Finding time to read thanks to novellas
When you work full time, have a family and young children, it’s not easy to find time to read. Your schedule is so packed that you think longingly of those blessed years when reading was possible. Book lovers get frustrated. This was something we shared and regretted during a girls night out and I suggested to turn to novellas. I challenged these ladies to read at least one novella per month. And I committed to spread around a list around twelve recommendations of books with less than 200 pages. In the end, I ended up with a two tiered reading cake of twenty-four novellas.
Here’s the first layer, the first challenge:
| English title | French title | Author | Country |
| Agostino | Agostino | Alberto Moravia | Italy |
| Journey Into the Past | Voyage dans le passé | Stefan Zweig | Austria |
| Doctor Glas | Docteur Glas | Söderberg | Sweden |
| Beside the Sea | Bord de mer | Véronique Olmi | France |
| A Slight Misunderstanding | La double méprise | Prosper Mérimée | France |
| In the Dark Room | Dans la chambre obscure | RK Narayan | India |
| Play It As It Lays | Maria avec et sans rien | Joan Didion | USA |
| Awakenings | Eveils | Gaetano Gazdanov | Russia |
| The Murderess | Les petites filles et la mort | Alexandros Papadiamantis | Greece |
| In the Absence of Men | En l’absence des hommes | Philippe Besson | France |
| The Road | La route | Jack London | USA |
| Three Horses | Trois chevaux | Erri de Luca | Italy |
And the second one:
| English title | French title | Author | Country |
| Not available | Le mec de la tombe d’à côté | Katarina Mazetti | Sweden |
| Alien Hearts | Notre cœur | Guy de Maupassant | France |
| Not available | Crimes exemplaires | Max Aub | Mexico |
| The Bookshop | L’affaire Lolita | Penelope Fitzgerald | UK |
| Rendezvous in Venice | Le rendez-vous de Venise | Philippe Beaussant | France |
| Cheese | Fromage | Willem Elschott | Belgium |
| The Man Who Walked to the Moon | L’homme qui marchait sur la lune | Howard McCord | USA |
| Princess Ligovskaia | La Princesse Ligovskoï | Lermontov | Russia |
| Not available | Aline | C-F Ramuz | Switzerland |
| Fame | Gloire | Daniel Kehlman | Austria |
| Not available | Teen Spirit | Virginie Despentes | France |
| Not available | Je dénonce l’humanité | Férenc Karinthy | Hungary |
Pick and miw is allowed, of course. I thought I’d share the lists in the hope that it might helped other readers pressed with time. It might be an opportunity to discover good novels and new writers. And I hope they’ll have the impression that they keep in touch with books and literature, even if they have limited time for it.
What you do do when life eats up your reading time?
Book Around the Corner 
Great ideas! I never go anywhere with out my kindle, and I pull it out when ever I have a moment to spare. But there’s never really enough time, is there?
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Same here. I always have my kindle on me and I tend to read everywhere. I also joke and say that readers are the most patient people in waiting lines because it’s just another opportunity to read, right?
But not everyone is able to shut the world out like this and read on the spot.
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Yes! It’s so true! I actually like when I find myself having to wait somewhere because it means I get to read. The DMV? My happy place! Take as long as you want!
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That’s me too!
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I’m on the middle of a set of night shifts they take my reading time I’m very tired
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I imagine that must be tough on your sleeping routine and get you tired.
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There’s a lot of good titles there, and I think novellas are a practical suggestion.
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There are quite a few on this list that you’ve already read.
I think that novellas are a good way to FINISH one book within a month when you’re on time constraint or too exhausted to read at night. It’s to disheartening otherwise.
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I agree. It’s disheartening to try and read a 600 page Victorian (or otherwise) when you can only read a couple of pages a day.
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Yes, I’ve been there when the kids were younger and I would just collapse at night.
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Short stories are always a good option, but these all sound a great idea!
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You’re right about short stories but not everybody enjoys them.
