Ready, Steady, Read: Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is: Top Ten Books to Read in a Day.

When compiling this list, I first off all wrote down all the books that I have read in one day in the recent past, but then I realised that a lot of these books were simply short, rather than edge-of-your-seat page turners. So instead, this is a list of books that had me racing through the pages as fast as I possibly could. Some of them I did read in a day, others it took me a little longer (hello, real life), but all of them had me promising myself "just one more chapter before bed"!

1. If I Stay by Gayle Forman
I read this book this weekend, in the space of an evening. It was short, but it was also one that I couldn't tear myself away from until I found out what Mia would decide at the end. (Review forthcoming.)

2. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
I waited a long time to read this book, and was prepared to be disappointed after reading all the five star reviews beforehand. But I was obsessed with this book as soon as I started it. I remember tweeting at the time that I was stuck between wanting to finish it, and not wanting to finish it so I could make it last longer. Stephanie Perkins replied that that was a pretty excellent dilemma to be faced with.

3. Mary Ann in Autumn by Armistead Maupin
I received this book for Christmas a couple of years ago. As the long awaited addition to the Tales series, I had been waiting (im)patiently for MAiA for a long time, and devoured most of it in the time it took everyone else to eat the leftover turkey.

4. The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
I bought this huge book in a charity shop, took it home, and dove in. I didn't expect it to be so good, or so difficult to put down. The book is incredibly atmospheric, and those hours I spent with my head buried in it made me feel like I was almost there in the stifling heat of the Deep South with Harriet and her aunts.

5. Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
A nice feel-good story about a group of high school kids falling in love and learning to express themselves. Boy Meets Boy is set in a small town where being gay (or being football captain and drag queen simultaneously) is ordinary, and so unremarkable compared to Paul's burgeoning relationship with new boy Noah, and all their ups and downs and their quest for a happy ending.

6. Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
This took me a few evenings to read, but it was a struggle to put it down every time! This is one of my favourite reads of the year so far, and I was completely drawn in to Amy's cross-country adventure with Roger as they both try and sort out some pretty big events in their lives. (Plus: maps and pictures and track lists = extra slices of awesome.) (Review.)

7. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
I don't recall which Harry Potter book I read the fastest, but I don't think you can ever quite beat the magic of the first one. That's not to say that it's necessarily my favourite, but that Harry finding out he's a wizard--and his escape from his horrible home life--is one of my favourite parts of the series, akin to the Narnia moment of finding the magic wardrobe and discovering a whole new world. Philosopher's Stone is the one that draws me in every time.

8. Looking For Alaska by John Green
The first John Green novel I read, and still my favourite. Another one that came highly recommended and more than lived up to its promise. There was something utterly compelling about this story, even as it hurtled towards the "after".

9. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
Intricate and absorbing, American Wife had me hooked from start to finish. One of those books that as soon as you finish it, you want enough time to have elapsed that you can go back and read it all over again.

10. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
This was another Sunday afternoon blitz read. Not an instant favourite, but a book that appealed to my inner teenager, and took me back to being fourteen and reading for hours on end in my room as I sought out the ending I wanted. (Review.)

Special mention must go to my current read, How To Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran, which I am speeding through and loving every minute of.

What's in your top ten? Have you read any of these? Leave me your links and let me know what you think!