Cathy & Rebecca are once again hosting Novellas in November. This year I have read 12 novellas, with another three definites planned for November. I also hope to discover some new ones during this event.
I have come to love novella time throughout the year, but especially during those moments in life when everything feels a little hectic and I simply want a good, satisfying story in one or two sittings.
Novellas I read this year
- No. 91/92 A Parisian Bus Diary | Lauren Elkin
- Blue Postcards | Douglas Bruton
- Assembly | Natasha Brown
- Small Things Like These | Claire Keegan
- Elizabeth Finch | Julian Barnes
- Maigret Goes to School | Georges Simenon
- Maigret and the Minister | Georges Simenon
- Marlo | Jay Carmichael
- The Last White Man | Mohsin Hamid
- The Inseperables | Simone de Beauvoir
- Passing | Nella Larsen
- The Swimmers | Julie Otsuka
It’s virtually impossible to pick a favourite from this list – I loved and enjoyed them all for their own reasons, but the two I have recommended the most to others have been Small Things Like These and The Inseperables.
November Novellas
These are the novellas I will read and review during November thanks to their ability to fit into more than one reading challenge.
- The Jew’s Beech | Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (also for German Lit Month)
- The Evening of the Holiday | Shirley Hazzard (also for AusReading Month)
- Foster | Claire Keegan (buddy ready for Novellas in November)
Plus the possibilities if time & Voss permit:
- The Pigeon | Patrick Süskind (also for German Lit month)
- Me, Antman & Fleabag | Gayle Kennedy (also for AusReading Month)
- The Death of Ivan Ilyich | Leo Tolstoy
- The Picture of Dorian Gray | Oscar Wilde
Which novellas have been your favourite or most recommended reads this year?
| This post was written on the traditional land of the Wangal clan, one of the 29 clans of the Eora Nation within the Sydney basin. This Reading Life acknowledges that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are this land’s first storytellers. |
bronasbooks.com 
I have read Passing and Elizabeth Finch this year, and the one I’ll be posting next on! Haven’t checked to see what else.
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I loved The Evening of the Holiday. I hope you do too.
BTW, have you still got the link for Foster?
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I’ve not long finished it – it was gorgeous.
I have a hard copy of Foster. I think Cathy has the link on her original NovNov post.
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Thanks, I’ll find it there.
(Not sure when I’ll have time to read it, but we’ll see!)
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I was so glad that I found Foster while visiting the UK last month, it is my next print book to read! I’ll also read Maureen by Rachel Joyce, even though it isn’t coming out in the US until January.
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Foster turned out to be a very quick read, I hope/plan to read it again before pulling my thoughts together for a post. Hope you enjoy it too.
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It’s been a long time since I read Ivan Ilyich but I remember really loving it.
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I was gifted this copy quite a few years ago and feel guilty that I haven’t read it yet, so I really hope I can squueze it in this month.
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Quite a few novellas. I seldom read novellas, probably because I don’t find them. Julian Barnes is definitely on my list, love his books.
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Books this year seem to be novellas or chunksters – nothing inbetween!! Or maybe that’s just me 🙂
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Thanks for this great list! I added several to my TBR and discovered that I already had a few of them on my TBR but didn’t realize they are novellas. LOL
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My community service for the month 😀
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You’ve read some good ones there! I tend to save mine up for November, and most of mine are short nonfiction again this year, as always …
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I’ve read a lot of chunksters this year Liz, so I used novellas as a lovely palate cleanser inbetween 🙂
It has certainly been a very good year for novellas I think.
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It’s always good when you can make your books fit more than one of the November challenges! I have just finished reading Blue Postcards and am hoping to read Small Things Like These later in the month.
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Blue Postcards was fascinating, but I’m not sure I understood it all and would like to reread it to dig deeper. Whereas I loved STLT so much I’d love to reread it purely for the pleasure of it.
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