Think Cat’s Cradle (most things Vonnegut, really) — each chapter is barely one or two pages. Poetry-type free verse books like Love that Dog (Creech), Inside Out and Back Again (Lai) are also good (preferably at a higher reading level), or “wisdom literature”, like The Little Prince (Saint-Exupery) or Invisible Cities (Calvino).
I don’t have a lot of time to read throughout the day, so I get my pages in between classes or while waiting for the bus. I’m looking for something that I can pick up and put down easily, without getting too absorbed by the plot — something where on every page, I’ll have learned something new about the story. Non-linear, “discrete” storytelling is also good — Cat’s Cradle, for example, is all over the place, Little Prince and Invisible Cities are almost like short story collections or “lists” of planets and cities respectively.
I don’t care a lot about genre, but I particularly enjoy comedy — stories that are very dry, very bizarre, and a little profound (think Steinbeck in Cannery Row, or… all things Vonnegut). Writing from the 1900s — 50s, 80s. (Anything short-form is good, though.)
Thank you very much!
by custard-soliloquy
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{{The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros}}
{{The White Book by Han Kang}} – [correct Goodreads link here](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40338442)
I just read My Sister the Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite. I think it will fit many of your criteria, including being written in many short chapters.
Einstein’s Dreams (Alan Lightman) fits your bill – As Einstein is developing the theory of relativity, he dreams of worlds where time functions differently. This one reminds me a lot of Invisible Cities in form and function, though the premises are unique, and the chapters are definitely bite sized.
Speaking of Calvino, If on a winter’s night a traveler also has short form chapters (and is probably my favorite of his books). It’s longer than Invisible Cities and so does have some chapters that are longer than the couple pages you specified, but I figured I’d throw it out there.
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If you’re okay with non-fiction, The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody by Will Cuppy is very funny. Short essays about historical figures from Pericles to Catherine the Great.
Oooh, this perfectly describes Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson.
A specific one doesn’t come to mind, but I wonder if you could find a flash fiction collection? Flash is usually under 1000 words
{{You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie}} is told in super short chapters with a mix of poetry and prose.