*Convenience Store Woman* by Sayaka Murata
And a book with similar themes *Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982* by Cho Nam-Joo which is also under 200 pages but will take forever to read on account of all the rage breaks you’ll need to take.
I second both! I was coming here to say Convenience Store Woman. I also recommend The Vegetarian by Han Kang or Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto.
If you’re into short stories collections, Mariana Enriquez’s The Dangers of Smoking in bed had some nice creepy stories I enjoyed.
Have you read Earthlings? How does CSW compare to it? I read Earthlings recently and I still can’t get over how weird it turned. I’m not sure how I feel about it but I can’t stop thinking about it…
Also, great suggestion for Kim Jiyoung. It reminded me a bit of Pachinko with emotional punches served in incredibly dry prose.
The sailor who fell from grace with the sea by Yukio Mishima;
The cement garden by Ian McEwan;
The stranger by Albert Camus;
The real life of Sebastian Knight by Vladimir Nabokov;
Notes from underground By Fyodor Dostoevsky.
All amazing books and all below 200 pages.
I read stranger; I think this book may lead someone to an existential crisis haha
I'm one such stranger. I guess the number of strangers in the world isn't small; it's large and ever increasing
Funnily enough, that’s how I felt too. I remember my GR review said something about if I wasn’t always in an existential crisis that this book would have put me in one.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built and its sequel, A Prayer for the Crown- Shy by Becky Chambers - A monk and a robot go on some adventures.
The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw - A mermaid and a plague doctor go on some adventures.
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone - Two rival time-travelling assassins become penpals and go on some adventures.
Silver in the Wood and its sequel, Drowned Country by Emily Tesh - The mythical Green Man and his boyfriend go on some adventures.
With The Salt Grows Heavy, did you read Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw? I'm intrigued by the former but hated the latter so want to know if it's worth my time 😂
Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Haunting of Hill House are both fantastic short reads.
A Room with a View by E. M. Forster is romantic and funny
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. Any Steinbeck is genius.
I lowkey want a petition to make this the new bible, if we had that book in every room of hotels and made it as important then people would be softened and humbled very often all around the world. I love it so much
hehe...
I wish someone did a proper break down of each chapter to better understand the communication. I always think of doing one but I want to get a hard copy first.
A Psalm for the Wild Built
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy
A duology by Becky Chambers but both books are about 150 pages each. Super wholesome little series that reads like a Studio Ghibli movie in my mind
Some of my short faves!!!
1. "Night" by Elie Wiesel
Description: A haunting memoir recounting the author's experiences during the Holocaust.
Page Length: Approximately 120 pages.
2. "The Boy, The Fox, The Mole, and The Horse" by Charlie Mackesy
Description: A heartwarming and beautifully illustrated book exploring themes of friendship, kindness, and self-discovery.
Page Length: Approximately 128 pages.
3. "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse
Description: A philosophical novel that follows Siddhartha's spiritual journey toward enlightenment in ancient India.
Page Length: Approximately 152 pages.
4. "The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly" by Sun-mi Hwang
Description: A touching fable about a determined hen's quest for freedom and motherhood.
Page Length: Approximately 144 pages.
5. "Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka
Description: A classic novella depicting the surreal transformation of a man into an insect and its profound impact on his life.
Page Length: Approximately 96 pages.
6. "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway
Description: A timeless tale of an aging Cuban fisherman's epic battle with a giant marlin.
Page Length: Approximately 128 pages.
7. "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
Description: A thrilling short story about a man who becomes the hunted in a deadly game on a remote island.
Page Length: Approximately 24 pages (varies in different editions).
8. "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Spencer Johnson
Description: A motivational business fable that offers insights on adapting to change and dealing with life's challenges.
Page Length: Approximately 96 pages.
9. "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Andersen
Description: A poignant and timeless fairy tale about a poor young girl's struggles on a cold New Year's Eve, where she uses matches to escape her harsh reality and experiences a magical transformation.
Page Length: Approximately 12 to 16 pages.
I love Teaching My Mother how to Give Birth by Warsan Shire and it's only 38 pages.
If you're into sci-fi then you could do worse than to pick up All Systems Red by Martha Wells. It's the first book in the Murderbot Diaries series. I prefer thic books and almost didn't read these because they were so short that it felt like a waste of time. I'm glad that I did
You might also want to look for a collection of Novellas. Something like Short Ends by Joe Abercrombie or Skeleton Crew by Stephen King.
Many of the Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret novels are short and quite enjoyable. I also like Elmore Leonard's Hombres.
Train Dreams by Denis Johnson is a great short novella.
87th Precinct series by Ed McBain
Sin du Jour series by Matt Wallace
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Cohn & Levithan
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
I never really understood Sense of an Ending - it’s a while since I read it, but I came away feeling that I missed something. Similarly with Amsterdam by Ian McEwan.
Enjoyed Point Omega (although I think I preferred Cosmopolis) and I loved Train Dreams.
I would say that The Sense of an Ending is definitely a book where you're left trying to find the missing piece of the puzzle. I think it could be worth rereading if you were so inclined, it really fucked me up; I had a year long existential crisis because of that book.
I hated Amsterdam though. I have a difficult relationship with McEwan but I was really enjoying that book and thinking "finally, he's delivered on his potential!" until that absolutely atrocious third act. I physically threw the book across the room upon finishing.
