Great Short Books: A Year of Reading―Briefly

by Kenneth C. Davis

This entertaining guide to some of the best short novels of all time, from a bestselling historian, is the “perfect gift for busy bibliophiles” ( BookPage).

Experience the joys of literature with this this “exciting guide to all that the world of fiction has to offer” ( The New York Times Book Review ): a compulsively readable, deeply engaging discussion of great short novels. A journey into fiction designed with our contemporary attention spans in mind, Great Short Books suggests fifty-eight excellent short novels, all under 200 pages—easily readable in a week or less—a fresh approach to a fun, fascinating year of reading.

From hard-boiled fiction to magical realism, the 18th century to the present day, Great Short Books spans genres, cultures, countries, and time to present an enchanting and diverse selection of acclaimed and canonical novels. From works in translation like Yu Miri’s Tokyo Ueno Station and Marguerite Duras’s The Lover to popular, acclaimed authors like Toni Morrison and James Baldwin, this compilation is a celebration of classics from the historic to contemporary—plus a few bestsellers, including Stephen King and Colson Whitehead. Each entry includes the novel’s opening lines, a spoiler-free plot summary, a “why you should read it” section, and suggestions for what to read next.

“An entertaining journey with a fun, knowledgeable guide” ( Booklist ), this eclectic collection is a fun and practical book for any passionate reader hoping to broaden their literary IQ—or anyone who wants to find an effortless reentry into reading.

Genres: Nonfiction, Books About Books, Short Stories, Reference, Classics, Literature, History

448 pages, Hardcover

First published November 22, 2022

About the author

Kenneth C. Davis is the New York Times bestselling author of the Don't Know Much About® series of books and audios for adults and children. Don't Know Much About® History, the first title in the series, became a New York Times bestseller in 1991 and remained on the paperback list for 35 consecutive weeks. It has since been revised several times and now has more than 1.6 million copies in print. The 30th anniversary edition of the book was published with a new preface, "From an Era of Broken Trust to an Era of Broken Democracy."

Davis is, according to Publishers Weekly, "a go-to guy for historical insight and analysis."

AMERICA'S HIDDEN HISTORY also became a New York Times bestseller. A NATION RISING also uses dramatic narratives to tell the "stories your textbooks left out." His book, THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF AMERICA AT WAR (May 5, 2015) was called "searing" analysis by Publishers Weekly.

Kenneth C. Davis’s success aptly makes the case that Americans don’t hate history, just the dull version they slept through in class. Davis’s approach is to refresh us on the subjects we should have learned in school. He does it by busting myths, setting the record straight, and always remembering that fun is not a four-word letter word.

His IN THE SHADOW OF LIBERTY: THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF SLAVERY, FOUR PRESIDENTS, AND FIVE BLACK LIVES looks at the lives of five people enslaved by four of America's most famous Presidents and the role of slavery in American history and the presidency. In May 2018, MORE DEADLY THAN WAR: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War was published.

STRONGMAN: The Rise of Five Dictators and the Fall of Democracy was published by Holt. It was named among the best books of 2020 by Kirkus Reviews and the Washington Post.

In November 2022 GREAT SHORT BOOKS: A Year of Reading--Briefly was published by SCribner. A compendium of 58 great short works Davis read during the pandemic lock down, it is a joyous celebration of reading.

Coming in October 2024 is THE WORLD IN BOOKS: 52 WORKS OF GREAT SHORT NONFICTION. It is an accessible and comprehensive guide to some of the most influential and important works of nonfiction, from the earliest days of writing to contemporary times. Each entry includes information about the writers behind these consequential books and the time in which they lived.

Reviews

[Lisa of Troy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Competition in this space is fierce. Read James Mustich’s 1,000 Books To Read Before You Die!

The prose in Great Short Books is extremely stuffy. The author is accustomed to writing non-fiction, but he failed to construct a compelling story. Where is the hook? For many of the books that he suggested, I have read and loved. I mean LOVED. But the author didn’t convey just how extremely, unbelievably, life-changingly awesome these books were.

Frankly, the tone of this book seemed like Davis was talking down to the reader, trying to impress with all of the various books that he has read.

When it came to Stephen King, the author said that King didn’t need an introduction unless if the reader was from another planet. Is this how you make reading accessible and welcoming? Because I have news for you…..I have never actually read a Stephen King novel, and I would never presume the reading habits of my readers.

Although the author wrote this book as a non-fiction, he inserted his own opinions about the January 6th Capital Riots and COVID-19 at a couple of points throughout the book. However, this didn’t feel like the time or place for these comments. Personally, I like to pick up books because I want to escape from the political nonsense.

Further, the information in the book was not all that helpful. For example, while the book contained, a What to Read Next Section, it only included other books that that particular author wrote. This is extremely limiting. For example, one book that is recommend is Passing by Nella Larsen. Um this book served as a foundation for The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. How can he not even mention it?

