short books that are worth the read
philosophical musings, examination of the self, and literary horror
If you're like me and you tend to gravitate toward books that are on the shorter side, then here are some book recommendations that you might like.
All of these amazing books are under 150 to 200 pages but they still impacted me greatly.
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
"Be patient towards all that is unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms, like books written in a foreign tongue."
This is definitely one of my favourite collection of letters that I've read. It's one that I often reread from time to time and I really enjoyed Rilke's musings and thoughts on art, solitude, and life.
The writing is thought-provoking and contemplative. It's a short book that you can probably read in one sitting but it's one that will stay with you.
Água Viva by Clarice Lispector
“I am obscure to myself. I let myself happen. I unfold only in the now. I am rudely alive.”
Words cannot properly express how much I adore Lispector's novels. Her works are simply masterpieces.
It's incredibly difficult to describe what this book is about but it's essentially a book written in the form of fragments and filled with philosophical musings. It's one long stream of consciousness and there isn't really a plot or storyline.
And of course the prose is truly stunning. Strange and beautiful.
Lie With Me by Philippe Besson
“This feeling of love, it transports me, it makes me happy. At the same time, it consumes me and makes me miserable, the way all impossible loves are miserable.”
This novel absolutely wrecked me and I fear I might never recover from it.
The story is set in France in the 80s and centers around the lives of two characters—Philippe and Thomas.
There are so many raw and vulnerable moments in the book. The narrative is tinged with a sense of melancholy. At its heart, this is a gorgeous and tender story on loss and first love.
“It's the most simple words that destroy us.”
It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over by Anne de Marcken
“The earth holds things in its body. In clay. In ice. The real. The unreal. Time. Each other. All the chances we had.”
Can I just mention how beautiful that title is? When I first saw the title I was immediately intrigued.
This is a literary horror novel about an undead girl in the afterlife. I love how unique the story is and it was unlike anything I've read before.
The writing is also hauntingly lyrical and a beautiful meditation on grief.
“This sadness is not an empty church and not an empty house. It is the whole empty world and I am in it and it is in me.”
The White Book by Han Kang
“I hold nothing dear. Not the place where I live, not the door I pass through every day, not even, damn it, my life.”
Everything about this book was brilliant and phenomenal. Han Kang is definitely one of my favourite authors now.
This is a collection of mostly short essays on things that are related to the colour white. It is filled with profound observations on life and mortality.
The Details by Ia Genberg
“That's all there is to the self, or the so-called 'self': traces of the people we rub up against."
The beauty is in the details. This is a moving and contemplative novel about how we are impacted by the people and moments happening around us.
It describes how a person's story is an amalgamation of all the people who have touched and shaped their lives.
I loved it and it is such a beautifully written character study.
“In one way life begins anew each day and every second, but it’s also true that I keep returning to the same places in myself.”
Salt Slow by Julia Armfield
“The sky is gory with stars, like the insides of a gutted night.”
Another literary horror but this time it's a collection of short stories.
If you love stories that are strange and absurd then this is the perfect book for you. The imagery is dark and brilliantly eerie.
The stories also have a magical realism element to it where the line between mythic and the mundane is blurred.
And that concludes my list of short books that I love. There are definitely more books that I would add but these are just some of my favs <3
I love your recommendations! Btw, have you read Rilke’s ”the notebooks of malte laurids brigge”?
Have been wanting to get more into short stories, as they are easy to read when I’m traveling to and from school, so thank you for the list! 🫶🏻
Totally agree with Han Kang’s ”White book”, it has stuck with me since I read it. Han Kang’s way of portraying different aspects of the colour white transcends language, as I have read it both in English, Swedish and parts in Korean, and I get so melancholy and amazed every time reading it. The one short story that has stuck with me is her mom having to give birth to her first child in the kitchen, and the way she pleads for the child to live is soul shattering to read, in all three languages.