A horror story, erotica and a lesser known Jane Austen are among the titles in this wide-ranging list of novellas (and one memoir) that you can dig into over a long week end. Maybe even this week end.
After trashing my knee on a ski trip to Kitzbuhel in Austria a decade ago, I gave up downhill skiing. It was bad timing, since I had just started dating Frank, who had a ski house in Sugarbush, VT. I got in the habit of keeping a stack of short paperback novels on my bookshelf so I wouldn’t have to drag whatever new release hardcover I was already reading all the way to and from from the Green State. When I got there, I contentedly burrowed under a blanket in front of a fire with my book, whatever hearty stew I was making us for dinner cranking away on the burners behind me. Whenever I came across a recommendation for something around 200 pages, I’d throw it onto the pile.
I grew to love the rhythm of short books with an arc that matched the length of a long week end away. It provided a comprehensive “stepping away” into another world, while also leaving me fully ready to step back into whatever book awaited me back home.
Frank and I parted years ago, but this trick has stuck. On my recent trip to Paris, I threw the slim Scottish novel Clean into my carry-on.
For a lyrical, historical read.
Clear by Carys Davies. A pastor is dispatched to a remote Scottish island to evict its lone resident.
Another lyrical.
Foster by Claire Keegan. A young girl is sent to live with foster parents in rural Ireland.
A classic phone sex novel.
Vox by Nicholas Baker. Two strangers discover each other on a 1-900 party line, then explore their sexual fantasies. We published a full review of it here.
An under-appreciated Austen classic.
Lady Susan by Jane Austen. An early epistolary novella featuring one of Austen’s most scheming and amoral characters.
A humorous critique of societal expectations.
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka. Keiko loves the job she’s held for almost 20 years at Smile Mart, a Tokyo convenience store, but her ambitions fall short of everyone’s expectations for her.
A well-written horror/thriller.
The Hellbound Heart Clive Barker. A hedonist lures demons to their demise with the promise of pleasure, exploring the boundaries between desire and pain.
For a study in marital dissonance. Also the book the chattering masses are chattering about.
Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden For an honest, juicy look into a disastrous, gilded marriage. (This is memoir, not a novel, but it is the “talk of the town” at the moment, and a tantalizing short read.)
The Crush Letter
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