Where are the digital resources? There is an amazing, amazing YouTube series called But Have You Read The Book? which has an incredible episode on Passing. Why doesn’t the publisher or author create a list on List Challenges for readers to use? See BBC’s Top 100 Books You Need to Read Before You Die as an example.

In an era where you can get reading lists for free on the internet, this book is entirely underwhelming.

*Thanks, NetGalley, for a free copy of this book, in exchange for my fair and unbiased opinion.

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[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each time I choose a book I hope for 2 things. That it be good and that it be short. I no longer have the patience for long books, so this guide is perfect for me. The author selected 58 books, both classics and contemporary works. Each book was fiction between 100 and 200 pages (with a few minor exceptions with respect to length). They are listed in alphabetical order by title, but at the end of the book are lists of the books by author and by publication date. Each entry includes the opening sentences, a synopsis, the author’s biography, critical appraisal and suggestions for other works by that author. Some included authors: George Orwell, Jacqueline Woodson, Francoise Sagan, Voltaire, Edith Wharton, Philip Roth, James Baldwin, Ursula K. Le Guin, Virginia Woolf, Colson Whitehead, Kazuo Ishiguro, Stephen King, Margaret Atwood

There are additional suggested short books listed in a section at the end of this book, but without the detailed information. Some included authors: Paulo Coelho, Herman Melville, Raymond Chandler, Cormac McCarthy, Ian McEwan, Leo Tolstoy, Ernest J. Gaines, Franz Kafka, Truman Capote, Emile Zola, Han Kang, Jhumpa Lahiri

I had already read a lot of these books and I read a few more of them while I was reading this book. I didn’t like all of them, but that is one advantage of short books; the pain doesn’t last long. I also added quite a few to my wish list (although many were not available as audio books which disappointed me). This book was very helpful and I recommend it.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's obvious I should keep this short.

Books under 200 pages and tell a powerful story...that's the criteria Kenneth C. Davis uses to make his list of great short books. He also chose to skip books he'd already read and short story collections.

There is, then, this list.

For each of the fifty-eight books he features in the book, Davis shares the first lines, a plot summary, information about the author, reasons for reading the book, and what to read next.

[Brian Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why isn’t more attention given to short books? Davis suggests they’re the literature equivalent to stand-up comedian Rodney Dangerfield’s signature line. They get no respect.

GoodReads colleagues who have graciously perused my reviews know I have a penchant for shorter books. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve critiqued works in the 350-to 500-page tier by suggesting that a word-slashing editor could have dramatically improved the final product. Hence, it’s no surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed Davis’ thumbnail summaries of 58 short books — most of them under 200 pages.

Of course, there were some predictable entries (“The Great Gatsby,” “Animal Farm,” “The Stranger,” etc.) There are also a handful of classics I’ve long viewed as over-rated (Sorry, Ernie, “The Old Man and the Sea” was a total slog — even in its brevity).

Although, I wish the author had included more works, his efforts helped me to compile a list of nearly a dozen recommended reads. They include “Sula,” “The Ghost Writer,” “The Lathe of Heaven” and “Agostino.”

While I agree with some who suggest that Davis’ summaries are a bit dry, I loved the book’s user-friendly format. Each entry, organized alphabetically, begins with the first lines of the book, serves up a plot summary, shares details about the author and has a section titled “Why You Should Read it.” Each entry ends with suggestions on what to read next.

Speaking of endings, my time is up. Writing a long review about a tome that touts the virtues of short books would border on hypocrisy.

[Diane Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice book for short pieces at bedtime and my Books about Books shelf. Davis spent his Covid year reading these short books, none longer than 220 pages or so. Each entry starts with the opening lines, then a plot summary, information about the author, why you should read it, and finally, what to read next by the same author. Informative and interesting.

[Laura Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great Short Books is perfectly adequate and provides information, however dryly, about fifty-eight (Why 58?) books under two hundred pages selected by the author. What it lacked was a pulse.

[Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only came away from this with a couple of books added to my TBR list, which is good because I already have so many things to read, but disappointing that I didn't get more out of this book. While reading it, I would look up interesting sounding books on Goodreads, but so many of them seemed so depressing. If we're reading short books because the world is a dumpster fire, let's see more lighthearted ones!

I liked the premise, set-up, and format, but I didn't really gain anything from it.

