by Dennis E Taylor. I loved the whole series including the recently released 5th book and the first is only 9.5 hours at normal speed, so about 4.75 at double speed.
Also All Systems Red is the first book in the Murderbot series by Martha Wells. The perspective of a SecUnit, a type of sentient cyborg, which has hacked its own programming and removed its limiters so it can act freely. This means no guard rails, no rules, no limits, which results in lots of TV shows being watched and avoiding humans. It is snarky, fun, and interesting. It comes in at 3.5 hours normal time, so 1.75 at double speed.

Others may have mentioned it (happy to see Terry Pratchett getting a lot of love), but would definitely recommend anything by Vonnegut! Love his writing style and his approaches to humor and world building. Slaughterhouse Five is a great one, as is Sirens of Titan.
Also, not certain how well they hold up, but I really enjoyed the Redwall series back in the day! I was much younger at the time, though.

"The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism" is a hell of read, as well as "The Navidson Record".
But "The Necronomicon" is my favorite fictional book, I think.
- The Navidson record is a movie though.

Any early Alistair MacLean...
Guns of Navaronne
Where Eagles Dare
When Eight Bells Toll
Night Without End
Puppet on a String
Louis Lamour's westerns are complete popcorn and fun to read
C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower books
- When I was younger I binged a lot of Alistair MacLean. To continue the list with some of my other favourites:
  The Satan Bug
  The Golden Rendezvous
  The Dark Crusader
  The Last Frontier
  Ice Station Zebra
  Fair warning though: he's quite formulaic and it is not recommended to finish one of his books then start another. Read a couple of books inbetween to give yourself a break.

Completely ignoring your "short enough to finish in a day" instruction, try out Worm

Not sure if I'd say they hit hard, but for readability it's hard to beat Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe books. Some of the best murder mysteries I've ever read, so much fun.

The Broken Earth series, Enders game series (the first 5 books about Ender), American Gods, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing and the follow up A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, The Kingkiller Chronicle (we've been waiting 10+ yrs for the final book 3, some folks are pretty irked atp, but it will be ok). If you want YA beach reading, anything by Seanan McGuire / Mira Grant for easy fun books about fairies, cryptids, and zombies.

A couple of my favorite books are probably longer than a day’s read:
• Sirens of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut (319p)
\ • The Watermelon King - Daniel Wallace (240p)

When I was young, I read Diane Duane's The Young Wizards series, and I remember I loved it. Also Artemis Fowl, Sherlock Holmes, and The Inheritance series (C. Paolini). As an adult, I've read the LotR series which I highly recommend. Also, The Expanse series, 1984, Chronicles of Narnia.
Short enough to finish in a day...hmm that's tough. Maybe Screwtape Letters by C S Lewis? The Martian. Lots of short stories out there by Isaac Asimov!

I'm waist deep in The Dresden Files right now (just started Turn Coat, book 11 of like 20 and counting) and it very quickly became one of my favorite series I've ever read. Jim Butcher has woven a web of a story where every little detail is a foreshadow that often won't pay off until two books later, it's incredible.
Prior to this I read The Expanse and that one also comes highly recommended. It's one of the most believable space operas I've ever read. I also hear the TV show is good, no idea, never watched it.
- The Expanse TV show is superb. I'm halfway through the books now, and in some ways the TV show is much better, in other ways the books are better.
  There's enough subtlety and complexity that I've watched the entire series twice, and I wouldn't be averse to watching it again.
  
  The books will likely please you for one reason alone. The Laconia story line that the show didn’t make it to.
  Also anybody that loves The Expanse should check out the Bobiverse.

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