It’s almost time for Novellas in November, hosted by Cathy of 746 Books and Rebecca of Bookish Beck.
There are no categories this year, although participants are invited to start off the month with a My Year in Novellas retrospective looking at any novellas read since last NovNov, and finish it with a New to My TBR list based on the novellas that others have tempted me with over the course of the month. There’s also a buddy read – Orbital by Samantha Harvey – which handily was already in my TBR stack.
Anyway, this is what I am choosing from (sorted according to the NovNov categories from previous years):
Short Classics
The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers (163pp)
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (99pp)
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger (199pp)
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf (112pp)
Lady Susan by Jane Austen (180pp)
Cheri by Colette (122pp)
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (129pp)
Novellas in Translation
The Black Lake by Hella S. Haasse (Dutch, 116pp)
The Book of Everything by Guus Kuijer (Dutch, 112pp)
All Dogs Are Blue by Rodrigo de Souza Leão (Brazilian, 125pp)
The Bureau of Past Management by Iris Hanika (German, 178pp)
Bright by Duanwad Pimwana (Thai, 191pp)
Siblings by Brigitte Reimann (German, 133pp)
Breakwater by Marijke Schermer (Dutch, 192pp)
Short nonfiction
The Battle for Home by Marwa al-Sabouni (179pp – although print is tiny!)
A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis (76pp)
My Two Elaines by Martin J. Schreiber (126pp)
Hooked by Rita Felski (199pp – more tiny print!)
Intervals by Marianne Brooker (192pp)
The Book of Malcolm by Fraser Sutherland (200pp)
On Mother by Sarah Ferguson (128pp)
The Underachiever’s Manifesto by Ray Bennett (96pp)
Shame by Annie Ernaux (86pp)
Eggs in Purgatory by Genanne Walsh (55pp)
Levels of Life by Julian Barnes (129pp)
Trophy Lives by Philippa Snow (104pp)
How a Book is Born by Keith Gessen (53pp)
The Exotic Rissole by Tanveer Ahmed (195pp)
I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron (139pp)
300 Arguments by Sarah Manguso (104pp)
Not Waving, Drowning by Sarah Krasnostein (153pp)
Contemporary novellas
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)
Come Rain or Come Shine by Kazuo Ishiguro (78pp)
Flotsam by Meike Ziervogel (128pp)
Water by John Boyne (176pp)
Earth by John Boyne (168pp)
Very Cold People by Sarah Manguso (202pp)
Two Women Walk into a Bar by Cheryl Strayed (31pp)
A Field Guide to the North American Family by Garth Hallberg (144pp)
Murmurations by Carol Lefevre (108pp)
Crudo by Olivia Laing (160pp)
Swim by Avi Duckor-Jones (172pp)
Orbital by Samantha Harvey (136pp)
Of course, no intention of reading all of these, but two or three each week should be manageable. Where to start?
Amazing lists Kate! I’ve only got one novella lined up so far as November is looking sooo busy but I’m really looking forward to the event and expanding my TBR exponentially. Hope you enjoy whichever you choose!
Given your efforts earlier in the year on novellas, I’m hardly surprised you only have one on your list (probably half of these came from your May novella reading over the years!).
What great options Kate! I read Breakwater back at the start of the year and really enjoyed it and Franny and Zooey is an old favourite. I enjoyed Very Cold People much more than 300 Arguments. Happy reading!
Brilliant lists! I’m glad you could access Orbital. Sarah Manguso is a great author for this challenge as she always writes in short forms (often in fragments, too, so there’s lots of blank space on a page). I think I’ve read 16 of your selections and I have the Barnes lined up as a potential reread.
I enjoyed Breakwater, the Boynes, Very Cold People and Brother (oddly, one of my most visited posts for a couple of years!) Too many I’d like to read to mention on your lists but I’m very keen to read Orbital.
Good list. I’ve only read Ethan Frome. I Feel Bad About My Neck is also on my list.
Great list and I will let myself be inspired when I choose my novellas to read. I have read Ethan Frome, A Room of One’s Own and The Yellow Wallpaper and liked them very much.
Great pile and lists. I’ve read most of your Short Classics over the years. I’m doing just short nonfiction this month so I can combine NonFiction November with Novellas in November!
I forgot I wanted to read A Room of Her Own. I, too, am trying to read several classics.