Not much more than two weeks now before Novellas in November (#NovNov25) begins! Cathy and I are getting geared up and making plans for what we’re going to read. I have a handful of novellas out from the library, but mostly I gathered potential reads from my own shelves. I’m hoping to coincide with several of November’s other challenges, too.
Although we’re not using the below as themes this year, I’ve grouped my options into categories:
Short Classics (pre-1980)
Just Quicksand to read from the Larsen volume; the Wilder would be a reread.
Contemporary Novellas
(Just Blow Your House Down; and the last two of the three novellas in the Hynes.)
Also, on my e-readers: Sea, Poison by Caren Beilin, Likeness by Samsun Knight, Eradication: A Fable by Jonathan Miles (a 2026 release, to review early for Shelf Awareness)
*Margaret Atwood Reading Month is hosted by Marcie of Buried in Print. I’ve just read The Penelopiad for book club, so I’ll start off with a review of that. I might also reread Bluebeard’s Egg, and I’ll be eagerly awaiting her memoir from the library.
[*Science Fiction Month: Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino, Archive of Unknown Universes by Ruben Reyes Jr., and The Afterlife Project (all catch-up review books) are options, plus I recently started reading The Martian by Andy Weir.]
Short Nonfiction
Including our buddy read, Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde. (A shame about that cover!)
Also, on my e-readers: The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer, No Straight Road Takes You There by Rebecca Solnit, Because We Must by Tracy Youngblom. And, even though it doesn’t come out until February, I started reading The Irish Goodbye: Micro-Memoirs by Beth Ann Fennelly via Edelweiss.
For Nonfiction November, I also have plenty of longer nonfiction on the go, a mixture of review books to catch up on and books from the library:
I also have one nonfiction November release, Joyride by Susan Orlean, to review.
Novellas in Translation
At left are all the novella-length options, with four German books on top.
The Chevillard and Modiano are review copies to catch up on.
Also on the stack, from the library: Super-Frog Saves Tokyo by Haruki Murakami
On my e-readers: The Old Fire by Elisa Shua Dusapin, The Old Man by the Sea by Domenico Starnone, Our Precious Wars by Perrine Tripier
*German Literature Month: Our recent trip to Berlin and Lübeck whetted my appetite to read more German/German-language fiction. I’ll try to coincide with the Thomas Mann week as I was already planning to reread Death in Venice. I have some longer German books on the right-hand side as well. I started Kairos but found it hard going so might switch to audiobook. I also have Demian by Hermann Hesse on my Nook, downloaded from Project Gutenberg.
Spy any favourites or a particularly appealing title in my piles?
The link-up is now open for you to share your planning post!
Any novellas lined up to read next month?
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
Bookish Beck 
What a fantastic amount of books Rebecca! I adore Kehlmann so look forward to hearing what you think of Fame. I loved The Field and also have Siblings on my pile.
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And I’ve just updated to include e-books! It’s a ridiculous number of options, I know, but I certainly won’t run out, and there should be something to fit every mood. I’m going to start the Lorde buddy read later today and work on it gradually into next month.
I’m a big Kehlmann fan as well. I also have his two most recent novels on my Kindle, but I think I’d read Fame first. The Field is the only Seethaler I’ve not read yet (at least of the ones available in English translation). I picked up Siblings from the hospital sale shelves the other day when I went for a routine blood test. I was very surprised to find it among the usual dross!
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That’s a great find for sure!
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Quicksand and Passing made such an impression on me, I still remember them both clearly ten years or so on.
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I read Passing for the 1929 Club a few years ago. I keep meaning to read Quicksand, too.
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Fabulous list! You can never go wrong with Modiano and Murakami.
I’m shooting for lower:
https://wordsandpeace.com/2025/09/23/top-ten-books-on-my-2025-fall-tbr-list/
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That’s great how you’re able to combine challenges. I read the Solstad when it first came out in English translation. I think I have that Henry James book, but it’s away in a box somewhere (we need to get built-in shelves installed in the living room to hold all the rest of the books).
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I am reading five this month. I’ll let them be a surprise. Mine are mostly contemporary, and I’m not counting nonfiction.
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I’ll look forward to seeing what you choose.
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What great options! I have a copy of Sister Outsider (with a better cover, I think) but IDK if I will get to it. But there will certainly be novellas!!
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I would have preferred the cover with the photo of Lorde on but, ahem, my husband was borrowing from the university library for me and made the wrong choice.
We can always count on you 🙂
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My goodness. So many choices! I recently read The Serviceberry and enjoyed it very much and learned a bit, too. Of course I recognize Susan Orlean’s name from The Library Book which was very well done. Have a great and productive month.
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I enjoyed Braiding Sweetgrass but it took me forever to read, so I’m glad The Serviceberry is short. I got it on a 99p Kindle deal.
Orlean writes very interesting nonfiction, always well researched and engaging. The Orchid Thief is one of my favourites.
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Christiane Ritter’s A Woman in the Polar Night is only just over 200 pages in my edition so I’m going to say it counts for both this and Nonfiction November!
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Brilliant choice!
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Nice! I’m aiming for all my short books to be nonfiction, and all my reads in November to be nonfiction (there’s one fiction I’m reviewing on 9 Nov for a PR I have had a few books from, but I’ll read that this month and schedule the review). I aim to get them out to see what I’ve got probably at the weekend.
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Great, it’ll be fun to see what you choose.
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I should be able to mix several events and take part to Novellas in November. Thanks for hosting it! 🙂
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Glad to hear it!
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I had forgotten The Poet and the Donkey! I had selected four and have read three this week, so now I have only to post about them. The fourth is a novella inside a story and essay collection, so it will take me longer (cuz I still want to read in order: would you?). Hopefully I get to the next Audre Lorde essay too. I actually like that cover, but partly because I used to think that not enough people were reading her, for her to ever be reissued, and now that’s obviously changed!
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P.S. Thanks for linking to our cosy little MARM group: very kind!
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I doubt I’ll get to that one; I’ve read the first couple of pages of Crucial Conversations instead.
You’re doing well already! (Better than me!) I’ll hope for a number of one-sitting reads through the month.
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[…] Unfortunately, the English translation is hard to find, but there’s the French one and the original in German. It’s also a novella, which means it’s one of my contribution to Novellas in November hosted by Cathy and Rebecca. […]
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[…] It’s the end of the month and I’m still on time to post this billet about four novellas I read this week. This post is another participation to Novellas in November hosted by Cathy and Rebecca. […]
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