Short book recommendations please

[Happydaze2]

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

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.

Convenience Store Woman.

Galatea by Madeline Miller

Nemesis by Philip Roth

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.

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.

The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald

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.

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.

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!)

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?

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!

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

Meet me at the Museum by Anne Youngson

The Party , Tessa Hadley

Prime of Miss Jean Brodie? Less than 150 pages - not a word wasted and very different in tone to the film.

Mary Costello, Academy Street.
Robert Seethaler, A Whole Life.

The latter more upbeat/less sad than the former. Both beautifully written.

Or William Maxwell, They Came Like Swallows. If you're prepared to weep buckets.

All under 200 pp.

Thought of another one! Mrs Bridge by Evan S Connell.

Not really a novel, more a series of short vignettes.

Totally agree with this.

What about reading A Christmas Carol? So many films, so many festive tropes - but how many of you have actually read the book? It is short & powerful despite the familiarity of the story.

Why don't you have a look at the Newyorker where short stories by known authors are published?

My book group is about to read Mrs. Dalloway:
Virginia Woolf.

I would also recommend Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 which is a short Korean book. Very good, worth reading, but not a fun read!

Was going to say the same!

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan - lovely book, though thought provoking, and Christmas themed.