[Kirsti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fifty-eight recommendations of books that are roughly 200 pages or fewer. This is a mainstream book with mainstream choices. Includes some works in translation (including Italian, French, and Japanese), but most of these were originally written in English. I was glad to see some sentimental favorites of mine, including We Have Always Lived in the Castle; Pale Horse, Pale Rider; and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. And yes, I promise I will read Mrs. Dalloway. Everybody says it's so great.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, my thanks to Scribners and NetGalley for the ebook ARC.
Davis reads, and writes mostly non-fiction (I was surprised to find I knew of him - from his very very first book from way way back when - "Two-Bit Culture", on the paperback book in America). But with the pandemic lockdown he found himself drawn to fiction, Short fiction in particular. AKA - novellas.
As a "road warrior" of 30 years, I found myself drawn to short works - you could finish them within a week in your hotel room, or on your flights. Retired now for 7 years, I still tend to read shorter works. After 300 or so pages, I start thinking, "You really could have said all this in about 220 pp...." Or, my appreciation of the short mystery - about 200 pp. Not the bloated things writers like Parker and Crais and others have been forced by publishers to put out later in their careers, made to produce an annual "door stopper" sized thriller.
His presentation is standard for each title - publication information, first lines, plot, about the author, why read it, and further reading. He does this for the 58 books he read over a year. And includes a "Further Reading" list at the very end of the book as well.
He also explains why some "classics" are not included here - offensive (less an issue of being political correct than their being tiresome in their casual racism or homophobia), and he wanted to focus on new-to-him titles. Not books he has read in the past.
I found over a dozen new authors or titles I want to now read that were included in his main list, and the Further Reading at the end of each chapter and at the end of the volume itself.
As others have suggested, this is a great tool for Book Clubs!
Not Lit Crit, it is mostly focused on necessary, just-the-facts-mam information on one person's reading of short books over a year. Well worth a read, and great for browsing!

[Keely · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Great Short Books, writer and passionate reader Kenneth C. Davis shares his favorite books of fewer than 200 pages (with a few slightly longer exceptions). His list spans the centuries, from Candide (1759) to The Nickel Boys (2019). It includes a number of books in translation and a diverse range of writers. The list is entirely fiction, except for one memoir. It features classics we all remember from school (probably because the shorter page counts make them classroom-friendly) and some titles I'd never heard of. For each book, Davis shares the opening lines, a short plot summary, a writer bio, and a section on why you should read the book.

I tore through this. I enjoyed both Davis's smart framework for sharing reading ideas and his contagious enthusiasm for the books he loves. He didn't necessarily talk me into every book on his list, but I did come away excited to read several of them. Of the 58 titles in his main list, I had previously read only ten, so that leaves me a lot of quick-read ideas to follow up on. And of course, there are way more than 58 book suggestions hiding in here. Every book entry includes suggestions for additional reading, and there's an appendix of runner-up selections in the back of the book.

Last but not least, I'm a fan of Davis's use of length as a selection criterion. These days, I read a fair number of marathons of 300+ pages that either cramp up in the middle, or limp across the finish line, or both. I'd much rather read a tightly paced 5K of a book.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for dipping, monotonous as a meal.

In his introduction to Great Short Books Kenneth C. Davis writes that in selecting the included 58 novels he “set out to reflect a broad diversity of writers and voices.” There’s then presented an even split of ladies and gents from the world over, so good on that score. The snag, though, is Davis, an American, also says his focus was “on works that reflect the current atmosphere of politics and society.” This is a warning flag in that it would be much better to use this collection for dunking into now and then rather than reading straight through as I did. Read as a piece, Great Short Books serves up a 2022 progressive slant with book after book “as timely significant as ever” and “completely of the moment.” So while the writers themselves are diverse, their books’ themes and ideologies are repetitious, sometimes to the disservice to the great short books.

Each entry is broken down into first line, plot summary, author bio, “why you should read it,” and “what to read next” (in the last case almost always simply other books by the same writer). Internet searches and Wikipedia visits could get you a large chunk of your own Great Short Books.

Book lists are nearly always inspiring, though, and Great Shorts Books offers much to excite readers. If nothing else, I’m bumping a few of Davis’s author choices, including Charles Johnson, Chinua Achebe, and Yu Miri, to the top of my TBR list.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found some books for my want to read shelf…went down the rabbit hole on the lives of many of these writers…have an idea of a display for my library…might possibly want to read the authors work on paperbacks…

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Davis's selection of 58 short novels, with mentions of many others, was a mix of old friends and books that may now have moved up in my interest.

Each entry contains the book's opening lines, a short summary, a quick author biography (often my favorite part), an argument for why the book matters, and suggested further reading (mostly from that same author).

I like to keep a book going that I can read in short bursts, and this was perfect for that role.

[Garth · Rating 3 out of 5]

2023 - 52 Weeks of Short Novels, A Buddy Read

This. We need to keep this in our OPEN minds when we read anything not written in the 21st Century.

“ Reading The Awakening today raises another question. Written by a southern white woman in the late nineteenth century, the novel refers to its mostly nameless Black characters with cringe-worthy racial pejoratives. But are they disqualifying? When Black writers deploy similar language is that also problematic?

In Middle Passage (see entry), Charles Johnson also uses one of these words, and readers may have a different reaction. How do we judge writers of earlier eras in a time when sensitivity toward language has become paramount? In a nation in which freedom of expression is expressly guaranteed in the First Amendment, the chilling effect of sanctioning books and writers can cut in several directions.

