Help me finish books!

November 3, 2006 12:29 PM

Help me find a book I’ll actually finish!

I have this problem, one that I imagine I share with a fair amount of others – I tend to not finish books. I start them all the time, but I’ll be damned if 4 out of 5 don’t end up dog-eared and lonely. I love short stories, but I want to read more novels. That said, I’d LOVE some recommendations.

Here’s what I know about books I like and can finish:

- They tend to be short/short-ish
- They tend to use fairly simple, straightforward language (ie no Pynchon or Burroughs)
- They tend to be funny, or at least have humorous undertones
- Scary/suspenseful a plus
- They don’t have complex plots

Books I have loved and finished:

- Anything by Vonnegut (I’ll read those in a couple days)
- Moneyball (not a novel, but loved it)
- Anything Salinger
- The Sheltering Sky
- Invisible Man (Not “the”)
- Mr. Vertigo, The New York Trilogy (Paul Auster)

Books I was enjoying but still managed to not finish:

- Infinite Jest
- Cryptonomicon
- White Noise
- Snow Crash

I’m not going to be picky at ALL about genre. Specifically helpful would be people who were/are in the same boat, and what books they manage to finish and love all the way through. Thanks!!!

PS - I do most of my reading on public transit, if that makes a difference.

posted by ORthey to Media & Arts (39 answers total)

Check out the books (novels and short stories) of Shirley Jackson. She's best known for the story The Lottery, and The Haunting of Hill House has been made into a movie a couple of times, but my favorite is We Have Always Lived in the Castle. It's not funny, but it is gripping.

Muriel Spark wrote a lot of funny and short novels that just sparkle like little gems.

Have you read much Evelyn Waugh? Not Brideshead Revisited. Try Scoop which is hilarious and brilliant, or, for something shorter, The Loved One, which is really very good.

Speaking of boats, Three Men in a Boat is short and funny and by Jerome K. Jerome. Also in that vein, Seven Men by Beerbohm and any of the panoply of PG Wodehouse novels and stories. All funny writers.
posted by OmieWise at 12:34 PM on November 3, 2006

I haven't read it, but We Have Always Lived in the Castle just came out in a new Penguin edition with a really cool cover.

For your next book try Smonk, at first you may think you're reading a Western but it's a great darkly comic (ala Vonnegut) novel that everyone I work with (myself included) is raving about, plus it's a pretty quick read.
posted by drezdn at 12:39 PM on November 3, 2006

Have you considered a novel that reads like an interconnected series of short stories? On that tack, I'd heartily recommend Italo Calvino's Marcovaldo, it's funny and sweet and has an ever-so-slight mean and cynical undercurrent.
posted by Paragon at 12:41 PM on November 3, 2006

Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball, has written a bunch of books. Not all on sports, but still entertaining.
posted by smackfu at 12:41 PM on November 3, 2006

Also, the other of Moneyball has a new book out called Blind Side. I'm not a football fan, but after hearing about it, I was interested in reading it.

I'll post some more after I think about this question a little bit.
posted by drezdn at 12:41 PM on November 3, 2006

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimann
anything by Terry Pratchett is reasonably light and funny
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:44 PM on November 3, 2006

Tom Robbins is a good comic novelist, though his extended metaphors can get crazy and might not match your requirement for simple language. I'd still give him a whirl.

I'd also recommend some Stephen King novellas, especially Different Seasons. Many of his short stories are hit or miss, but he can spin a good yarn if all you want is some brain candy.

For a non-fiction choice, I recommend The Know-It-All. Loved it. And I have trouble slogging my way through most nonfiction, unless it's a music bio of some trashy band.
posted by faunafrailty at 12:45 PM on November 3, 2006

It cannot be said enough: Christopher Moore, especially Lamb and his lastest, I think it's called the Dirty Job? They aren't huge and they're pretty good.

Also, The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell.

What about short stories? Try Raymond Carver, maybe?
posted by dpx.mfx at 12:46 PM on November 3, 2006

"As She Climbed Across the Table" by Jonathan Lethem is a really good, really quick, really moving read.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 12:47 PM on November 3, 2006

Michael Lewis' Liar's Poker is great and I think it's the one that made him famous. It'll also teach you something.

Here are a couple random books that I couldn't put down and read through very quickly:
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Hunter S Thompson)
Freakonomics (Levitt)
The Havana Room (Harrison), not a lot of intellectual cred here, but I couldn't put it down. Very suspenseful.
posted by mullacc at 12:49 PM on November 3, 2006

I find Ira Levin's novels to be too short, but you might try them - he's the guy who wrote 'Rosemary's Baby'. Not too funny, but they feel very movie-esque (very visual.)

I also love 'The Circus of Dr Lao', which was recently reprinted. It's about 120 pages and definitely tongue-in-cheek. I think the series it's part of is called the 'Arcturus' classic sci-fi - Amazon will have more information on its page, but many of these look interesting and short to me.

