Just a couple of weeks until Novellas in November (#NovNov22) begins! I gathered up all of my potential reads for a photo shoot, including review copies, library loans, recent birthday gifts and books that have been languishing on my shelves for ages.
Week One: Short Classics (= pre-1980)
Week Two: Novellas in Translation
I always struggle with this prompt the most. (The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang Goethe would also be a token contribution to German Literature Month.)
Week Three: Short Nonfiction
This is probably (not so secretly) my favourite week of the month. Others may find it strange to consider nonfiction during a novellas month, but this challenge is really about celebrating the art of the short book in all its forms, and I love a work that can contribute something significant on a topic, or illuminate a portion of an author’s life, in under 200 pages.
Week Four: Contemporary Novellas (= post-1980)
I have a few other options on my e-readers as well, such as Marigold and Rose by Louise Glück, Foster by Claire Keegan (our buddy read for the month), and The Hero of This Book by Elizabeth McCracken.
I read 29 novellas last November; why not aim for one a day this time?! November is also Margaret Atwood Reading Month, so I’ve lined up one of her fairly recent poetry collections that I picked up from a Little Free Library. Apart from that, I do have a few review books I need to get to for Shelf Awareness, so it’ll be a jam-packed month.
Kate has already come up with her list of possible titles. Look out for Cathy’s today, too. If you’re struggling for ideas, here’s a long list of suitable authors and publishers I put together last year, or you might like to browse through the reviews from 2021.
Now to get reading!!
Do you have any novellas in mind to read next month?
Which options from my stacks should I prioritize?
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 
I had been thinking of joining in, but …. too much pressure! I will take the opportunity to take note of all the ideas winging their way through the blogosphere, and try and read some too.
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It’s seriously a no-pressure thing — if you happen to find that one or two of the books on your stack are under 200 pages, then it would be great to have you review them.
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OK. I’ve just got Red Milk out of the library, and at the rate I’m going, shan’t start it till November. This volunteering malarkey. I was DETERMINED not to leave my last library shift with a single book, as I have so many unread already. So how many came home with me? Six.
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So many temptations!
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What a selection!
I’ve not read many of these, but I do recommend the John Berger, it’s the first thing I ever read by him and I absolutely loved it.
And Lolly Willowes is wonderful.
I didn’t get on with Fludd, much preferred Eight Months on Ghazza Street – but maybe that wouldn’t count as a novella.
Good luck with this lot!
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I’ve not read Berger before, so this will be interesting to try. I got it free from a giveaway box outside a neighbour’s house.
I have heard so much about Lolly Willowes, I just have to experience it for myself!
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Ah I didn’t realise Aw’s Strangers on a Pier was so short – am keen to read it. Would also like to read Fludd. I liked An Education a lot in my early 20s. Did not get on with Strange Hotel…
I’ll be doing SF novellas again.
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Oh yes, the Aw is barely 90 pages. I must say that fact makes me much more likely to read it! I read his Five Star Billionaire way back when and loved it.
That’s an excellent way to combine two challenges (I always forget about SF month), and I could actually do the same with Memoirs of a Spacewoman, plus possibly The Invisible Man.
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An Education is wonderful (if a creepy premise by modern standards when you think about it). I’m the one person in the world almost that didn’t get on with Lolly Willowes – I’d love to see what you think!
I have so many novellas on my shelves, plus two separate stacks, I will just be picking whatever takes my fancy in between my other reads, but trying to match the themes of the weeks.
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Ha ha, it does seem like everyone else raves about Lolly Willowes … we shall see!
A good strategy to have lots of options and then reach for whatever piques your interest at the time.
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What riches! My favourite from the (quick count) 13 I’ve read is Lolly Willowes, though I’m not sure I’d necessarily have considered it a novella. It doesn’t quite feel like one. But if by some chance you haven’t read A Room of One’s Own, that is essential reading!
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The arbitrary-ish 200-page cutoff says it counts 😉
No, I’ve somehow never read the Woolf apart from some passages for a college course. I’ll try to prioritize it in nonfiction week.
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I LOVE your stacks. Some great stuff! As far as novellas in translation, I liked Trick–which was translated from the Italian by Jhumpa Lahiri. (I think she’s done others of the author’s, too.)
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I had Lahiri’s Whereabouts (which she translated herself) out from the library last November but didn’t end up reading it. I’ve still not tried her work!
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Oh, I hadn’t even heard of Whereabouts! I always loved her short stories but was less enamored with The Lowland, which I read a while back.
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I loved Indian Nocturne and Body Kintsugi is excellent if harrowing.
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Indian Nocturne was a random find in Oxfam last year. Glad to have your seal of approval on it. Body Kintsugi was a review copy so will be a priority.
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I loved The Solace of Open Spaces when I read it back in high school. I bet I’d get a lot more out of it now. Good luck with your novellas!
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I love Ehrlich’s writing so should really try to get to that one. If you happen to pick up a book that’s under 200 pages next month, it would be great to have you join us!
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I’ll keep it in mind!
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I LOVED The New Me by Halle Butler – hope you manage to squeeze it in.
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I’ve been intrigued ever since I saw that cover. My copy was free from a neighbour’s giveaway box.
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I could have two… Foster by Claire Keegan and I also see that the new Rachel Joyce book, Maureen, is less than 200 pages…
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Great! I just read Foster the other morning to get ahead and it was fantastic (but also heart-breaking). And yes, I hope to read the new Rachel Joyce from the library. It has a different title here in the UK.
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I think in the UK it is Maureen Fry & the Angle of the North, but in the US it will be just Maureen.
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Angel… not Angle! (Damned dyslexia!)
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Yes, they must have decided that was too niche a reference outside the UK (it’s a famous statue).
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Great stacks Rebecca – I’m particularly impressed with your choices for Non-Fiction week!
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My favourite one to plan for!
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I am drooling over those stacks!!! Did you buy them, one by one, over the years or did you find a big box of them at a book sale or how did you end up with all these skinny little delights?
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A good question! They’ve come from all sorts of places. Some are from the library (you might not be able to see the plastic jackets in these photos), a few are review copies from publishers, and some I have owned for many years. In recent years I have definitely gotten into the habit of looking for slender volumes at secondhand bookshops and charity shops, though. What with different paper thicknesses, there are always books on my shelves I think are short enough but are in fact 220-240 pages, while others that look too long are under the 200 pages mark.
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[…] I’m preparing my TBR for Novellas in November hosted by Cathy @ 746 Books and Rebecca @ Bookish Beck Do you have novellas on your […]
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I just realized, I have another one on your list – The Inseparables!
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I’m looking forward to that one for translated week. My copy was passed along by a fellow blogger friend.
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So exciting and I love that I don’t have any of the same books in my (metaphorical at the moment) pile! I’m doing Nonfiction November and AusReading Month as well in November, and Beyond the Rabbit-Proof Fence fits all three which is pleasing. So I won’t be following your prompts (as usual) as I do NonFicNov’s ones, but I should get through a good few reads, and a lot of them nonfic. Good luck with it!
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I always forget about Australia month! I’ll see if I have one memoir or novel I could read for that. Cathy is also planning to read a Rabbit-Proof Fence book, but I think it’s a different one.
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[…] their reading plans, for anyone thinking of joining in but struggling for ideas. Rebecca’s is here, and Cathy’s […]
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[…] I’m wrapping up my reading for Novellas in November hosted by Cathy @ 746 Books and Rebecca @ Bookish Beck Did you read Novellas in […]
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