Friday, February 14, 2014

Literary Love: Short and Sweet


Hello, valentines!

All week long, I've been dying to jump in and contribute a post to the Literary Love event (being hosted by Estella's Revenge, Doing Dewey, Love at First Book, and From Isi).  Each day, I wake up and say, "This is the day!  I will write this post TODAY!"  And then...Tater Tot wakes up and wants to be fed, and Small Fry wakes up and starts demanding eggs WITH CHEESE, and we have to be at playgroup by 9:30, and the sink is full and I have to work out at some point? and did anyone go grocery shopping this week? and now suddenly it's 9pm and please just hand me a glass of wine so I can watch more Olympics.

So, in honor of me not having time to do anything ever, I thought I'd give you a quick list of my favorite short (ish) novels that pack a big punch in a small number of pages.

1. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Much like all of Albom's other work: beautiful, moving, thought-provoking, no matter what your religious beliefs.  One of my all time favorite books!

2. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
An inspiring story that's sure to make you think about what your "personal legend" will be.  I wish I had gotten this as a high school graduation gift--it would have given me a lot to mull over!

3. Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King
Kind of cheating, because this book is not short.  BUT, it's made up of short STORIES (novellas, really), so that works, right?  I love SK's short works and this collection is phenomenal.  (Also, not super horrific/gory, for those that shy away from his more...brutal stuff.)

4. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
One of my favorite classics!  Not only is the storyline engaging, but I like the allegorical message it conveys about human instincts and society.

5. Naked Pictures of Famous People by Jon Stewart
It's Jon Stewart.  Writing like Jon Stewart.  You need no further prompting.

What are your favorite short books?

18 comments:

  1. The Alchemist and The Five People You Meet in Heaven are two books I absolutely adore, wonderful list :)

    I'm going to have to get that Jon Stewart book!

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    1. It's really funny. I remember reading it during a short plane ride a few years back, it was perfect in-air entertainment!

  2. how did i not know about the Jon Stewart book? I must read it.

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    1. Yes, must! Always happy to introduce people to new books!

  3. The Alchemist and I did not get along. I'm very bad at mystical thinking. I wanted to yell at the narrator to stay home with his dang sheep. Curmudgeon much?

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    1. I think I was at a good place in my life for it...I was in a new job and was almost done with my master's degree, so it got my wheels turning. Not for everyone though!

  4. I loooooooove short stories too! Basically any Mitch Albom makes my day!

    Thanks for linking up to Literary Love 14!!!

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    1. Yes, I LOVE Albom's stuff. And they're all pretty short and easy to read if you don't have a ton of time.

  5. I LOVED The Five People You Meet in Heaven.

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    1. It is pretty great. Have you seen the movie? I've always wondered how it stacks up.

  6. I loved Brida by Paulo Coelho, so I'd definitely like to pick up The Alchemist too. And it's true, the fact that the last book you list is by Jon Stewart is enough to get me interested :) Thanks for adding your post to the literary love link-up! :)

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    1. This is the only Coelho book I've ever read, I should probably check out his other work!

  7. EXCELLENT choices! And I'm so so so glad to see Full Dark, No Stars on the list. I've had it on my stacks for a while and I was a bit scared of the potential gore, but it just looks so good!

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    1. It's very NOT gory. It's more...creepy. Definitely try it out!!

  8. JON STEWART! I'm so much in love with him :) That is all.

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  9. Oh my gosh, the description of your day is cracking me up. It also sounds strangely familiar...

    We actually read The Alchemist in high school for summer reading. It might be time for a re-read!

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    1. I've found that I want to re-read most of my required high school books. I appreciate them so much more as an adult!

 
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