Novellas: “all killer, no filler”
~Joe Hill
For the fourth year in a row, Cathy of 746 Books and I are celebrating the art of the short* book by co-hosting Novellas in November as a month-long challenge. This time we have five prompts, adapted from ones commonly used for Nonfiction November. (*A reminder that we suggest 200 pages as the upper limit for a novella.)
Here’s the schedule:
Week 1 (starts Wednesday 1 November): My Year in Novellas
- During this partial week, tell us about any novellas you have read since last NovNov.
Week 2 (starts Monday 6 November): What Is a Novella?
- Ponder the definition, list favourites, or choose ones you think best capture the ‘spirit’ of a novella.
Week 3 (starts Monday 13 November): Broadening My Horizons
- Pick your top novellas in translation and think about new genres or authors you’ve been introduced to through novellas.
Week 4 (starts Monday 20 November): The Short and the Long of It
- Pair a novella with a nonfiction book or novel that deals with similar themes or topics.
Week 5 (starts Monday 27 November): New to My TBR
- In the last few days, talk about the novellas you’ve added to your TBR since the month began.
We also have two buddy read options, one contemporary and one classic. Please join us in reading one or both at any time in November!
Western Lane by Chetna Maroo (2023) is on this year’s Booker Prize longlist; whether or not it advances to the shortlist on Thursday, it promises to be a one-of-a-kind debut novel about an eleven-year-old girl coming to terms with the loss of her mother and becoming deeply involved in the world of competitive squash.
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf (1929), an extended essay about the conditions necessary for women’s artistic achievement, is based on lectures she delivered at Cambridge’s women’s colleges. This feminist classic is in print or can be freely read online (Internet Archive or Project Gutenberg Canada).
It’s always a busy month in the blogging world, what with Nonfiction November, German Literature Month, and Margaret Atwood Reading Month. Why not search your shelves and/or local library for novellas that count towards multiple challenges? You might also consider participating in Annabel’s Beryl Bainbridge Reading Week (the 18th through 26th) as most of Bainbridge’s novels were under 200 pages.
We’re looking forward to having you join us! From 1 November there will be a pinned post on my site from which you can join the link-up. Keep in touch via Twitter (@cathy746books) and Instagram (@cathy_746books), and feel free to use the terrific feature images Cathy has made plus our new hashtag, #NovNov23.
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 
Considering that I do read quite few novellas, I ought to join in. But as I said to Cathy, I often don’t know a book is going to turn out to be a novella till it’s sitting in my hands. More research needed!
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I don’t know if your online library catalogue allows this, but mine has a feature where you can save lists. I have a general list and then a few lists geared towards specific challenges, so every time I come across a book I’m interested in that’s the right length, I add it to my Novellas list.
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We do have that facility, and I lazily file mine under ‘F’ and ‘NF’. What a good idea. Must Try Harder.
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Cued up to expand my TBR massively…
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I’m sure you’ll review your fair share during the month as well!
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October is the date when new books are usually presented as it is Frankfurt Bookfair time and for the booksellers on the continent time to order for the Christmas sales to get good condition.
Novella … if we define ‘novella’ as a short novel, I really like ‘The Secret Talker’ by Yan Ge Ling (sold in the UK as Geling Yan).
All the best
Klausbernd 🙂
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The definition of a novella seems to do with word count, which is not always evident to a reader, so to make things simple we say any book under 200 pages.
I’ve read a different one of Yan’s books, I see (Little Aunt Crane).
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I might try to get a few novellas in! For some reason my taste tends to push me towards chunksters, possibly on the fallacious basis of value-for-money—but lending libraries offer the opportunity to try short gems without paying, so I’m going to see what I can find.
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I love the idea of doorstoppers, but can’t make myself read them these days. (I literally haven’t managed one this year yet; I’ll try to catch up with Abraham Verghese’s new novel, at least – 700+ pages.) I stock up on novellas whenever I’m at charity shops or secondhand bookshops, even though it can seem silly to pay £3 for 110 pages or whatever it is. But yes, the library is also a great place to get them, or Project Gutenberg for e-books if you’re happy to read electronically.