The answer lies in what I would call discernment. We might wonder, here, if “offensive” or even “oppressive” language represents the views of the character or of the author. Is the author expressing an overtly racist personal perspective? It is fair to consider the time and place of the writing but also to read with sensitivity into an author’s intent—whether it is Kate Chopin, Mark Twain, or Charles Johnson. In some of her other works, Chopin dealt sympathetically with race and intermarriage. […]”

“But he discovered the work of journalist and cultural critic H. L. Mencken and was profoundly influenced by Mencken’s style and withering assault on an anti-intellectual American society including the “low-down politicians, prehensile town boomers, ignorant hedge preachers, and other such vermin” that accepted and celebrated lynching.”

Ursula K. Le Guin: “But where I can get prickly and combative is if I’m just called a sci-fi writer. I’m not. I’m a novelist and poet. Don’t shove me into your damn pigeonhole, where I don’t fit, because I’m all over. My tentacles are coming out of the pigeonhole in all directions.”

Gabriel García Márquez: “The whole notion that I am an intuitive is a myth I have created myself. I worked my way through literature, reading, writing, reading and writing—it’s the only way…. [The] tricks you need to transform something which appears fantastic, unbelievable into something plausible, credible, those I learned from journalism. The key is to tell it straight. It is done by reporters and by country folk.”

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I have mentioned numerous times before the past couple of years I have had a real appreciation of short form works, so Davis' collection of 58 books around 200 pages (nearly all fiction), was intriguing from the moment i first read about it. Each entry contains: opening lines, a plot summary that offers enough enticing details about the book to intrigue without spoiling major plot points, fascinating biographical details, a thoughtful argument as to why you should read it & concludes with further recommendations. Plus at the back of the book are a list of further recommendations. There is this statement in the afterword, "Of course, these are the views of one 'Common Reader.' I am certain that someone else might propose a different canon. But that brings me back to my starting point. Yes there are so many books-great short books, but you can choose your own adventure." It is this spirit of informed enthusiasm that pervades the book that made it a joy to read & eager to move several of the titles up my TBR.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Short Stories" is an incredibly valuable tool for book clubs and readers everywhere! Some authors/titles are well-known and others will be new discoveries. Author Kenneth C. Davis made sure to include "a broad diversity of writers and voices" as well as a variety of genres. The guideline for length is roughly 100 - 200 pages with exceptions.

I am a member of two book groups as well as reviewing for NetGalley so I was delighted to see "Great Short Stories", a guidebook for "A Year of Reading - Briefly". In his introduction the author discusses the issue of time for readers in our society and how the idea to curate short stories came to him. There actually are fifty-eight entries in alphabetical order listing the title, the author, and year of publication with basic information including the opening paragraph, overview, author's bio, why you should read the book, and what else to read from that author. There are lists of entries by the author's last name, dates of publication, additional lists of short stories, and more.

A random sample of titles includes: Charlotte's Web (E.B. White); Evil Under the Sun (Agatha Christie); The Hour of the Star (Clarice Lispector); The Lathe of Heaven (Ursula K. LeGuin; Mrs. Dalloway (Virginia Woolf); Tokyo Ueno Station (Yu Miri); etc.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for any book group looking to find new titles or any reader who wants to know what to read next.

Thank you to the author, publisher Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for an early copy for an honest review.

[Marta E C R]

I decided not to go straight through and read this book, so I’m not giving it a rating. It seems much more fitted to be a reference book. So I will make a list of all the 58 “Great Short Books” the author recommends and see if I feel moved to make my way through them. I was surprised to see how many of these I had NOT already read, and I imagine they are all worthy. Back to the library this one will go.

[Suzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I checked this out of the library an decided to buy a copy to have on hand for down moments between books I want to read. The Perfect Nanny is one I will read when I am prepared. I love this author and have several of his books, "on hand". Great gifts for reader friends.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great resource for those diving back into reading, lifelong readers, book clubs...really anyone who has an interest in books. Like some other reviewers have stated - I like books about books, so this appealed to me right away.

Davis, as explained in the introduction of "Great Short Books," set about collecting this list of short novels during the pandemic when he himself was looking to read more. What follows is 58 introductions to short novels (between 100-200 pages) from a wide range of authors, time periods, and genres. Each novel can be read in a week, so there are enough of them to fill "a year of reading...briefly," plus six bonus entries. Each short novel is introduced in the same format: publication information, first lines, plot summary, about the author, why you should read it, and what to read next. There are additional further reading lists at the end of the book.

I found that the entries gave you just enough information to either peak your interest or pass on a story without giving away too much. I appreciated the sections about the authors and Davis's thoughts on the significance of each short novel. The section on "what to read next" is another really great resource for those who find an author they enjoy.

Whether one follows along and reads a short novel a week for a year, or uses this collection to pull from in a reading slump, I think "Great Short Books" is a nice resource to add to your library.

My thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book. All opinions are my own.

[David Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good ideas for short books and authors I hadn't heard of before.

[Laina Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t enjoy this as much as I had anticipated. I have read some of the short books included and for the most part I didn’t find them to be that great. Not that they’re a waste of time or invaluable (and also I am no expert in literature so that’s just my opinion) but I didn’t find the “why you should read it” sections to be very convincing, and in fact I have only added a few titles to my tbr list rather than all the books included.

[Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book from Goodreads.com in exchange for an honest review. Do you want to find out your next great short book to read? Here is a heavily researched book to help you with that. The chapter for each book gives you the short book title, author, and when it was published. It then goes on with the same headings in each chapter: First lines of the book, plot summary, about the author, why you should read it and what to read next by this author.

[Vince · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love books, if you love reading, this one's a no-brainer. I closed the cover having added a dozen books to my TBR list. The writing is a bit stilted and you may quibble about the multitude of other short books that were omitted from Davis' compendium but I guarantee that you'll discover treasures within.

[JoAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about books! I love it! I don’t usually read books that review other books, but I was interested in building up the classics in my TBR (To Be Read) list and thought, sure, why not? I am so glad I did because Davis’s short reviews, not only of the short book he recommends, but also the vignettes of the author and the tidbits about their other novels inspired me to produce a Classics Reading Challenge on my Storygraph page. [You can find it here.]

What I really enjoyed about Great Short Books were the depth of the reviews and discussion around the novel. Davis gave enough information about the novel to intrigue, but not too much as to spoil the desire to read it myself. The authors too, though I’d read many of them already, became more fully fleshed out in my mind as people, more than merely producers of the works I love to read.

If you’re looking to expand and explore new literary choices, Great Short Books delivers the perfect small-bites information you need to fuel your own adventure.

[Jill Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy books about books. Finding new titles - particularly older titles - is always a good thing for me. This collection introduced me to a number of books I was not familiar with, which was fun. I must admit that a number of the titles I was familiar with were not favorites of mine - either the specific stories or the authors - but I still found the overall format and content interesting. Davis's writing is a nice balance between informative and entertaining, and I did find his year-long quest an engaging one.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.

[Jeff Swartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reference book. So well conceived and constructed. Great list, great bios, just great information!
It would have been so easy to half-ass this project and still have a decent reference book, but obviously this was a labor of love for Mr. Davis.
As a bookseller, I would add this title to any “Graduation Gifts” table.

[Tom O’Leary]

GREAT SHORT BOOKS is a wonderful, breezy but deep look at the outstanding short books of the last 150 years. Kenneth C. Davis is a genius at summarizing each book and making the reader want to read said book post haste. This is a book I didn’t know the world needed but the world did.

[Catie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review copy provided by publisher - July 2022

[Shuggy L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's suggestions on a variety of short books to read - useful if you don't have time or inclination to read long novels.

A good starting point for a reading program.
.......
Notes

1.Alberto Moravia: Agostino (1945)
Italy. Themes: class and sexuality. Marx and Freud. 9/4/2023

2.George Orwell: Animal Farm (1945)
The animals rise up against the owners of a farm initiated by a pig called Old Major (Karl Marx) and led by two other pigs Napoleon (Stalin) and Snowball (Leon Trotsky). Themes: Totalitarianism.

3.Jacqueline Woodson: Another Brooklyn (2016)
A coming-of-age story about four friends August, Sylvia, Angela and Gigi. Themes: family, sex, identity. Similar books: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

4.Kate Chopin: The Awakening (1899)
A woman called Edna Pontellier summers with her two small boys on Grand Island, a seaside resort in the Gulf of Mexico. Set in the gilded age of 1890s New Orleans (postbellum American south).

5.Carson McCullers: The Ballad of the Sad Cafe (1951)
Set in Georgia, Amerila Evans, cafe owner, producer of moonshine, welcomes a hunch-backed stranger, cousin Lymon. Her husband, Marvin Macy, is an ex-convict.

6. Richard Wright: Big Boy Leaves Home (1838)
Set in Jim Crow South, four young boys trespass along racial lines.

7. Françoise Sagan: Bonjour Tristesse
France.

8. Voltaire (Francois-Maire Arouet (1694-1778): Candide (1759)
Candide’s travels.

9. E. B. White: Charlotte’s Web (1952)
A little girl, Fern, and some animals including Wilbur, Charlotte, interact with each other.

10. Anthony Burgess: A Clockwork Orange (1962
A delinquent and his friends’ criminal activities. Has the choice of an experimental treatment (behavior modification program) or prison time. Themes: troubling moral landscape.

11. Edna O’Brian: The Country Girls (1960)
Two Irish girls from a remote village in the west of Ireland move to Dublin. Also read: Country Girl, A Memoir.

12. Thomas Mann: Death in Venice (1912)
Venice. Artistic concerns: the life of the artist and his relationship to society, the question of art itself, philosophy and myth, desperate attempts at love and sex, youth and death, repressed desire (same-sex desire).

13. Jenny Offill: Dept. of Speculation (1914)
A young mother who is trying to juggle her professional writing career. Theme: the writer’s challenge.

14. Natalia Ginzburg: The dry Heart (1947)
A woman kills her husband of four years.

15. Edith Wharton: Ethan Frome (1911)

Ethan lives with his wife, Zeena, in Starkfield, Massachusetts. Mattie, the daughter of one of Zeena’s relatives comes to live with them and Ethan dreams of “heading west” with her. Theme: Trapped in inescapable circumstances. Summer.