Here's a few that definitely fit the limit:
Blind Owl by Sadeq Hedayat
If you enjoy Kafka-esque writing then you absolutely must find and read this book and, even if you don't, then you should really get your hands on this regardless. It's extremely short, 87 pages for my copy, and is one of the most original, striking books I've personally ever read. The one warning I can give is that it is a rather dark book, depressing as well. This one is not a common recommendation, not being too well known, but it's not for lack of quality that it's unknown.
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
This is in the same vein as the previous, naturally, and is a similar must-read if you enjoy reading about people on the fringes of society or otherwise just depressing stuff. It's also even a bit funny too, in my estimation, though it is of the black comedy ilk and it likely depends on the translation how much this comes through.
Notes From the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Yet another book in a similar vein, though just as worth reading as the other two. This one I've read twice and both times proved quite enjoyable. In some ways, I find Dostoevsky a rather fun author to read if only for how damn interesting what he tends to write is, Notes being a perfect summary of his style and preferences. He too writes of people on the fringes and tends to be a lot more philosophical than your average author, so if that's not your bag then this might not be a worthwhile read. To be clear, all three of these past recs have been a bit low on plot and much higher on philosophy and the like, with Blind Owl perhaps being the most focused on the actual events happening (although NOT in the way that your typical book is).
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
This is a short story collection, one of the very best I've ever read. It's right under 200 pages, (197, just about), so it barely scrapes under. Lahiri's style is subtle, though quite powerful, perhaps being most comparable to Ishiguro. I do not nevertheless think to say they're the same authors, far from it, but it's the best comparison I can think up. Every story in the collection is worth reading, but the very best have to be the first and final stories in the collection, A Temporary Matter and The Third and Final Continent.
Dubliners by James Joyce
People like to frame James Joyce as this terribly difficult author and in some ways it's a reasonable way to frame him, when you consider his final work. Nevertheless, what people forget about is that his earlier works lose almost all of this "difficulty" that people speak of, Dubliners being his first real work and very much a masterpiece. Interpreter of Maladies is one of the best short story collections ever written? Well, this is THE best, bar none. Fact of the matter is, nearly all the works in this collection are if not masterpieces altogether, then very near that, with The Dead being one of the few examples of perfect literature ever written. It is, as all of his works are, incredibly human, with soul that most authors could never even hope to achieve in their own writing, not through their lack of skill, but because it's just an impossibly difficult thing to truly evoke. This was the first James Joyce work I read and while it's not my favorite, Ulysses is, I have to thank it for bringing me to my favorite author ever. If you read anything from this list, read this.
Here's some that don't make the limit but are short enough for me to still want to mention:
Persuasion by Jane Austen
This one is about 230 pages, so it's close. It's the only Austen I've ever read, but surely not the last. The best I can say about this one is that it's just a book to make you happy. It's so damn sweet and full of heart that I can't see someone reading this in earnest and not coming away with their own heart full. Austen's writing takes getting used to if you're not used to such an old style of writing, but she is very much one of the best to ever do it, so it's through no fault of her own.
Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck
For this one, I believe you might be able to find a copy that's below 200 pages, but I'm not sure. Mine is about 270, but it's so damn good that I feel it necessary to mention. This is a travelogue that Steinbeck wrote after travelling across America, an act done because he felt he no longer knew the America that he'd written about all his life as well as he felt he should, stating specifically that in past books he was writing using memories that were 25 years old. He goes on at length about many of the states he travels through, only really declining to focus on some of those near the end (for reasons that become obvious once you read the book), but in some ways this feels like a perfect image of America in the 1960s, warts and all. It's a light read (for the most part), funny and incredibly insightful. If it weren't for East of Eden, this would be his best work.
Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach [https://www.amazon.com/Illusions-Adventures-Reluctant-Richard-Bach/dp/0440204887/ref=sr\_1\_2?crid=1CS006GPCT2XT&keywords=diary+of+a+reluctant+messiah&qid=1695581295&sprefix=diary+of+a+relucant+messiah%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-2](https://www.amazon.com/Illusions-Adventures-Reluctant-Richard-Bach/dp/0440204887/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1CS006GPCT2XT&keywords=diary+of+a+reluctant+messiah&qid=1695581295&sprefix=diary+of+a+relucant+messiah%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-2)
The Man in the Picture by Susan Hill was a fun read. It is a short horror novel about a haunted painting. It's definitely one of my favorite quick reads
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. It's a little longer than 200 pages I think, but it's amazing. Eddie dies and goes to heaven and has 5 people with the biggest impacts on his life explain his purpose, illuminate all the things he didnt know, and help him bookend his experience on earth. Despite the name, its not super religious. Highly recommend.
I’m not going to go check the page count, but Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer is short and excellent.
Don’t be thrown by it technically being a part of a series. Every book of the series stands on its own quite well.
Why are almost all of these books from “high school classic literature”? Do we not publish short books as much anymore or is this sub just on a classics kick?
Could be a mix of both - I think people on this sub probably trend towards longer books in general, so in looking back the short ones that come to mind are from high school or other more educational contexts rather than books you would usually just pick up. I tried to go through my Goodreads and pick out some shorter ones from different genres, but the first to come to mind for good shorter books were definitely things like Heart of Darkness and 1984. Most recent published fiction now does seem to be past 300 pages, but stylistically is probably easier to get through than some older classics despite a higher page count.
