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5 min read·Last verified: April 2026
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Best Books for People Who Don't Like Reading

The Martian by Andy Weir is the best book for people who don't like reading — not because it's easy, but because it's structured like something you already like. An astronaut stranded on Mars has to solve a series of engineering problems to survive. Each problem is a chapter. Each solution creates a new problem. It reads like a video game walkthrough written by someone funny.

The reason most people don't like reading is that they haven't found books structured the way their brain works. The Martian works for problem-solvers. Killing Floor works for people who like action movies. Born a Crime works for people who prefer podcasts to books. Below we've matched each pick to the specific reason it works for reluctant readers — not just what kind of book it is, but why it's different from the books that lost you before.

Prices verified against Amazon as of April 2026.

Quick Comparison

BookAuthorBest For
The MartianAndy WeirBest Overall
The Old Man and the SeaErnest HemingwayBest Short Book
Born a CrimeTrevor NoahBest Audio-First
EducatedTara WestoverBest True Story
Killing Floor (Jack Reacher Book 1)Lee ChildBest Pure Momentum

The Picks

Best Overall

The Martian

by Andy Weir

2011 · 369 pages · Paperback, Kindle, Audible

Mark Watney is alone on Mars with enough food for 31 days and no way to communicate with Earth. He has to grow food, fix broken equipment, and figure out how to survive for four years until the next mission arrives. Weir wrote this as hard science — the botany, chemistry, and orbital mechanics are based on real NASA documentation — but Watney's voice is so immediate and so funny that the technical content reads like entertainment rather than homework.

Pros

  • First-person journal format makes the protagonist feel like someone talking to you, not a character in a book
  • Short chapters — most under 10 pages — with natural stopping points
  • Genuinely funny; Watney's running commentary on his situation produces actual laughs
  • The film is excellent, but the book has three times the problem-solving content

Cons

  • The science content is dense in places — readers who skim it miss important plot context
  • Some chapters switch to Earth POV, which breaks the momentum for readers locked into the Mars storyline
Skip this if you want interpersonal drama. There's essentially one character on stage for most of the book.
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Best Short Book

The Old Man and the Sea

by Ernest Hemingway

1952 · 127 pages · Paperback, Kindle, Audible

An old Cuban fisherman goes out alone and hooks the largest marlin he has ever seen. The book is 127 pages. Hemingway wrote it in eight weeks and won the Nobel Prize partly on its strength. The prose is stripped to the minimum — no sentence contains a word that isn't earning its place.

Pros

  • 127 pages — the shortest major American novel worth reading
  • The Hemingway style (short sentences, no excess) reads faster than it looks on the page
  • The subject matter (fishing, endurance, age) is accessible without any literary background

Cons

  • The allegorical dimension (the fish, the struggle, what it means) rewards attention but isn't necessary for a first read
  • Some readers find the minimal plot too thin at full novel length even at 127 pages
Skip this if you need plot momentum and forward action — Hemingway is interested in a man's internal experience, not what happens next.
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Best Audio-First

Born a Crime

by Trevor Noah

2016 · 304 pages · Paperback, Kindle, Audible

Noah grew up in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa as the mixed-race son of a Black Zulu mother and a white Swiss father — a child whose existence was literally illegal under apartheid law. Born a Crime is his memoir, narrated in the audiobook by Noah himself. The audio version is the superior format — Noah is a stand-up comedian, and his delivery adds timing and texture the page can't capture.

Pros

  • Narrated by Noah himself — among the highest-rated celebrity memoirs in audio
  • South African historical context is explained as you go — no prior knowledge required
  • Each chapter is essentially a standalone story; you can listen in non-consecutive sessions without losing the thread

Cons

  • The print version loses significant value compared to audio — if you're going to read this, listen to it
  • Some chapters are heavier than others; the chapters about his mother's abuse are genuinely difficult
Skip this if you specifically want fiction. Born a Crime is memoir; the events are documented, not invented.
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Best True Story

Educated

by Tara Westover

2018 · 334 pages · Paperback, Kindle, Audible

Westover grew up in a survivalist family in rural Idaho with no formal education — she didn't enter a school until she was 17 and taught herself enough to earn a PhD from Cambridge. Educated is her memoir. The story is so specific and so unlikely that it reads with the forward momentum of fiction; the "did this actually happen?" quality drives continuous reading.

