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Sometimes, you don't have time to become immersed in a book for days on end. Real life, gosh darn it, gets in the way. When time is short, you just want to devour a book in a single sitting. These are our favourite novellas and short story collections for a quick read. They won't allow the fabric of your life to crumble while you enjoy them, we promise. Why not [mailto:sue@thebookbag.co.uk tell us] about your favourites?
__NOTOC__
{{topten
|author=Jim Dodge
|title=Fup
|rating=5
|summary=A full five stars and then some for this little book with a big heart and even bigger belly laugh. Fup is a fairy tale for grown ups and with none of that nasty stuff they put in the fairy tales for children. Buy it, borrow it, steal it. Just don't miss it.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841954896</amazonuk>
}}
{{topten
|author=Richard Brautigan
|title=Revenge of the Lawn
|rating=5
|summary=There are 62 short stories in Revenge of the Lawn, some no more than paragraph or two. Yet they're all telling in a very attractive, faux naif kind of way. If you like short stories, if you like your short stories with a little bit of surrealism thrown into the mix and if you like the Beat boys but haven't yet discovered Brautigan, then this is the book for you. It's absolutely lovely.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0395706742</amazonuk>
}}
{{topten
|author=Danny Rhodes
|title=Asboville
|rating=4
|summary=Asboville is a great debut novel from Danny Rhodes. It's a real what you see is what you get number, utterly unpretentious, very sympathetic and also very honest. Do read it.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904559220</amazonuk>
}}
{{topten
|author=Ian Rankin
|title=A Cool Head
|rating=4.5
|summary=A Quick Read from best-selling crime novelist Ian Rankin delivers an exciting tale of murder, corruption and robbery with some great characters. I read it in an hour and thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely recommended.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0752884492</amazonuk>
}}
{{topten
|author=Ian McEwan
|title=On Chesil Beach
|rating=4.5
|summary=In a short novella, McEwan manages to fit a record of changing sexual and social mores, an extremely convincing depiction of individuals' inner worlds and a psychological (if not to say physiological) insight so piercing that it gets, almost literally, visceral.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224081187</amazonuk>
}}
{{topten
|author=Alan Bennett
|title=The Uncommon Reader
|rating=5
|summary=A more affectionate satire than you might expect, there are still some wonderful hatchet jobs together with the usual wonderful dialogue and multiple layers of jokes. There is a sharp analysis of the reader and a powerful defence of reading. Marvellous.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846680492</amazonuk>
}}
{{topten
|author=Amélie Nothomb
|title=Sulphuric Acid
|rating=5
|summary=Death camp guard Zdena becomes obsessed with the sublime prisoner Pannonique - while the viewing public become ever more intrigued by the show's excesses. Think on where we're headed next time you switch on for your favourite fix of staged reality.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571234933</amazonuk>
}}
{{topten
|author=Louis de Bernieres
|title=Red Dog
|rating=4
|summary=''Red Dog'' is a lovely little piece of modern folklore suitable for adults and younger readers just beginning to find their feet with books for grown ups. It follows its eponymous hero's adventure through Western Australia in a timeless tale of the littlest of lives.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099429047</amazonuk>
}}
{{topten
|author=Mohsin Hamid
|title=The Reluctant Fundamentalist
|rating=4.5
|summary=Short, taut and piercingly sharp despite elaborate and formal language, this compulsively readable and very skilfully written tale of one man's experience and disillusionment with the American Dream in the wake of 9/11 comes highly recommended. The ambiguous ending is a master-stroke.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141029544</amazonuk>
}}
{{topten
|author=Hilary Spurling
|title=La Grande Therese
|rating=4.5
|summary=A slim volume telling the story of a financial scandal which rocked French Society at the end of the nineteenth century makes a riveting read. Highly recommended here at Bookbag.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1861978545</amazonuk>
}}
{{commentfeature}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:*Top Ten Books To Read In One Sitting}}
[[Category:Lists|Read In One Sitting]]
[[Category:Literary Fiction]]
[[Category:General Fiction]]
[[Category:Short Stories]]
Sometimes, you don't have time to become immersed in a book for days on end. Real life, gosh darn it, gets in the way. When time is short, you just want to devour a book in a single sitting. These are our favourite novellas and short story collections for a quick read. They won't allow the fabric of your life to crumble while you enjoy them, we promise. Why not [mailto:sue@thebookbag.co.uk tell us] about your favourites?
