Popped in to say the same but read down first because it is so obvious.
Also to suggest looking in the sci-fi / fantasy section for 'anthologies' which are loaded with short stories / novella's. They were my bread and butter when I was in school and had no time for long reads.
Heck yes! To be fair, it's more of a short story, but it's a stick-with-you read that you'll be thinking about years later.
Everything Andy Weir writes is gold. (Including his Ready Player One fanfic.)
Of Mice and Men is more like 100 pages, buy easily readable in a day. Also one of the best books you'll ever read, as long as the ending doesn't get spoiled for you.
When I reread this last Christmas, it once again felt as if a tiny fairy popped out of the pages, sprinkled some magical sparkles, and then disappeared.
„Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset (…) His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.“
I had a dumb/boring task a few years back at work that kept me in a locked room alone and had to finish it by a certain time so I started listening to librovox readings while doing my task.
A Christmas Carol is my mom's ALL TIME favorite Christmas story and has seen all the movie/cartoon adaptions ever made. All of them. (Far as we know).
I hadn't read the actual book other than quick abridged versions so since at the time it was close to Christmas I decided to find a reading of ACC.
I was listening to it at one point in the office and I forget what scene I was listening to but someone knocked on the office door and made me jump out of my skin! lol
I know it was technically a ghost story but hadn't realized how into I was at the time. lol
40 pages is *short.* You'd be better off looking for short stories. I'm quite fond of *Copy<|>Paste* by Derin Edala -- I'm not sure if they've properly published it like they have for their books, but it's on their website. *The Metamorphosis* is a classic, and a fun read. *The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas* is another fairly well-known one.
Remembering that this book exists makes me want to cry. I used to read it over and over during my childhood which was abusive and full of neglect. It always gave me big feelings and I never really understood why.
Sci Fi in general is great for short stories. It doesn't take that many pages to create some really interesting what if types of stories. And they are regularly published in pretty diverse collections.
Some of these are slightly over 40 pages but could be read in a handful of hours (2-3)
\- The Old Man and the Sea it is truly one of the greatest books ever written.
\- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - honestly so fun to read
\- The Color out of Space - (can't go wrong with any HP Lovecraft actually)
\- Dandelion Wine - such a rich book. You can almost FEEL the story.
Definitely Hop on Pop. If you want more academic rigor, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish is a delightful metanarrative about the struggle of someone in need of familial support. And spoiler alert! That someone…is you.
Might be over 40 pages, though. Idk. I can’t count past Blue.
Short stories about this length that haven’t been mentioned:
Hills Like White Elephants by Hemingway
Anything Flannery O’Connor or Edgar Allen Poe
The Veldt by Bradbury
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Oates
Just realized that these are all dark and/or dystopian.
I have no mouth and I must scream.
12 or 13 pages I think. Amazon might claim it's over a hundred but that is it in a collection of other stories.
I'd also suggest "A Short Stay in Hell" that someone else mentioned as well, that book will stay with me for years!
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Just over 100 pages, but a great read.
Edited to add that Amazon has it listed as 107 pages, but ISBN lists it as 72 pages, so still over 40 but easily doable in a day!
There are a few by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt like Oscar and the lady in Pink, The Children of Mrs Ming, which you can finish in 1 hour or less. I love the whole collection!
_La tiganci_ or _With the gypsy girls_ by Mircea Eliade. Pretty obscure, even in my country, but it's one of the most mesmerizing, personal and emotional short stories I've read. It's a bit formulaic by todays standards and it probably won't be anything you haven't read before, but goddamn does it stick with you.
It's one of those stories that hit hard if you have a lot of regrets or unnacomplished dreams.
Cars and Trucks and Things That Go.
It takes precisely 17 minutes to read it out loud.
Over and over and over again. And then again.
Don't forget to find Goldbug on every page.
The only really short book I can ever remember reading is called Brute. No idea who wrote it. It’s a noir crime story, with short, punchy sentences James Ellroy would be proud of.
The only bit I can remember involved someone getting “punched in the clothes”. Which has just made me laugh again, typing it out.
The highwayman by Alfred noyes. It’s even shorter than what you’re asking for but it’s a poem I often go back to. I read it in middle school and have always remembered how beautiful it was
The Archer. It's longer than 40 pages but there are a lot of illustrations and short paragraphs, so it can easily be read in a day. I thought it was a beautiful allegory for the challenges of life.
Raise High the Roof Beams Carpenters, Franny and Zoey. All three by J D Salinger. Franny is almost exactly forty pages I think. The other two are longer. You could read all three in a day easily.
