Short Reads to Revitalize Your Reading Goals
If you're feeling overwhelmed and struggling to meet your reading targets, these short books and novellas are perfect for you. They offer beautiful narratives without the commitment of lengthy tomes, making it easier to dive back into the joy of reading. Discover these gems and reignite your passion for literature!
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
194 pages
This cute read has a powerful epilogue that really sticks with you.
To Be Taught, If Fortunate
140 pages
I just finished this novella and I loved it. Becky Chambers is one of my favorite authors!
This Is How You Lose the Time War
224 pages
This enemies to lovers, science fiction epistolary novel is something you didn't know you wanted.
Ring Shout
98 pages
This fantastic fantasy combines Lovecraftian cosmic horror with a civil war setting and some rad sword fighting.
The Ballad of Black Tom
153 pages
This is a modern retelling of the Horror at Red Hook, but without Lovecraft's racism.
Every Heart a Doorway
174 pages
This is a great novella, and the series continues with interrelated stories for like, 6 books. They're modern takes on portal fantasy, and I devoured all of them in just a few days.
Split Tooth
152 pages
This short memoir by an Inuit artist blends Inuit folklore and poetry with her autobiographical detail.
The Murderbot Diaries
The Murderbot Diaries is a short, funny, and action-packed series that feels good to read. Starting with All Systems Red, it's a delightful journey that I hope you enjoy as much as I did!
Siddhartha
121 pages
Der Roman spielt im 6. Jahrhundert vor Christus in Indien und handelt von einem jungen Brahmanen namens Siddhartha und seinem Freund Govinda. Von seinem Vater und anderen Priestern lernt dieser über die Veden, deren philosophische Gedanken, religiöse Gebote und Anleitungen zu Gebeten und Ritualen. Weil er sieht, wie diese trotz heiliger Waschungen und Gebete zur Reinigung von den Sünden nicht aus dem Samsara entkommen, widmet er sein Leben der Suche nach dem Atman, dem All-einen, das in jedem Menschen ist.
Invisible Cities
162 pages
Invisible Cities is a personal favorite because it beautifully explores the imagination and the essence of cities through poetic and philosophical reflections.
Ikigai
209 pages
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • 2 MILLION+ COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE “Workers looking for more fulfilling positions should start by identifying their ikigai.” ―Business Insider “One of the unintended—yet positive—consequences of the [pandemic] is that it is forcing people to reevaluate their jobs, careers, and lives. Use this time wisely, find your personal ikigai, and live your best life.” ―Forbes Find your ikigai (pronounced ee-key-guy) to live longer and bring more meaning and joy to all your days. “Only staying active will make you want to live a hundred years.” —Japanese proverb According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai—a reason for living. And according to the residents of the Japanese village with the world’s longest-living people, finding it is the key to a happier and longer life. Having a strong sense of ikigai—where what you love, what you’re good at, what you can get paid for, and what the world needs all overlap—means that each day is infused with meaning. It’s the reason we get up in the morning. It’s also the reason many Japanese never really retire (in fact there’s no word in Japanese that means retire in the sense it does in English): They remain active and work at what they enjoy, because they’ve found a real purpose in life—the happiness of always being busy. In researching this book, the authors interviewed the residents of the Japanese village with the highest percentage of 100-year-olds—one of the world’s Blue Zones. Ikigai reveals the secrets to their longevity and happiness: how they eat, how they move, how they work, how they foster collaboration and community, and—their best-kept secret—how they find the ikigai that brings satisfaction to their lives. And it provides practical tools to help you discover your own ikigai. Because who doesn’t want to find happiness in every day? What’s your ikigai?
Annotated Christmas Carol
406 pages
It's a short yet great book that captures the spirit of Christmas, making it a timeless read.
The Pelican
"[A] funny, serious, clever novel." --The New York Times From award-winning Dutch author Martin Michael Driessen comes a fearlessly funny tragedy about an improbable friendship, unstable dreams, missed opportunities, and epic coincidence. In a quiet coastal town in Yugoslavia, two men seeking more than the Communist regime can offer find their lives deceitfully entwined. Andrej is a postman in complete denial of his existence. He yearns for respect and fame but commits petty crimes for reasons he doesn't fully comprehend. Josip is an increasingly irrelevant cable car operator and unfaithfully married. Life was so much simpler when neither one knew the other's secrets. Now that they do--discovered quite by accident--each man has resorted to blackmailing the other. As their anonymous misdeeds escalate, a farce of mutual dependency begins. So does the unlikeliest of friendships when Andrej and Josip finally meet face-to-face. In a tale set against the impending wars, Martin Michael Driessen ingeniously explores the foibles of two painfully ordinary men boldly staking their claims on life.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
270 pages
The story is great, but the translation might not do it justice.
The old man and the sea
68 pages
It's a meditative read that requires patience, despite being just about 100 pages long.
Oedipus the King
145 pages
Frequently reprinted with the same ISBN but with slightly varying bibliographical details.
Oresteia
321 pages
The Oresteian trilogy (Agamemnon, Libation Bearers, Eumenides) established the themes of Greek tragedy - the inexorable nature of Fate, the relationship between justice, revenge, and religion. The plays dramatize the murder of Agamemnon by his wife Clytemnestra, the revenge of her son Orestes, and his judgement by the court of Athens. This new translation seeks to preserve the plays' qualities as theatre and as literature.
Persians
144 pages
Persians is both Aeschylus' first extant tragedy and the earliest surviving drama in the Western tradition. Because Aeschylus was there at the struggle between Greeks and Persians in the straits of Salamis in 480 B.C., the Persians is not merely a play but a valuable historical document. The description of the battle contained here is in fact the only account of any event in the Great Persian Wars that has been composed by an eyewitness. Lembke and Herington faithfully recreate in modern language Aeschylus' account of the frightful contrast between the human work of butchery and the serene, sunlit natural background of Salamis. Though critics have argued for centuries about the veracity of the historical details, Aeschylus' poetic vision makes the Persians a compelling dramatic experience--Jacket.
The Bacchae and Other Plays
446 pages
Through their sheer range, daring innovation, flawed but eloquent characters and intriguing plots, the plays of Euripides have shocked and stimulated audiences since the fifth century BC. Phoenician Women portrays the rival sons of King Oedipus and their mother's doomed attempts at reconciliation, while Orestes shows a son ravaged with guilt after the vengeful murder of his mother. In the Bacchae, a king mistreats a newcomer to his land, little knowing that he is the god Dionysus disguised as a mortal, while in Iphigenia at Aulis, the Greek leaders take the horrific decision to sacrifice a princess to gain favour from the gods in their mission to Troy. Finally, the Rhesus depicts a world of espionage between the warring Greek and Trojan camps.
From Real to Complex Analysis
337 pages
r.h. Sin's poetry resonates deeply, making it a great choice for anyone looking to connect with their emotions in a short amount of time.
Six of Crows
479 pages
The duology is an exhilarating heist story filled with complex characters and unexpected twists, making it a must-read for fantasy lovers.
All the Light We Cannot See
544 pages
This book is a beautifully written tale that intertwines the lives of a blind French girl and a German soldier during World War II, making it a poignant read.
