Not much more than two weeks now before Novellas in November (#NovNov26) begins! Cathy and I are getting geared up and making plans for what we’re going to read. I have a couple of novellas out from the library, but mostly I’ve gathered potential reads from my own shelves. I’ll start with our buddy read, Rie Qudan’s Sympathy Tower Tokyo, of course. Some of these (Gordon, Hynes, Leavitt, Messud, Porter) contain more than one novella. This year some newer acquisitions – by Brooks, Garner, Jaeggy, Laski, Tuttle and Westcott – are calling my name.
I also have a huge number of novella-length works on my e-readers; the covers below represent a selection:
I’m hoping to coincide with several of November’s other challenges, too.
German Literature Month, hosted by Caroline and Tony: Ageing is novella-length and would count towards week 3 (nonfiction); I think I have a Rilke volume on my Kindle, so I may try to coincide with week 4 (commemorating the 100th anniversary of his death), too. I have some longer German novels as well (Sebald and Seethaler).
German / Misc. / Nonfiction
Margaret Atwood Reading Month, hosted by Marcie. I plan to read selections from the essay collection Burning Questions and the ENORMOUS selected poetry volume Paper Boat, which was part of my birthday book haul. I’ll also read her daughter Jess Gibson’s short story collection, The Good Eye (perhaps comparing it to one of Atwood’s collections).
Nonfiction in November, co-hosted by Liz: Controversially, we include short nonfiction under the #NovNov umbrella, and I have a nice little stack saved up (see above). I also have plenty of longer nonfiction on the go: a mixture of review books to catch up on, books from the library (such as this past year’s Wainwright Prize nominees), and stuff from my shelves that I’ve always meant to read.
Sci-Fi Month: Not a genre I typically read, and I don’t have any novella-length options at the moment, but I do have the first science fiction outing by a theologian (!) whose work I keep up with: The Last Voyage by Brian D. McLaren.
Spy any favourites or a particularly appealing title in my piles?
The link-up is now open for you to share your planning posts! Keep in touch via Bluesky (@bookishbeck.bsky.social / @cathybrown746.bsky.social) and Instagram (@bookishbeck / @cathy_746books) and use the feature images Cathy made plus hashtag #NovNov26.
Have any novellas lined up to read next month?
Bookish Beck = Rebecca Foster. American transplant to England. Freelance proofreader and book reviewer.
What a great amount of options! I have just read O Now and loved it. I’m a big fan of Crace so keen to see what you make of Continent if you get to it.
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Nice to know neither of us will ever run out of options 😉 I’ve not read Niall Williams before, but we have Time of the Child lined up for book club as the January read.
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Every year I seem to wind up with more and more to choose from! The Williams is a lovely read, very sweet.
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Some fabulous options there! I have a lot of possibilities too and like you will be trying to tie them in with other reading events – November is stuffed with them!
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It’s very satisfying to combine challenges. There’s only so much time in a month!
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I don’t know how it can be, but there is zero intersect between your huge shelf of books for Novellas in November and the stack that I already read! However, I have read one from your shelf, The Victorian Chaise Longue.
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There are a lot of novellas out there! I’ve meant to read the Laski since 2018, when it was one of my bibliotherapy prescriptions after my appointment at the School of Life in London. There’s a Persephone Books edition that always seemed expensive to me, so I was glad when I found a secondhand copy of another edition for £1 in Hay-on-Wye last month.
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I think I have the Persephone one. Good find!
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I have a WWWWednesday post on my blog tomorrow where I mention the novellas I might read for #NovNov! Happy reading!
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Great! Do add it to the link-up.
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Like you I’m doing some overlapping between NovNov and German Lit month (I think we both have Siblings in our stacks) but I can’t stretch to Margaret Atwood month and SciFi as well!
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Fair enough. It’s a lot in one month and it’s probably wise to be selective! I just picked up a Le Guin novella from the library today that would do double duty.
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Hmm, that scifi is intriguing. Also planning to combine various challenges
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I also have Paradises Lost by Ursula Le Guin now.
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Wow, I didn’t realise that November is so full of different things to read! I was just working on the novella challenge! Will have to have a look at my list and see if any are German…
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It’s a jam-packed month. Luckily, if some of your selections are novella-length, you’ll fit more in 🙂
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Lots of lovely options there! I will be combining NovNov with Nonfiction November as usual and looking forward to it (I don’t have anything German as I want to read the German stuff I do have this month in preparation for my Pairings post!!).
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I wish I was on top of things enough to be reading for November already; instead I’m scrambling to finish October releases and the R.I.P. challenge.
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[…] I’ve been catching up with most of the rest of the Booker Prize shortlist and reading lots of other delicious new releases thanks to the library. For Novellas in November and Nonfiction November, I’m also getting together a small stack of novellas and short nonfiction to supplement all the options from my own shelves. […]
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A theologian’s first science fiction novel is the one in the pile I’d ask about. I write novels and also started a spiritual philosophy, so I’m curious whether McLaren’s The Last Voyage reads more like story or sermon. Will you review it for Sci-Fi Month?
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I do hope to find the time for it, but it’s such a busy month what with co-hosting Novellas in November and committing to Margaret Atwood Reading Month, etc.
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Yup, I hear you loud and clear. Things start piling at this time of the year…it’s always a relief when the last week of the year rolls around
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Let me know if one of Jess Gibson’s stories is a standout for you, and I’ll add that into my month as well. (And thanks for linking to MARM, much appreciated.)
I love how tidy your shelf of novellas looks and the idea of your collecting them all year thinking “It’s November for you, hang on, I’ll read you soon …”
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I haven’t started it yet, but hopefully this weekend. I’ll let you know.
Books have to be patient in this household!
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