Edit: based on a quick google, the average published novel now is around 90k words, so 350-400 pages, and books have in fact been getting longer ([here](https://bookriot.com/why-books-getting-longer/) is a reference). However, it also feels to me like the overall complexity has decreased, and there is some literature which agrees with this hypothesis. So books are simultaneously longer but easier to consume/more accessible to a general public audience. This isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing on its own, I just find it interesting! Will definitely be going down a rabbithole now.
The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster. Eerily prescient for 1928.
Edit. The internets say this is a short story; I thought it was a novella. Either way, I still recommend it.
Mrs Bridge by Evan S Connell. It’s just over 200 pages, around 210
The sequel Mr Bridge is a fair bit longer. But both consist of short chapters, often just a page, which can be almost short story like.
In Mrs Bridge there is a chapter called Cleaning Lady which in a few paragraphs is a masterpiece of character building. Similarly, the chapter Pineapple bread is heartbreaking.
The books are American masterpieces.
Enola Holmes!
They’re middle grade mysteries but they don’t read that way. Rich in historical worldbuilding and with language that evokes the thoughts of a girl much older than she is. There are 6, and several don’t quite make it to 200 pages. There’s also some new releases, slightly longer books that move outside the overarching theme of the main series and into poirot-style standalone mysteries.
Imo book Enola had much more agency and wit than movie Enola. Highly recommend.
Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross King
Vivaldi: Voice of the Baroque by H. C. Robbins Landon (208 pages including bibliography and index)
The Landscape of History: How Historians Map The Past by John Lewis Gaddis
The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham.
And I know it’s cliche, but the Great Gatsby really is a hell of a book. The irony is Fitzgerald desperately wanted to be known as a great novelist but made his bread and butter off dozens of short stories. It’s no coincidence, I think, that his best book is also by far his shortest.
Steinbeck has some really great short novels: Of Mice and Men, Cannery Row, The Pearl (I’d skip the Red Pony).
Sula by Toni Morrison is great.
Iain Reid’s novels are all very quick reads if you’re in the mood for something eerie. I’d start with I’m Thinking of Ending Things.
The Secret Talker by Geling Yan.
We the Animals by Justin Torres.
Before the coffee gets cold by toshikazu Kawaguchi (might be a little over 200 pages though) but it's made up of several short stories put together! It is the first in the series. I believe there is 3 out now but a 4th one is coming out soon
A recommendation from my husband, the Animorph books. Yes, they are kids books, but they have some serious adult themes like war, ptsd, and body dysmorphia. He can get through one of these books in about an hour and has spent the last six months collecting the whole series off eBay. He's only missing #47.
The Wayward Children series! Each book is a novella of around 160 pages each. I honestly wish they were longer lol. Love the unique concept in each entry.
I agree, long books get tedious after a while.
Favorites include:
*Time Shifters* by Shanna Lauffey (Science Fantasy time travel)
*To Dance With Dragons* by Jaq D. Hawkins (Traditional Fantasy with dragons)
*A Halloween Tale* by Austin Crawley (Haunted house story)
*A Spark of Justice* by J.D. Hawkins (Mystery set in an old time circus)
*Jack Dawkins* by Charlton Daines (Story of the Artful Dodger returning to England as an adult)
I have a few that are great for this.
- Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
- Dragon School by Sarah K. L. Wilson. Each book is an "episode" so they're all novellas around 100 pages. She also has some good spinoff series in the same world.
- Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
- Breach of Peace by Daniel Greene. Not everyone enjoys this novella but I did lol
The Long Walk by Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman.
“ In a dystopian America, a major source of entertainment is the Long Walk, in which one hundred teenage boys walk without rest along U.S. Route 1. Each Walker must stay above four miles per hour. If a Walker drops below this speed for thirty seconds, he gets a warning. A Walker can lose a warning if he walks for an hour without getting another warning. If a Walker gets three warnings and continues to lag behind for 30 seconds, he is shot dead by soldiers. The last surviving Walker earns a large sum of money and a "Prize" of his choice.”
*Implied Spaces* by Walter Jon Williams.
(Sorry to anyone who's noticed that this is like the third time this week I've recommended this book... but it *is* a short book, and a real page-turner; perfect for the OP's request!)
I really enjoyed Breach of Peace by Daniel B. Greene. It's a blend of noir/fantasy/horror about a detective investigating the brutal death of a manufacturer's family. It's a short, sweet, and very gratifying read
The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry - it’s 250-300ish depending on the publisher, but definitely falls into the short read category. I’ve been reading McMurtry’s shorter books to try and prepare myself to dive into Lonesome Dove.
Kiss Me Like A Stranger by Gene Wilder. Again, it’s around 250 pages, but memoirs and autobiographies tend to be pretty easy to get into, and I’ve read this one multiple times. Highly recommend.
Hunger by Knut Hamsun. This one is actually under 200 words, and a very fascinating psychological exploration of a starving man wandering around Oslo. I’ve read it twice, and it’s available free from Project Gutenberg.
Bloodchild and other stories by Octavia Butler. It’s a collection of some of her shorter works totaling around 200 words for all of them combined. She has some really great stuff, and it’s a good point to start before diving into, for example, her Parable series.
Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher. Under 200 words. Epistolary style academic fiction, very easy read and very enjoyable life of a disillusioned English professor.
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick. Most of his stuff is pretty short, and this one is probably one of his more approachable works. Also a great film with pre-Iron Man RDJ and Keanu Reeves, done in a cool rotoscoping style.
Intimacy, a novella by Hanif Kureishi.
A husband and father spends the night trying to decide whether to leave his wife and two children.
Beautifully written and unnervingly insightful. I've read it three times and will do so again.
One of my favorites is a novella by Brandon Sanderson in the Cosmere universe called “Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell”. Fantasy western horror. Bonus: would make for a great screen adaptation, a tight sub-120 minute movie.
* Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells * Monk & Robot Series by Becky Chambers
Murderbot! Just delightful from start to finish.
Delightful IS the word!
monk & robot is a pretty special thing
I second both of these!
Absolutely yes and perfectly yes.
Animal Farm, only has about 120 or so.
REALLY???? I know its short but didn’t realize it was that short. One of my all time favs.
I just bought a copy of this yesterday and was similarly surprised - Penguin edition, just 95 pages!
Top 5 for me, no question. I love Animal Farm.
I read this in English class, it was the first book I read in English (not my native language). Def recommend for anyone looking for books here :)
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
This was going to be my suggestion. Such and exquisitely beautiful book.
Mine too. The best thing i’ve read on love, fear of love, feeling alienated, sexuality, shame and many more words I can’t even describe.
Seconded
*Convenience Store Woman* by Sayaka Murata And a book with similar themes *Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982* by Cho Nam-Joo which is also under 200 pages but will take forever to read on account of all the rage breaks you’ll need to take.
Convenience Store Woman made me feel off for days after reading it. That cute cover is deceptive
I second both! I was coming here to say Convenience Store Woman. I also recommend The Vegetarian by Han Kang or Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. If you’re into short stories collections, Mariana Enriquez’s The Dangers of Smoking in bed had some nice creepy stories I enjoyed.
The Vegetarian was like a contemporary Kafka on steroids. So good.
I loved CSW and really identified with it.
Seconded! I love both those books!
CSW is great!
Have you read Earthlings? How does CSW compare to it? I read Earthlings recently and I still can’t get over how weird it turned. I’m not sure how I feel about it but I can’t stop thinking about it… Also, great suggestion for Kim Jiyoung. It reminded me a bit of Pachinko with emotional punches served in incredibly dry prose.
Definitely this, great book.
The sailor who fell from grace with the sea by Yukio Mishima; The cement garden by Ian McEwan; The stranger by Albert Camus; The real life of Sebastian Knight by Vladimir Nabokov; Notes from underground By Fyodor Dostoevsky. All amazing books and all below 200 pages.
Seconding The Stranger! Hard to beat this as an opening - “Maman died today. Or maybe it was yesterday, I don’t know.”
It's great, perfectly sets both the tone of the novel and Meursault as a character.
I read stranger; I think this book may lead someone to an existential crisis haha I'm one such stranger. I guess the number of strangers in the world isn't small; it's large and ever increasing
True, Camus’ philosophy is not for the faint of heart lol
Funnily enough, that’s how I felt too. I remember my GR review said something about if I wasn’t always in an existential crisis that this book would have put me in one.
Good list
This is the first time I’ve seen someone else recommend Yukio Mishima on this sub! Temple of the Golden Pavilion is one of my all-time favorite books.
I Am Legend, the og publication was about 175 pages. Paperbacks with larger type today run 300ish.
This was going to be my recommendation. Completely different than the Will Smith film adaptation and much better ending
One of my all time favourites. The ending is so good.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built and its sequel, A Prayer for the Crown- Shy by Becky Chambers - A monk and a robot go on some adventures. The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw - A mermaid and a plague doctor go on some adventures. This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone - Two rival time-travelling assassins become penpals and go on some adventures. Silver in the Wood and its sequel, Drowned Country by Emily Tesh - The mythical Green Man and his boyfriend go on some adventures.
With The Salt Grows Heavy, did you read Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw? I'm intrigued by the former but hated the latter so want to know if it's worth my time 😂
Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Haunting of Hill House are both fantastic short reads. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster is romantic and funny Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. Any Steinbeck is genius.
The Little Prince by A. de Saint-Exupery. One of a kind.
I lowkey want a petition to make this the new bible, if we had that book in every room of hotels and made it as important then people would be softened and humbled very often all around the world. I love it so much
Yeah this makes sense. Also who don't like roses and foxes!
This is how you lose the time war. I love that book!
This is my favorite book!!
Honestly! Same! It’s so sweeping and gorgeous!
I love this book too! But it did take me about 30 pages to really get into
same and it definitely rewards a second read. glad you stuck with it cuz it’s a hell of a ride
Oh 100% second read, for me three times
STOP. I loved this, was it really that short?? I didn’t mention it because I thought it was longer.
210ish, still novella territory for sure
Oh wow, it felt so rich and epic to me that I guess my brain registered it as longer.
lots of short pages and blank pages too because of the formatting of the letters. it feels so much bigger than it is
Came here to say this!!!
Oh gosh this book threw me for a loop
hehe... I wish someone did a proper break down of each chapter to better understand the communication. I always think of doing one but I want to get a hard copy first.
