I would recommend The Wheel of time, but be aware that its a very long book(series?). It contains 14 Books and totals at about 11k Sites. It absolutely takes quite a lot of time to fully read it, but its absolutely worth it. Its by far the best book ive read so far.
Mandatory heads up: The writing gets better over time.
The first time I tried to read it, the writing style of the first book really turned me off.
"Best" often is a literary work that can be slow to read and/or very long. You want stuff that is short and quick, which is fine, I read a lot of fanfiction for that purpose. But I'm going to recommend Pohl and Kornbluth's "The Space Merchants" and their other short novels from that era (1950s). Their cynicism is absolutely prescient. The Space Merchants is about a world run by advertising agencies. A quick read while hard hitting.
A couple of my favorite books are probably longer than a day’s read:
• Sirens of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut (319p)
• The Watermelon King - Daniel Wallace (240p)
Robert Silverberg's "The man in the maze" is a cool science-fiction book based on the Greek play Philoctetes. Iirc it's a very short story (maybe about one or two hundred pages), I don't remember the exact length but I recall reading it in one sitting. It is a very character-driver story where the "maze" itself is an allegory about mankind, isolation and disability, but it is very much enjoyable as a casual read as well.
The protagonist ("man in the maze") is an astronaut who has been somehow cursed to always radiate its emotions in such a way that others, even his family, find repulsive, so he self-exiles to a remote and long-dead planet to live the rest of his life in isolation. But when an alien species makes hostile contact with humans, he is needed again, as his "curse" is the only way to properly communicate with them and maybe convince them that humans are sentient beings and thus their equals.
My favorite easy fiction that helps me unwind is Agatha Christie mysteries. There is a reason she is the greatest mystery ŵritwr of all time. She sets up compelling situations and makes her way to a damn satisfying conclusion by the end.
A few of her shorter but still excellent stories: The Secret Adversary N or M The Unexpected Guest 3 Blind Mice Halloween Party Murder of Roger Akcroyd
Also if you like Mysteries I have to plug my all time favorite: 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
It is a great mystery in which the protagonist wakes up with no memories and has 8 chances to solve a murder.
I read a lot of thriller/mystery books. Almost anything by Frieda McFadden is a great read and are quick weekend reads.
Raymond Chandler's novels, esp The Lady in the Lake
The Pirx the Pilot stories, 8 in 2 volumes
Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon and The Glass Key
2nd the Hitchhiker's Guide and they're easy to rejoin
A A Fair's novels are short and have odd western us lore in them, one has a great way to bet in Vegas, others name spots in Mexico, they were Gardner's fun books that he liked to write more than other series.
Lots of great recommendations here. I'd also add Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. Her Penric novels are quite fun, too.
I was entranced by the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brien. Sailing ships, adventure, and a little romance.
The Hornblower stories are also excellent. They might hit a bit simpler -- the characters are a bit more heroic, a bit less complicated. IMO both are worth reading, but they hit a bit different even though they sail through similar waters (I was going to say 'covers the same ground', ha!)
Not a 1 day read but reasonably short (I normally read it in about 2-3 days of non-dedicated reading) is the Scorpio races by Maggie stiefvater. It's a lovely read that focuses pretty heavily on the two man characters which is what draws me in every time. I read this book 14 times one year in high school and I continue to read it once a year
Read the short story : the approach to al-mutasim By Jorge L. Borges: https://ia601405.us.archive.org/10/items/HeliganSecretsOfTheLostGardens/BorgesJorgeLuis-TheApproachToAl-mutasim.pdf#:~:text=The%20Approach%20to%20Al-Mu'tasim%20Philip%20Guedalla%20writes%20that
If you like it, and like shorts stories, Borges will also become your favorite author. A good start is :
A Universal History of Infamy: A Universal History of Infamy Giving some more or less accurate retelling of the life of evil people like Billy the kid.
The Fifth Season may take a bit longer than a day, but it’s worth it.
A book that stuck with me for a long time was The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. It was a fairly quick read too, I'm a slow reader so definitely longer than a day but I think I read it over a short vacation.
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