A short book is a great way to fall in love with reading again (Image: Nicola Roy)
If you started the year off with the intention of reading more, you’re not alone. It’s a really popular New Year’s resolution, but we’re in April now, and the momentum may have worn off a bit.
Every year, it’s the exact same for me. I fly through the books in January, but by the time season one is over, I’ve hit the biggest reading slump that’s so difficult to pull myself out of. So, if anyone else is currently in the same situation and wants to get back on track, I have just the recommendations you need.
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There’s truly nothing better than a short yet thrilling book to kickstart your love of reading again. Some of the biggest classics in the world are under 200 pages, from The Great Gatsby to Animal Farm.
No matter how long it is, a good story is still a good story, and if you’re looking for a short but sweet tale to get stuck into this week then I have three recommendations lined up.
They’re all very different, but they’re made to be devoured in a sitting or two, so happy reading!
Someone Always Robs The Poor is a fantastic piece of Scottish fiction (Image: Nicola Roy)
Someone Always Robs The Poor by Carl MacDougall
This was a book I picked up randomly in a charity shop with no idea what it was about, but it quickly became one of my favourite works of Scottish fiction and one I recommend to everyone.
It’s a collection of short stories based upon issues such as poverty, displacement, family drama and turbulent relationships, most of which are set in Scotland. It might sound a bit grim, and the subject matter is difficult to read at times, but you feel a real connection to the characters in these stories and you’re almost sad that each one is only a couple of pages long.
Even if you’re not from Scotland, it’s easy to resonate with these stories. From a dying father determined to see his estranged daughter to an alcoholic architect struggling to pick up the pieces of his life, every single tale is a heartfelt one.
It’s also apparently very hard to get your hands on now. Copies retail at Amazon for an eye-watering £23, but you can pick one up from eBay for £11.99.
Perfection is my most recent book purchase (Image: Nicola Roy)
Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
This is my newest book purchase, and one I haven’t quite finished yet, but I’m a huge fan so far so I had to include it in this list.
This short novel is about a young creative couple who move to Berlin to live in a beautifully boho apartment. The descriptions of the scene are so good, you feel like you’re really there, from the windows lined with houseplants to the Kraftwerk records pinned up on the walls.
We get to hear about Anna and Tom’s social life as they head to gallery openings or simply go about their daily working routines in the flat. It’s told through a very deadpan lens, and focuses on the intense gentrification of Berlin that has raged on for the past 10 years or so. Their lives look perfect from the outside, but things very quickly become stale and stagnant.
This novel was originally written in Italian and is Vincenzo’s first novel to be translated to English. If you love no-plot-just-vibes, this is the perfect one to get sucked into. It’s available on Amazon or World of Books.
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
The final book on my list is an absolute cult favourite that I wish I could read for the first time again. Another piece of translated fiction, this time Japanese, it’s light and fun yet heart-wreching at the same time.
It’s about a 36-year-old woman who has worked in the same convenience store in Tokyo for nearly two decades. She’s not interested in marriage or kids – all she cares about is the shop, and the work that goes into running it smoothly.
However, thanks to pressure from her family who are desperate for her to settle down, she’s forced to enter into an “arrangement” with a man who also has no interest in doing so.
Reading this book during lockdown was really interesting thanks to how it explored the beauty of a mundane everyday routine. Although this isn’t the case any more, I’d still highly recommend this short but sweet book about why it’s not always in your best interests to fit in.
You can buy it from Amazon.
