If the last novel you finished was assigned in school and you have not been back since, this list is for you. We picked eight books that work for readers who want the propulsive engagement of non-fiction (a real argument, a real subject, a real reason to keep reading) without losing the structural reach only fiction gives.
Reader guide
Books for Skeptics & Reluctant Fiction Readers
Books for people who do not think they like novels.
If the last novel you finished was assigned in school and you have not been back since, this list is for you. We picked eight books that work for readers who want the propulsive engagement of non-fiction (a real argument, a real subject, a real reason to keep reading) without losing the structural reach only fiction gives.
Hand-picked
The shelf for skeptics & reluctant fiction readers
Project Hail Mary
by Andy Weir
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 2021 review. A junior-high science teacher wakes alone on a deep-space craft with no memory. Andy Weir's third novel and the canonical contemporary hard science fiction novel about a single problem solved correctly.
The Silent Patient
by Alex Michaelides
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides 2019 review. A forensic psychotherapist works with an artist who has not spoken since the night she shot her husband. The thriller debut that topped the New York Times bestseller list for over a year and became the most-discussed contemporary psychological thriller of its decade.
Where the Crawdads Sing
by Delia Owens
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens 2018 review. Kya Clark raises herself in the North Carolina marshlands and becomes the suspect in a murder. The best-selling adult novel of 2019 and the 2022 Reese Witherspoon-produced film.
The Midnight Library
by Matt Haig
A gorgeous concept executed with warmth and wit. The Midnight Library will make you think differently about the choices you have made - and the ones still ahead.
Fourth Wing
by Rebecca Yarros
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros 2023 review. Violet Sorrengail, a fragile scribe, is forced into the brutal dragon-riding war college. The first book of the Empyrean series and the romantasy novel that defined the 2023-2024 BookTok moment.
It Ends with Us
by Colleen Hoover
Colleen Hoover at her most daring. A romance that refuses to be comfortable, and is more powerful for it.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid 2017 review. An aging Hollywood icon agrees to tell the true story of her career and her seven marriages, but only to an unknown journalist. The TikTok-era literary fiction novel that defined contemporary Hollywood-memoir-fiction.
Verity
by Colleen Hoover
Verity by Colleen Hoover 2018 review. A struggling writer hired to finish an injured bestseller's series finds an autobiographical manuscript in the family home. The Hoover thriller that broke out years after publication on BookTok and remains the most-discussed contemporary domestic thriller of the decade.
FAQ
Common questions
- I want a book I cannot put down.
- The Silent Patient or Verity. Both psychological thrillers with strong page-turn momentum. Both will be done in a long weekend.
- I want something with science or engineering in it.
- Project Hail Mary. The protagonist is a junior-high science teacher, the plot is a sequence of physical-engineering problems, and the prose voice never preaches. Engineers usually finish this one in three days.
- I want a story that does not waste my time.
- Fourth Wing (romantasy with real propulsion), The Midnight Library (philosophical without being preachy), The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (structurally fast). None of these are short but all three move.