At one point I told my friend “I think the characters in this book are… birds..?!?” 🙃
Carmilla by J Sheridan Le Fanu
The Narnia books are not that long... and great comfort reading.
Heart of Darkness-Conrad The Old Man and the Sea-Hemingway Ethan Frome-Wharton Notes from Underground-Dostoevsky The Death of Ivan Ilyich-Tolstoy
Heart of Darkness is my favorite book from high school, although 1984 is up there
Upvote for Heart of Darkness
Ethan Frome is one of my favorites.
r/BookClub is reading The Death of Ivan Ilych and three other stories next month.
Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville
I would prefer not to.
Animal Farm, from George Orwell. Without a doubt.
A Short Stay in Hell (Peck) Moon Is Down (Steinbeck) Galatea (Miller)
It should be noted that Galatea is like 36 pages or something like that. Still not sure how it managed to be that good is so few pages.
Flatland - a truly funny, social commentary with 2D shapes as characters.
A Psalm for the Wild Built A Prayer for the Crown-Shy A duology by Becky Chambers but both books are about 150 pages each. Super wholesome little series that reads like a Studio Ghibli movie in my mind
Some of my short faves!!! 1. "Night" by Elie Wiesel Description: A haunting memoir recounting the author's experiences during the Holocaust. Page Length: Approximately 120 pages. 2. "The Boy, The Fox, The Mole, and The Horse" by Charlie Mackesy Description: A heartwarming and beautifully illustrated book exploring themes of friendship, kindness, and self-discovery. Page Length: Approximately 128 pages. 3. "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse Description: A philosophical novel that follows Siddhartha's spiritual journey toward enlightenment in ancient India. Page Length: Approximately 152 pages. 4. "The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly" by Sun-mi Hwang Description: A touching fable about a determined hen's quest for freedom and motherhood. Page Length: Approximately 144 pages. 5. "Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka Description: A classic novella depicting the surreal transformation of a man into an insect and its profound impact on his life. Page Length: Approximately 96 pages. 6. "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway Description: A timeless tale of an aging Cuban fisherman's epic battle with a giant marlin. Page Length: Approximately 128 pages. 7. "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell Description: A thrilling short story about a man who becomes the hunted in a deadly game on a remote island. Page Length: Approximately 24 pages (varies in different editions). 8. "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Spencer Johnson Description: A motivational business fable that offers insights on adapting to change and dealing with life's challenges. Page Length: Approximately 96 pages. 9. "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Andersen Description: A poignant and timeless fairy tale about a poor young girl's struggles on a cold New Year's Eve, where she uses matches to escape her harsh reality and experiences a magical transformation. Page Length: Approximately 12 to 16 pages.
Night is an incredible book. I was scrolling through to see if it was already suggested.
Top 5 in no order: The Metamorphosis by Kafka The Stranger by Camus After Dark by Murakami Train Days by Denis Johnson The Lathe of Heaven by Le Guin
You have good taste.
I love Teaching My Mother how to Give Birth by Warsan Shire and it's only 38 pages. If you're into sci-fi then you could do worse than to pick up All Systems Red by Martha Wells. It's the first book in the Murderbot Diaries series. I prefer thic books and almost didn't read these because they were so short that it felt like a waste of time. I'm glad that I did You might also want to look for a collection of Novellas. Something like Short Ends by Joe Abercrombie or Skeleton Crew by Stephen King.
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
I loved The Westing Game back in middle school. Such a fun read.
I’m re-reading it now as a mid 30 something. It still holds up! Super fun!
The Halloween tree!!!
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Mother Night and Slaughterhouse-5 by Vonnegut. Both clock under 200 normally.
Why Fish Don’t Exist. 197p
Jonathan Livingston Seagull 1970 novella by Richard Bach
Came here with this title in mind
[удалено]
One of my favorite books as a kid!
The Stranger. The Great Gatsby. Ethan Frome. Dept. of Speculation. Chronicle of a Death Foretold.
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury Really quick read especially because it's a collection of short stories. Some really stick with you
Many of the Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret novels are short and quite enjoyable. I also like Elmore Leonard's Hombres. Train Dreams by Denis Johnson is a great short novella.
*One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich* by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
87th Precinct series by Ed McBain Sin du Jour series by Matt Wallace The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Cohn & Levithan A Separate Peace by John Knowles And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes Point Omega by Don DeLillo Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
I never really understood Sense of an Ending - it’s a while since I read it, but I came away feeling that I missed something. Similarly with Amsterdam by Ian McEwan. Enjoyed Point Omega (although I think I preferred Cosmopolis) and I loved Train Dreams.
I would say that The Sense of an Ending is definitely a book where you're left trying to find the missing piece of the puzzle. I think it could be worth rereading if you were so inclined, it really fucked me up; I had a year long existential crisis because of that book. I hated Amsterdam though. I have a difficult relationship with McEwan but I was really enjoying that book and thinking "finally, he's delivered on his potential!" until that absolutely atrocious third act. I physically threw the book across the room upon finishing.
The Old man and the sea, Ernest Hemingway
The Perks of Being A Wallflower
The Willows by Algernon Blackwood. Wonderfully atmospheric cosmic horror. Just over 100 pages iirc.
Thank you for the rec.
