looking for a page turner to read while camping - anything you couldn't put down?

Question

Elena · Answer

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir: Ohhh to laugh this hard from the first page feels so good!! I describe this book as The Hunger Games meets The Westing Game but with lesbian necromancers in space. Gideon is one of the most lovable characters I’ve ever met, and Harrow is obsession-worthy. My partner and I dressed as them for Halloween a couple years back (the photo is V as Gideon). Gideon and Harrow’s dynamic, all the way to the last page, rocked me to my core. I truly love every book in this series, but will always have a special place in my heart for Gideon the Ninth.

Also important to note that audiobook is fantastic!! I would absolutely recommend reading (rather than listening to) the second in the series Harrow the Ninth or you may become extremely confused, but listening to Gideon was even more enjoyable than reading it because the voices are so good.

Shannon · Answer

I Might Be in Trouble: I flew through this in a weekend. What a ride.

Meredith · Answer

The Husbands: It starts out silly and fantastical and then you find yourself completely pulled in. And the twists! A page turner that won’t stress you out.

Lola · Answer

Demon copper head: You can’t stop reading this and will be up all night and cry and smile

Hannah M. Wilde · Answer

Colored Television by Danzy Senna: People making bad decisions and figuring it out! Couldn’t put down

Hannah M. Wilde · Answer

Yellowface by RF Kuang: Tore through it! You can probably find at the library

Terrah · Answer

The God of the Woods: This book haunted me... hit all the notes of a page turner... unique characters, perfect balance of suspense and plot, a ghost story and family saga all in one. Hell, buy it for the cover art alone. So good.

Coco Quizon · Answer

Cry to Heaven by Anne Rice: Our diva has a formula of two beautiful and tragic boys and 1 girl but it’s rendered so well in this book about Venetian Castrati in the 1600s. Rich, erotic, and great, albeit predictable twist. Fun read. Easy achievement book. Will pull you out of a slump.

Sheena · Answer

Oh My Mother!: If you want to laugh and cry, read this book. I read it while on a once-in-a-lifetime sailing trip off the coast of Mexico and had to limit my reading time because, well, I was on a once-in-a-lifetime trip! But it was such a page-turner that I kept finding myself pulled back in.

Sheena · Answer

Anything Emma Cline: The Girls and the Guest. Consider me gripped and pulled in. Daddy is a collection of essays which were less compelling for me. Switzy just came out and I can’t wait to dive in.

Sealligator · Answer

The Queen's Gambit (Walter Tevis): inhaled most of this book while camping in the rain!

pino · Answer

i who have never known men: could not put it down

Shannon B · Answer

Dungeon Crawler Carl series: Look, I might be basic but I just really love Dungeon Crawler Carl.

Shelby · Answer

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: Juicy, suspenseful, complex, and complete. It’s the kind of story that makes you want to write a book report when it’s over

JDJ · Answer

Strangers book by Belle Burden

Laura Gardner Longo · Answer

The Perfect Nanny (Leila Slimani): Read it in an afternoon. A slip of a novel with the force of an avalanche. Class, race, the impossible paradigms of motherhood. Have been a fan of Slimani’s excellent fiction ever since.

Allison · Answer

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros: Dragonsss and hot people! I know people feel certain ways about the other books, but this one is kind of perfect.

Julia · Answer

A Marriage at Sea (Sophie Elmhirst): My favorite book of 2025. I’ve made so many people in my life read it so we can talk about it together.

Kelsey · Answer

Culpability (Bruce Holsinger): A near future read that will have you gulping it down at the beach.

Maja Brajkovich · Answer

Yaga! Took 2 hours to finish

Elena · Answer

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie: Love this trilogy and her stand-alone Provenance, too. Fun, fascinating and propulsive space epics with heart and soul.

In this story, a powerful artificial intelligence named Breq, once part of an enormous spaceship filled with human ancillaries ready to fight on behalf of the empire in a cosmic war, has been reduced through an act of mysterious betrayal, to one human ancillary body. Essentially this all powerful AI has been rendered mortal, and solitary, and for that they’re seeking justice outside the law.

The traditions and customs of the Radch empire and the universe Leckie has built, the gender structure (or lack there of) of it, the planets and settings and this particular AIs love for singing (yes) make this an immersive read with a special place in my heart.

Eric F · Answer

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (David Grann) 🪶: Yes, it’s much better than the movie. A very compelling true story.

Karen Fischer · Answer

Gone Girl: I know it's very popular, but it's popular for a reason!

clownmommy · Answer

The Extinction of Irena Rey: i usually don’t read thrillers but this one is wonderfully heady and tense and kooky all at once. a group of translators get together in a cabin near the belarus border to translate the magnum opus of their group’s leader, a famous but very questionable writer, and then she goes missing. cool! but what you’re actually reading is the supposedly-biased translation of the story that was originally written about this experience. the whole time you’re like “but did this really happen??” which imo makes it really fun and trippy to read

Maggie Knight · Answer

Heart the Lover: Read it in one sitting. Definitely plan to be wrecked afterwards tho.

Dana Vance · Answer

Don’t Know Tough by Eli Cranor: Read this is two days and still think about the main character.  So under the radar but holy wow packs a punch.

Allison · Answer

Wild Dark Shore: I loved this book so much, it immediately skyrocketed to my all-time Top 5. It will keep you guessing but also speaks to your heart and the world we’re living in, while being totally separate from the world we’re living in.

Vickie · Answer

Workhorse by Caroline Palmer, on vacation: Is there anything better than plunging headfirst into a novel on vacation? Read the first 150 pages of this in one go before reluctantly going to bed. This book has all my favorite things: morally compromised protagonist, mysterious and beguiling supporting characters with intense but undefined relationships, very specific details to draw you back to early 2000s New York, and the  subtle tension of a thriller

Vickie · Answer

The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis: Unhinged, indulgent and great at building tension. I read this when I was in California this summer and could not put it down

Loose Links · Answer

London Falling (Patrick Radden Keefe): Not exactly a summer beach read but unputdownable.

Katie Russo · Answer

Still Life by Sarah Winman: Somehow sprawling but intimate, this is a beautiful story set in Florence. One of my favourite books of the last couple of years!

Charles · Answer

Gone Girl: I was at the beach and wanted a page turner, so I turned to the NY Times list of 50 best thrillers of the 21st century. Did not disappoint.

Allison Doherty · Answer

Long Island Compromise: A disaster of a story in the best way. This family will stress you out but I rarely laugh out loud while reading and I did several times with this book. I loved Fleishman is in Trouble as well.

ellie jones · Answer

my brilliant friend by elena ferrante: named the #1 book of the 21st century by the new york times! this book was a gift from a friend, and i picked it up during a major reading slump, knowing nothing about it.

this is book 1 in a series of 4, and i ended up reading all 1,700 pages of the series in 3 weeks!! i couldn't put it down. haven't felt like that in a long time.

bonus: there's an hbo show of the entire series that follows the books very closely. super cool & rewarding to watch it after being immersed in the books!

meg · Answer

The God of the Woods

Becca Mandy · Answer

All the Colors of the Dark | Chris Whitaker: Bill from my local bookstore highly recommended this book and he has impeccable taste. He was right. Devoured this.