15 Short Books That Will Help You Nail Your Reading Goals Before the Year Ends
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With the end of the year rapidly approaching, you may be in danger of not meeting your reading goals for 2019. Never fear! Not all books are 500 pages and require weeks to read. Here are 15 novels that may seem small in page quantity (all check in at under 300 pages) but are packed with literary quality. These are all perfect reads to spark discussions at holiday parties and family gatherings and get you that much closer to reaching your literary goals.
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Nothing to See Here
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson is the brilliant new novel from the author of The Family Fang. It's the story of a woman who finds meaning in life when she takes on the role of caretaker for two children with an unusual power.
Page Count: 272
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The Nickel Boys
The Nickel Boys is Colson Whitehead's first book since The Underground Railroad. Receiving similar acclaim as its predecessor, it tells the story of two boys sentenced to an abusive and traumatic reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida.
Page Count: 224
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Disappearing Earth
Disappearing Earth was shortlisted for the National Book Award and picked by New York Times as one of the best books of the year. Julia Phillips explores the story of two young sisters, aged eight and eleven, who go missing at the northeastern edge of Russia. The police investigation turns up nothing and the story explores the way the girls disappearance affects their close community of women.
Page Count: 272
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Red at the Bone
Red at the Bone by National-Book-Award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson explores the effect an unexpected pregnancy has on two families from different social classes. Jacqueline Woodson, a gifted storyteller, moves deftly back and forth in time with poetic prose.
Page Count: 208
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The Cockroach
The Cockroach by Ian McEwan is a satire of Brexit in the vein of Kafka's Metamorphosis, in which a cockroach transforms into the prime minister of England.
Page Count: 112
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The Memory Police
The Memory Police is Yoko Ogawa's chilling tale of authoritarianism. It is also a 2019 National Book Award finalist and a stark portrait of memory and loss.
Page Count: 288
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Trust Exercise
National Book Award winner Trust Exercise poignantly explores the Me Too movement through the eyes of teenagers in suburban America. Susan Choi's writing is superb and the story reads like poetry.
Page Count: 272
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This Is Pleasure
This Is Pleasure by the immensely talented Mary Gaitskill explores the Me Too movement through the eyes of Quin, a successful New York book editor who has been accused of questionable behavior towards women.
Page Count: 96
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The Man Who Saw Everything
The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. At its heart, it is a story about the difficulty of seeing ourselves and others clearly.
Page Count: 208
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Sea Monster
Sea Monster by Chloe Aridjis is a lyrical road novel about teens in Mexico. One Autumn afternoon in Mexico City, 17-year-old Luisa does not return home from school. Instead, she boards a bus to the Pacific coast with Tomás, a boy she barely knows.
Page Count: 224
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The Need
The Need is basically the literary version of Jordan Peele's Us. Long-listed for the National Book Award, Helen Phillips's story is immensely readable and will keep you on the edge of your seat as you read the story of a young mother with an intruder in her house.
Page Count: 272
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Find Me
Find Me is the sequel to Call Me by Your Name, which was developed into an Oscar-nominated film. In Find Me, André Aciman shows us Elio's father, Samuel, on a trip from Florence to Rome to visit Elio, who has become a gifted classical pianist. A chance encounter on the train with a beautiful young woman changes both Sami's immediate plans and his life.
Page Count: 272
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On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a Washington Post best book of the year. Simply put, it is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. On a deeper level, Ocean Vuong's writing beautifully explores the love between a single mother and her son, as well as a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity.
Page Count: 256
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Normal People
Critically acclaimed contemporary novel Normal People by Sally Rooney about the transformative power of friendship is one you will be recommending to everyone.
Page Count: 288
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The Body in Question
The Body in Question by Jill Ciment is a small book that packs a punch. On the surface it is the story of a young woman on trial for murdering her brother but it more deeply explores the nature of hope, despair, loss, and rebirth.
Page Count: 192