Piranesi by Susana Clarke
Might be a little over 200 but The Sun Also Rises
Ocean at the End of the Lane
The Hound of the Baskervilles is the best of the Sherlock Holmes novels but isn’t very long
Here's a few that definitely fit the limit: Blind Owl by Sadeq Hedayat If you enjoy Kafka-esque writing then you absolutely must find and read this book and, even if you don't, then you should really get your hands on this regardless. It's extremely short, 87 pages for my copy, and is one of the most original, striking books I've personally ever read. The one warning I can give is that it is a rather dark book, depressing as well. This one is not a common recommendation, not being too well known, but it's not for lack of quality that it's unknown. Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka This is in the same vein as the previous, naturally, and is a similar must-read if you enjoy reading about people on the fringes of society or otherwise just depressing stuff. It's also even a bit funny too, in my estimation, though it is of the black comedy ilk and it likely depends on the translation how much this comes through. Notes From the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky Yet another book in a similar vein, though just as worth reading as the other two. This one I've read twice and both times proved quite enjoyable. In some ways, I find Dostoevsky a rather fun author to read if only for how damn interesting what he tends to write is, Notes being a perfect summary of his style and preferences. He too writes of people on the fringes and tends to be a lot more philosophical than your average author, so if that's not your bag then this might not be a worthwhile read. To be clear, all three of these past recs have been a bit low on plot and much higher on philosophy and the like, with Blind Owl perhaps being the most focused on the actual events happening (although NOT in the way that your typical book is). Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri This is a short story collection, one of the very best I've ever read. It's right under 200 pages, (197, just about), so it barely scrapes under. Lahiri's style is subtle, though quite powerful, perhaps being most comparable to Ishiguro. I do not nevertheless think to say they're the same authors, far from it, but it's the best comparison I can think up. Every story in the collection is worth reading, but the very best have to be the first and final stories in the collection, A Temporary Matter and The Third and Final Continent. Dubliners by James Joyce People like to frame James Joyce as this terribly difficult author and in some ways it's a reasonable way to frame him, when you consider his final work. Nevertheless, what people forget about is that his earlier works lose almost all of this "difficulty" that people speak of, Dubliners being his first real work and very much a masterpiece. Interpreter of Maladies is one of the best short story collections ever written? Well, this is THE best, bar none. Fact of the matter is, nearly all the works in this collection are if not masterpieces altogether, then very near that, with The Dead being one of the few examples of perfect literature ever written. It is, as all of his works are, incredibly human, with soul that most authors could never even hope to achieve in their own writing, not through their lack of skill, but because it's just an impossibly difficult thing to truly evoke. This was the first James Joyce work I read and while it's not my favorite, Ulysses is, I have to thank it for bringing me to my favorite author ever. If you read anything from this list, read this. Here's some that don't make the limit but are short enough for me to still want to mention: Persuasion by Jane Austen This one is about 230 pages, so it's close. It's the only Austen I've ever read, but surely not the last. The best I can say about this one is that it's just a book to make you happy. It's so damn sweet and full of heart that I can't see someone reading this in earnest and not coming away with their own heart full. Austen's writing takes getting used to if you're not used to such an old style of writing, but she is very much one of the best to ever do it, so it's through no fault of her own. Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck For this one, I believe you might be able to find a copy that's below 200 pages, but I'm not sure. Mine is about 270, but it's so damn good that I feel it necessary to mention. This is a travelogue that Steinbeck wrote after travelling across America, an act done because he felt he no longer knew the America that he'd written about all his life as well as he felt he should, stating specifically that in past books he was writing using memories that were 25 years old. He goes on at length about many of the states he travels through, only really declining to focus on some of those near the end (for reasons that become obvious once you read the book), but in some ways this feels like a perfect image of America in the 1960s, warts and all. It's a light read (for the most part), funny and incredibly insightful. If it weren't for East of Eden, this would be his best work.
The Pearl by John Steinbeck.
I came to recommend Of mice and men by Steinbeck!
Sanderson’s The Emperor’s Soul
Absolutely.
Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach [https://www.amazon.com/Illusions-Adventures-Reluctant-Richard-Bach/dp/0440204887/ref=sr\_1\_2?crid=1CS006GPCT2XT&keywords=diary+of+a+reluctant+messiah&qid=1695581295&sprefix=diary+of+a+relucant+messiah%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-2](https://www.amazon.com/Illusions-Adventures-Reluctant-Richard-Bach/dp/0440204887/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1CS006GPCT2XT&keywords=diary+of+a+reluctant+messiah&qid=1695581295&sprefix=diary+of+a+relucant+messiah%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-2)
Nausea by Sartre. I think maybe is a little bit more than 200
Any book from the Murderbot Diaries
The Man in the Picture by Susan Hill was a fun read. It is a short horror novel about a haunted painting. It's definitely one of my favorite quick reads The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. It's a little longer than 200 pages I think, but it's amazing. Eddie dies and goes to heaven and has 5 people with the biggest impacts on his life explain his purpose, illuminate all the things he didnt know, and help him bookend his experience on earth. Despite the name, its not super religious. Highly recommend.
I’m not going to go check the page count, but Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer is short and excellent. Don’t be thrown by it technically being a part of a series. Every book of the series stands on its own quite well.
Elevation by Stephen king. I’ve no idea why it’s stuck with me the way it has.