16.Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun (1941)
A mystery among British, and an American couple, vacationers.

17.Doris Lessing: The Fifth Child (1988)
A couple, Harriet and David, have five children. Themes: conservative, swinging sixties.

18. Philip Roth: The Ghost Writer (1979)
A young writer, Nathan Zuckerman, goes to visit another writer E. I. Lonoff in the Berkshires.

19.Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby (1925)

The interwinding relationship of Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan and Tom’s mistress told from the point of view of Daisy’s distant cousin, Nick Carraway, a Yale grad.

20.Clarice Lispector: The Hour of the Star (1977)
A novel-within-a-novel - Rodrigo S.M., Macabea.

21.Sandra Cisneros: The House on Mango Street (1984)
Family - a girl and her five brothers.

22. James Baldwin: If Beale Street Could Talk
Family - Tish and Fonny.

23. Primo Levi: If This is a Man (1947)
WW2.

24. Nadine Gordimer: July’s People (1981)
Apartheid.

25.Ursula K. Le Guin: The Lathe of Heaven (1971)
Post Apocalyptic Portland, Oregon - character, George Orr, thinks he has dreams that come true, altering reality for himself and the entire world.

26.William Golding: Lord of the Flies (1954)
Schoolboys on a coral island - primal violence - the violence that may lie within us - political tribalism. .

27. Elena Ferrante: The Lost Daughter (2006)
A divorced mother, professor, on holiday in Italy.

28. Marguerite Duras: The Lover (1984)
1930s French colonial era.

29. Jamaica Kincaid: Lucy (1990)
Antigua.

30. Art Spiegelman: Maus (1986)
Holocaust. Other writers: John Hersey, The Wall (Warsaw uprising), William Styron, Sophie’s Choice, Schindler’s Ark, The Reader, Elie Wiesel, Primo Levi.

31. Charles Johnson: Middle Passage (1990)
Narrator: Rutherford Calhoun. Similar themes in Melville, Jack London, Richard Henry Dana, Twain, Homer, Voltaire’s Candide. 1839: Amistad mutiny by African captives - landmark in the abolition movement. Tragicomic.
…………
At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, delegates fiercely debated the issue of slavery. They ultimately agreed that the United States would potentially cease importation of slaves in 1808. An act of Congress passed in 1800 made it illegal for Americans to engage in the slave trade between nations, and gave U.S. authorities the right to seize slave ships which were caught transporting slaves and confiscate their cargo. Then the "Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves" took effect in 1808. However, a domestic or "coastwise" trade in slaves persisted between ports within the United States, as demonstrated by slave manifests and court records. Archives . gov
…….
Tennessee - Tennessean . com
The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
"The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
"Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky
"Court of Thorns and Roses" series by Sarah J. Mass
Simon Snow series by Rainbow Rowell
Additionally, the top five authors challenged across the state are:
Becky Albertalli
Kaito
Rick Riordan
Victoria Lee
Rainbow Rowell

32. Virginia Woolf: Mrs. (Clarissa) Dalloway (1925)
Party in 1923. Septimus Smith, wife Lucrezia.

Other information: Bloomsbury Group - modernist thought - art, literature, politics, and social and sexual attitudes. E. M. Forster, John Maynard Keynes, Clive Bell, Roger Fry, Duncan Grant, Leonard Woolf. Vita Sackville-West. Italo Calvino. Also read: Orlando. A Room of One’s Own.

33.Michael Cunningham: The Hours (1998)
Three women: 1941: Virginia Woolf (suicide), 1923 Virginia Woolf, writer/ Mrs Dalloway, 1990: Clarissa Vaughan, book editor, Manhattan, party, ex-lover, AIDS; 1949, Laura Brown, suburban Los Angeles, housewife, wishes to keep reading Mrs Dalloway.

34. Colson Whitehead: The Nickel Boys (2019)
Florida “reform” school.

35. Gabriel Garcia Marquez: No One Writes to the Colonel (1961)
Columbia.

36. Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man and the Sea (1952)
Fishing. Other information: A Farewell to Arms - nurse. The Sun Also Rises (1962) - Jake Barnes. For Whom the Bell Tolls - Spanish Civil War - an American fighting w/the nationalist forces against the Nazi-supported Fascists. A Movable Feast - memoir of Paris. In our Time (1925)
Four wives:
1.Hadley Richardson.
2.Pauline Pfeiffer - journalist.
3.Martha Gellhorn.
4.Mary Welsh - Time correspondent.

Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce.

37. Ian McEwan: On Chesil Beach (2007)

Dorset honeymoon. Other information: Salman Rushdie: The Satanic Verses - Hezbolla. The Cement Garden. Comfort of Strangers. Amsterdam. Atonement - Briony Tallis, a teenager and future writer, accusation of a crime transforms the lives of everyone involved.

38. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: One day in the LIfe of Ivan Denisovich (1962)
Soviet Union - Shukhov. Nikita Khrushchev. Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. Samizdat. In the First Circle - allusion to Dante -zeks. Cancer Ward. Theme: Indestructible dignity. August (WW1). The Gulag Archipelago. Vladimir Putin. Oligarchy. …tyranny and the destruction it breeds … Stalinism… Nazism … cathartic.
.
39. Jeanette Winterson: Oranges are not the only fruit.
North of England/Accrington. Also read: The Passion (Napoleonic), Sexing the Cherry, Frankissstein.

40. Katherine Anne Porter: Pale Horse, Pale Rider (1939)
Influenza epidemic. Miranda and Adam.

41. Kazuo Ishiguro: Pale View of the Hills (1982)
Japan. Memories. Etsuko, Jiro - Keiko, unnamed British father - - Niki. Sachiko, Frank - Mariko.

42. Nella Larsen: Passing (1929)
Chicago. Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry, biracial women and childhood friends, meet up, by chance, at a posh Chicago hotel as “passing” as white women to enter the segregated venue.

Other information: W.E.B. Du Bois - NAACP. James Weldon Johnson. Countee Cullen. Carl Van Vechten. … elegant tale of race, class privilege, personal identity, and female friendship … (Toni Morrison’s Sula). Knickerbocker society (Wharton). Prohibition (Fitzgerald). Jazz Age Harlem.

43. Leila Slimani: The Perfect Nanny (2016)
Paris. Murder. Reading ideas from: Library of Congress: French Contemporary Fiction.

44. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916)
Dublin.

45. James M. Cain: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934)
Depression-era California - Frank Chambers, drifter, Nick Papadakis, Cora.

46. Muriel Spark: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961)
Teacher.

47. The Red Badge of Courage (1895)
American Civil War. … first ‘modern’ novel of war by an American ….without heroics … literary realism…

Other information: Precursor for: Theodore Dreiser, Upton Sinclair, Edith Wharton, Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck.

…inner experience - the psychology - of his character …sense of language that is often sublime…

Maggie: A Girl of the Streets … descent of a young woman into prostitution …realistic style … moving American letters toward realism and a sense of social conscience… biography … novelist Paul Auster …2021…

48. Stephen King: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption (1982)
Andy Dufresne.

49. Yukio Mishima: The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (1963)

Japan. Noboru, a troubled son.

50. Albert Camus: The Stranger
Algeria, Oran… the nakedness of a man faced with the absurd…The Myth of Sisyphus …”… judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. All the rest … comes afterwards…”

…human existence in an absurd universe is similar to the Greek story of Sisyphys, the “absurd hero,” who has been condemned to eternally roll a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll down again…

Other writers: Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir. La Peste. L'Homme Révolté (Rebel). Hemingway, Dos Passos, Faulkner, James M. Cain. Rudyard Kipling. Jill Lepore….plague (the virus of Fascism)… rules out any future, cancels journeys, silences the exchange of views…

51. Toni Morrison: Sula (1973)
The Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon, Native Son, Tar Baby, Beloved (Aftermath of the Civil War - Sula) - Faulkner, Melville, Hawthorne and Twain.

52. Margaret Atwood: Surfacing (1972)
Canadian lake, remote cabin, in search of missing father by an unnamed woman, her boyfriend Joe and a married couple.

53. Zora Neale Hurston: Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)
Early twentieth century, Black woman (Nanny) in search of identity, Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, Eatonville, Florida, Tea Cake.

54. Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart (1958)
Nigeria. Okonkwo in his village (now Nigeria).

55. Yu Miri: Tokyo Ueno Station (2014)
Japan. Kazu was born in 1933, the same year that Japan’s future Emperor was born.

56. J. M. Coetzee: Waiting for the Barbarians (1980)
South Africa.

57. Shirley Jackson: We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962)
USA.

58. Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea (1966)
Creole.

