Top 10 Best Books to Read in a Weekend in the UK 2021 (Naoise Dolan, Andre Aciman and More)

This bestselling paperback sees the return of the characters Oliver and Elio, whose blossoming love was the subject of Aciman's previous novel which became an Oscar-winning film. The characters don't actually meet until the brief coda at the book's end, but instead, experience their own love stories in this novel of three parts.

If you're willing to believe romance can bloom on a short-lived train journey and can invest in a world where every character quotes classical philosophy like they're reciting the alphabet —this ravishing whirl through the streets of Rome is quick to read and hard to forget. 

This is one of those books people have been telling you to read for years and when you eventually pick it up, you'll see it's a page-turner of substantial proportions (don't worry, it's actually only 272 pages long). Add it to your to-read list as soon as you can!

Patrick Suskind creates a properly sinister protagonist, the perfumer Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, who has no personal odour (told you he was creepy) but boy, can he smell stuff. Alive with the stench of humanity across every page, this book is gloriously gross at moments and divine at others. Through some grim twists and turns, this book races towards a horrifying climax. 

This super-brief read has been popular with critics because of its eccentric portrayal of a close to universal experience; the sensation of being an outsider. Funny and hard to resist, this story sees two outcasts considering the benefits of teaming up to appease the judgmental world around them.

As it's one of the shorter books on our list at just 160 pages, the faster readers among you might manage this in as little as a day. For a gentler pace, though, reading it over the weekend would be perfect. A clever investigation of what it means to fit in, and the pitfalls of refusing to do so. 

This is basically Carrie Fisher's personal memoir, disguised as fiction. It's dry, pithy and witty; you can really hear Carrie's husky, disdainful tone in a lot of the dialogue and diary-style prose.

Divided into postcard-style vignettes, the story is told from a few different perspectives. From the drug user drowning in denial whose bag of cocaine explodes across his running bath, to the Hollywood starlet, as she grits her teeth through career desperation and toe-curling showbiz parties. 

Another more typical page-turner for our list — this newly released crime thriller is one you'll power through in one sitting if you're a seasoned speed-reader, while it'll last closer to a weekend for the rest of us. This book is packed with believable dialogue and precise, powerful descriptions. 

Magpie Lane begins as Scottish nanny Dee is questioned by police on the disappearance of voluntarily mute, 8-year-old Felicity. It then leads us through the lives of the child's father, his beautiful new wife, an eccentric scholar named Dr. Linklater, and even Dee herself. An eerie and cleverly plotted tale.

We reckon you'll race through this hilarious and touching book, which is pretty timely now that we're all prouder than ever of our NHS. If snot-laughing and ugly-crying are your favourite reading moods, this book will give you great reasons to do more of both. 

After 12 years of studying and working in hospitals, Adam Kay faced tragedy in his senior role within obstetrics and gynaecology — and decided to leave what had been a health-ravaging, social-life-destroying, heart-breaking job and share the trials and chuckles in this tender memoir. Low-impact prose that's high on emotions and warmth. 

This book is one of those that stays with you long after you've read it. If you've been meaning to read Toni Morrison, this is an excellent place to start, being both one of her most loved and lauded works and a relatively quick read that is somehow expressive, complex and comfortable to follow at the same time. 

The main character Pecola dreams of having blue eyes like her white classmates, and the various characters in this book struggle through some deeply disturbing episodes which pay poetic tribute to the relentless suffering of black people in the US. Magically written and hard to put down. 

It's perhaps trite to say young Irish writers are sparkling lately, but with the success of Sally Rooney's Normal People and the rise of Caroline O'Donaghue, it's not far off the mark. Naoise Dolan is hailed as one of Ireland's brightest young authors and the only way to find out whether you agree is to zoom through a copy of her much-talked-about debut over a weekend. 

The main character in Exciting Times is Ava, who lives in Hong Kong but hails from Dublin, and considers love to be little more than a functional transaction. The short, blunt sentences are what make this a time-efficient read while at the same time adding to the wry, withering humour that sets it apart.

This book first came out in 2012 but has seen a resurgence in popularity since the release of the Netflix Original series Unorthodox, which was critically acclaimed (we highly recommend it too, if you haven't already watched it!)

The book is a detailed account of Deborah Feldman's experience as part of the Hasidic community in Williamsburg, Manhattan. It's written with wit and a buoyant turn of phrase that makes it easy to read and devour in a couple of days. Sensitively told, it's packed with interesting insights into a little-documented community. 

With all the buzz that surrounded its debut, this book a great choice if you love to whizz through a book in a weekend, then chat about it with others come Monday. Exploring female friendship, cosmetic surgery, and the themes of beauty and patriarchy in South Korea, this book is easy to follow and irresistible to discuss. 

Frances Cha paints contemporary Seoul in all its dazzling neon glory and creates characters that allow her to examine what it means to be an attractive young woman in South Korea today. A vital feminist read in a world where men still pay to sit next to pretty women and no one ever talks about the Kardashians' original faces.