There's also the Series of Unfortunate Event books, which grow progressively longer and darker. The last book clocked in at about 350 pages, but they're small pages and the first books are much shorter.
posted by cobaltnine at 12:51 PM on November 3, 2006

The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-Time sounds like it might be right up your alley.
posted by scody at 1:02 PM on November 3, 2006

...of the Dog in the Night-Time.
posted by scody at 1:03 PM on November 3, 2006

Apart from the "complex plots," your criteria very neatly describe the combined works of Raymond Chandler and Dasheill Hammett.
posted by saladin at 1:05 PM on November 3, 2006

Anything by Richard Russo would probably fit the bill. I'd recommend "Straight Man" as a good place to start, especially since you said you prefer some humour.

"High Fidelity" by Nick Hornby is funny and very straightforward.

Jeffrey Eugenides books, "Middlesex" and "The Virgin Suicides" might be good too (although neither is particularly funny).
posted by backwards guitar at 1:13 PM on November 3, 2006

Jeanette Winterson's books tend to be shortish, and heavily influenced by fables and fairytales, and so not as puzzle-piecey as the authors you've mentioned wanting to like. I'd recommend you start with The Passion, a story of Venice, the Napoleonic Wars and gambling.
posted by Sara Anne at 1:13 PM on November 3, 2006

This is actually a better link for Jeanette Winterson. I'd also like to second the Nick Hornby, especially A Long Way Down.
posted by Sara Anne at 1:19 PM on November 3, 2006

Just a thought, but maybe it doesn't have anything to do with the books? I notice I become hyper-aware of how little is "left" when I'm coming to the end of a book or movie I'm enjoying. Maybe you're subconsciously resisting finishing?
posted by garbo at 1:36 PM on November 3, 2006

I'm here to second Tom Robbins.

Also, don't beat yourself up for not finishing Cryptonomicon or Infinite Jest. I'm someone who almost never leaves a book unfinished, no matter how awful or boring or otherwise bad, but I barely made it through Cryptonomicon. And though I don't have personal experience with it, I've heard that people who make it all the way through Infinite Jest should receive some kind of certificate to frame and hang on the wall.
posted by vytae at 1:52 PM on November 3, 2006

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.
posted by fire&wings at 2:18 PM on November 3, 2006

Three books that went really fast for me were In Search of Schroedinger's Cat, You've Gotta Have Wa, and Please Kill Me, but I'm a physics geek, a punk, and a baseball fan so that's probably why.
posted by ducksauce at 2:46 PM on November 3, 2006

Okay, if you absolutely, positively have got to pick up a book and finish the thing, not much beats ol' Harry Potter.

Now, the last book I read through very quickly was Cormac McCarthy's Child of God, which a) is more literary, but still accessible, b) it's short, c) McCarthy's a hell of a writer, but d) daamn, subject matter. If you have a strong stomach I would very much recommend it though.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is also short and straightforwardly written and pretty good.
posted by furiousthought at 3:05 PM on November 3, 2006

Second on the Harry Potter. If you haven't read it yet, then you denying youself some of the best contemporary lit of our lifetimes.

Infinite Jest is, of course, the absolute opposite of all of your parameters, but if you like David Foster Wallace, he has a number of good books of short stories. ( I couldn't finish Infinite Jest either, but I gave it to my brother, who called me angrilly after finishing it over the course of a year - he devours books in days normally - to tell me that the jest was on whoever finished it.)

James Morrow has a number of short, suspenseful, thoughtful works as well, including a collection of shorts - Bible Stories for Adults - that I love.

And I can't say enough about Bel Canto, by Anne Patchett. I have the same problem that you do, wherein if books don't grab me from the outset, I just can't continue. This one held me to the end during an up-all-night-as-stressed-and-sleepless-as-I-could-be kind of week, and was one of the most beautiful things I've ever read.

Good reading!
posted by Navelgazer at 3:37 PM on November 3, 2006

Response by poster: These are great recommendations. I have indeed read the Harry Potter books, and finished all of them very quickly.

I'm printing this out and going to the (used) bookstore after work!
posted by ORthey at 3:50 PM on November 3, 2006

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is longish, but a very compelling read; for something shorter, a very strong second for The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time. Also, second/third/whatever all the Nick Hornby books.
posted by pdb at 4:13 PM on November 3, 2006

Any of Donald Westlake's Dortmunder novels. You don't have to, but I'd recommend reading them in order. Here's a list.
posted by Marky at 4:15 PM on November 3, 2006

Do you like mysteries at all? I go through Dick Francis and Rex Stout's books like potato chips.
Also, Peter O'Donnell's Modesty Blaise novels are just full of excellentitude (so much so that I needed to make up a new word to describe it)--kind of like James Bond, but female and freelance.
He also writes these sort-of Gothic novels under the name Madeleine Brent that are perfectly satisfying one-bite kinds of stories. Not too long, lots of action, a little romance, a little mystery; usually set somewhere odd like the circus or a gypsy caravan.

