Friday Mood Recs: 10 slim summer novels to devour in a day
Hey readers!
A couple of weeks ago I shared a (long) list of long books that I think make particularly great summer reads. For me personally, there’s nothing better than getting lost in an epic during the summer months. I’m especially a fan of packing a long book for a vacation when I’m going to be busy. It’s counter intuitive, but one long book means no decision fatigue. It means slipping into a familiar world day after day without the required readjustment that comes with a new story. For me, it just works. ( gets it 🤣)
But if I had to choose a second perfect summer reading experience, it’s devouring a book in a single day. Before I had a kid, I could polish off any book less than say 350 pages in a long, lazy pool day. I’d plop myself down in a beach chair and basically not move until I was finished. But now, slimmer novels are required for single sitting readings and that’s what I’m sharing with you today. Depending on your reading speed, life circumstances, and willingness to ignore responsibilities, all of these could be one-sitting or single day reads.
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A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (108 pages). In this classic American play, a fading Southern belle moves in with her sister and brusque brother-in-law in steamy New Orleans where her illusions and his blunt reality clash in violence.
Assembly by Natasha Brown (112 pages). This is a sharp, taut novella in which a Black British woman weighs the cost of her own success in the days before a lavish garden party. It sounds simple, but it’s surprisingly unforgettable.
Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera, translated by Lisa Dillman (115 pages). In this mythological odyssey, a young woman crosses the border from Mexico into the U.S. carrying a message for her brother and what she encounters is breathtaking.
Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls (128 pages). A lonely housewife falls in love with a creature who escapes a research facility and turns up in her kitchen. This strange premise becomes a tender and memorable story about loneliness and connection.
The All of It by Jeannette Haien (130 pages). This is a quietly disturbing but beautiful story in which an Irish priest sits with a grieving widow as she shares a long-held secret about her marriage.
The Premonition by Banana Yoshimoto, translated by Asa Yoneda (133 pages). Something about a temporary relocation screams summer reading to me, even when its not a typical vacation novel. In this one, a young woman senses something missing from her memory and goes to stay with her mysterious aunt, hoping to recover it.
A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr (135 pages). To me, this is a perfect summer book. It follows a WWI veteran who spends a healing summer in a Yorkshire village restoring a medieval mural, which I know sounds mundane, but it becomes truly transcendent.
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (159 pages). This is a must-read classic about an American man in 1950s Paris who falls into a passionate affair with an Italian bartender while his fiancée is away, forcing him to face the desires he’s repressed.
The End We Start From by Megan Hunter (160 pages). In this spare yet poetic dystopian story, a new mother carries her newborn through a flooded London. This is a breathless sort of novella with a hazy, but intimate tone that’s completely transporting.
West by Carys Davies (160 pages). A widowed man heads into the American frontier after hearing rumors of the discovery of giant bones, leaving his young daughter behind to wait for him. The ending is unforgettable!
Tell me your thoughts! What are your favorite slim books? What are some short, summery stories we should add to our beach bags?
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Happy reading!
Sara
