One of my new year’s resolutions is to read or listen to a book a week (so far so good, btw!). I’ve got a little list of some of the books I want to read but some of them are very long and, in all likelihood, will take me at least 2 weeks to read. In order to balance this out, I want to select some short books so that, on average, I can still say I read a book a week in 2016. That’s where you come in. I’m looking for books which meet the following criteria:
Must be SHORT - Absolutely no books longer than 200 pages, no matter how good they might be.
No biographies.
Ideally be sci-fi, fantasy, or drama.
That’s about it. However, if you have a suggestion in mind by a really famous author (like Animal Farm, or The Old Man and the Sea, or anything in that league), the chances are I’ve already read it or considered it.
I think a lot of Kurt Vonnegut novels are pretty short.
Philip K Dicks novels seem to clock in around 250 pages but they are very fast reads.
This thread has lots of Sci-Fi but not necessarily 200 pages or less
You’ve probably read Catcher In The Rye but it the perfect “short” book and well worth a reread.
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka Death My Own Way by Michael S. A. Graziano The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth Shopgirl by Steve Martin How to Get Into the Twin Palms by Karolina Waclawiak
Practically any suspense novel by Dick Francis is very good and about two hundred pages. I often read one in a single afternoon. Takes about 5 hours. He’s an easy and fast read.
my top 7 favorites of his. I ReRead these seven about every three years. That keeps them fresh and I still get my Dick Francis fix.
The Edge
Rat Race (very short book)
The Danger
Decider
Break In and Bolt — (these two books feature recurring character Kit Fielding. Break In introduces the character)
In the Frame
Don’t believe the page lengths claimed by Amazon. My copy of Rat Race is not even a half inch thick. Its short and a very quick read. A great introduction to Dick Francis.
I’m not sure if the newer paperbacks feature bigger print or what. But their page count is way off for this one.
[ul][li]Times’ Arrow by Martin Amis. Quite short; very excellent.[/li][li]Any of the Quiller novels by Adam Hall. (They may be slightly more than 200 pages, but are very fast reads.)[/li][li]If you like crime/detective novels, there are many from the 1930’s and 40’s that are shorter (and better) than the ones written today.[/li][/ul]
Stephen King’s Different Seasons contains 2 short stories you may already be familiar with: Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemtion (The movie Shawshank Redemption) and The Body (The movie Stand By Me). Amazon.com : stephen king different seasons
I’ll second the Quiller novels. Great fun.
The Parker novels by Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake)
The Tanner novels by Lawrence Block
Also by Block, the Burglar novels.
The Hustler by the brilliant Walter Tevis, basis for the infamous Paul Newman movie, but it’s own flavor of Distilled Essence of Man 101. Clocks in at 204 pages on the edition listed on Amazon. Oh well
The Big Time by Fritz Leiber The Einstein Intersection and Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany (The first is pretty dense, but Babel-17 is very good) Being There by Jerzy Kosinsky The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold. The ultimate time travel novel.
Should include The Man Who Fell to Earth and Mockingbird by Tevis to cover the SF angle. Both slightly over 200 but as you rightly point out the work of a brilliant writer. I am constantly amazed by the number of SF fans who have never heard of Tevis.
Yes, why his reputation is not like that of Jim Thompson or Philip K. Dick, or Alfred Bester, let alone Hammett, Carver or Heinlein is beyond me. He writes with craft and wisdom. Really Elmore Leonard like in his efficiency.
