I really like short books, like, read in one sitting kind of book. Preferably around 50-100 pages. But I hate reading horror and thillers as I’m a chicken and usually read at night 🥲 some of the shorter books I read and liked were:
Animal Farm
Murderbot diaries
Galatea (this was my absolute favorite!!)
I who have never known men
The time travellers passport series
I also really liked the series of a few short books within the same world or concepts.
Are there more series/books like this?
by Deesvn
9 Comments
If you’re ok with short stories, Civilawarland in Bad Decline by Saunders and Orange World by Kelly Link are both weird and wonderful collections.
For novellas, P Djeli Clark’s Ring Shout is a favorite of mine as is his Dead Djinn Universe collection. Ring Shout leans horror, though.
Train Dreams by Johnson for a quiet western.
I realize you’ve asked for recommendations for full-length books, but if you prefer short & succinct, consider an essay collection. Each piece (varies in length depending on the author, but usually between 10 and 20 pages) is its own journey, and very satisfying to both enjoy individually and to completion. 🖤
Fantasy – Penric’s Demon – and rest of the series by Bujold. Novellas, maybe slightly over your target length.
Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis is only 160ish pages. Very philosophical and brilliant.
I also really love The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt which is twisty and clever.
The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante is great and she has other good novellas.
I read This Is How You Lose the Time War in one sitting, it was pretty good. Seconding what others have said about short story collections as well. Ted Chiang has a few good sci fi story collections
Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M Valente
The Nickel Boys – Colson Whitehead
Small Things Like These – Claire Keegan