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Oh yay!! I’m over here clapping my hands to see your’s and Cathy’s Novellas in November posts! This has become something I look forward to in the year! For the buddy reads, I have already read A Room of One’s Own so I will probably just join in for Western Lane which sounds really good. This year, I’m going to try to do a post for each weekly prompt. 🙂
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Yay, so glad you’re planning to join in! Enjoy your reading and we’ll look forward to seeing your posts.
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As I mentioned on Cathy’s post, I love a good novella so will do my best to join in!
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Fantastic! You often champion books that happen to be novellas. Perhaps AusReading Month and 1962 Club the month before will inspire some people’s selections, too.
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I hope so!! There are definitely some slim contenders for 1962!
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Getting excited already!
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I have soooooooo many options on my shelves.
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A reading month I always look forward to, and hopefully, I will be able to participate in multiple challenges all the way through. I have my ongoing two foot-high stacks of novellas on one of my bookshelves, not including all the others elsewhere!
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What am I like, I meant to thank you for the BBRW plug too!
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I keep ongoing stacks as well. I have several dozen to choose from already, not counting anything on my Kindle or that I might pick up from the library (including a few Bainbridge options).
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So I flipped to the back of my current notebook, to jot down the weeks and themes you’ve got planned, and I discovered a few pages there, pencilled lists of books to add to the TBR, which I’d completely forgotten I’d made. (You know how it is, you’re reading somewhere else, not where you usually read, and you start another list.) Which is to say, that I intend to read a novella or two for or in November, but I might just lose track entirely of that intention I’ve set today, like I lost track of those jottings. Like you, I shelve novellas using my Saved feature in the library catalogue and there are certainly dozens of enticing candidates. Good luck with the hosting…and with winnowing your own list!
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The perils of keeping print and digital lists simultaneously? I know the feeling, though. Even just between my blog ideas file saved on the desktop, my Goodreads TBR, and my library catalogue saved lists, there is alarmingly little crossover. Good to have plenty of options anyway! I’m sure you’ll read something novella-length in November, even if just by chance.
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I don’t seem to have as many novellas in translation these days now that I have not renewed by Periene subscription. They always came up with something I had not heard of before.
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Ah, Peirene are certainly handy for that. My most recent novellas in translation have come from Charco, Heloise and Fum d’Estampa presses, all fairly new and small operations.
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Charco I’ve heard of but not the other two. A lot of the independents are struggling I think because paper costs and energy costs have risen so much
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The other two have only been in existence for a couple of years. That makes sense about printing costs.
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Love this event. I have a small list of possibilities ready–some in translation, but it will be a “mood” read for me. Enjoy what you choose.
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Great that you’re already thinking about your options. It’s good to have plenty so that you can pick up whatever takes your fancy when the time comes.
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Thanks for visiting today!
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I have made a list of novellas! They aren’t even all SF!
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I’m impressed! And some of mine ARE even SF 😉 (Like, two, but still.)
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I’m in, of course. I should do what I did for 20 Books of Summer and try to knock off some 1001 Books, I know there are lots of novellas on there!
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Hurrah! That sounds like a great plan to combine two challenges. I’ll be interested to see what you pick.
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It’s very exciting! I’ve got quite a few on the TBR, in fact I fear I laid out some to read last year and they’re still there on the shelves!! I have the complication of a holiday once more but I’ll novella around that. And a lot of mine will be non-fiction so I can cover two challenges at once …
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I love finding novella-length nonfiction! I have a growing pile…
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and I posted my pile today! https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2023/10/14/looking-forward-to-novellas-in-november/
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I LOVE November!! All kinds of amazing reading events!
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I find they help to brighten up a dark and chilly month.
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Squeeeee!!!! One of my favorite reading events of the year! Can’t wait!
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Yay, glad you’re as excited as we are 🙂
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