Any ideas for quick, but good reads to help me reach my target for the year?
Any ideas for quick, but good reads to help me reach my target for the year?
109 Answers
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Loading Please wait
Any ideas for quick, but good reads to help me reach my target for the year?
Mitch Albom books
I just finished One Day in December. I finished in less than a week. And it was a wonderful read.
@Erin I have this on my kindle already. I might try next, thanks.
I usually breeze thru Agatha Christie mysteries in 2 -3 days
@Elaine I’ve only read Murder on the Orient Express. Any in particular that you recommend?
@Lisa Crooked House and And Then There Were None are excellent
I liked Death on the Nile
Fredrick Backman’s 3 novellas, David Sedaris’ Holidays on Ice, Refugee by Alan Gratz, Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
i really liked long way down
The Pearl, John Steinbeck.
Gatsby
I found these all to be quick reads: Art of Racing in the Rain, Orphan Train, Sharp Objects, Deal of a Lifetime, The Hideaway, Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck
Monster calls it’s the only book I read in one sitting by Patrick ness
What is the genre?
@Miriam magical realism, child as main character, death/loss. So so good!!
@Jenny Thank you ?
How many do you need? Some short westerns or quick romances might help.
“The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe “
Specially if you know some French
Any of Ghassan Kanafani books if interested in the Arab World
“The Prophet” by Gubran Khalil Gubran
Another Brooklyn by Jaclyn Woodson
The Book of Essie.
You can go through audiobooks really quickly
Two Great short novels: Ali and Nino by Begin Said is a love story culture clash which takes place in what is now Azerbaijan .
Sleep Donation by award-winning author Karen Russell is only e book and explores the issues of an epidemic which make people unable to sleep. Narrator is easy to empathize with.
Skipping Christmas-John Grisham
Of mice and men is excellent and very short. It helped me reach my total books goal and my classics goal. ?
JK Rowling’s “Very Good Lives.” It’s 81 pages (but half are pictures) and was the 2008 commencement speech she gave at Harvard. Also “Dear Ijeawele or a Feminist Manifesto in 15 Suggestions.” Its 80 pages.
You could try some graphic novels.
Always my suggestion for quick reads.
@Rachel Stitches by David Small
Evidence of the Affair, by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41715227-evidence-of-the-affair
Kids books! My kids bring home some really interesting, good books and they’re faster than “grown up” books.
Friday Night Knitting Club series
All The Names they Gave to God. Thirteen ways of Looking: Fiction
Elevation by Stephen King plus it’s a good book.
Very good lives by JK Rowling , sea prayer by khalid hosseini, the last lecture by randy pausch … they are small books for a quick read but gives a lot of perspective . Enjoy !
Harlan Coben books read very quickly. They never take more than a few days to finish and all the ones I have read have been very good.
84 Charing Cross Road and the sequel The Duchess of Bloomsbury St.
We were liars by E Lockhart, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews, A tiny bit marvellous by Dawn French
The tin man, on Chesil Beach. Small books.
The Red Notebook!
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan. It’s seasonal, and an excellent read.
In time for the season, if you go to Amazon and type in Deborah Garner and Mist right afterwards you’ll get a delightful set of books with a Christmas theme that are very cozy, light read books and they are quite short. The only problem might be is they are almost all alike but for me, I love reading the new one that comes out ever Christmas, especially after reading more complicated novels. If you belong to Kindle Unlimited, they won’t cost you anything extra.
The Breakdown and Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton
The Other Woman by Sandie Jones
Poet X
Small Great Things, Jodi Puccoult, not sure of authors last name spelling.
Anything by Colleen Hoover ?
In the Midst of Winter
Yes by Isabel Allende-that’s a great book and not too long either!
The Story of Arthur Truluv and A Night of Miracles by Elizabeth Berg. They go together, are quick reads and just really sweet stories.
Evans series by Rhys Bowen. Must these cost mysteries in order. I read through all 8 very quickly and I wanted to go to Wales!
The Grownup by Gillian Flynn is only 64 pages.
Shine by Jodi picoult.
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, about 150 pages. Great story about the Queen becoming obsessed with reading. Really good.
Excellent choice!!!
@Agnes I just added this to my wishlist!
Bellwether by Connie Willis. It’s just 258 pages and Willis’ writing style makes it a quick and easy read.
I have short stories, novellas and stuff check out here:
http://author.com/ElaineMarie
If you don’t mind something that might be a bit insipid, Jonathan Livingston Seagull is only 131 short pages. And many people just love it.
