Popular Books That Are Short Enough to Finish in a 1-Week Vacation

What it's about: Inspired by the incredible life of anthropologist Margaret Mead, Lily King's Euphoria tells the story of three young anthropologists caught up in a passionate, dangerous love triangle while studying the native tribes of New Guinea.

What it's about: This collection of inspiring, clever, and hopeful essays and short stories was published posthumously by Yale grad Marina Keegan, who was a rising literary star before her untimely death in 2012. The Opposite of Loneliness might be short on pages, but the instant New York Times bestseller is definitely big on depth.

What it's about: The first book in Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach trilogy (and an upcoming film starring Oscar Isaac and Natalie Portman), Annihilation tells the story of four women on an expedition to a dangerous, uncharted territory.

What it's about: If you like your romantic comedies a little dark, Edan Lepucki's If You're Not Yet Like Me novella about a pregnant woman telling her unborn daughter the story of her relationship with an unemployed, poorly dressed man named Zachary might be right up your alley.

What it's about: Journalist and death penalty case investigator Rene Denfeld puts her experience to good use in The Enchanted, a novel about a death row inmate named York and the investigator who starts digging into his gritty past in an effort to have his sentence reduced.

What it's about: In a heartwrenching, journal-like account, this emotional, witty novel is narrated by a wife navigating the ups and downs of a marriage in distress and trying to figure out where it all went wrong. Also, Dept. of Speculation was one of The New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of 2014, FYI.

What it's about: In this much-loved, New York Times bestselling memoir, Jeanette Winterson reflects on a childhood spent in a grim English industrial town in the 1960s. If you're on a quest for happiness, let Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? show you the way.

What it's about: In what's basically a dark fairy tale for adults, China Miéville's This Census-Taker tells the story of a young boy who encounters a strange, potentially dangerous man after witnessing a profoundly traumatic event.

What it's about: J.K. Rowling has turned the moving commencement speech she gave at Harvard University's 2008 graduation into an inspiring book offering up wisdom and ways to embrace failure. Bonus reason to read: proceeds from Very Good Lives go to both Lumos (Rowling's nonprofit organization) and financial aid for students at Harvard.

What it's about: This haunting, suspenseful YA mystery follows a wealthy family's sudden tragedy and the young girl at the center of it all. Don't be surprised if We Were Liars has you wanting to ignore your vacation companions so you can finish it ASAP.

What it's about: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight tells the tale of a 17-year-old girl who gets stuck at JFK on her way to London, along with a supercute young man. Sparks fly. Romance ensues. Total beach read.

What it's about: In Anya's predominantly Russian Los Angeles neighborhood, there's no better status symbol than being able to get into the exclusive Twin Palms nightclub. With the help of a Russian gangster named Lev, she just might make it in. Pick up Karolina Waclawiak's refreshingly quirky novel, How to Get Into the Twin Palms, if you want to find out!

What it's about: The ups and downs of human relationships are deeply explored in Cynan Jones's novel The Dig, about the lives of two men living in a rural area of Wales that intersect in a tragic way.

What it's about: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri's memoir, In Other Words, about her intense dedication to learning Italian (moving her family to Rome, reading and writing solely in the language), would be the perfect quick read to take with you on a European getaway.

What it's about: In an effort to escape her past, Jake Whyte moves to a remote farmhouse on a British island, but someone (or something) has started killing her flock of sheep, one by one. Is it a fox? Is it the strange man seen wandering around the island? Or maybe a mysterious, mythical beast? Reading All the Birds, Singing's tale of survival and redemption will make discovering the answer worth it.

What it's about: Coming in at only 80 pages, Stephen King's Mile 81 is a terrifying short story about an abandoned rest stop (with subtle nods to Christine and From a Buick 8) and can be finished in a flash. Road trip, anyone?

What it's about: This incredibly interesting memoir by Susannah Cahalan explores a terrifying event that happened to her when she was just 24 years old: she woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped down and unable to move or speak, with no memory of how it happened, all thanks to a mysterious, debilitating disease (note: Brain on Fire is set to come out in the next year or so as a movie starring Chloë Grace Moretz).