Reading fiction for 12 straight hours and feeling rather good about it

Fifty thousand people had come to the Suffolk Air Show on the east coast of England. But only one of them was there to commit murder.

From the very first paragraph, the book was packed with action. The story kicks off with a helicopter being stolen from an airshow. Soon, the story takes us across the U.S., Egypt, France, and London, leading to the kidnapping of 50 wealthy children from a London school. Alex Rider, a teenage spy, is the one who has to stop it.

For 12 straight hours, I was completely lost in a book. No phone, no screens, no distractions—just pure immersion in a gripping story. And by the time I turned the last page, I felt surprisingly refreshed.

I used to read fiction when I was 15 or 16, but over the years, I stopped due to a lack of time. However, since I was sick, and my family was unwell too, I didn’t want to open my laptop and work. So I picked up this book, which my kids had been reading. In a single sitting of 10–12 hours, I finished it.

What I loved about the book was that Alex wasn’t some perfect, all-knowing hero. He didn’t get out of trouble by sheer brilliance or strength. In every dangerous situation, someone helped him. In one scene, Alex is pushed into a river, tied to cement shoes, meant to be drowned. Obviously, he has to escape—you know he will. But I kept wondering how? I assumed he’d pull off some genius trick. Instead, MI6 operatives show up and save him. And it made sense. The way the author built up the story, every rescue felt natural.

The writing was easy to follow, with no complex words that required a dictionary. The descriptions were vivid but not overdone, and every paragraph moved the plot forward. There was no unnecessary commentary on the evils of communism, capitalism, or Western society—just pure storytelling. It was refreshing to read something so tightly written. The scenes were vivid enough to spark my imagination, and since I’ve traveled to some of the places mentioned, I could picture them even more clearly.

But beyond the story itself, I think the real reason I enjoyed it so much was that it made me unplug. For 12 hours, I wasn’t checking emails, scrolling my phone, or switching between tasks. I was fully present in one thing. And that, in itself, felt incredible.

I hadn’t read fiction in years. But this experience reminded me of how powerful a good book can be. And I loved every moment of it. Maybe I need to pick up more.