The Joy of Short Books
In 2024, my friend Stefanie and I started a book club with the intention to read short books/novellas written by global women. We noticed that many translated works fell into this category and hoped that by selecting books under 200 pages, we would challenge ourselves and our friends to read more broadly. We also hoped more friends would say yes to joining us if they knew the monthly reading expectation was small.
The skillful work required to write a short book well is not for the faint of heart. As Paul Daley points out in his article, In praise of short books: to start and finish in one sitting is a rare, unbridled joy, “In brevity there’s nowhere to hide. And all serious writers will know that landing a 120-page piece of fiction involves so many heart-wrenching, darling-killing decisions of omission that the 500-page novel doesn’t demand.”
Editor Ellen Morgan confirms this perspective, stating, “This is, I think, one of the real wonders of a short book: it can do things with form, structure, pace and content that have a profound effect on the reader but which simply wouldn’t work over a greater number of pages.” (In praise of short books)
And as one of my favorite authors, Margaret Renkl, writes, “In their spareness, novellas and short novels — I’m counting any story longer than about 80 pages and any novel shorter than about 200 — reward a word-by-word reading. This form combines the gift of poetry, with its often compressed, elliptical language; the short story, with its tight narrative propulsion; and the novel, with its expansive cast and wandering ways.” (Short Books Are Perfect for Our Distracted Age)
Below are eleven of my favorite short books. Some have been our book club selections and others I’ve made my way to on my own. All are highly recommended!
The Anthropologists by Aysegül Savas
Savas beautifully captures the dialogue between a young couple as they consider the world around them and prepare to make their place in it.
Blue Light Hours by Bruna Dantas Lobato
A poignant exploration of the evolving relationship between mother and daughter through the lens of their Skype conversations.
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
Philyaw earned numerous awards for this collection of interconnected stories of women who fight for their own desires within the shared cultural setting of their church.
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Harvey’s award-winning book documents the thoughts and feelings of a group of astronauts as they orbit around Earth. The uniqueness of their situation combined with their recognizable uncertainties makes for a very compelling read.
The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector and Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith
Both of these books brilliantly convey the restlessness of their protagonists as they imagine a life outside their office walls.
Cross-Stitch by Jazmina Barrera
Barrera grapples with the power of friendship as a unifying force in this story of three friends who grow apart in adulthood and are brought back together through memories and grief.
Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs by Beth Ann Fennelly
Fennelly writes with laugh-out-loud honesty and fine tunes her word choices until she can speak volumes within a single sentence. This book is a joy to read and a master class in the power of brevity.
How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz
The matriarch of this gentle book slowly reveals her story of migration, love, and loss through a series of interviews with her job counselor. Cruz’s ability to shift from humor to grief and back again is moving.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
I’ve mentioned these books in my Cozy Book Series post, and bring them up again because 1) they really are that good and 2) they are each around 160 pages. Delightful!
There is a lot to be said for the satisfaction of devouring a book in one afternoon. I also appreciate that I notice something new each time I reread one of these. That’s another great thing about short books – I find myself revisiting them more often than I do larger novels. As a result, I’m able to have a more meaningful reading experience that is only enhanced over time. Give one of these a try, or browse the links below for more suggestions, and see where they take you. At the very least, you’ll experience the persuasive power of meticulously crafted writing.
Learn More:
- Scan through these Booker-nominated novels under 200 pages
- Check out Emily Temple’s 70 Great Contemporary Novels Under 200 Pages Or, 70 Afternoons Well Spent on LitHub