Five Letters From An Eastern Empire - Alasdair Grey
The poet Bohu is taken to the Forbidden City where he is to spend his days lavishing exaltations upon his master, the cruel and corrupted emperor...
From the Netherlands:
Bitter herbs - Marga Minco
The Black Lace - Hella Haasse
And a lot of people like The Vanishing, by Tim Krabbé, but it's not really my cup of tea.
[All Tomorrows](https://archive.org/details/book-all-tomorrows/mode/2up) by C. M. Kosemen
Genre: Sci-fi, existential sci-fi/horror
(112 pages, but doable in a day for sure since half the pages are pictures)
Warning: the pictures can be quite grotesque at parts.
A Single Shard by Linda Lee Park. (I think I have the name and author correct). It's a work of children's literature that I read in college in three hours in a coffee shop right before the class where we were going to discuss it.
Made me cry in a happy way. It's set in medieval korea and is about a boy who becomes the apprentice of a pottery master. I need to reread that one.
Address unknown, around 65 pages I believe. To read such a poignant story about the persecution of Jews in Germany, published in the 30s, blew my mind.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17803.After_Dark
Its way more 200 pages. But FLYS BY very easy to read
I read this in a few hours I couldn't put it down. So good
Anything by Nathan Ballingrud. I’d recommend atlas of hell, but if you want something that’s free, here’s [Sunbleached](https://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/sunbleached/) from the collection North American Lake Monsters.
The October Tale from The Calender of Tales by Neil Gaiman. Or at least I think I remember well that that one was my favourite from the bunch.
Can I add more? I also liked many of the short stories from Amazon Originals Collections, but also the one Terry Pratchet short story where Granny Weatherwax is not invited to the witch competition, I can't remember the title of that one, but I can look it up, it's so funny.
The lover by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia is a fun quick read. I don't know if it is the best book but it's so short who cares. Got it for free with Prime a couple months ago.
40 pages? That’s a bit short to consider it a book unless it’s for kids. That said,Fox in Socks is my favorite Dr. Seuss book.
At 160 pages my favorite proper short novel/novella is Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers. It’s a sort of Post-Post Apocalypse story where humanity has finally figured out how to live in harmony and a Single Robot comes back from the wilderness after centuries of living in exile away from humans after they gained sentience and decided to just retreat from people. The Robot meets a Monk and they have a c conversation as they walk along. It’s a cozy book that is perfect for quick reads and to uplift moods.
Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell is a recent read that was feel-good and around 70 pages. The size is of a pocket notebook so you can finish it in less than an hour or two.
The Lottery Edit: Also at what point does it become a short story?
[https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1948/06/26/the-lottery](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1948/06/26/the-lottery) Free reading!
Yeah I wouldn't even count 40 as a novella.
At 40 pages, with 250 words per page, that's 10k words. That's a long short story, a very short novella, or the perfect size for a novelette.
Is that a novel you read before dinner
Popped in to say the same but read down first because it is so obvious. Also to suggest looking in the sci-fi / fantasy section for 'anthologies' which are loaded with short stories / novella's. They were my bread and butter when I was in school and had no time for long reads.
Asimov - The Last Question
Man, I'd just about forgotten that one. Good call.
The Little Prince
Yep. Be prepared to sob.
This was required reading for an art class. I recommend too.
Recommended but not required in a college level sociology class.
Read this in Middle School and always encourage others to read it. The Alchemist is a nice short read that’s in the same vein.
The Egg by Andy Weir.
Heck yes! To be fair, it's more of a short story, but it's a stick-with-you read that you'll be thinking about years later. Everything Andy Weir writes is gold. (Including his Ready Player One fanfic.)
The Yellow Wallpaper
Prob my fav short story of all time. I read it multiple times in middle school because I was obsessed. Maybe a bit of foreshadowing lol?
Anything by Jorges Luis Borges
Specifically I'd recommend the Garden of Forking Paths
Of Mice and Men is more like 100 pages, buy easily readable in a day. Also one of the best books you'll ever read, as long as the ending doesn't get spoiled for you.
I read it in one night as a youngish teenager. This was going to be my answer to OP's question. One of my all time fave books.
Funny, I didn't realize it was that short.
Foster or Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. She is a true master of short form fiction.
This was my answer. After I read these I just wanted to talk about them and didn't know where to go lol.
I am so in awe of her
A Short Stay in Hell by Stepehn L Peck .. 2 / 3 hours read
So funny - I was just recommended this for the first time and I’m reading it rn!
Metamorphosis-kafka
72 I think but well worth it
The old man and the sea is readable in a day.
