Smaller, Substantial Books To Read While Traveling Over Holidays
December 22, 2019 9:16 AM Subscribe
I am looking for a book/books to read on planes and over the holidays. Details inside.
I want something to read over the holidays. I find that I am usually too ambitious and pick something large and dense that I cannot concentrate on. I always think that I am going to have more time than I do. I am looking for something under 200 pages to read. I loved Point Omega and Dept of Speculation. They were short but had a lot of philosophy in them.
I don't mind genre as long as it isn't commercial airport crap.
Thank you in advance!!
I want something to read over the holidays. I find that I am usually too ambitious and pick something large and dense that I cannot concentrate on. I always think that I am going to have more time than I do. I am looking for something under 200 pages to read. I loved Point Omega and Dept of Speculation. They were short but had a lot of philosophy in them.
I don't mind genre as long as it isn't commercial airport crap.
Thank you in advance!!
Bluebird Bluebird by Attica Locke is closer to (but under) 300 pages but definitely a fast read while still having an impact.
posted by obfuscation at 9:25 AM on December 22, 2019
posted by obfuscation at 9:25 AM on December 22, 2019
If you don't mind sci fi, All Systems Red by Martha Wells is a quickly engrossing novella that only takes a couple of hours to get through. I wouldn't call it substantial by any means, but it has good character development.
posted by rcraniac at 9:27 AM on December 22, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by rcraniac at 9:27 AM on December 22, 2019 [8 favorites]
Rachel Cusk's Outline, Transit, and Kudos.
W.G. Sebald's The Emigrants.
Teju Cole's Open City.
posted by niicholas at 9:31 AM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
W.G. Sebald's The Emigrants.
Teju Cole's Open City.
posted by niicholas at 9:31 AM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
A collection of short stories or essays may be what you need. Most prolific authors have them. I have collections by, e.g., Vonnegut, Gaiman, etc. Pick your favorite author and search.
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:16 AM on December 22, 2019
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:16 AM on December 22, 2019
But also I recommend Gateway (288pgs).
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:19 AM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:19 AM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
The Condition of Secrecy by Inger Christensen
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark
The Hollow Land by Jane Gardam
posted by gudrun at 10:24 AM on December 22, 2019
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark
The Hollow Land by Jane Gardam
posted by gudrun at 10:24 AM on December 22, 2019
Fifteen Dogs, by André Alexis (171 pages):
a bet between the gods Hermes and Apollo leads them to grant human consciousness and language to a group of dogs overnighting at a Toronto veterinary clinic. Suddenly capable of more complex thought, the pack is torn between those who resist the new ways of thinking, preferring the old 'dog' ways, and those who embrace the change.
Ru, by Kim Thúy (141 pages)
In vignettes of exquisite clarity, sharp observation and sly wit, we are carried along on an unforgettable journey from a palatial residence in Saigon to a crowded and muddy Malaysian refugee camp, and onward to a new life in Quebec.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:56 AM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
a bet between the gods Hermes and Apollo leads them to grant human consciousness and language to a group of dogs overnighting at a Toronto veterinary clinic. Suddenly capable of more complex thought, the pack is torn between those who resist the new ways of thinking, preferring the old 'dog' ways, and those who embrace the change.
Ru, by Kim Thúy (141 pages)
In vignettes of exquisite clarity, sharp observation and sly wit, we are carried along on an unforgettable journey from a palatial residence in Saigon to a crowded and muddy Malaysian refugee camp, and onward to a new life in Quebec.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:56 AM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle clocks in at 152 pages. It's horror, specifically a retelling of a Lovecraft story with a black protagonist. Quick read, very good.
posted by the primroses were over at 11:16 AM on December 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by the primroses were over at 11:16 AM on December 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
Start with a list of generally substantial books under 200 pages and see if there are any you've "always been meaning to read." Buy two or three just in case.
(A Christmas Carol is a good one to read right now.)
posted by pracowity at 11:17 AM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
(A Christmas Carol is a good one to read right now.)
posted by pracowity at 11:17 AM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
The Best American [fill in the blank] Writing Series usually has good collections of stuff in a number of genres.
posted by clawsoon at 11:19 AM on December 22, 2019
posted by clawsoon at 11:19 AM on December 22, 2019
Yuri Herrera’s Signs preceding the end of the world.
posted by praemunire at 11:31 AM on December 22, 2019
posted by praemunire at 11:31 AM on December 22, 2019
I really love Ali Smith’s seasonal quartet. Autumn is 272pp.
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson is also 272pp, but it’s a tremendously quick read. It’s maybe. It that deep but I think it would be great for traveling. It really helped me when my focus on more serious books was flagging.
