23 books that are absolute page-turners, according to Goodreads

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 16.08

When Katy's mother, Carol, passes away just before their mother-daughter trip to Positano, Italy, she decides to embark on the trip anyway, hoping to connect to her mother through the city she loved. In this contemporary story told with magical realism, Katy magically runs into her mother, full of life at 30 years old, and gets to know a young version of Carol in the summer she fell in love with the Italian coast.

"One Italian Summer" is one of our favorite beach reads — check out our review here.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 17.81

Byron and Benny's mother has passed away, leaving behind a peculiar inheritance for her children including a black cake with a long story, and a voice recording, telling her true history. As the siblings follow their mother's journey, they uncover secrets and memories, hoping to fulfill their mother's final wish to share the black cake when the time is right.  

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 14.49

Rachel's therapist encourages her to take a 90-day communication break from her mother, who instilled Rachel's obsessive calorie counting at a young age. Rachel quickly meets Miriam, who works at her favorite fro-yo shop and helps her embark on a journey of appetites — for food, love, spiritual connection, and more.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 13.99

Set in the Scottish Highlands, "Once There Were Wolves" is the story of twin sisters Inti and Aggie, who have just arrived in Scotland from Alaska to lead a team of biologists as they introduce 14 wolves to the Highland landscape, each hoping to escape the secrets that drove them from home. Though the wolves quickly thrive in the area, a farmer is found dead and Inti is sure her wolves aren't to blame in this gripping contemporary fiction with a mystery/thriller twist.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 13.99

When Sunday Brennan returns to her family in New York after a devastating drunk driving accident she caused, she hopes to rebuild her life, even though she abandoned her family years ago. But when their family's pub is at risk, Sunday and her family must face their secrets in this story of shame, healing, and redemption.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 14.79

"The Book of Cold Cases" is a paranormal thriller that follows Shea Collins, a receptionist who also runs a true crime website, her fascination fueled by the attempted abduction she escaped as a child. When Shea meets Beth Greer, the infamously acquitted Lady Killer Murders suspect, she's granted an interview and invited to Beth's mansion, where strange feelings put Shea on edge and darkness seems to lurk around every corner.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 12.46

This chilling snowstorm thriller is about true crime writer Wylie Lark, who wouldn't mind being snowed into the farmhouse she's isolating in to write her new book — if it didn't seem to be haunted by the murders that took place there decades before. As the snow traps Wylie, she discovers a small child outside and quickly learns the home is far less isolated than she first believed.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 14.50

When Marissa cheats on her husband, they decide to seek couples counseling and meet Avery Chambers, a nontraditional therapist who has lost her professional license. Desperate to save their marriage for the sake of their son, the couple agrees to Avery's methods and is launched on a thrilling collision course of dangerous secrets.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 19.59

In this sequel to "Finlay Donovan is Killing It," Finlay is once again struggling to finish her novel and be a single mother to her children, even with the help of her live-in nanny, Vero. But when it becomes clear that someone wants her ex-husband dead, Finlay is determined to save him while juggling a budding romance and Vero's own secrets.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 16.90

Though Molly Gray struggles with social skills, she's hit her stride as a hotel maid, which perfectly combines her love of cleaning and proper etiquette. But when Molly finds the wealthy Charlie Black dead in his hotel room, she becomes the police's lead suspect and her unlikely friends must come to the rescue to clear her name in this heartfelt and riveting mystery read.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 17.45

When Jess arrives in Paris to stay with her half-brother, Ben, she's equally surprised to discover his lavish apartment and that he's nowhere to be found. With little more than an alarming voicemail and a business card with a strange symbol, Jess begins to search for Ben, finding more questions than answers in a building where everyone seems to be a suspect.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 11.04

Ph.D. candidate Olive Smith needed to convince her best friend, Anh, that she was happily in a relationship and spontaneously kissed the first man she sees, who just happens to be Adam Carlsen, Stanford's notoriously harsh (but hot) professor. Agreeing to a pretend relationship to show the school board he's serious about staying, the two spend more and more time together until a science conference turns their relationship — and possibly Olive's career — upside down in this contemporary romance that also addresses academic burnout and sexual harassment.

Check out our full review of "The Love Hypothesis" here.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 10.25

August is content with being alone, having just moved to New York City to finish school, when she meets the mysterious and gorgeous Jane on the Q train. As August continues to see Jane on the same Q train car, day after day, no matter what time it is, they soon figure out she's stuck there, magically displaced from the 1970s, and desperately in need of help to be set free. 

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 15.29

20 years ago, Shane and Eva spent one wild week falling in love and have been writing each other into their books ever since. Now, the two run into each other at a literary event and spend seven days reconnecting and rehashing the events that once broke their hearts.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 12.38

In this adorable rom-com read, Hannah Bellinger is in town for work, crashing in notorious flirt Fox Thornton's spare bedroom. Immune to his charms but hoping to be friends, Hannah asks for Fox's help winning over one of her cute co-workers, but as they spend more time together, Hannah finds that she might be falling for Fox after all, as he puts aside his flirty, hookup ways to prove he's serious about Hannah.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 11.29

Set in a world where multiverse travel is possible, people are only allowed to visit parallel universes where their parallel selves are no longer alive. On Earth, Cara is trying to keep her head down and secure her citizenship when one of her few remaining selves dies under mysterious circumstances, pulling her into a new world and a secret plot that could endanger the entire multiverse.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 17.32

As Ryland Grace slowly wakes up, millions of miles from Earth, he discovers he is the sole survivor on the ship, alone to accomplish a nearly impossible, last-chance mission to save the planet. This gripping science fiction read traverses between two timelines to reveal the dire situation Earth is facing, the unlikely duo with the only hope of saving them, and the mountain of challenges between them and success. "Project Hail Mary" is an award-winning sci-fi read we love to recommend — check out our full review here. 

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 10.92

This sci-fi thriller takes off when Evelyn's ex-husband, Nathan, is found dead, killed in self-defense by Martine — Evelyn's genetically modified clone — and his new wife. As the two scramble to cover the mess, they uncover Nathan's secrets and find themselves in more danger than they thought.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 11.99

"Recursion" is a completely engrossing science fiction read. Set in a world where new technology allows you to travel in time to a memory, the world faces dire consequences as timelines collide, leaving those who have traveled with two sets of memories. As cop Barry Sutton investigates, reality begins to crumble in this mind-bending page-turner about memory, identity, and the value of time.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 16.73

The old mining town, called "The Lost Village," is notorious for its mysteriously disappearing residents. Alice Lindstedt is a documentary filmmaker whose grandmother's family disappeared from the town in 1959. Now, she's determined to make a film about what really happened in this intense and engaging horror read.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 12.99

When Jax receives nine calls from her frequently manic sister, Lexie, she assumes it's another episode, until Lexie turns up dead the next day, having drowned at their grandmother's estate. As Jax sorts through Lexie's things, she finds she was researching the property's history, which carried a far darker past than Jax could imagine.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 13.69

At the end of Needless Street sits a seemingly ordinary house, but when a new neighbor moves in next door, all the house's secrets come to light. "The Last House on Needless Street" is a chilling and gripping horror read with plenty of page-turning twists and turns.

Available at Amazon and Bookshop, from $ 12.18

This Goodreads Choice Award-winning horror is about the final girl left alive at the end of horror films, bloodied but victorious. 22 years ago, Lynnette survived a terrible massacre and has been meeting with a support group of final girls like her for over a decade. When one of the women misses a meeting, the final girls' worst fears may be coming true.