I also second The Sparrow, Bel Canto, and Middlesex. They may be a little longer than you think you like, but all 3 just suck you in and don't let go.
posted by exceptinsects at 5:26 PM on November 3, 2006

When I go book shopping, I never bother to look at the flap/cover copy. I read the first three pages of the book in the store. If, at that point, I have been grabbed by the lapels and punched in the teeth, I'll buy the book.

• Harry Potter is excellent, and though the later books are on the long side you shouldn't have any trouble with them.
• Nick Hornby is excellent. I would recommend first A Long Way Down and then High Fidelity. Both are engaging, straight-forward, funny and poignant.
• Margaret Atwood is a wonderful writer. Her best book to start with is Oryx and Crake, a dystopia told from a male point of view. Atwood is like Kurt Vonnegut but a bit more sophisticated in her writing style. You'll know if you can stand it within the first few pages. (It's not Pynchon by any stretch of the imagination.)
• His Dark Materials, a trilogy by Philip Pullman, is fantastic. It's YA, but for older kids than the HP series. The first book is The Golden Compass, and you may even find it in the regular literature section of your favorite bookstore.
• Tons of obvious authors you may have already looked into: Douglas Adams, Dorothy Parker (short stories, not poetry, dreary but hilarious), Jonathan Safran Foer (a little on the odd side, but funny in spite of the hype), Ned Vizzini (Be More Chill and It's Kind of a Funny Story, technically YA but only from a marketing standpoint and both very enjoyable).

Full disclosure: I am a book reviewer, but I focus on chick lit and YA stuff.
posted by brina at 8:22 PM on November 3, 2006

If witty, incisive, sublime anecdotes given in bite-size sentences are what you're looking for, try Tony Parsons. He is compared a lot to Nick Hornby (who I also recommend) ... especially if you're a man. They're both part of this new camp of emotionally in-touch British men who recognize the importance of relationships, and laugh at their own fallacies.
posted by graytona at 8:27 PM on November 3, 2006

I Sleep at Red Lights: A True Story of Life After Triplets Ummmm. You are just gonna have to trust me on this one, I'm a librarian.
posted by sneakyalien at 8:33 PM on November 3, 2006

Oh, sorry, I forgot the 'novel' part!
posted by sneakyalien at 8:38 PM on November 3, 2006

I'm also really bad about finishing books. I have a pile of a dozen or so next to my bed that I just can't be bothered with. Given that, I just recently read Running With Scissors straight through, in about a day.
posted by smackfu at 8:44 PM on November 3, 2006

If you're into any type of science fiction, everything by Isaac Asimov is amazing. Most of his stuff is short and to-the-point and most stories even have a fair amount of humor. Stephen King's Dark Tower series had me enthralled for several months after I got into it (it's probably about 4000 pages over the 7 volumes)... totally worth it, though.
posted by colemanm at 8:45 PM on November 3, 2006

jPod by Douglas Coupland
It's so "meta"! It's 2006ness makes it easy to digest. I didn't put it down for two days -- it is the first bit of fiction I have been able to finish all year.
posted by mjao at 9:46 PM on November 3, 2006

For straight-forward writing with humorous undertones, you can't do better than the Travis McGee novels by the late, sorely missed John D. Mcdonald. Actually pretty much anything John D. wrote was hugely entertaining.

Also, Robert B. Parker (not the wine guy) for the Spenser series - forget the TV show from the 70's.

Both these authors write in the thriller / suspense vein, but with likeable main characters (even if a bit superman-ish)
posted by Expat at 11:30 PM on November 3, 2006

Pilo Family Circus by William Elliot is a quick and dirty read, but it is also one very seriously bent book. Definitly whack that one on the horror pile.

I'll add my vote for Running with Scissors, too.

Gideon DeFoe's Pirates series are also a huge crackup, and are short and to the point.
posted by Jilder at 4:06 AM on November 4, 2006

Here's another vote for Terry Pratchett. They're light, but meaningful (particularly the later ones), and very very funny. I regularly find myself reading them in a single sitting, because I can't put them down (although the fact that he doesn't break them up into chapters might also be a factor there).

Certain characters recur throughout the series, forming general 'arcs', but I wouldn't worry much about starting at the beginning; just check out this list of motifs and pick the one that sounds the most interesting to you, and if you dig it, you can backpedal to the beginning of that character arc for more background.
posted by rifflesby at 7:08 AM on November 4, 2006

Re. Harry Potter, if you must read children's fantasy I'd recommend Susan Cooper - start either with Over Sea, Under Stone or The Dark is Rising - or Ursula Le Guin's less juvenile Earthsea series - start with A Wizard of Earthsea or the short story collection Tales from Earthsea. Or you could just try some of her adult writing, maybe starting with short stories to see if you like it (The Flyers of Gy, from her collection Changing Planes, is available online here).

Seconding the Terry Pratchett recs, too.
posted by Lebannen at 8:46 AM on November 4, 2006

how we are hungry by dave eggers is a collection of hilarious short stories. it seems like i'm his agent today, pumping out recommendations for this book twice now.

also, "extremely loud and incredibly close" by jonathon safron foer is funny and quick. (pdf of the first chapter)
posted by kooop at 1:18 PM on November 4, 2006