Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
I do like novellas, but looking for books to match this reminded me of how few I managed to read last year! Something to try and rectify, I think. Good novellas can really pack a punch in a small package, and they’re definitely special! So here are just some of my favourites.
The full prompt states less than 150 pages, but I’ve maybe stretched that just a little for some of these here!
Top Ten Quick Reads
Once Upon A Christmas Eve by Elodie Nowodazkij
Genre: Romance
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: August 7th, 2023
Pages: 93
This was such a lovely book to read during the festive season. I’ve really enjoyed the whole Love in Swans Cove series, and this was no exception – it also leads nicely into # Most Eligible Scrooge, another lovely addition to the series.
Genre: Horror
Age: Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: August 1st, 2023
Pages: 180
This is such a great book from a talented author – it’s found file, so the book is made up of internet chats and other documents, and Cat conveys things really well in a format that doesn’t allow much room for padding.
Genre: Horror
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: July 1st, 2021
Pages: 71
This novella packs a lot into under 100 pages! It’s a really excellent body horror novella from a great writer, and when I finished I really couldn’t believe how short it was. Well worth a read if you like horror.
Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
Genre: Horror
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: October 19th, 2021
Pages: 128
Sticking with horror, this is a fairly polarising book – some people LOVE it, some people really dislike it, but what I find interesting is people tend to like or dislike it for the same reasons. I found myself kind of mesmerised by this, and swept up by the dynamics in the group.
This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone
Genre: Sci-Fi – Romance
Age: Adult
Format: Audiobook
Published: July 16th, 2019
Pages: 198 Pages
This is one that was on my radar for a while before I read it, and I still felt like I should have read it sooner. It’s one of those books where believe the hype is actually accurate – it deserves all the positive words it gets and the awards it received.
That Could Be Enough by Alyssa Cole
Genre: Historical – Romance
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: June 26th, 2018
Pages: 158 Pages
I loved this book. So much so, I still think of it. It’s a wonderful sapphic historical romance that completely swept me away, and it’s still among my top favourite historical romances.
Cirque Berserk by Jessica Guess
Genre: Horror
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: February 12th, 2020
Pages: 170 Pages
This is a great example of how much you can really get into a horror novella, while still having a fun, action filled, tightly packed story. This book kept getting mentioned when I was first getting into indie horror, and I was so glad I picked it up – it’s a lot of fun!
Genre: Non-Fiction – History
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: September 3rd, 2020
Pages: 160 Pages
I have a couple of Object Lessons on my TBR, and I really need to get around to reading them. Snake was a great start, detailing the history of a fascination of snakes; informative, entertaining, and does a great job of conveying a lot of information in an easily accessible way, while remaining very short.
Crossroads by Laurel Hightower
Genre: Horror
Age: Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: August 10th, 2020
Pages: 160 Pages
Another excellent horror novella, this one focuses more on grief and the impact it can have, in a way that’ll have you completely gripped, tense, and, eventually, crying. Hightower is the Queen of Heartbreak Horror, and she really digs into those core emotions in a way that tugs at the heartstrings without crossing into cheesy.
Witch, Cat, and Cobb by J.K. Pendragon
Genre: Fantasy – Romance
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: August 10th, 2020
Pages: 75 Pages
This was a really fun, cute fantasy romance and really shows how even short tales can live long in your head! I often remember and think fondly of this, though it has by now been a good few years since reading it. If you like cute romances, this is a really great one.
If you are looking for short reads, I don’t think you can go wrong with any of these – I think genre fiction as a whole is great when it comes to novellas, and there are so many out there, there’s definitely something for everyone. Do you have any particular quick reads you recommend, or that you really loved?
Unwrapping Words 