It is now mid-way through December, which is absolutely crazy to think about. We know a lot of people set hefty reading goals, or even keep extending theirs like I do (oops). We decided to make a list of books that are short and sweet (or sometimes just short), to help reach the goal (or new goal) you set! Or, maybe you just need a shorter book to fill some time and use less brain space. Either way, we got you covered!
Full Speed to a Crash Landing - Beth Revis
At 192 pages, this is the 1st book in a short science fiction trilogy by Beth Revis. It is a mix of a space heist and romance.
Ada Lamar is rescued by a government salvage crew just before she runs out of air in her suit. They are not excited to have her on their ship, but she doesn't care. It's one of the first times she has had this much food and a comfy place to sleep in a while. Rian White, the government agent in charge, starts to suspect that there’s more to Ada than meets the eye. He’s not wrong, but he’s so pretty that Ada is perfectly happy to keep him paying attention to her—at least until she can complete the job she was sent to pull off.
A really great, short book with a sequel that is already out and can help pad those stats!
The Murderbot Diaries Series - Martha Wells
This 7+ book series has a variety of lengths, but most are on the shorter side. The first in the series, All Systems Red, is 160 pages. This novella won both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award, so you know its short length packs a punch!
The entire series follows a part-artificial, part-biological being who calls themselves Murderbot. Murderbot is a SecUnit, or a cyborg designed to protect humans who are doing research for various corporations. Each novella/novel functions like an episodic TV show, and the whole series reads like a set of radio plays. The pace is fast, with so much action happening in each story that you will never be bored.
Murderbot itself is also PEAK comedy mixed with cool badass-vibes. It hacked its "governor unit," the part of its technology that controls compliance with orders, but with this newfound freedom, it just decided to prioritize time watching its favorite media (which, relatable). It is constantly annoyed by the humans it has to protect, how stupid its enemies are, and the feelings it is developing about its free will and friendships. There are entire parts of the story that seem crucial, but are left out- simply because Murderbot doesn't care to know about it- and honestly, that's half the fun! This was such a fun series that I binged all of it in about a week. This is definitely one to add to your radar for some quick, fun reads!
Mister Hockey - Lia Riley
This book is for the romance/hockey romance girlies! Only 200 pages, this one will help add some spice to your end of year TBR.
Jed West is Mr. the captain of the NHL’s latest winning team and the hottest player on the ice—at least, according to Breezy Angel, who’s been drooling over Jed at games for years. He plays a starring role in her most toe-curling fantasies. But dirty dreams don’t come true, right? Everything changes when Jed saunters through the doors of Breezy’s library as a last-minute special guest for a summer reading event. Their chemistry is immediate and hot enough to thaw an entire rink in record time. But things grow complicated when Breezy decides to hide the fact that she’s Jed’s biggest fan. After all, her feelings for him are genuine, so who has to know? She’s not the only one with secrets, though, and Jed’s could change the course of his career forever. Can this hockey hotshot and quirky bookworm find the courage to be honest with each other or will their love story be over before it can truly begin?
The Symposium - Plato (Plato's Dialogues #1)
I picked up this 90-page classic after being surrounded by philosophers at work. This dialogue of Plato is also a part of Penguin's Great Ideas series, alongside other short reads like Sun-Tzu's Art of War and Christine de Pizan's The City of Ladies. If you are looking to add more classics to your repertoire, but don't want anything too long so you can give your brain a break, you should definitely consider all three of these reads good candidates for you.
In The Symposium, a group of Athenian scholars gets drunk at a party and talks about love
There. That's the gist of it.
But the more nuanced analysis includes early opinions and discussions about sex, gender, desire, beauty, appreciation, and so much more. It includes a soliloquy by a female teacher, discussions of same-sex couples, love motivating social action, and many other more modern themes. My coworker referred to it as, "the text that makes philosophy seem sexy," and as silly as it sounds, he's not wrong- this work definitely made philosophy seem much cooler than I previously thought! I listened to this work as an audio-play through my library app Hoopla, and I highly recommend this version if you are at all interested. The jokes land much better when the actors animate their voices.
When Among Crows - Veronica Roth
A fantasy novella by dystopian and fantasy author Veronica Roth! At only 166 pages, this one is another quick read for most people! .