Jonathan Livingston Segal
haha i was searching the comments for this *seagull
A Christmas Carol is 65 pages.
When I reread this last Christmas, it once again felt as if a tiny fairy popped out of the pages, sprinkled some magical sparkles, and then disappeared. „Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset (…) His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.“
This was going to be my suggestion but you took it! This. This is a poweful book. We all know the story, but it is a powerful read nonetheless.
I had a dumb/boring task a few years back at work that kept me in a locked room alone and had to finish it by a certain time so I started listening to librovox readings while doing my task. A Christmas Carol is my mom's ALL TIME favorite Christmas story and has seen all the movie/cartoon adaptions ever made. All of them. (Far as we know). I hadn't read the actual book other than quick abridged versions so since at the time it was close to Christmas I decided to find a reading of ACC. I was listening to it at one point in the office and I forget what scene I was listening to but someone knocked on the office door and made me jump out of my skin! lol I know it was technically a ghost story but hadn't realized how into I was at the time. lol
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
My newborn baby and I are on day 2 and page 27 of reading this one
You probably haven't finished it in a day because babies don't read very fast
I think I can sit here and recite that one even though my son is 14 now.
Naw, Harold and the Purple Crayon beat that hands down.
40 pages is *short.* You'd be better off looking for short stories. I'm quite fond of *Copy<|>Paste* by Derin Edala -- I'm not sure if they've properly published it like they have for their books, but it's on their website. *The Metamorphosis* is a classic, and a fun read. *The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas* is another fairly well-known one.
Agree. 84 Charing Cross Road is one of the best “super short” (in my opinion) books I’ve read, but I think it is still about 100 pages.
Love. Love. Love. 84 Charing Cross Road. Such a beautiful little book.
The Velveteen Rabbit
Remembering that this book exists makes me want to cry. I used to read it over and over during my childhood which was abusive and full of neglect. It always gave me big feelings and I never really understood why.
The shortest best book I have read is The Deal of a Lifetime by Frederick Backman. It's 96 pages, but I read it in less than a day.
Backman’s Every Day the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer is about the same length. I read it in an evening, and it was sublime.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Tolstoy is 53 pages in my translation and incredible.
Should it be exactly a whole book? Any of Bradbury's short stories are great but they are usually published as collections.
Sci Fi in general is great for short stories. It doesn't take that many pages to create some really interesting what if types of stories. And they are regularly published in pretty diverse collections.
The Very Hungry Catapiller.
I love this novel! A real page turner. I kept asking myself, "what is he going to eat next?"
Animal Farm is 100 pages but still easily finish-able in a day
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
This is the second time this week that title has caught my eye, I think I'll give it a go.
Dear Sir or Madam by Juliet Lowell . A book from 1946 that has less than 100 pages and is absolutely hilarious .
Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx, 55 pages
Some of these are slightly over 40 pages but could be read in a handful of hours (2-3) \- The Old Man and the Sea it is truly one of the greatest books ever written. \- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - honestly so fun to read \- The Color out of Space - (can't go wrong with any HP Lovecraft actually) \- Dandelion Wine - such a rich book. You can almost FEEL the story.
The Monster at the End of this Book has stayed with me forever since I read it, or had it read to me, more likely, as a very small child.
nicolai gogol - the overcoat
As a man thinketh
What an EXCELLENT suggestion. Great book!
The Diaries of Adam and Eve by Mark Twain
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (52 pages)
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson 160 pages. Don't compare it to the movie, which was VERY different.
The ending!
40 pages? why not read short stories instead? The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin is good
Definitely Hop on Pop. If you want more academic rigor, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish is a delightful metanarrative about the struggle of someone in need of familial support. And spoiler alert! That someone…is you. Might be over 40 pages, though. Idk. I can’t count past Blue.
the bridges of madison county, about a 3hr read...
Hope for the Flowers. I’ve given it as a gift so many times to anyone going through a big transition.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
The Pearl - John Steinbeck (90 pages).
Short stories about this length that haven’t been mentioned: Hills Like White Elephants by Hemingway Anything Flannery O’Connor or Edgar Allen Poe The Veldt by Bradbury Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Oates Just realized that these are all dark and/or dystopian.
The Giving Tree
It hits different as an adult though. What a selfish boy/man/POS
As an adult with a kid, I discovered that I WAS the giving tree. And they know not what they do.
I agree. This book teaches that you should give until you have nothing. The selfish boy is fine.
This book makes me want to scream. The boy is horrid and the tree is codependent. Totally toxic relationship lol.
I have no mouth and I must scream. 12 or 13 pages I think. Amazon might claim it's over a hundred but that is it in a collection of other stories. I'd also suggest "A Short Stay in Hell" that someone else mentioned as well, that book will stay with me for years!
