Short Books to Break the Reading Slump đź“–đź“š
Hello Everyone!
Today I wanted to do a post where I talk about books that will help you if you’re currently in a reading slump. I know, personally, I hit them pretty frequently. This is especially true if I’m reading several thicker books (looking at you, Priory of the Orange Tree) and need something shorter to break it up. Also sometimes you just want something quick and easy to read, especially if you’re one of those people that keeps track of the number of books you read in a year. Not me, personally, but that’s probably because being someone who can easily read up to three or more books at a time and not lose the plot of any of them makes something like that particularly difficult.
So without further adieu, here are some books that will hopefully pull you out of a reading slump if you’re in one!
Stranger with My Face by Lois Duncan
Stranger with My Face by Lois Duncan follows a girl named Lauri Laurie Stratton, a girl who has everything a sixteen-year-old could ever want: a puberty-kind physical blossoming, popularity, and hot boyfriend. But just as the best summer of her life comes to an end, Laurie’s boyfriend insists he saw her out with another guy when she was supposed to be home sick. People start seeing Laurie where she isn’t, and Laurie feels her life beginning to come crashing down around her. What is out there haunting Laurie, making her appear in places she’s not, and stealing her life?
Lois Duncan wrote other books such as I Know What You Did Last Summer (yes, it was a book first!) but honestly, Stranger with my Face is my favorite. It’s a YA horror / mystery novel and really good when you’re first getting into the genres. Even as an adult this book has a special place in my heart, and I will never stop recommending it to anyone looking for a quick, thrilling read.
This is a fast-paced book with a lot of well thought out twists and turns, characters that make you root and hurt for them, and best of all: an antagonist that makes you want better for them! Who doesn’t love a good, heartbreaking antagonist?
The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka
This book actually works on multiple levels. The Metamorphosis is a short story, technically, but paired with the other stories in this collection it makes for a pretty decent read without being overly taxing for someone looking for a quick read. The actual physical book itself is very thin and easily digestible.
The Metamorphosis tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes one morning to find himself inexplicably transformed into a huge insect and subsequently struggles to adjust to this new condition. This is likely one of the most famous books by Franz Kakfa, and one of the ones he is best known for. It’s also one of my personal favorites and the reason I wanted to get my mug that says “But First Kafka” and has a bunch of coffee beans at the bottom, with one crawling away like a bug.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See is a fantastic (and short!) novel if you’re a fan of Memoirs of a Geisha. While Memoirs of a Geisha is set in Japan and is a beautifully creative retelling of Cinderella, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is set in China and focuses on the enduring bestfriendship of Lily and Snowflower.
“In nineteenth-century China, when wives and daughters were foot-bound and lived in almost total seclusion, the women in one remote Hunan county developed their own secret code for communication: nu shu (“women’s writing”). Some girls were paired with laotongs, “old sames,” in emotional matches that lasted throughout their lives. They painted letters on fans, embroidered messages on handkerchiefs, and composed stories, thereby reaching out of their isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments.
With the arrival of a silk fan on which Snow Flower has composed for Lily a poem of introduction in nu shu, their friendship is sealed and they become “old sames” at the tender age of seven. As the years pass, through famine and rebellion, they reflect upon their arranged marriages, loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their lifelong friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a brilliantly realistic journey back to an era of Chinese history that is as deeply moving as it is sorrowful. With the period detail and deep resonance of Memoirs of a Geisha, this lyrical and emotionally charged novel delves into one of the most mysterious of human relationships: female friendship.”
Personally I consider this one of the second best books that center around female friendship. Want to know the first? Keep on reading! It’s in this list too!
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
Are you a fan of Studio Ghibli movies? What a silly question, of course you are—who doesn’t like a good Studio Ghibli movie?
Did you know that The Secret World of Arrietty was based off a book called “The Borrowers” by Mary Norton? If you said no, then you can’t say that anymore!
“The Clock family—Homily, Pod, and their fourteen-year-old daughter, Arrietty—are tiny people who live underneath the kitchen floor of an English manor. All their minuscule home furnishings, from postage stamp paintings to champagne cork chairs, are “borrowed” from the “human beans” who tromp around loudly above them. All is well until Pod is spotted upstairs by a human boy! Can the Clocks stay nested safely in their beloved hidden home, or will they be forced to flee?”
This may not entirely count as a “short read” given the age demographic for this book, but a book is a book is a book and personally I think it still counts. It’s still a piece of shorter fiction that will help you out of a reading slump if you’re in one so it’s made the list!
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Am I capable of doing any sort of list where The Great Gatsby or some other kind of Fitzgerald story doesn’t make an appearance?
No!
Do I plan to change this behavior in the near future?
Also no!
