50 Must-Read 50 Beta
← The Must-Read 50
Cover of In a Strange Room by Damon GalgutIn a Strange Room
Modern · Fiction, LGBT, Psychology

In a Strange Room

by Damon Galgut
2010 · 180 pages · Fiction
Reserve shelf
≈ 4 hours to read · about 8 days at 30 minutes a day

By the numbers

54.7Must-Read Score
  • Readers12 out of 100 · counts 42%
  • Critics32 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
  • Bestseller0 out of 100 · counts 14%
  • Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%

Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.

On our reserve shelf: it doesn't have enough readers yet for us to rank it alongside the Must-Read 50 pool. We check again every month, and it can still turn up in your 50 once you've read most of our ranked books.

Why it made the list

Shortlisted
Booker Prize finalist (2010)

Reads as

Thought-provoking

How we rank

Already read it? Upload your Goodreads or StoryGraph history and get the 50 best books you haven't read, tuned to your taste.Get my 50

More by Damon Galgut

Cover of The Promise by Damon GalgutThe Promise
The PromiseDamon Galgut

If you like this, read next

Cover of A Game of Thrones by George R. R. MartinA Game of Thrones
A Game of ThronesGeorge R. R. Martin
Cover of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha MukherjeeThe Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of CancerSiddhartha Mukherjee
Cover of The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der KolkThe Body Keeps the Score
The Body Keeps the ScoreBessel van der Kolk
Cover of The Fifth Season by N. K. JemisinThe Fifth Season
The Fifth SeasonN. K. Jemisin
Cover of Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt DinnimanDungeon Crawler Carl
Dungeon Crawler CarlMatt Dinniman
Cover of When Breath Becomes Air by Paul KalanithiWhen Breath Becomes Air
When Breath Becomes AirPaul Kalanithi

Explore the best-of lists

All 36 best-of lists →