__NOTOC__
{{topten
|author=Jim Dodge
|title=Fup
|rating=5
|summary=A full five stars and then some for this little book with a big heart and even bigger belly laugh. Fup is a fairy tale for grown ups and with none of that nasty stuff they put in the fairy tales for children. Buy it, borrow it, steal it. Just don't miss it.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841954896</amazonuk>
}}
{{topten
|author=Richard Brautigan
|title=Revenge of the Lawn
|rating=5
|summary=There are 62 short stories in Revenge of the Lawn, some no more than paragraph or two. Yet they're all telling in a very attractive, faux naif kind of way. If you like short stories, if you like your short stories with a little bit of surrealism thrown into the mix and if you like the Beat boys but haven't yet discovered Brautigan, then this is the book for you. It's absolutely lovely.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0395706742</amazonuk>
}}
{{topten
|author=Danny Rhodes
|title=Asboville
|rating=4
|summary=Asboville is a great debut novel from Danny Rhodes. It's a real what you see is what you get number, utterly unpretentious, very sympathetic and also very honest. Do read it.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904559220</amazonuk>
}}
{{topten
|author=Ian Rankin
|title=A Cool Head
|rating=4.5
|summary=A Quick Read from best-selling crime novelist Ian Rankin delivers an exciting tale of murder, corruption and robbery with some great characters. I read it in an hour and thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely recommended.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0752884492</amazonuk>
}}
{{topten
|author=Ian McEwan
|title=On Chesil Beach
|rating=4.5
|summary=In a short novella, McEwan manages to fit a record of changing sexual and social mores, an extremely convincing depiction of individuals' inner worlds and a psychological (if not to say physiological) insight so piercing that it gets, almost literally, visceral.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224081187</amazonuk>
}}
{{topten
|author=Alan Bennett
|title=The Uncommon Reader
|rating=5
|summary=A more affectionate satire than you might expect, there are still some wonderful hatchet jobs together with the usual wonderful dialogue and multiple layers of jokes. There is a sharp analysis of the reader and a powerful defence of reading. Marvellous.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846680492</amazonuk>
}}
{{topten
|author=Amélie Nothomb
|title=Sulphuric Acid
|rating=5
|summary=Death camp guard Zdena becomes obsessed with the sublime prisoner Pannonique - while the viewing public become ever more intrigued by the show's excesses. Think on where we're headed next time you switch on for your favourite fix of staged reality.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571234933</amazonuk>
}}
{{topten
|author=Louis de Bernieres
|title=Red Dog
|rating=4
|summary=''Red Dog'' is a lovely little piece of modern folklore suitable for adults and younger readers just beginning to find their feet with books for grown ups. It follows its eponymous hero's adventure through Western Australia in a timeless tale of the littlest of lives.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099429047</amazonuk>
}}
{{topten
|author=Mohsin Hamid
|title=The Reluctant Fundamentalist
|rating=4.5
|summary=Short, taut and piercingly sharp despite elaborate and formal language, this compulsively readable and very skilfully written tale of one man's experience and disillusionment with the American Dream in the wake of 9/11 comes highly recommended. The ambiguous ending is a master-stroke.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141029544</amazonuk>
}}
{{topten
|author=Hilary Spurling
|title=La Grande Therese
|rating=4.5
|summary=A slim volume telling the story of a financial scandal which rocked French Society at the end of the nineteenth century makes a riveting read. Highly recommended here at Bookbag.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1861978545</amazonuk>
}}
{{commentfeature}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:*Top Ten Books To Read In One Sitting}}
[[Category:Lists|Read In One Sitting]]
[[Category:Literary Fiction]]
[[Category:General Fiction]]
[[Category:Short Stories]]
