Page 2 | Any ideas for short novel choice for book group?

Clawdy · 2026-03-19T12:26:19+00:00

My book group choice next, and for various reasons, we've got less time to read it, so I need a shortish novel! Any ideas?

Chemenger · 20/03/2026 10:07

To be fair I Who have Never Known Men is a pretty bleak book too.

EggplantSurprise · 20/03/2026 10:04

Mulledjuice · 20/03/2026 08:29

I mean, each to their own but I found it an utterly bleak read.

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I agree, but so is Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These, which is about poverty, small town class prejudice, institutional cruelty and the oppression of women, and So Late in the Day, which is about the self-pity and anger of a common or garden misogynist.

I tend to be slightly puzzled as to her popularity. Her work is beautifully and carefully written, but her vision is unvaryingly bleak. Perhaps it’s in part the brevity.

I’ve noticed other publishers grasping that readers seem to like short stories sold as books — several I know of are commissioning their writers to write a short story they will publish as a tiny book, and Colm Toibin has (slightly cheekily) brought out an old short story from one of his collections and published it as a short book.

Mulledjuice · 20/03/2026 08:29

Freysimo · 20/03/2026 07:52

Why not?

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I mean, each to their own but I found it an utterly bleak read.

RipplePlease · 20/03/2026 07:58

Not sure if this has been mentioned but this book inspired a lot of discussion at my book group:
So Late in the Day by Clare Keegan.

Freysimo · 20/03/2026 07:52

Mulledjuice · 19/03/2026 15:21

Dear God no!

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Why not?

Original poster

Clawdy · 19/03/2026 22:14

Some great suggestions here, I will be checking up on lots of these titles, thanks!

OP posts:

LoserWinner · 19/03/2026 19:19

‘Testament of Mary’ by Colm Toibin

Twinsybalinsy · 19/03/2026 19:18

Shy by Max Porter is also a great read!

PermanentTemporary · 19/03/2026 19:14

Foster by Claire Keegan
Convenience Store Woman by Sayata Muraka

SnowFrogJelly · 19/03/2026 19:12

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan or anything else by her

Karistyleaftea · 19/03/2026 19:07

@leafinthewind Definitely Olive Kitteridge, first book I read by Elizabeth Strout who is very high up on my list of favourite authors.
Also try A Psalm for the Wild-built by Becky Chambers, lovely read.

Sleepysnoozytime · 19/03/2026 19:06

Eradication, by Jonathan Miles. Very thought provoking and not too long, my best read this month so far!

Monolithique · 19/03/2026 18:56

Time's Arrow by Martin Amis
The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald
Metroland by Julian Barnes

ApolloandDaphne · 19/03/2026 18:48

If you want something super short I recommend reading the Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It is superb. You can download it and read it on any device.

Celiathebanshee · 19/03/2026 15:56

GetOffTheCounter · 19/03/2026 15:14

I suggested When the Cranes Fly South to my book group but got a thorough ticking off by the organiser that first of all 'it's not on kindle' and second of all that it was only making our older members sadly aware of the problems they might have with adult children. Sigh.

(Sorry, no reason for me to add this, other than that i can't have a right moan about it IRL so taking the opportunity to moan here!).

*I think my days at that club are numbered. I can't tolerate fucking idiots who see the apogee of their existence as running a bookclub.

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It's on kindle now, if that helps! To be fair I chose it for my book group because so many people had recommended it to me, but I did zero research beforehand. If I had, I also might not have suggested it as one of our members has recently lost both her mum and her very aged grandmother.
I wouldn't like to be in a book group that ticked people off

RedRosie · 19/03/2026 15:37

I'd suggest Small Things like These by Claire Keegan. Very poignant, lots to discuss.

Pollyanna87 · 19/03/2026 15:37

Any Sherlock Holmes novel other than Baskervilles.

leafinthewind · 19/03/2026 15:35

I also recommend Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. Great for prompting discussion about empty nests and there role of women and people-pleasing

leafinthewind · 19/03/2026 15:33

onitlikeacarbonnet · 19/03/2026 13:29

I who have never known men by Jaqueline Harpman
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Seconding both of these!

user1486915549 · 19/03/2026 15:28

On Chesil Beach led to loads of discussion in our reading group.
How one action can change the course of your life , destiny , free choice .
Got very deep and philosophical.
My DH got worried I was so much later than usual and was about to come and look for me 😂

JennyChawleigh · 19/03/2026 15:21

tobee · 19/03/2026 15:13

Yes I was just going to recommend The Driver’s Seat by Muriel Spark. Also The Girls of Slender Means.

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Injury Time by Beryl Bainbridge. Also Another Part of the Wood by her.

The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon

Pereira Maintains by Antonio Tabucchi

Good Morning Midnight by Jean Rhys

We've just read "Pereira Maintains" in my book group - really thought provoking.

Mulledjuice · 19/03/2026 15:21

Freysimo · 19/03/2026 13:11

On Chesil Beach

Dear God no!

TofuTuesday · 19/03/2026 15:20

Up at the Villa by Somerset Maugham - takes place over a few days, set in the 40s, beautifully written, moral dilemmas of the age

GetOffTheCounter · 19/03/2026 15:14

Celiathebanshee · 19/03/2026 14:43

Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud
or my book group just read When the Cranes Fly South which doesn’t seem that short but is very quick to read

I suggested When the Cranes Fly South to my book group but got a thorough ticking off by the organiser that first of all 'it's not on kindle' and second of all that it was only making our older members sadly aware of the problems they might have with adult children. Sigh.

(Sorry, no reason for me to add this, other than that i can't have a right moan about it IRL so taking the opportunity to moan here!).

*I think my days at that club are numbered. I can't tolerate fucking idiots who see the apogee of their existence as running a bookclub.

tobee · 19/03/2026 15:13

Yes I was just going to recommend The Driver’s Seat by Muriel Spark. Also The Girls of Slender Means.

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Injury Time by Beryl Bainbridge. Also Another Part of the Wood by her.

The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon

Pereira Maintains by Antonio Tabucchi

Good Morning Midnight by Jean Rhys