Pros

  • 4.7-star average on Amazon across 130,000+ reviews — one of the most broadly praised memoirs of the past decade
  • The specific detail of growing up in a non-mainstream religious household makes the world fully realized without world-building effort from the reader
  • The questions it raises (how do we know what we know? how do families distort reality?) apply directly to readers' own lives

Cons

  • The family dynamic is disturbing in places — abuse is present and described specifically
  • The ending is not fully resolved — Westover's relationship with her family remains complicated
Skip this if you need narrative resolution. Westover's story doesn't have a clean ending because it's ongoing.
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Best Pure Momentum

Killing Floor (Jack Reacher Book 1)

by Lee Child

1997 · 536 pages · Paperback, Kindle, Audible

If you've seen action movies and wished the protagonist were smarter about what he was doing, Killing Floor is what you're looking for. Jack Reacher — ex-military police, enormous, no phone, no permanent address — gets off a bus in rural Georgia and ends up dismantling a criminal operation with the systematic thoroughness of a professional. Child's chapter structure is designed for momentum: rarely more than 4–5 pages, always ending at the next decision point.

Pros

  • Dick Hill's Audible narration is exceptional — one of the best genre audiobook performances available
  • The short chapter structure means every session ends at a natural stopping point
  • 29 novels in the series if you want to continue indefinitely

Cons

  • Reacher's invulnerability is a genre convention, not a realistic portrayal — readers who need grounded protagonists will notice
Skip this if you want character complexity and moral ambiguity — Reacher is a power fantasy, deliberately.
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Buying Guide

Diagnose why you don't like reading before you choose. The reason matters more than the genre. "I get bored" → The Martian or Killing Floor (no slow sections). "I can't focus" → Born a Crime in audio format (no focus required beyond what podcasts demand). "I never finish books" → The Old Man and the Sea (127 pages — two evenings maximum). "Fiction feels fake" → Educated or Born a Crime (both documented real events).

Try audio first. The number of people who "don't like reading" but would enjoy audiobooks is significant. If you've never tried Audible, the Born a Crime audiobook is the best test case — if you enjoy that, you enjoy books.

If the first pick doesn't land, try the opposite kind. If you bounced off The Martian, the issue is probably that you don't want technical problem-solving — switch to Killing Floor for pure kinetic action. If Killing Floor feels empty, try Educated for documented stakes. The diagnostic matters.

If Killing Floor hooks you, our best action adventure books for men guide is the natural next stop. For more curated lists by mood and occasion, browse the reader picks hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the single book most likely to make a non-reader enjoy reading?

The Martian for most people. Killing Floor for people who watch action movies. Born a Crime in audio for people who prefer spoken content. The right answer depends on why you don't like reading — which is why the diagnostic approach in the buying guide above matters more than picking the "easiest" book.

How short is the shortest book on this list?

The Old Man and the Sea at 127 pages. At an average reading pace, that's 3–4 hours of reading. Most people can finish it over a weekend without rearranging their schedule.

Is audiobook "cheating"?

No — audiobooks engage the same story comprehension processes as reading. The distinction between reading the words and hearing them is irrelevant to whether you're engaging with the content. Several studies suggest audiobook listeners retain content at equivalent rates to print readers.

Should I start with fiction or non-fiction?

If "fiction feels fake" is the reason you bounced off books, start with Born a Crime or Educated — both documented true stories with the forward momentum of novels. If you liked sci-fi films or video games, start with The Martian. If you like action movies, start with Killing Floor.

Final Verdict

Best overall: The Martian — works for people who like problem-solving, science, or anything involving figuring things out.

Best short commitment: The Old Man and the Sea — 127 pages, Nobel Prize, two evenings.

Best audio experience: Born a Crime — if you listen to podcasts, you'll finish this.

Best true story: Educated — reads like fiction; every unbelievable part is documented.

Best for action movie fans: Killing Floor — 29 books waiting if you finish the first one.

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