Great Short Books

I'm an avid reader. I belong to two book clubs and read every day. I love all kinds of literature and I try to read a wide variety of genres. One thing I don't like is a long book. 500 pages is about my maximum. Recently one of our book clubs read The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, a very long book. I didn't think I'd finish it, but it was interesting enough and fast enough reading that I made it through and really enjoyed it.

Many of us like to read but don't have time for long books. We want something for a plane ride or trip that we can finish in two or three sittings. I have a list of some of my favorite short books, all of which I have read and most are quite current. A few are classics that I probably read years ago but still remember. Here they are, in no particular order.

1. Breakfast at Tiffany's Truman Capote. Read this years ago, Capote is one of my favorite writers.

2. The Stranger Albert Camus. First read this in French class in high school, but reread it years later since I wasn't very good at French.

3. Waiting for the Barbarians J.M. Coetzee. If you're like me, you won't be able to put this book down. It is powerful.

4. Disgrace J.M. Coetzee. I liked the first book I read by Coetzee so much that I read this one too. Equally powerful story about human behavior.

5. Night Elie Weisel. Weisel has written over 40 books, but this one about he and his father in the concentration camp, is unforgettable.

6. The Reluctant Fundamentalist Mohsin Hamid. Excellent contemporary book that will really make you think.

7. Fateless Imre Kertesz . This short book won the 2002 Nobel Prize for Literature. It's another concentration camp story told from a teenage boy's point of view.

8. Autobiography of a Face Lucy Grealy. This is a tragic story of Lucy Grealy and her dozens of facial surgeries to make her look "normal."

9. Tuesdays With Morrie Mitch Album. This was Mitch's first book, and my favorite, about his weekly visits with his college professor who was dying of ALS. Very moving.

Next time you're looking for a short book to read, try one from my list. I'm no book critic, but all of these powerful, emotional books. I hope you enjoy.