Short story?
You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles Or Giraffe & Flamingo by Curtis Sittenfeld
Short book: Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn
Hatherence on
* I recently read [A Psalm for the Wild-Built](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/40864002) by Becky Chambers. To me it felt too short, like it and its sequel were supposed to be one longer book, but it’s a really fast read in a unique soft sci fi setting.
* [Star Surgeon](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2522924.Star_Surgeon) by Alan E. Nourse. Sci fi about traveling space physicians, written by a real medical doctor. It’s in the public domain so you can conveniently find it online free and legally.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Shirley Jackson): a novella about mental illness presented as a horror story. Specifically, the sufferers of mental illness, being menaced by society.
Animal Farm (George Orwell): a political allegory about Russia, but framed though an at times very fun animal framing device. Very direct prose. Easy to read.
Annihilation (Jeff Vandermeer): a sci-fi-horror novel about an expedition into a strange region.
All Systems Red (Martha Wells): a novella about a cyborg who is supposed to be a slave but has secretly broken free and bides it’s time mostly watching movies and pretending to do it’s job.
At the Mountains of Madness (HP Lovecraft): A horror-sci-fi about an artic expedition that drove the narrator into madness.
The Mist (Stephen King): A Silent Hill-like story about a father and son trapped in a strange mist covered town where monsters roam.
The Raft (Stephen King): A group of teenagers get on a raft to party only to be beset by a strange creature that prevents them from leaving the raft.
Convenience Store Woman (Sayaka Murata): Short book– maybe novella? A neurodivergant woman works at a convenience store and tries to understand society, which is very difficult.
These are almost all novella or short story. I don’t think there’s any severe content warnings for any except Stephen King, he can be a bit… Much… I haven’t read those two in some years so I can’t remember the exact contents. Convenience Store Woman and We Have Always Lived in the Castle could be potentially upsetting in a way. They’re not gory, or sexist, but they do deal with social issues such as sexism and abuse and OCD/Autism, etc.
If you have specific triggers I recommend using a site like storygraph or your preferred site to peak content warnings.
Edited to add Convenience Store Woman.
jefrye on
{{84, Charing Cross Road}}
neigh102 on
Fiction
“No Way to Run,” by Janice Greene
“Coming Back,” by K.L. Denman
“Convenience Store Woman,” by Sayaka Murata
“Living Dead Girl,” by Elizabeth Scott
“Planet Earth is Blue,” by Nicole Panteleakos
“Tunes for Bears to Dance to,” by Robert Cormier
“Other Bells for Us to Ring,” by Robert Cormier
“Frenchtown Summer,” by Robert Cormier
​
Non-Fiction
“Signs of Survival,” by Renee and Herta Hartman
“The Reason I Jump,” by Naoki Higashida
“The Mongol Derby,” by Jessica Kwong
“The Story of Beautiful Jim Key,” by Albert R. Rogers
6 Comments
Short story?
You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles Or Giraffe & Flamingo by Curtis Sittenfeld
Short book: Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn
* I recently read [A Psalm for the Wild-Built](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/40864002) by Becky Chambers. To me it felt too short, like it and its sequel were supposed to be one longer book, but it’s a really fast read in a unique soft sci fi setting.
* [Star Surgeon](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2522924.Star_Surgeon) by Alan E. Nourse. Sci fi about traveling space physicians, written by a real medical doctor. It’s in the public domain so you can conveniently find it online free and legally.
* [A Country of Ghosts](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58564202-a-country-of-ghosts) by Margaret Killjoy, political speculative fiction. If you like Ursula K. Le Guin, you’ll probably like this.
* [And Then There Were N-1](https://escapepod.org/2018/11/01/escape-pod-652-and-then-there-were-n-one-part-1/) by Sarah Pinsker, a novella published for free at this link.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Shirley Jackson): a novella about mental illness presented as a horror story. Specifically, the sufferers of mental illness, being menaced by society.
Animal Farm (George Orwell): a political allegory about Russia, but framed though an at times very fun animal framing device. Very direct prose. Easy to read.
Annihilation (Jeff Vandermeer): a sci-fi-horror novel about an expedition into a strange region.
All Systems Red (Martha Wells): a novella about a cyborg who is supposed to be a slave but has secretly broken free and bides it’s time mostly watching movies and pretending to do it’s job.
At the Mountains of Madness (HP Lovecraft): A horror-sci-fi about an artic expedition that drove the narrator into madness.
The Mist (Stephen King): A Silent Hill-like story about a father and son trapped in a strange mist covered town where monsters roam.
The Raft (Stephen King): A group of teenagers get on a raft to party only to be beset by a strange creature that prevents them from leaving the raft.
Convenience Store Woman (Sayaka Murata): Short book– maybe novella? A neurodivergant woman works at a convenience store and tries to understand society, which is very difficult.
These are almost all novella or short story. I don’t think there’s any severe content warnings for any except Stephen King, he can be a bit… Much… I haven’t read those two in some years so I can’t remember the exact contents. Convenience Store Woman and We Have Always Lived in the Castle could be potentially upsetting in a way. They’re not gory, or sexist, but they do deal with social issues such as sexism and abuse and OCD/Autism, etc.
If you have specific triggers I recommend using a site like storygraph or your preferred site to peak content warnings.
Edited to add Convenience Store Woman.
{{84, Charing Cross Road}}
Fiction
“No Way to Run,” by Janice Greene
“Coming Back,” by K.L. Denman
“Convenience Store Woman,” by Sayaka Murata
“Living Dead Girl,” by Elizabeth Scott
“Planet Earth is Blue,” by Nicole Panteleakos
“Tunes for Bears to Dance to,” by Robert Cormier
“Other Bells for Us to Ring,” by Robert Cormier
“Frenchtown Summer,” by Robert Cormier
​
Non-Fiction
“Signs of Survival,” by Renee and Herta Hartman
“The Reason I Jump,” by Naoki Higashida
“The Mongol Derby,” by Jessica Kwong
“The Story of Beautiful Jim Key,” by Albert R. Rogers
“Wild Horses I Have Known,” by Hope Ryden
“Mustangs,” by Hope Ryden
Joyland
The Body
Saturday Night Ghost Club