14 Books That Can Make Your Heart Skip a Beat

These books are full of feelings, emotions and plot twists that will get you hooked and may make your heart skip a beat, choose one of these books, get a cup of tea and go on a journey.

1. Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

Reconstructing Amelia tells the story of a mother trying to piece together the last few weeks of her daughter’s life in the wake of her suicide. It gets you thinking about how well you can really ever know someone. The mystery as to whether Amelia did kill herself will keep you gripped until the end (which I personally have mixed feelings about, but that’s another matter).—Michelle O’Brien. Read More
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2. And the Sea Will Tell by Vincent Bugliosi and Bruce Henderson

This is the surreal-yet-true story of mayhem and murder on the remote Pacific Palmyra Atoll in 1974. Bugliosi makes you feel like you’re actually there — you can feel the tension, the humidity, the burning sand, and the desperation of strangers stranded together on an island, with an ex-con and psychopath among them.—Angie Leverenz Read More
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3. Kindred by Octavia Butler

In the midst of her 26th birthday celebration, Dana, a black woman living in 1976 L.A., finds herself abruptly transported to a slave plantation in the antebellum South. She continues to be rocketed between the time periods and left to reckon with her place in both. Butler’s trademark realism makes this a gripping and unforgettable read.—Mariella G. Read More
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4. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Yes, it starts out slowly to establish the unique setting and characters. But once you get those first pages under your belt, you can’t put this one down. Journalist Mikael Blomkvist sets out to solve a missing persons case, with the help of the thorny and enigmatic Lisbeth Salander to help — and hinder — him along the way. Their chemistry is unlike any other crime duo, and every page of this books makes you wonder what’s going to happen in the end. Once you get there, it’s truly a spine-tingling shock of a close.—Cynthia Beaudry. Read More
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5. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

What do you do when immortality is your curse? As Harry August nears the end of his 11th life, he meets someone who might be able to help. This is a tense — and sometimes bleak — but also gripping and incredibly original read.—Clare C. Read More
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6. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

“Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can.” The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer pulls you in from the first paragraph and doesn’t let you go. It’s just fantastic.—Kathryn F. Read More
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7. Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley

It’s about time you got some Easy Rawlins in your life. Don’t think 1940s detective noir is your thing? See if Walter Mosley doesn’t change your mind. His effortless prose and richly developed characters bring a bygone era to life, following a decent and ordinary man, Easy Rawlins, into the violent and corrupt underbelly of mid-century L.A.—Dmitri Wiley. Read More
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8. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

When a comet grazes the moon, pushing it out of orbit and closer and closer to Earth, Miranda and her family are forced into survival mode. I originally listened to this book on audio, and woke up in the morning sad and upset until I remembered, oh, it’s only a book. So I bought the print copy, read the book again, and had the same reaction. It felt so real — everyone I’ve handed this book to agrees it’s one of the most riveting recent reads they’ve come across.—Toby Rajput, Chicago. Read More
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9. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie

I didn’t know anything about Indian history before I read Midnight’s Children, but that didn’t stop me from loving it. The book is about Saleem Sinai, a man who is born at midnight on Aug. 15, 1947, the moment that India becomes independent. He and 1,000 other “midnight’s children” born around that time all have different magical powers, and the story tracks their lives alongside the turbulent growth of their nation. I finished this book on the way back from a spring break road trip, in the backseat of a car, holding a gas-station flashlight in my hand. That’s how completely and utterly absorbing it is.—Ben Robbins. Read More
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10. Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin

I literally tried to put this book down and, five minutes later, picked it back up to finish it. If you haven’t seen the movie, Rosemary and her hubby, Guy, move into a new apartment building and all sorts of weird stuff starts happening to them. If you have seen the movie, don’t worry about the book ruining it. The story is just as exciting and, if anything, you just end up just more sure that Mia Farrow was cast perfectly. :) —Katherine T. Read More
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11. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Set in the 1980s, it’s already a nostalgia-filled romp, but what I didn’t expect was how heartbreaking and adorable this romance is. You will cheer and root for Eleanor and Park, bite your nails when things get bad, and lose your mind with love for this adorable underrated story of love.—Annabelle Burdsal. Read More
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12. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

Shantaram is an absolute masterpiece: 800 pages that restore your faith in humanity through an intense story of redemption, love, drugs, money, the mafia, and, ultimately, the universal beauty and kindness of people. The only time I could put the book away was after one character died. And then I couldn’t pick it up for a week.—Kipras M. Read More
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13. Native Son by Richard Wright

My jaw literally dropped multiple times while reading Native Son. It is a brutal and relentless — but very important — read. The tragedy of Bigger Thomas, a young black man coming of age in 1930s Chicago, though fictional, lays bare a period of unbelievable racial and political conflict that we would be remiss as a nation to forget. Add this to your list, and brace yourself.—Eleanor J. Read More
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14. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

The appeal of this page-turner cult novel lies in the aura of mystery and exclusivity surrounding the circle of friends at its center. Even though you know what they’ve done from the very start (the prologue acts as a flash-forward, making the novel a whydunnit rather than a whodunnit), the characters are so fascinating that you just have to know how they got there. The novel doesn’t disappoint, and when the events leading up to the prologue are revealed, it’s like a bombshell: No one saw that coming. And the best part? That’s only the first half of the novel.—Cristina C. Read More
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