When you think The Great Gatsby you probably don’t think of it as a short read. You probably have flashbacks to your high school English classes where you had to slog through the book, eyes turned towards the heavens, thinking about that person you like or what they’re serving for lunch today in the cafeteria. But actually it’s much shorter than you’d expect. The physical book (the one I own anyway) is actually very thin and can be read in a couple of sittings.
“The Great Gatsby is considered F. Scott Fitzgerald’s magnum opus, exploring themes of decadence, idealism, social stigmas, patriarchal norms, and the deleterious effects of unencumbered wealth in capitalistic society, set against the backdrop of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties. At its heart, it’s a cautionary tale, a revealing look into the darker side to the American Dream.”
Kamikaze Girls by Novala Takemoto
Remember when I said Snow Flower and the Secret Fan was, in my opinion, the second best book that depicts female friendships?
This is #1
I cannot ever imagine a world in which I do not have this book in my library. I once thought I lost my copy (spoiler alert: It was put in a bag and I forgot that I put it in there! but I found it!) and I tore my house upside down to find it. I wanted to try and replace it when a couple months went by and I couldn’t find it but that’s when I realized the book is so completely out of print that it’s nearly impossible to find. You can find the manga pretty easily, but not the novel and it’s the novel that I will always hold near and dear to my heart.
Kamikaze Girls is written by Novala Takemoto, who was once (or still is? I’m not sure) known as the “Lolita Bard.” Before you ask, Lolita is a fashion style in japan that focuses on Rococo and Victorian styles of dress and has nothing at all to do with Vladimir Nabokov’s book Lolita. I used to be really in love with the Lolita fashion style myself when I was younger, and I still like a lot of the aesthetics, but ultimately it was one of those styles that simply informs an aspect of my own personal style in stead of being one that defines it.
As a writer, Novala Takemoto is one of my biggest idols. I love his entire aesthetic and how he approaches his work, and I wish he was still publishing and that more of his works were translated into English. I could probably (and probably will) write a whole post about Novala Takemoto and how influential he has been for me, but that’s one for another day. Today, we’re talking about Kamikaze Girls.
Set in rural Japan, the story follows a lolita named Momoko who cares only about herself and her fashion. Willing to do anything to procure her coveted Baby The Stars Shine Bright outfits, Momoko sells her father’s fake Versace to someone who turns out to be a rough-and-tumble Yanki girl named Ichiko. To pay Momoko back for the Versace (she doesn’t care if its fake!), Ichiko decides on her own that she and Momoko are friends. The two go on adventures together in search of a legendary embroiderer, growing closer as the plot moves on.
This is the book I read when I’m deep in my “romanticize your life” feels. It’s so beautiful and lyrical, and Momoko’s voice as the protagonist is so tangible you’d think she was writing the book herself. Takemoto writes this book so perfectly that it’s the only book I can honestly say I wouldn’t change a single thing about. Kamikaze Girls is a must-read for anyone in love with Harajuku fashion and anyone who loves a realistic portrayal of female friendships when the girls have two completely opposing personalities.
The Mist by Stephen King
The Mist is a novella by Stephen King that centers around a small (you guessed it) Maine town following a storm that brings with it a mysterious, thick fog. The fog completely blanks out the world outside of a small grocery store where a group of survivors want only to get out and back to their families. But creatures (in a very Silent Hill esque manner) lurk in the fog, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
I loved The Mist, both the movie and the book. I guess there was a mini series for it once, but I didn’t see it and now no one can find it to show it to me! Don’t get it mixed up, though, with the movie The Fog, which is a discount brand version of The Mist and isn’t anywhere near as good. This is a really engaging story that, while short, packs a whole lotta punch!
The Body by Stephen King
When I made this list I told myself “now lets not double-dip on authors here. We need to show a wide variety of writers and books so that people can have a lot to choose from” but damn me anyway, I picked two Stephen King books!
This one is called The Body, and it’s another novella by the King of Horror, Stephen King. This one is different than his usual work and I think might have been based on his own childhood when (and I might be getting this wrong here, so don’t quite me in your research papers kids) he witnessed a friend of his getting hit by a train.
“It’s 1960 in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine. Ray Brower, a boy from a nearby town, has disappeared, and twelve-year-old Gordie Lachance and his three friends set out on a quest to find his body along the railroad tracks. During the course of their journey, Gordie, Chris Chambers, Teddy Duchamp, and Vern Tessio come to terms with death and the harsh truths of growing up in a small factory town that doesn’t offer much in the way of a future.
A timeless exploration of the loneliness and isolation of young adulthood, Stephen King’s The Body is an iconic, unforgettable, coming-of-age story.”
I hope my list was helpful to you guys! If any of these books helped you out of a reading slump, let me know in the comments! Also, if there are any short books that you liked and didn’t see on this list, drop me a recommendation because I love learning about new books!
Until next time!
