Novellas in November is hosted by Cathy of 746 Books and Rebecca of Bookish Beck.
Cathy and Rebecca have set a category for each week – there are no rules as such (although they suggest that 150–200 pages is the upper limit for a novella, and post-1980 as a definition of ‘contemporary’).
I’m going to use Novellas in November to whip through some of my towering TBR stack. I have lots to choose from. Here are the possibilities:
Week 1 – Contemporary Fiction
My Phantoms by Gwendoline Riley (208pp)
We the Animals by Justin Torres (128pp)
Eve in Hollywood by Amor Towles (91pp)
Brother by David Chariandy (192pp)
Nostalgia Has Ruined My Life by Zarah Butcher-McGunnigle (76pp)
This is Pleasure by Mary Gaitskill (97pp)
Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis (195pp)
Week 2 – Short Nonfiction
On Mother by Sarah Ferguson (44pp)
My Week With Marilyn by Colin Clark (159pp)
The Battle for Home by Marwa al-Sabouni (179pp – although the print is tiny!)
Living with ‘The Gloria Films’ by Pamela J Burry (170pp – more tiny print!)
Week 3 – Literature in Translation
The Black Lake by Hella S. Haasse (Dutch, 116pp)
Daughters by Lucy Fricke (German, 177pp)
Naïve. Super by Erlend Loe (Norwegian, 208pp)
The Book of Everything by Guus Kuijer (Dutch, 112pp)
All Dogs Are Blue by Rodrigo de Souza Leão (Brazilian, 125pp)
Soviet Milk by Nora Ikstena (Russian, 192pp)
The Bureau of Past Management by Iris Hanika (German, 178pp)
Week 4 – Short Classics
The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers (163pp)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote (100pp)
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (194pp)
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (99pp)
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger (199pp)
Of course, no intention of reading all of these, but one or two each week should be manageable. Are any of these ‘must reads’?
I loved Daughters and enjoyed Brother. Soviet Milk is a very tough read, not one for when you’re feeling low. I liked Christine Sneed’s short stories but didn’t know she’d written a novella. There starts the inevitable expansion of my tbr list thanks to #NovNov!
Just realised that I’ve included Sneed’s short story collection – will take it off the list!
Have noted what you’ve said about Soviet Milk.
Hooray, glad you’re having fun thinking about your reading options! I’ve read five of your picks; We the Animals and Breakfast at Tiffany’s are particularly great choices. I need to get to grips with my unruly stacks and take some photos. I have a different McCullers (The Ballad of the Sad Cafe) on my classics pile. I love the title Nostalgia Has Ruined My Life — worth reading for that reason alone! (But it also sounds like it’s in the Sally Rooney vein that I enjoy.)
Well, I do love making a list 🙂
I read a sample of Nostalgia – it’s probably more in the Ottessa Moshfegh vein than Rooney but either of those is great by me.
Nice idea. I have so many challenges going on in November, so I might not get to it. But I’ll have to bear it in mind for next year. Thanks.
It’s an easy one to combine with other challenges if you can find an Australian or German book, or a nonfiction work, or a Margaret Atwood novel, that’s under 200 pages!
I haven’t set the bar too high Marianne because November tends to be a busy reading month, but figure I can manage one from each category.
I’d love you to read All Dogs are Blue… whatever can it be about?
Somehow I don’t think it will be about the colour of dogs… 😉
LOL…
I’ve only read All Dogs Are Blue and The Member of the Wedding, but really liked both so I hope you enjoy them if you get to them.
I’ve found a couple of German language novellas so I’m planning on combining for German Lit Month!
I believe you were the one who recommended All Dogs to me (so yes, I’ve had it on my list for quite some time!). It ticks a box in my Around the World reading challenge as well.
And yes, I’ll be trying to manage a few for German Lit Month (and Nonfiction November) as well – November is a VERY BUSY reading month!
Definitely Soviet Milk! I bawled like a baby when I read it on the Eurostar from Paris. Luckily there was no one sitting near me to notice!
I’ve got Soviet Milk looking at me and am now inspired to read it by kimbofo’s comment above and I didn’t realise Breakfast at Tiffany’s was so short – it’s suddenly become even more attractive!
Mrs. Dalloway is so good! Eve in Hollywood has been on my TBR for a while but I haven’t found a copy anywhere.
What a great list Kate! I’ll be reading Breakfast at Tiffany’s and This Is Pleasure too (hopefully!) and can highly recommend My Phantoms, We the Animals and The Member of the Wedding too.
Pingback: Planning My Reading Stacks for Novellas in November 2021 | Bookish Beck
Pingback: Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis | booksaremyfavouriteandbest