Yes. This should be reread!!
Anything by Elle Casey or Mariana Zapata.
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney is a YA book that is a good read. 210 pages.
We have always lived in the castle.
A Redbird Christmas, by Fannie Flagg is short and fun. Fox 8, by George Saunders is also short. Also The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Expury. If you like poetry, or would like to stretch your boundaries, a very accessible poet is Billy Collins. A couple of titles:
Aimless Love and The Rain in Portugal.
Yep, Redbird Christmas is a good choice for a short read (229 pages). It doesn’t stand up to the author’s regular book-length novels (in my opinion) but, hey, it’s Fannie Flagg! You can’t go wrong for a fun and easy read.
And if you haven’t read The Little Prince – well, you have to read it anyway, so it might as well be now. ? 112 pages.
Bird box. Can read in one sitting… in fact, you kinda have to.
True. I did. Couldn’t put it down.
Susan Mallory Fools Gold Series
Your target is arbitrary and means nothing. Read something you’d enjoy regardless of length.
The books I recommended are all, with the exception of the Fannie Flagg book, accepted literary tomes, and of short length. The reader ought to be able to find books to her liking and satisfy both her “arbitrary” challenge and quality as well.
@Denise “my” qualities? You sound bothered by me suggesting OP read what they’d enjoy
Trigger Warnings by Neil Gaiman
Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow. 224 pages. Based on the wealthy Collyer brothers who were reclusive hoarders.
Harlequin!! Guilty pleasure.
Marc Levy has some fun quick books. I’ve read a few and loved them!
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Gsiman
Ohh yes and I also liked Norse Mythology, and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman too.
@Maria is it good? I have it here, only 20 pages in.
Sleepy Hollow
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
@Denise Yeah, that’s the one.
Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger
Zero to One by Peter Thiel !
I would suggest reading short stories, short novels and poetry. Here are some suggestions below of short stories, short novels and poetry that I would recommend:
Short stories or short novels that are good are:
-Selected stories by Katherine Mansfield
-Dr Jekyll and mr Hyde and other stories by Robert Louis Stevenson.
-Christmas books/stories by Charles Dickens
-The complete stories by Zora Neale Hurston
-A good man is hard to find and other stories by Flannery O’Connor
-Kiss by Roald Dahl
-Tales of the Unexpected by Roald Dahl
-Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
-The adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and The hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
-Gigi and the cat, Cherie by Colette
-The tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
-The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
-The Time Machine by H G Wells
-The bloody chamber and other stories, and The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter are great and nice and short.
-Any of Agatha Christie’s books-for the Miss Marple series I quite like The Body in the Library and They do it with mirrors.
Also poetry is good-for example: -New Selected poems by Seamus Heaney
-Collected poems 1909-1962 by T S Eliot
-Sylvia Plath (poet to poet) by Sylvia Plath
– Selected poems by e e cummings
-The Whitsun weddings by Philip Larkin
-Complete poems by Christina Rossetti
-The Complete poems by Emily Dickinson
I am also asking for a book of poetry, with poems from recent native-American poets for Christmas, called New Poets of Native Nations edited by Heid E Erdrich which is supposed to be very good.
Penguin have a series of mini classics that’s are all around 50 pages long. That’s what I’m going for to try to reach my Goodreads challenge right now.
i think i am going to make it this year several harry bosch detective novels by michael connelly. they are great fun too!
Sex lies & chocolate cake by Stephen Morris, funny quick read x
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Brilliant book, have tissues to hand x
‘MY INVENTED COUNTRY: A Memoir’ by Isabel Allende. At 240 pages, it’ll be a breeze to read through. 🙂
Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
@Suzi I love that book!
@Melody Me too! So charming…
David Sedaris-anything
I second this.
Bone clocks, milk and honey, the days of abandonment
John Grisham’s Skipping Christmas (the movie version is Christmas with the Krank’s). A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas. Dicken’s you-know-what.
Slade House (ghost story by authors of Bone Clocks), short and fast paced.
The #1 Ladies Detective Agency books
The Wave, Todd Strasser
Three Daughters of Eve by Elif Shafak
The Chronicles of Kerrigan books 1-6 we’re a boxed set on Kindle Unlimited. By W.J. May.
Paranormal romantic YA.
I never would have picked it to read, but I was desperate. I finished in a week. I got surprised. Happily.
Causal Hex by Annebell Lee. Fun short stories about modern witchery. Quick and very enjoyable.
The Shack
Gwendys button box. By Stephen King & Richard C.