13 Riveting Books That Will Keep You Up Past Bed-Time

Staying up past your bed-time to read your book is the quintessential bookworm experience. It’s got to be organic, though – reading a book that’s so gripping, and has you in its clutches so hard, that you’re eager to forego precious sleep to stay with it. Here are thirteen riveting books that will keep you up past bed-time, tried and tested by yours truly.

The Woman In The Library by Sulari Gentill

The Woman In The Library is a meta-fictional mystery, a book-within-a-book, with two puzzles playing out on the page. In one strand of the story, four strangers get to talking at the Boston Library, becoming unknowing key witnesses to a murder elsewhere in the building. In another, the crime author writing their story corresponds with a friend, fleshing out her manuscript with the details he provides about his home city of Boston. However, neither story is entirely what it seems. This twisty and mischievous novel is a true delight to read, and you won’t want to put it down, bed-time or no bed-time. Read my full review of The Woman In The Library here.

We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

The titular villain in We Need To Talk About Kevin is surely one of the most creepy and malevolent characters in contemporary fiction. Even as described by his mother in a series of letters, he’s a weird little kid who grows up into an angry adolescent with the most awful vibes. It’s really no surprise at all that he would undertake a violent killing spree at his high school – and yet, even without the element of surprise, it’s an incredibly compelling read. Were Kevin’s actions inevitable? Was he “born this way”? How much of his murderous rage was innate, and how much was fostered by Eva’s parenting? You won’t be able stop turning pages until you find out. Read my full review of We Need To Talk About Kevin here.

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

The Plot has a jaw-dropping, amazing, oh-my-I-must-read-this-immediately premise. A washed-up creative writing professor steals the perfect plot from one of his students to craft the best-seller that will save his career. He thinks he’ll get away with it, given that the student conveniently died after sharing, but someone knows that he stole the idea – and he can’t stop looking over his shoulder. Who could possibly know that he stole the plot? Who would care? What are they going to do with that information? This is a literary mystery of the highest order and it will suck you all the way in. Read my full review of The Plot here.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

If you’re only a couple of pages into Never Let Me Go, you might be thinking there’s no way it can keep you up past bed-time. It begins with Kathy H, who describes herself as a “carer”, talking about looking after organ donors. As she describes her twelve years in the role, she starts reminiscing about her days at Hailsham, a boarding school where the teachers were called “guardians” and the children’s art was selected for display in a gallery owned by a mysterious woman known only as “Madame”. What’s so fascinating about that? Ishiguro masterfully drip feeds clues as to what’s really going on beneath the surface, and you won’t be able to help “just one more”ing all the way to the end. Read my full review of Never Let Me Go here.

You by Caroline Kepnes

Here’s a tip: if you purchase a copy of You from your favourite local bookstore, don’t immediately begin reading it when you get home, unless you want to be up past bed-time to get to the end. Caroline Kepnes plays a bit of a trick on the reader by making the creepy anti-hero a bookseller, one who becomes obsessed with his customer. He’ll stop at nothing to insinuate himself into her life, making himself the only one she can turn to when her boyfriend mysteriously disappears. This ‘perversely romantic thriller’ is a whirlwind to read, and you won’t be able to help but wonder whether it could happen to you… Read my full review of You here.

Changeling by Matt Wesolowski

Okay, maybe Changeling will only keep you up past bed-time if you’re a bit of a wuss, like me – but it’s truly spooky! The story is told in a podcast format, with the host investigating the 30+ year old cold case of a young boy who disappeared from the backseat of his father’s car. That’s mildly scary on its own, but it’s the setting that makes this one truly chilling. Wentshire Forest is infamous for strange, inexplicable phenomena: knocking sounds, whispers in the woods, angry trees, fiendish spirits, and so on. The implication the whole way through is that the child could have been taken by the forests’ inhabitants, and you won’t be able to sleep until you know what really happened. Read my full review of Changeling here.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Liane Moriarty’s strategy to keep you up past bed-time reading Big Little Lies isn’t subtle, but damn, it’s effective. As the story unfolds, it’s punctuated with extracts from witness interviews with a journalist, just to keep the lure dangling. Something went down at a local school fundraiser, a trivia night – everyone was drinking, someone is dead, and one of the three women at the heart of the main narrative is responsible. You won’t be able to resist flipping the page, just to see what happens next, and that’s why Moriarty has ascended to the throne as the Aussie queen of crime. Read my full review of Big Little Lies here.

Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson

If you need a compelling mystery at the heart of a book for it to keep you up past bed-time, you need to read Before I Go To Sleep. Christine loses her memory every time she goes to sleep (as the title would suggest). She wakes up with no memories of her life, her home, or the man who says that he’s her husband. Under the guidance of her neurologist, she keeps a secret journal, recording the events of each day – because even though she loses her memories, she’s desperate to remember. It’s this journal that proves the key in unravelling the mystery locked in Christine’s mind. Read my full review of Before I Go To Sleep here.

The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

A luxury cruise in the calm waters of the North Sea sounds like a dream – but in The Woman In Cabin 10, it quickly turns into an Agatha Christie-esque nightmare. All is going swimmingly for Lo, the journalist with the plum assignment to review the cruise for a travel magazine, until the weather turns. The wind whips up, the sky turns grey, and Lo witnesses something terrible: a woman thrown overboard. Only, when she tries to raise the alarm, she discovers that every guest on board the ship is accounted for. Lo is the only one who saw the woman, and the only one who thinks there’s something wrong. This claustrophobic locked-room thriller will hitch your breath and hold you up all night.

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Sharp Objects follows Camille Preaker, a journalist for a small Chicago newspaper, as she’s drawn back to her hometown to report on the abduction and murder of two young girls. At first, Camille doesn’t seem particularly unusual – sure, she’s a bit of a drinker, and she clearly has some unresolved issues with her family, but who doesn’t? Gradually, as things unfold, you realise how dark she really is, and why those issues with her mother and her hometown might never be untangled. Gillian Flynn has a real knack for writing a twisty thriller that will keep you up past bed-time, and this one ends with a sucker punch that will stick with you even after your head hits the pillow. Read my full review of Sharp Objects here.

The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard

The Nothing Man is so well-written and propulsive, it’s difficult to put down – even when it turns your stomach. It’s the perfect fiction read for fans of I’ll Be Gone In The Dark (Howard even cites that specific book as inspiration in the Acknowledgements), and it’s every bit as scary and riveting. The story follows a ‘retired’ serial killer, now working as a security guard at a grocery store, as he reads the book about his crimes written by his only surviving victim. It all culminates in a satisfying ending – you won’t be able to look away until you get there. Read my full review of The Nothing Man here.

Kill Your Husbands by Jack Heath

We’ve got swinging! We’ve got murder! Kill Your Husbands has the kind of scandalous, ridiculous fun that will sink its claws into you and refuse to let go. It’s perfectly paced to keep you intrigued all the way along. Three couples rent an isolated house on a mountaintop, to spend some time reconnecting and relaxing in nature. Things get spicy when the idea of partner-swapping comes up. The friends concoct a convoluted scheme where, for one night only, they’ll sleep with someone who isn’t their spouse. What could go wrong? As the title suggests, the husbands start showing up dead… for starters. Read my full review of Kill Your Husbands here.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

I’ll admit, I’m including One Last Stop to prove a bit of a point: books that will keep you up past bed-time aren’t all heart-stopping thrillers. Some of them are love stories so delightful (and so spicy) that you won’t want to let the characters go, even for a good night’s sleep. August is a cynical New Yorker who doesn’t believe in true love, until she meets a beautiful stranger on a train. How was August to know that Jane had come unstuck in time, from her home in the 1970s, and falling in love with her would cause all kinds of trouble? The romance is steamy at times, sweet at others, and always just a little bit magical. Read my full review of One Last Stop here.