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Original poster

Short book recommendations please

38 replies

Happydaze2 · 11/11/2025 14:17

For our little book club - we will only have a couple of weeks to read so as to squeeze in an extra meetup pre-Christmas, so needs to be short and sweet! 😊 Ideally a light, easy read but any genre. TIA

OP posts:
strictlynopolitics · 11/11/2025 18:05

Small things like these, Claire Keegan, perfect coming up to Christmas. Around 100 pages I think.

I have recently read Clear by Carys Davies which also comes in at less than 200 pages.

Sorry, edited to add: Not very light

MmmMarmiteAndMarmalade · 11/11/2025 18:03

I’m out tonight at my book club discussing A Month in the Country. It’s a lovely, gentle, easy story and I’m looking forward to a lovely, gentle, easy discussion!

ElizabethVonArnim · 11/11/2025 18:02

What about a collection of short stories? The Penguin book of Christmas Stories has some absolute gems, plus it’s festive. Or a Christmassy kids’ book, eg The Dark is Rising or The Box of Delights?

AstaEscapes · 11/11/2025 18:00

Lady Into Fox (David Garnett.)

Scarcely more than a novella - not a strenuous read but it will definitely stay with you afterwards. I find myself thinking about the characters at odd moments.

(Nemesis is a fantastic novel but maybe a little downbeat for the occasion? And better read in summer, anyway!)

DelphiniumBlue · 11/11/2025 17:59

Ddakji · 11/11/2025 15:39

Convenience Store Woman.

Yes, I really liked this book, it felt fresh and original. Very easy to read,and short, I read it on Eurostar between London and Paris!
Piranesi is also a fab book, but not an easy read.

PermanentTemporary · 11/11/2025 17:52

I came on here to recommend The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor, but actually we have read Foster and A Month in the Country in our book club and either of those would be perfect.

Freebus · 11/11/2025 17:48

The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald

Sheeppig · 11/11/2025 17:46

I second a Month in the Country. It is a beautiful evocation of post WW1 England. It'sa slow, gentle book.
All Clare Keegan's books are very short and beautifully written but not all of them are what I would call "light". Maybe look at "Foster" which is about a shy young girl who is sent to live with relatives in rural Ireland.
Summerwater by Sarah Moss is under 200 pages and has just been made into a tv series. I found it very gripping.
You could always do a couple of short ghost stories as they are traditional for Christmas- MR James A Warning to the Curious and the Mezzotint are particularly good.

selondon28 · 11/11/2025 15:54

Piranesi by Susannah Clark is wonderful and quite short, also Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? by Lorrie Moore is also quite short but very good. I just finished it.

seashaken · 11/11/2025 15:46

Nemesis by Philip Roth

RaininSummer · 11/11/2025 15:44

Galatea by Madeline Miller

Ddakji · 11/11/2025 15:39

Convenience Store Woman.

TreesAtSea · 11/11/2025 15:37

A Month In The Country by J L Carr is a little gem, in my opinion.

Or there's The Shepherd by Frederick Forsyth, which is a Christmas-themed ghost story. Nothing scary though and also nothing like his spy novels. Should also mention it really is a very short book.