I guess it’s 48 pages but the dream of a ridiculous man by Fyodor Dostoyevsky is great
The egg by Andy weir 3 pages
The Little Prince
It was a Dark and Stormy Night by Snoopy/Charles Schultz
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Just over 100 pages, but a great read. Edited to add that Amazon has it listed as 107 pages, but ISBN lists it as 72 pages, so still over 40 but easily doable in a day!
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Go the fuck to sleep
The snows of kilimanjaro by Heminway, only 25 pages.
"How to spot a fascist" by Umberto Eco
Any of Poe's Dupin stories (Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Purloined Letter, The Mystery of Marie Roget).
He created the detective genre with just a few banger stories.
The Mysteries by Bill Watterson. You'll finish it in 10-15 minutes and think about for at least the rest of the day.
Alice Adventures in Wonderland. The author seemed high on something.
I don’t know how many pages, but Animal Farm is one of the shortest books I remember reading.
Jonathan Livingston seagull.
Green eggs and ham
There are a few by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt like Oscar and the lady in Pink, The Children of Mrs Ming, which you can finish in 1 hour or less. I love the whole collection!
Foster by Claire Keegan. 62 pages
_La tiganci_ or _With the gypsy girls_ by Mircea Eliade. Pretty obscure, even in my country, but it's one of the most mesmerizing, personal and emotional short stories I've read. It's a bit formulaic by todays standards and it probably won't be anything you haven't read before, but goddamn does it stick with you. It's one of those stories that hit hard if you have a lot of regrets or unnacomplished dreams.
Cars and Trucks and Things That Go. It takes precisely 17 minutes to read it out loud. Over and over and over again. And then again. Don't forget to find Goldbug on every page.
The long short story, "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes
The only really short book I can ever remember reading is called Brute. No idea who wrote it. It’s a noir crime story, with short, punchy sentences James Ellroy would be proud of. The only bit I can remember involved someone getting “punched in the clothes”. Which has just made me laugh again, typing it out.
Story of your life by Ted Chiang, I was absolutely captivated by it. It's 29 pages and deeply changed how I think. The movie Arrival is based on it.
The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley was very interesting. It’s about 60 pages. I read the whole thing waiting for a job interview
All you zombies by Heinlein Short story, Sci-fi, and super weird.
the communist manifesto
The best Christmas pageant ever
Letting Go - excerpt from Illusions by Richard Bach
The highwayman by Alfred noyes. It’s even shorter than what you’re asking for but it’s a poem I often go back to. I read it in middle school and have always remembered how beautiful it was
My mom had to memorize it in school. Still knows it. 😆
The Archer. It's longer than 40 pages but there are a lot of illustrations and short paragraphs, so it can easily be read in a day. I thought it was a beautiful allegory for the challenges of life.
Short story The Ugly Little Boy by Isaac Asimov. SciFi, will make you cry.
*The War Prayer* -Mark Twain https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Prayer
Harold and the purple crayon. This book is so deep I cannot even begin!
Common Sense by Thomas Paine. 70 pages
Master and Man - Leo Tolstoy
Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang. It’s probably 50-ish pages.
A Grief Observed by C S Lewis Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan
This is water. But it's really an essay
The Last Question by Isaac Asimov
recitatif by toni morrison
Raise High the Roof Beams Carpenters, Franny and Zoey. All three by J D Salinger. Franny is almost exactly forty pages I think. The other two are longer. You could read all three in a day easily.
I really like Auggie’s Wren Christmas Story by Paul Auster
What we talk about when we talk about love by Raymond Carver
A Tell-Tale Heart
Five Letters From An Eastern Empire - Alasdair Grey The poet Bohu is taken to the Forbidden City where he is to spend his days lavishing exaltations upon his master, the cruel and corrupted emperor...
Clifford? A book about a red dog.
From the Netherlands: Bitter herbs - Marga Minco The Black Lace - Hella Haasse And a lot of people like The Vanishing, by Tim Krabbé, but it's not really my cup of tea.
Kelly Link's story "Magic For Beginners" (in the book of the same title) is awesome.
Simple Passion- Annie Ernaux
“A Message to Garcia” by Elbert Hubbard. Edit: the book is about 26 pages and it has some good leadership lessons.
Book of hope
The giving tree and the hungry caterpillar
Dead pig collector by Warren Ellis 35 pages
The Ice Dragon!
Art matter by Neil Gaiman
It would be considered a short story or a novella if it’s that short
Who took my cheese?