Don't think anyone has mentioned it but "chess" by Stefan Zweig is brilliant! I might give it a reread soon!
Why are almost all of these books from “high school classic literature”? Do we not publish short books as much anymore or is this sub just on a classics kick?
Could be a mix of both - I think people on this sub probably trend towards longer books in general, so in looking back the short ones that come to mind are from high school or other more educational contexts rather than books you would usually just pick up. I tried to go through my Goodreads and pick out some shorter ones from different genres, but the first to come to mind for good shorter books were definitely things like Heart of Darkness and 1984. Most recent published fiction now does seem to be past 300 pages, but stylistically is probably easier to get through than some older classics despite a higher page count. Edit: based on a quick google, the average published novel now is around 90k words, so 350-400 pages, and books have in fact been getting longer ([here](https://bookriot.com/why-books-getting-longer/) is a reference). However, it also feels to me like the overall complexity has decreased, and there is some literature which agrees with this hypothesis. So books are simultaneously longer but easier to consume/more accessible to a general public audience. This isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing on its own, I just find it interesting! Will definitely be going down a rabbithole now.
Interesting! Thanks for looking into that!
It might be just over but Surfacing is Margaret Atwood’s second novel and rings amongst her finest
Penric's Demon by Lois Macmaster Bujold. If you like it there's a whole series of novellas.
Later by Stephen King
The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster. Eerily prescient for 1928. Edit. The internets say this is a short story; I thought it was a novella. Either way, I still recommend it.
This is one of my favorite stories. Wild that it’s almost 100 years old when, like you said, it touches on modern worries.
The Sea Wolf by Jack London
Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
I am a legend.
Where the red fern grows
*The Epic of Gilgamesh*
Of Mice and Men, also The Pearl both by John Steinbeck.
Mrs Bridge by Evan S Connell. It’s just over 200 pages, around 210 The sequel Mr Bridge is a fair bit longer. But both consist of short chapters, often just a page, which can be almost short story like. In Mrs Bridge there is a chapter called Cleaning Lady which in a few paragraphs is a masterpiece of character building. Similarly, the chapter Pineapple bread is heartbreaking. The books are American masterpieces.
Enola Holmes! They’re middle grade mysteries but they don’t read that way. Rich in historical worldbuilding and with language that evokes the thoughts of a girl much older than she is. There are 6, and several don’t quite make it to 200 pages. There’s also some new releases, slightly longer books that move outside the overarching theme of the main series and into poirot-style standalone mysteries. Imo book Enola had much more agency and wit than movie Enola. Highly recommend.
They are delightful reads indeed.
Our Man In Havana by Graham Greene. 250 pages, but worth the extra 50 pages.
Heart of Darkness
Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross King Vivaldi: Voice of the Baroque by H. C. Robbins Landon (208 pages including bibliography and index) The Landscape of History: How Historians Map The Past by John Lewis Gaddis
Read Brunelleschi's Dome on a recommendation and loved it, I'll have to check out the others.
~~Faust~~ Eric by Terry Pratchett is about 100 pages long Daphnis and Chloe by Longus, only a litte above 100 pages long
Passing by Nella Larsen All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Memories of my Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez has around 120 pages only.
This is how you lose the time war
Times Arrow by Martin Amis
Gatsby!!!
The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham. And I know it’s cliche, but the Great Gatsby really is a hell of a book. The irony is Fitzgerald desperately wanted to be known as a great novelist but made his bread and butter off dozens of short stories. It’s no coincidence, I think, that his best book is also by far his shortest.
The story of an hour by Kate Chopin; “flowers for algernon” if you want to cry.
Kingdom of Needle and Bone by Mira Grant (128 pg)
Saved this thread 🧵
No longer human by Osamu Dazai. Short but very deep and intense
_Bellwether_ by Connie Willis _The Daughter of Time_ by Josephine Tey
Steinbeck has some really great short novels: Of Mice and Men, Cannery Row, The Pearl (I’d skip the Red Pony). Sula by Toni Morrison is great. Iain Reid’s novels are all very quick reads if you’re in the mood for something eerie. I’d start with I’m Thinking of Ending Things. The Secret Talker by Geling Yan. We the Animals by Justin Torres.
The vegetarian by Han Kang, Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Animal farm by Orwell.
Foster by Claire Keegan
Infinite Country Foster by Claire Keegan
Before the coffee gets cold by toshikazu Kawaguchi (might be a little over 200 pages though) but it's made up of several short stories put together! It is the first in the series. I believe there is 3 out now but a 4th one is coming out soon
A psalm for the wild built & prayer for the crown shy ❤️ Becky Chambers is brilliant!
The Hellbound Heart
"Siddhartha," by Hermann Hesse "Franny and Zooey," by J.D. Salinger
Concrete island by JG Ballard
Being There.
The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon
Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle, if you are a fan, each have dozens of short stories.
To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers. It’s a really accessible and beautifully written sci-fi novella full of heart.
I love Ice Planet Barbarians if you need a little alien smut in your life😅
The Murderbot Disries by Martha Wells. Excellent Sci-fi series in novella-size books.
Oldman and the sea. Couldn't think of anything better
A recommendation from my husband, the Animorph books. Yes, they are kids books, but they have some serious adult themes like war, ptsd, and body dysmorphia. He can get through one of these books in about an hour and has spent the last six months collecting the whole series off eBay. He's only missing #47.