Sometimes I have a hard time finding the right pace to read a collection of short stories. Too much time between the stories and I lose the feeling of the collection and why they’re been put together, not enough time between stories and they all blend in a multicolor soup.
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I’m one of those that can’t get on with short stories. If I spread them out then I forget what the first one was about but if I read them all in one go they blend too much into one
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It’s hard to find the right time and right rythm to read a collection of short stories, at least for me.
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That sums up by dilemma exactly Emma
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I tend to prefer novellas and short stories over novels but I find that I really want to read short stories in one visit and novellas in one or two visits whereas when I read a novel I’m content to dip into it whenever I can. So I find short stories are great when I’m short of time and, counter-intuitively perhaps, novels as well. I tend to leave novellas for when I have the time to read them in one or two visits; so, although I like them I find them more problematic when I have little time. I don’t want to put you off your challenge though, honest! 🙂
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Very sorry for the slow answer, Jonathan.
I see your point. That’s the beauty of novellas: they can be read in one or two sittings. Perfect for a two hours train ride to Paris from Lyon, where all these ladies live.
Put one business trip in the month, a few hours stolen here and there and poof, the novella is read!
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My first love is the novel, but I do like novellas as well. I’m actually reading one on your list at the moment: En l’absence des hommes. Slowly of course, because it’s in French, but I’ve taken to having it in my bag and reading it in waiting rooms, without a dictionary, which even though some words confound me, I’m finding a much better way to read it than at home where it’s too easy to reach for help instead of having to use context to work things out.
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I really enjoy novellas and only skilled authors write them well. It’s a special skill to put so much in less than 200 pages. Doctor Glas is the perfect example of this.
I hope you’re enjoying the ride of En l’absence des hommes. I loved it.
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If I could recommend one Australian novella it would be Jane Rawson’s Formaldehyde from a couple of years ago. From the authors on your list I have read a little Stefan Zweig (and find him a bit stilted) but would love to read the Jack London of which I have not previously heard.
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Thanks for the recommendation.
Since you’re interested in women’s condition, my recommendation to you from this list would be The Murderess by Papadiamantis and The Dark Room by RK Narayan.
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Great,
I’ll taste some of these novellas
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There are some good ones here. Let me know which ones you tried if you get to one of them. (Or I’ll see your billet on your blog anyway)
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Awesome, i was looking for Férenc Karinthy (the last one of the list) . I didn’t find ‘Je dénonce l’humanité’ but i found at the library ‘Epépé’…. It’s a wonderful discovery.
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I have Epépé on the shelf, I didn’t have time to get to it yet but it sounds very good.
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Cesar Aira. An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter.
Denis Johnson. Train Dreams.
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Thanks for the recommendations.
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I tend to read more novellas. I made a similar list a few years back 20 under 200 or so.
I wanted to turn it into a series, maybe I will. For myself. I sometimes forget how many are on my piles. I also have a few of yours and have read some. But there’s more to explore on your list.
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Thanks Caroline. The more I read, the more I appreciate short but meaningful books.
Which ones would you like to explore?
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I’m pretty busy at work presently so I may nab some of your suggestions. Like you and others I’ve taken to using my kindle more as it’s to hand. Otherwise, when tired I read more crime and SF frankly since it’s easier. I’ll be leaving comments on a couple of Guy’s reviews where I won’t have time to write up my own but followed up on some books from there.
It’s a thing. We all have our bills to pay and other commitments and sometimes that means having to juggle or let other stuff slide for a bit. I like your novella solution.
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I like crime fiction when I’m tired and overworked too. But it has to be in French, otherwise it requires to much energy.
SF is not my thing but I can understand why it’s good to unwind.
Let me know if you try one book or the other from this list.
Good luck with the workload and take care.
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Some great sounding reads here! As someone who really enjoys novellas I’ll certainly be returning to your list many times for suggestions. The Bookshop and Journey into the Past will both be featuring as part of my Novella a Day in May series 🙂
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Both books are excellent.
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