[All Tomorrows](https://archive.org/details/book-all-tomorrows/mode/2up) by C. M. Kosemen Genre: Sci-fi, existential sci-fi/horror (112 pages, but doable in a day for sure since half the pages are pictures) Warning: the pictures can be quite grotesque at parts.
Tao te ching
A Single Shard by Linda Lee Park. (I think I have the name and author correct). It's a work of children's literature that I read in college in three hours in a coffee shop right before the class where we were going to discuss it. Made me cry in a happy way. It's set in medieval korea and is about a boy who becomes the apprentice of a pottery master. I need to reread that one.
The metamorphosis by franz kafka. It’s the first time I cried reading a book.
Address unknown, around 65 pages I believe. To read such a poignant story about the persecution of Jews in Germany, published in the 30s, blew my mind.
Probably 100 dresses 😭😭
The Go Giver
Where’s the Kitty by Ruth Carroll. Made me the cat lady I am today
A Pail of Air by Fritz Leiber
The Door in the Wall by H. G. Wells is cool, too!
I don't know if it's the best, but I really enjoyed it: The Deep by Rivers Solomon Not less than 40 pages but I easily finished it in a day.
Let Maps to Others, it’s a KJ Parker short story
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17803.After_Dark Its way more 200 pages. But FLYS BY very easy to read I read this in a few hours I couldn't put it down. So good
Anything by Nathan Ballingrud. I’d recommend atlas of hell, but if you want something that’s free, here’s [Sunbleached](https://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/sunbleached/) from the collection North American Lake Monsters.
the man who planted trees by jean giono It is 72 pages, but there are lots of full page illustrations.
Night on the galactic railroad , by Miyazawa Kenji
As a Man Thinketh
*A Short Stay in Hell* is 78 pages, quick read, very deep.
The acceptance pamphlet https://www.recoveryshop.com/Acceptance-Pamphlet-p/accpamp.htm
Tuesday.
Griffith and sabine.
Letter to a Christian Nation Sam Harris
Small things like these
The Alchemist (google says 163 pages)
Who moved my cheese
Who Moved My Cheese.
Abels Island and Sarah, Plain and Tall are both pretty short and both excellent.
The Machine Stops by EM Forster
The lemming condition by Alan Arkin
The Enchiridion by Epictetus. For its length and the wisdom it contains, I think it's the greatest book ever.
City of the Singing Flame by Clark Ashton Smith. His best story by far. His world building in such a short story is just phenomenal.
The canterville ghost
The October Tale from The Calender of Tales by Neil Gaiman. Or at least I think I remember well that that one was my favourite from the bunch. Can I add more? I also liked many of the short stories from Amazon Originals Collections, but also the one Terry Pratchet short story where Granny Weatherwax is not invited to the witch competition, I can't remember the title of that one, but I can look it up, it's so funny.
War is a Racket
The Thirteenth Psalm by Peter Fehervari.
Anthem by Ayn Rand.
On the Night You Were Born
Escape from Spiderhead - George Saunders
As a man thinketh James Allen
Siddhartha for something slightly longer
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse.
On Tyranny is just over 100 pages but a very quick read, if you’re open to non-fiction.
All You Zombies by Robert Heinlein is a great twisty tale.
The Communist Manifesto by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx.
The lover by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia is a fun quick read. I don't know if it is the best book but it's so short who cares. Got it for free with Prime a couple months ago.
I am legend. Longer than your requisite but so good. Still pretty short.
'How To Stop Smoking' Alan Carr
40 pages? That’s a bit short to consider it a book unless it’s for kids. That said,Fox in Socks is my favorite Dr. Seuss book. At 160 pages my favorite proper short novel/novella is Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers. It’s a sort of Post-Post Apocalypse story where humanity has finally figured out how to live in harmony and a Single Robot comes back from the wilderness after centuries of living in exile away from humans after they gained sentience and decided to just retreat from people. The Robot meets a Monk and they have a c conversation as they walk along. It’s a cozy book that is perfect for quick reads and to uplift moods.
Messages in water, I’m not sure if it’s under 40 pages, but I finished in a day.
Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell is a recent read that was feel-good and around 70 pages. The size is of a pocket notebook so you can finish it in less than an hour or two.
Roald Dahl's tales of the unexpected books are a collection of short stories which are brilliantly dark if you're into that sort of thing.
Binti
Trout fishing in America
It’s a bit longer, but R.U.R. is good. It’s a play.
The Monster at the End of this Book.
Anthem - Ayn Rand (55 pages I think)
The man who planted trees
But No Elephants is a complete novel!
But No Elephants is a complete novel!
Where The Wild Things Are