.....
Other suggestions:
59.Muriel Sparks: The Abbess of Crewe 1974
60.Michaela Murgia: Accabadora 2012
61.Paulo Coelho: The Alchemist
62. Ian McEwan: Amsterdam
63. Henry James: The Aspern Papers
64. Herman Melville: Bartleby the Scrivener
65. Julia Alvarez: Before We Were Free.
66. Jerzy Kosinski: Being There
67. Raymond Chandler: The Big Sleep
68. Herman Melville: Billy Budd, Sailor
69. Myenne Ng: bone Fae
70. Saramago: Cain Jose
71. Jack London: The Call of the Wild
72: John Steinbeck: Cannery Row
73.Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
74.Colette: Cheri
75.Cormac McCarthy: Child of God
76.John Wyndham: Chocky
77.John Wyndham: The Chrysalids
78. Ian McEwan: The Comfort of Strangers
79. Gayl Jones: Corregidora
80. Thomas Pynchon: The Crying Lot 49
81. Henry James: Daisy Miller
82. Octavia E. Butler: Dawn
83. Leo Tolstoy: The Death of Ivan Ilyich
84.Imre Kertesz: Fateless
85.Ivan Turgenev: Fathers and sons
86. Mary Shelley: Frankenstein
87. J.D. Salinger: Franny and Zooey
88. Ernest J. Gaines: A Gathering of Old Men
89. James Baldwin: Giovanni’s Room
90. Marilynne Robinson: Housekeeping
91. Andre Gide: The Immoralist
92. Franz Kafka: In the Penal Colony
93. Italo Calvino: Invisible Cities
94. Banana Yoshimoto: Kitchen
95: Fyodor Dostoyevsky: The Landlady
96.Jim Harrison Legends of the Fall
97. Franz Kafka: Metamorphosis
98. William Trevor: My House in Umbria
99. Djuna Barnes: Nightwood
100. Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Notes from the Underground
101. Willa Cather: O Pioneers!
102. Eudora Welty: The Optimist's Daughter
103.Truman Capote: Other Voices, Other Rooms
104.Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray
105.Vladimir Nabokov: Pnin
106.Chester Himes: A Rage in Harlem
107. Dashiell Hammett: Red Harvest
107. Rebecca West: The Return of the Soldier
108. Norman Maclean: A River Runs Through It
109.E. M. Forster: A Room with a View
110. Saul Bellow: Seize the Day (Humboldt's Gift)
111.Herman Hess: Siddhartha
112.George Eliot: Silas Marner
113.Elizabeth Hardwick: Sleepless Nights
114.Yasunari Kawabata: Snow Country
115.Laurie Halse Anderson: Speak
116.Robert Louis Stevenson: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
117. Laura Esquivel: Swift as Desire
118. Francois Mauriac: Therese Desqueyroux
119. Emile Zola: Therese Raquin
120. Tim O’Brien: The Things they Carried
121. H. G. Wells: The Time Machine
122. John Steinbeck: Tortilla Flats
123. Denis Johnson: Train Dreams
124. Franz Kafka: The Trial
125. Henry James: The Turn of the Screw
126. Mulk Raj Anand: Untouchable
127. Han Kang: The Vegetarian
128. Simone de Beauvoir: A Very Easy Death
129. Yevgeny Zamyatin: We
130. E. M. Forster: Where Angels Fear to Tread
131. Jhumpa Lahiri: Whereabouts J h u m p a L a h i r i

Other
Lyudmila Ulitskaya: The Funeral Party by Lyudmila Ulitskaya (1991)

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Scribner for an advance copy of this guide to short novels.

As a bookseller there have been many arguments, well differences of opinion, on books and the size of novels based on both price and enjoyment. I have heard quite a few people who think that reading a small book is not worth the time nor the effort to even start, as just as a reader is getting involved the story ends. Others complain that the multitude of series books their lengths, and volume size mean that the author might not care by book 5, and in some cases no longer be alive by book whatever to finish. I've never had that problem. I enjoy Haruki Murakami, whose short stories I love, and will praise till the day I die that 1Q84 at almost a thousand pages should have gone on for a thousand pages more. After Dark on the other hand, should have ended after page 3, but that is just me. Short novels get short shrifted quite a bit, but I enjoy the idea of a complete story in less than 200 pages. And so does Kenneth C. Davis. Writer and creator of the Don't Know Much About books, Davis has written a guide to his favourite short novels, with information about the book, authors and more.

The book begins with a short bit about the creation of this book during COVID, his love of libraries and reading. From there Davis focuses on fifty- eight short novels ranging in size from 100 to 200 pages, with a few exceptions. Each entry begins with publishing information up to the current editions and the first lines of the novel to give readers a taste and a tease of what the book's style might be, and to temp people to start making lists for future book orders. There is a plot summary again with enough to entice but not ruin the experience of later reading the book, along with a biography of the writer, stories about the books publications and controversies if there were. My favorite was the Why You Should Read, which is a section booksellers should read as Davis does highlight points about the book that could be used in discussions with others, and can make even books that should be known, or books that are unknown, or even worse considered old fresh again. The What to Read Next is again good for booksellers, and for readers who might be familiar with the book in question, but are intrigued reading the entry to know more books like it, or others the writer has done, that might be longer. The expected authors are looked at, George Orwell, Kate Chopin, Ernest Hemingway, the authors known for short works, along with Alberto Moravia, Natalia Ginzburg and Leïla Slimani.

A very diverse list of books with the entries for each making them all sound interesting and worth reading. The information is informational, but without the teacher leading a lecture aspect, more like I hope I sound when I am talking about books, but with less hand waving and this is the best book ever. There is also a list of books that did not make the cut in the entries section, so a burgeoning reader will get quite a lot of books to add to their wish list. Readers can tell that Davis really enjoys books and reading and wants to share and pass on that love, like librarians did for him.

A great book for people always looking for new things to read and for booksellers on how to talk about books and what to recommend to those customers who want something new, but something they might have heard of. Oh and for that special time when all the summer reading kids come in and want the smallest book possible.