Pain is Dymitr's calling. To slay the monsters he's been raised to kill, he had to split his soul in half to make a sword from his own spine. Every time he draws it, he gets blood on his hands.
Pain is Ala's inheritance. When her mother died, a family curse to witness horrors committed by the Holy Order was passed onto her. The curse will claim her life, as it did her mother's, unless she can find a cure.
One fateful night in Chicago, Dymitr comes to Ala with a her help in finding the legendary witch Baba Jaga in exchange for an enchanted flower that just might cure her. Desperate, and unaware of what Dymitr really is, Ala agrees.
But they only have one day before the flower dies, and Ala's hopes of breaking the curse along with it.
Before We Forget Kindness - Toshikazu Kawaguchi
The "longest" of the short kings we are recommending clocks in at 224 pages. It's Before We Forget Kindness by Toshikazu Kawaguchi- the most recent installment in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. I wrote about all of the other books in a previous post, but these are mostly stand-alone novels, so it isn't mandatory that you read them all in order. A few little details might go over your head, but nothing too plot-critical.
These books always give me a case of the sniffles. The emotional stakes of this one in particular made me tear up. The stories include some more topical themes this time around- divorce, same-sex attraction, escaping abuse, etc. Even with some fumbling of the topics as a whole, the characters come to somewhat rewarding, resolved endings, as a cozy read is wont to do. The customers this time around include: 1) a father who didn't bless his daughter's marriage, 2) a woman who wants to give a gift to a loved one on Valentine's Day, 3) a young boy who wants to redo the day his parents told him they were getting divorced, and 4) a wife and her nameless infant. The cafe patrons go to the past, the present, and future. It's another solid, short-story-esque cozy read to boost that 2024 Read amount.
The Two Doctors Górski - Isaac Fellman
I first came across the author Isaac Fellman when I read his work Dead Collections (post upcoming- I promise!). He is a master of worldbuilding- dropping readers straight into the action and having us develop our own opinions about how his characters function in the world. His descriptions feel so specific that they are universal, and I've slowly been working my way through his catalog so I can experience more.
His dark academia novel, The Two Doctors Górski, is only 144 pages long, but it is a squirm-worthy rollercoaster of negative emotions. If you are at all into magic-treated-seriously, dubious character motivations and actions, horrifying self-reflection, and queer themes that envelop the story, but don't dictate the conflicts, then this book is for you. I've been describing it to others as Frankenstein or Jekyll and Hyde, but so much darker. The emotions are not just dark, but also complex- sad, psychotic, judgmental, annoying, desperate, numb. If you’ve ever worked in real-world academia, some of these emotions will hit too close to home (if pushed to the extreme), so just know that you have to be in the mood for a read like this.
It's just so beautifully written though... Like watching a car-wreck in slow-motion... You can't take your eyes away...
And he will be releasing his next novel, Notes from a Regicide, in April 2025. I can't wait!
Falling Back in Love with Being Human: Letters to Lost Souls - Kai Cheng Thom
While this one may seem "longer" at 176 pages, the whole book reads more like spoken-word poetry, so it goes by very quickly. I HIGHLY recommend you listen to this essay collection in audiobook form as performed by the author. I read it on the library app Libby. It will make you feel ALL THE THINGS.
In an effort to read more trans authors, I added this book to my TBR list. Kai Cheng Thom is a Chinese-Canadian, transgender activist who went through incredibly trying times in her life. I didn't know this going in, but I listened to the book in mid-November mostly because of the title, which seemed like the kind of thing I needed at the time (if you get it, you get it). And WOW was this a transformative text. It is a poetic, perfect work of art created by a beautiful, imperfect human, and it teaches you the grace to love even the parts of yourself you may be ashamed of. It teaches you to choose hope and healing over cynicism and sadness. And it includes a little tidbit about J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter, which melds criticism with gentleness and humor perfectly. I think I will be trying to read this book at least once a year to check back in with myself and reflect on any bitterness that seems to be latching on to me. And I'm not someone who usually re-reads things.
Will you be putting any of these on your TBR list? Let us know some of your favorite short reads from 2024!
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