I started reading last year, mostly productivity stuff, but now I’m really looking to jump into fiction to unwind after a long week of uni, studying, and work. I need something to help me relax during the weekends without feeling like I’m working.
I’d love some recommendations for books that are short enough to finish in a day but still hit hard and are totally worth it. No specific genre preferences right now. I’m open to whatever. Looking forward to seeing what you guys suggest. Thank you very much in advance.
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Recommend high quality short stories. Edgar Allen Poe has a collection that is some of the most thrilling, mysterious and fun, imaginative, adventurous, grotesque and other depending on the story. https://www.amazon.com/Edgar-Allan-Poe-Complete-Collection/dp/1453643141
Robert Louis Stevenson was also a fantastic writer of short stories.https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Short-Stories-Robert-Stevenson/dp/030680882X
I like short stories sometimes as I can’t commit to a larger read.
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The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear
It’s not a short book as OP requested. However the episodic nature fits his requirements. The genre is comedic fantasy.
Love that book
It’s a super generic choice, but Catch-22 (if you’re looking for something less generic, Heller also wrote the more obscure Something Happened that focuses his satirical prowess on 1960s family life, but that’s a longer book). It’s just so effortlessly funny.
i tried to read this more than once to figure out what the hype is, and it never made me care what happens next. every page to the halfway point is a boring slog for me-- what am i missing? i consider vonnegut’s cat’s cradle to be good satire. yossarian just seems like a whiny bitch to me, the type of person i go out of my way to avoid irl
Yossarian is kind of a whiny bitch, but it’s because he’s trying to cover up his exhaustion and terror with anything that will keep him out of harm’s way. What I liked about it was all of the silly jokes that come back to hit hard in the second half of the book.
i intend to give it one more try–it wouldn’t be the first book that took multiple attempts for me to start liking
For you, I’d suggest ‘I, Robot,’ by Isaac Asimov.
It’s a short story collection with a bunch of logic puzzles. the writing is clear and easy to follow and the conundrums are engaging.
Asimov is so, so good. I first got into him by reading his collection of short stories Robot Dreams. It’s really approachable, and because it’s all short stories there’s no long term commitment or sense of letdown if you decide to stop reading halfway through the book.
Sally was particularly interesting (though not the best story in the book). I was working at a self driving car startup when I read it, and it was amazing that in 1954 Asimov predicted robotaxis that we were trying to build.
I’m sure he’s happy somewhere, knowing people are still enjoying his writing.
If we’re doing short stories, I have two recommendations:
- Ted Chiang’s Stories of Your Life and Others.
- Kurt Vonnegut’s Welcome to the Monkey House.
I’ve only read Ted Chiang’s exhalation, but one of the stories was the biggest thinker I’ve seen, and another was an emotional gut punch (in a good way)
The ratio of lasting impact to content length of his short stories is insane. He has no business having such compelling works being readable in a lunch break.
murderbot series is fantastic, I love every single entry in the series so far, and they’re not very long or unnecessarily complicated; you can finish one in a day or two easy.
The first entry is called “All systems red”
I have an ambitious offering i dont think anyone else will suggest.
ambitious but you also want something you can read a day at a time. Books are fairly small.
My favourite BIG STOMPY ROBOTS but in chronological order.
Battletech Novels.
Not a 1 day read but reasonably short (I normally read it in about 2-3 days of non-dedicated reading) is the Scorpio races by Maggie stiefvater. It’s a lovely read that focuses pretty heavily on the two man characters which is what draws me in every time. I read this book 14 times one year in high school and I continue to read it once a year
Short book that hit hard:
- Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes
- Never let me go, Kazuro Ishiguro
- The last unicorn, Peter S. Beagle
- 1984, George Orwell
- Prince of Thieves, Chuck Hogan
The End of Eternity (Asimov) might be short enough for you, and has some interesting ideas about the implications of time travel.
The Locked Tomb series is refreshing. It’s weird, it’s fun, it’s dark, and it’s trash, but it’s trash that the author is having fun with.
Discworld is also just amazing
Each of the novels is more detached than the last - it’s great but probably not for someone just starting their journey into fiction
Each of the novels is more detached than the last - it’s great but probably not for someone just starting their journey into fiction
Fair, I’d probably recommend starting with some Sanderson and discussions of his theming and subtler meanings. Once you’re breaking down symbolism in Stormlight as you read it then you may be ready for Professor Muir throwing mean girl’s references into stressful scenes before making you feel like you lost your mind in between trips to the dictionary. But she breaks your mind in such a satisfying way.
Not sure if I’d say they hit hard, but for readability it’s hard to beat Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe books. Some of the best murder mysteries I’ve ever read, so much fun.
Others may have mentioned it (happy to see Terry Pratchett getting a lot of love), but would definitely recommend anything by Vonnegut! Love his writing style and his approaches to humor and world building. Slaughterhouse Five is a great one, as is Sirens of Titan.
Also, not certain how well they hold up, but I really enjoyed the Redwall series back in the day! I was much younger at the time, though.
Hyperion Cantos. All 4 books are great, even if the 3rd and 4th are quite different. But it’s a masterpiece. It’s kind of like the LOTR for sci-fi if you ask me.
Just read Terry Pratchett or Larry Niven. Also Lois McMaster Bujold is a writer that will make you laugh and often start look at the world around you differently.
