Books tagged "short-read"

Small Things Like These - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
February 5, 2023
by Claire Keegan

Loved this one. It's indeed beautifully written; extremely readable and interesting. It has a softness, and I really enjoyed my time with this one :) Also nice to learn some Irish words and culture!

fiction, informative, short-read
Osebol - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
February 6, 2022
by Marit Kapla

I loved this. Don't be put off by the number of pages; almost all of them only contain a few lines per page. It's a collection of stories told be the residents of a small town in Sweden. It's a real slice of life and culture; mostly quite relatable. For me I found it very interesting to "listen" to these stories that I would find hard to listen to in real life. It made me reflect a bit on why I would find listening to these conversations in real life a bit hard. In any case, I really enjoyed reading this; it's a real gem.

history, personal, philosophical, quirky, short-read
The Cat Who Saved Books - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
December 26, 2021
by Sōsuke Natsukawa, Louise Heal Kawai

I really loved this. It's a nice simple story about books, and how different people interact with them. I enjoyed the style, and how the different stories were introduced and resolved; it made me want to see more topics explored in this way! Just a great read :)

fiction, fun, philosophical, short-read
No One Is Talking About This - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
October 31, 2021
by Patricia Lockwood

This was interesting reading, but probably overall not quite my kind of thing. I found the style quite stressful; but I do think that was the intention. The idea, I suppose, is to convey the chaoticness of reading Twitter every second; and constant changing of attention. But this is something that I personally find a bit stressful, and this was conveyed very accurately through the writing. I do think it had some nice jokes, and variously interesting bits of social commentary; and, as one review I listened to, clearly this author is very familiar with social media. But it's not one I'll likely read again. Might be of interest to those who want another perspective on what engagement with social media can look like!

personal, quirky, short-read, traumatic
Piranesi - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
October 17, 2021
by Susanna Clarke

I really enjoyed this one. I had heard about it for a while, and finally decided to pick it up after I saw it picked up a prize. My only regret is I waited so long! It's a really nice story, quirky and interesting and compellingly-written. I read this quite fast, and although it's short I wasn't left feeling like I wanted more, or anything was unexplained. Just a great book!

fiction, fun, short-read
Diary of a Young Naturalist - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
August 29, 2021
by Dara McAnulty

I really loved this book. I think it's interesting for a few reasons. One is that I haven't read many books where an autistic person is describing their feelings and experiences. It's really interesting to learn. Another part that really impacted me was his discussion of how young people are being forced to be more active and outspoken, but, ultimately, are excluded from important decision making, and that adults praise them, but inevitably continue doing whatever they were doing before. That comment hit me quite strongly, and I'm not sure what to do about it yet. Overall, an exceptional read, and will help you appreciate nature!

adventurous, climate, informative, personal, philosophical, short-read
Semicolon - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
August 1, 2021
by Cecelia Watson

I absolutely loved this book. I love semicolons and I use them all the time. But the important things I learned from this book was how malleable grammar used to be; and that people used to think of grammar as a form of self-expression, instead of a strict set of rules, as we consider it now. It's also written in a very fun and engaging way with plenty of jokes. The best book you're ever likely to read on grammar!

history, informative, non-fiction, short-read
The Midnight Library - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
July 8, 2021
by Matt Haig

I really enjoyed this book, a lot. I can't say the ending was a surprise, but there were little bits of joy and insight to be had in the middle, and overall reading the book left me feeling uplifted and positive. A great book!

fun, personal, short-read
Beowulf - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
June 6, 2021
by Maria Dahvana Headley

I loved this. I've never read Beowulf before, and am very very happy this is translation was the first. Highly readable, with very fun and enjoyable language, and some nice comments from the author at the start. I'll definitely be reading this again, and am now keen to read more books by her! Highly recommended.

adventurous, feminism, fun, short-read
Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
May 2, 2021
by Katherine Angel

A thought-provoking analysis of the culture around consent and ability-to-know-ones feelings. Discusses the differences in how (heterosexual) sex and desire is talked about and researched. In particular the discussion centers around impersonal "objective" measurements of arousal and the conclusions from that; and what people can and should know about their desires; and how to manage expressing that to other people. Not conclusive; but a good contribution to a complex topic!

informative, short-read
Perfect Sound Whatever - Cover Find on Bookshop.org
April 25, 2021
by James Acaster

I love James Acasters comedy; his show Repertoire is one of the funniest I've ever seen; I also read his earlier book - Classic Scapes - which I really enjoyed, so I was already primed to like this one. It's quite different from Classic Scrapes; it's much more personal and vulnerable, which I really enjoyed; and it has a huge list of interesting music, which is great if you're like me and struggle to think of new artists to listen to! Great reading.

fun, music, personal, short-read

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