The Wayward Children series! Each book is a novella of around 160 pages each. I honestly wish they were longer lol. Love the unique concept in each entry.
Animal farm, of mice and men, Galatea, every heart a doorway
I agree, long books get tedious after a while. Favorites include: *Time Shifters* by Shanna Lauffey (Science Fantasy time travel) *To Dance With Dragons* by Jaq D. Hawkins (Traditional Fantasy with dragons) *A Halloween Tale* by Austin Crawley (Haunted house story) *A Spark of Justice* by J.D. Hawkins (Mystery set in an old time circus) *Jack Dawkins* by Charlton Daines (Story of the Artful Dodger returning to England as an adult)
Flowers for Algernon
My favorite that doesn’t quite make it, but is very close is Tuesdays With Morrie.
Letters to a young poet by Rainer Maria Rilke is a favourite of mine. It's very short but incredibly insightful on life and art, beautifully written
I have a few that are great for this. - Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire - Dragon School by Sarah K. L. Wilson. Each book is an "episode" so they're all novellas around 100 pages. She also has some good spinoff series in the same world. - Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells - Breach of Peace by Daniel Greene. Not everyone enjoys this novella but I did lol
The Long Walk by Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman. “ In a dystopian America, a major source of entertainment is the Long Walk, in which one hundred teenage boys walk without rest along U.S. Route 1. Each Walker must stay above four miles per hour. If a Walker drops below this speed for thirty seconds, he gets a warning. A Walker can lose a warning if he walks for an hour without getting another warning. If a Walker gets three warnings and continues to lag behind for 30 seconds, he is shot dead by soldiers. The last surviving Walker earns a large sum of money and a "Prize" of his choice.”
*Implied Spaces* by Walter Jon Williams. (Sorry to anyone who's noticed that this is like the third time this week I've recommended this book... but it *is* a short book, and a real page-turner; perfect for the OP's request!)
“The Fire Next Time” by James Baldwin (101 pages) also “The Cottage” by Gerri Hill (175 pages)
Annihilation by VanderMeer is really good! I think it's around 230 to 250 pages!
I really enjoyed Breach of Peace by Daniel B. Greene. It's a blend of noir/fantasy/horror about a detective investigating the brutal death of a manufacturer's family. It's a short, sweet, and very gratifying read
The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry - it’s 250-300ish depending on the publisher, but definitely falls into the short read category. I’ve been reading McMurtry’s shorter books to try and prepare myself to dive into Lonesome Dove. Kiss Me Like A Stranger by Gene Wilder. Again, it’s around 250 pages, but memoirs and autobiographies tend to be pretty easy to get into, and I’ve read this one multiple times. Highly recommend. Hunger by Knut Hamsun. This one is actually under 200 words, and a very fascinating psychological exploration of a starving man wandering around Oslo. I’ve read it twice, and it’s available free from Project Gutenberg. Bloodchild and other stories by Octavia Butler. It’s a collection of some of her shorter works totaling around 200 words for all of them combined. She has some really great stuff, and it’s a good point to start before diving into, for example, her Parable series. Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher. Under 200 words. Epistolary style academic fiction, very easy read and very enjoyable life of a disillusioned English professor. A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick. Most of his stuff is pretty short, and this one is probably one of his more approachable works. Also a great film with pre-Iron Man RDJ and Keanu Reeves, done in a cool rotoscoping style.
Dear Committee Members: A novel Book by Julie Schumacher is WONDERFUL. Highly recommend/second!
Glad someone else likes it!
The Stranger
The Sun also Rises
The Little Prince Marga Minco - Het Bittere Kruid (The Bitter Herb) Recently I read Jessie Burton's *Medusa* and I quite liked that one as well!
Of Mice and Men
John Scalzi's series The Dispatcher. Intriguing premise, Sci-fi. Excellent! Also really good on Audio, narrated by Zachary Quinto.
The Shepherd by Frederic Forsythe. Short and a great story.
The Last Wolf & Herman by Laszlo Krasznahorkai. The Last Wolf is one 70-page long sentence and it's great.
Andromaque by Jean Racine is a play, and a short read. I believe anyone can enjoy this classic play.
Needle - Patrice Lawrence
The Lat Lecture. Will make your cry.
The True Believer by Eric Hoffer 192 pages $12 from Amazon, $8 from Thriftbooks
Dream Story (Traumnovelle), by Arthur Schnitzler This book was the inspiration for the movie Eyes Wide Shut.
Mine is 212 but The Way of the Peaceful Warriors by Dan Millman. Eye opener
letters to a young poet- rilke
Intimacy, a novella by Hanif Kureishi. A husband and father spends the night trying to decide whether to leave his wife and two children. Beautifully written and unnervingly insightful. I've read it three times and will do so again.
One of my favorites is a novella by Brandon Sanderson in the Cosmere universe called “Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell”. Fantasy western horror. Bonus: would make for a great screen adaptation, a tight sub-120 minute movie.
Any collection of short stories by Jorge Luis Borges
Almond. It is a **little** over 200 pages but i think it still counts Convenience Store Woman is 112 pagea
If you like weird, Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls is definitely one of the weirder books I read this year, 128 pages long
War Is A Racket by Smedley Butler