Among my favorite short novels are:
Clandestine in Chile by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which is actually reported non fiction but reads like suspense. 160pp
Wife of Martin Guerre by Janet Lewis, 112pp
Desperate Characters by Paula Fox, 192pp
Also, you might look into the selections from the Another Look book club at Stanford: they specialize in overlooked short novels. It’s run my Tobias Wolff and has been running on and off for 7 years, so there’s a lot to choose from.
posted by vunder at 12:39 PM on December 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson is also 272pp, but it’s a tremendously quick read. It’s maybe. It that deep but I think it would be great for traveling. It really helped me when my focus on more serious books was flagging.
Among my favorite short novels are:
Clandestine in Chile by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which is actually reported non fiction but reads like suspense. 160pp
Wife of Martin Guerre by Janet Lewis, 112pp
Desperate Characters by Paula Fox, 192pp
Also, you might look into the selections from the Another Look book club at Stanford: they specialize in overlooked short novels. It’s run my Tobias Wolff and has been running on and off for 7 years, so there’s a lot to choose from.
posted by vunder at 12:39 PM on December 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
Oscar Wilde's Dorian Grey is quite short and just teeming with interesting details. I've read it dozens of times, and I still find new bits in it when I read it.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:31 PM on December 22, 2019
posted by jacquilynne at 1:31 PM on December 22, 2019
High Tide in Tucson by Barbara Kingsolver.
The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George.
Both books are short essays so easy to start and stop.
Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott.
posted by BoscosMom at 2:35 PM on December 22, 2019
The Tarantula in My Purse by Jean Craighead George.
Both books are short essays so easy to start and stop.
Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott.
posted by BoscosMom at 2:35 PM on December 22, 2019
So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell
Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
I asked a similar question in 2017.
posted by dobbs at 3:10 PM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
I asked a similar question in 2017.
posted by dobbs at 3:10 PM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
I loved Department of Speculation too, so I'm here for this question. A couple of thoughts:
Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (Gregory Hays, trans.) Kind of like a self-help book but 2000 years old. Extremely quotable. Single sentences and paragraphs you'll want to think about for an hour.
Within the Context of No Context by George W.S. Trow. One long essay from 1980 that captures a lot that's disquieting about America now (and was then, but lots of us didn't see it then.)
But since Dept of Spec is fiction here are some short books that remind me of it, in a way
How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti
No One Belongs Here More Than You, by Miranda July
a novel and a book of stories, both short, both aphoristic and wonderful and, well, I'm gonna say it again, disquieting.
OK I already typed this in and I see now that the Heti is 320 pages -- sorry, to me it read very very fast! The July is 224, the Aurellus 256 (but it has several separate chunks of writing and you don't have to read them all.) The Trow is the only one that meets your 200 page limit! So read the Trow, or dare the others.
posted by escabeche at 6:02 PM on December 22, 2019
Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (Gregory Hays, trans.) Kind of like a self-help book but 2000 years old. Extremely quotable. Single sentences and paragraphs you'll want to think about for an hour.
Within the Context of No Context by George W.S. Trow. One long essay from 1980 that captures a lot that's disquieting about America now (and was then, but lots of us didn't see it then.)
But since Dept of Spec is fiction here are some short books that remind me of it, in a way
How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti
No One Belongs Here More Than You, by Miranda July
a novel and a book of stories, both short, both aphoristic and wonderful and, well, I'm gonna say it again, disquieting.
OK I already typed this in and I see now that the Heti is 320 pages -- sorry, to me it read very very fast! The July is 224, the Aurellus 256 (but it has several separate chunks of writing and you don't have to read them all.) The Trow is the only one that meets your 200 page limit! So read the Trow, or dare the others.
posted by escabeche at 6:02 PM on December 22, 2019
This Is How You Lose the Time War
209 pages, but a lovely epistolary SF story about two agents on opposing sides of a time war falling for each other, told through the exchange of secret letters to one another.
posted by Pryde at 6:38 PM on December 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
209 pages, but a lovely epistolary SF story about two agents on opposing sides of a time war falling for each other, told through the exchange of secret letters to one another.
posted by Pryde at 6:38 PM on December 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
Exhalation, the collection of stories by Ted Chiang, is sci-fi, but involves lots of ruminations on the meaning of memory, history, and so on.
posted by pykrete jungle at 10:11 PM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by pykrete jungle at 10:11 PM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Einstein's Dreams
...dense, but really easy to turn pages.
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 9:33 AM on December 23, 2019
...dense, but really easy to turn pages.
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 9:33 AM on December 23, 2019
If you'd accept very short, very sweet, I'd recommend 84 Charing Cross Road. The book is just slightly over 100 pages, but it's extremely touching and humorous and has some Christmassy moments. It's a book that's meant to be savored, so it will last a little longer than its meager page count.
posted by Mael Oui at 6:53 PM on December 23, 2019
posted by Mael Oui at 6:53 PM on December 23, 2019
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posted by sacrifix at 9:17 AM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]