If You Love Short Books, Read These!
Great things come in small packages
Are you looking for a short read this December? Maybe you’re trying to reach a certain numerical goal of books read in 2024. Or maybe you know that things are going to be frantic, with visitors at home and a million things to do, but you’d still like to fit in a good book before the end of the year. Or maybe you’d like a cheeky read of a book before you wrap it up and put it under the tree or gift it for Hanukkah. I’ve got recommendations for three excellent reads I really enjoyed.
Do you have a recommendation for an excellent short book? Tell us in the comments!
Ms Hempel Chronicles by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
This collection of inter-related short stories about a seventh grade teacher is a little gem of a book — beautifully written with astute observations about life. I was surprised to see its relatively low rating on Goodreads, because I really enjoyed it. Maybe that’s partly because readers expected or wanted more of a plot-driven book, but I don’t think that was ever its aim: not a lot of big things happen, but as this Guardian review says: “Little happens, but this is clearly the point. Hempel's colleagues gossip and engage in half-hearted liaisons; students suffer adolescent crises, fall in love, get suspended, perform brilliantly in the school concert, break a few windows and get suspended again.” It’s a well executed character portrait and I recommend it!
Bookshop US | Bookshop UK | Libro FM
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
If you’ve never read anything by Margaret Atwood and you don’t know where to start, this could make a brilliant introduction, as it did for me. It’s a retelling of sorts, an imagining of how Homer’s Odyssey plays out from the perspective of Penelope, supposedly the devoted and faithful wife waiting at home for twenty years while her husband goes off on his manly adventures. My review at the time: “I already know I want to read it again, catch its subtleties and understand the story better, and smile again at the wit”. And of course, that’s the great thing about short books — they lend themselves so well to re-reading — as well as to slow, attentive savouring, since there’s no need to race through them.
Bookshop US | Bookshop UK | Blackwell’s
Dept of Speculation by Jenny Offill
I rated this book a rare five stars when I read it back in 2016, and I still think about it regularly. If memory serves, it was pretty buzzy when first published, critically acclaimed and loved by people whose bookish opinions I respect such as Rebecca Schinsky from Book Riot — and, for me, it was the rare buzzy book that did not disappoint. It’s the portrait of a marriage, and early motherhood, written innovatively in fragments and snippets, with acerbic, wry, and often funny observations — if many times bittersweet. Possibly my favourite: “If I had to sum up what he did to me, I’d say it was this: he made me sing along to all the bad songs on the radio.”
Bookshop US | Bookshop UK | Blackwell’s | Libro FM
Want more?
These and more excellent short reads can be found here (US) and here (UK).
Feedback is welcome on the format of this newsletter, and please feel free to comment with the thing you love, so I can recommend relevant books for you!
And if you have recs for short books you love, please drop a comment below too.
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