To ask for books with super short chapters or diary entries?

[LemonSwan]

I thought about asking on the book forum but this is really books for people who hate actual books so thought it might be better not to ask on there 😂

Basically I have a super short attention span. Never finished an actual non fiction ‘book book’ in my life; except for the ones which are disguised as ‘non books’ - like This is going to hurt (with the diary entries about different stories on different days) or The 100 year old man who jumped out the window (with the short chapters which switch from past to present).

Please tell me other books you think it might like 😊 Any genre at all as long as it’s this format.

Thank you book lovers and haters 🤣

I enjoyed "The Machine of Death", which is a collection of short stories by various authors (some very very short, like, a couple of lines!) all based on the idea that in normal modern life there now exists a machine that can totally accurately give you a short print out of the way you will eventually die.

The stories all take that idea and run with it in different ways about how society changes and how the knowledge affects individual people's lives. Despite the title it isn't gory/giant robots etc, it is about how people react and deal with things and ideas.

Machine of Death: Kurzgeschichten: Amazon.co.uk: North, Ryan, Bennardo, Matthew, Malki, David, Morisse, Jörn: 9783453528789: Books

Ooo thank you! I wondered whether my brief was correctly described but you look to have hit the nail on the head! Thank you 😊

So excited to have a book list for once. Years have gone by where I just decided I was a non reader. And then I picked up This is going to hurt and read it in a week, and really loved reading.

I highly recommend Peter James, particularly the Roy Grace series. Most chapters are no longer than three pages, often shorter, and the narratives are gripping!

Ooo Thankyou @Lanneederniere

Looks like he has a million books so that’s great if I can get into them 🥳

Thankyou!

James Patterson also uses very short chapters. I used to take them when I travelled for work to fill short periods of time.

The Diary of an Ordinary Woman by Margaret Forster. Really good read.

Agreed.

I recently read The Appeal by Janice Halley which is entirely made from emails and text messages. A quick read but entertaining.

"The Summer Book" by Tove Jansson. Linked stories about a girl, her father and grandmother, spending the summer on a tiny island.

Lydia Davis writes very short stories - I just have "The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis"

Marian Keyes has a book which is a collection of very short stories/opinion pieces. It is called Under The Duvet, I think. Really manageable.

There’s the Adrian mole diaries - all of them are fab, you need to read them in order though.

Nella Last's War - there was a mass observation project during WWII and this is the diary of a housewife from the North. I loved all the details of their day-to-day lives and how they were coping with the war (there's also another 2 books after it with her diary entries from the years immediately after the war and in the 1950s)

How about "The Appeal" by Janice Hallett? It's written almost entirely as emails and text messages between two junior solicitors reviewing a case.

Agreed.

Daisy Jones and The Six is written in the form of short interviews with different band members. Not super high brow, but I found it an entertaining holiday read.

Bridget Jones.

I love the Summer Book!

Another obvious one - Anne Frank’s diary.

One that’s hilarious if you’re at all familiar with evangelical Christians - Adrian Plass’s diaries (loosely based on Adrian Mole).

There are a set of books called 'Quick Reads' which are short books aimed at adults. New set come out each year and are written by well known authors (ie Peter James mentioned upthread) Info here
My local library have a separate stand for them, but you can also find them on Kindle for 99p if that's you preferred format, just search for Quick Books

Look for YA books.

I had so short an attention span after having kids, and found these to be great. They tend to have shorter chapters and less convoluted storylines, but there are some great authors out there targeting this age group.

What sort of books would you like to read?

There was a post on exactly this on the book forum a few years ago. I'd recommended:

Both letters...

Ladies of Letters - Jane Gardham
Love, Nina - Nina Stibbe

Tales of the City - originally written as a newspaper column (first 3 volumes; last 3 are written as novels).

Some people hate him, some people love him, but I enjoyed Adam Kaye's 2 volumes of doctoring diaries.

And slightly left field.... one of my favourite books (and least favourite films) Salmon Fishing In the Yemen^ is largely memos, letters and emails.

I second Peter James.

It's been years since I read one but I think Dan Brown uses very short chapters. Maybe try The Da Vinci Code.

Agree, I came on to recommend all three of her books. The Allperton Angels has been my favourite so far

Letters rather than diary entries - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Not quite as fluffy as the title might suggest, and much better than the film adaptation.

Sweetpea by CJ Skuse is a diary style. This one has an additional 3 books in the series to get into if you like the first one. They’re so funny.

The Colour Purple is a series of short letters and diary entries and is an absolutely amazing book.

MJ Arlidge’s Helen Grace series has very short chapters of around 3 pages. I liked the earlier books but found myself losing interest towards the end of the series.

Lucy Foley’s books have a bit of a mixture with some 2-3 page chapters and some 10 page chapters if that’s any good for you. The Hunting Party and The Guest List are both really good.

The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary by Catherine Gray. She’s also written The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober and The Unexpected Joy of Being Single if either of those topics interest you.

I would be wary of trying to read thriller type books if you are wanting to read a short chapter at a time as you are likely to lose the gist of what is going on . I would anyway .

Try some Dan Brown. Writing is not great, but every chapter ends on a cliffhanger. This works for thrillers in general. Maybe try Gone Girl?