Every January 1st, we sit down and make resolutions about our goals for the upcoming year. One of the most common is to read more. But it’s always easier to buy books than to actually read them—our Goodreads reading challenges make fools of us all. Life catches up to us, and before we know it, autumn is nipping at our heels and the year is once again almost over.
But there’s good news: Observer is here to help with a list of the best short books to read this January. You can get a head start on your goal right now while you’re at your most motivated. We’ve included recommendations pulled from several literary genres as well as books from all over the world so that you can dive into whatever works best for you—and hopefully find one or many short books that are completely new to you.
And most importantly? Every single one of these New Year’s reads comes in at under 200 pages. Use that holiday gift card money, put in your holds at the local library and get reading while your energy is still high!
Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey
Esther’s best friend and crush was killed for possession of resistance propaganda, leaving her at a loss. She stows away with the Librarians, hoping to learn how to be “normal” or “good.” But it turns out the Librarians are much more rebellious than they seem. This 176-page riot about anti-fascist librarians is one of Tordotcom’s best novellas (and they’ve released many over the past few years).
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, translated from Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori
Keiko never fit in before finding her calling at Smile Mart, a Japanese convenience store. She’s never quite known what people want from her, but she feels at home in the safety of the store, where everything is ordered, and she has a script for every interaction. She resists what other people want her to be in this inspiring, quirky short novel.
Brickmakers by Selva Almada, translated from Spanish by Annie McDermott
The Tamai and Miranda families hate each other. The violent rivalry that began with their fathers, both brickmakers, filters down to their sons, and at both the beginning and end of this book, we see them entangled in the mud after a rough-and-tumble fight. It’s a brutal, rapid-fire story of toxic masculinity set against the Argentine countryside.
The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
This award-winning work of nonfiction is part memoir of an undocumented woman and part reported piece on the lives of undocumented Americans, from the workers who helped clean up Ground Zero after 9/11 to those who were the last to know about Flint’s poor
Sleep Donation by Karen Russell
An insomnia epidemic has slammed through the United States. People are dying of sleep deprivation, and the answer is the equivalent of blood banks for sleep. Trish works at the Sleep Corps, convincing people to donate. But when she finds out how the system really works, she starts wondering if she’s doing the right thing.
Awu’s Story by Justine Mintsa, translated from French by Cheryl Toman
Seamstress Awu marries local school teacher Obame Afane after his first wife was unable to give him children. Their marriage, as readers might expect, is anything but perfect. Set in a Fang community in northern Gabon, this 111-page book about progress and transition is surprisingly epic in scope.
The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin
Looking for a classic science fiction tale by one of the greats? This is it. In The Word for World is Forest, the yumens are attacking the Athshean world in order to take its resources. But the tree-living Athsheans are quickly learning the rules of war—and are planning a rebellion to free their planet. It’s a fun sci-fi story with added depth in the wake of our current climate change predicament.
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
Four young Black women growing up in Bushwick (Angela, August, Gigi and Sylvia) find each other and latch on tight. Over the years, they splinter apart, fall in love, unearth secrets and come back together. In under 200 pages, this novel crafts an epic tale about growing up Black and female, nostalgia, female friendship, white flight, addiction and much, much more.
In Vitro: On Longing and Translation by Isabel Zapata, translated from Spanish by Robin Meyers
Zapata’s poetic meditation on the difficult, emotional journey of in-vitro fertilization highlights the absurdities and strangeness of hormones and loss, anxiety and alienation, and sexism in healthcare and medical systems in this fantastic memoir that too many people will identify with.
Empty Wardrobes by Margaret Jull Costa, translated from Portuguese by Maria Judite de Carvalho
This feminist classic features Dora, a housewife in the mid-1960s whose husband has died suddenly, leaving her and her daughter in a tough spot. When a secret blows her life wide open, she begins to wonder what any of this was really for. Was her marriage worth the life she threw away?
Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
The Ku Klux Klan are hosts to bloodthirsty parasites that feed on hatred—but Maryse and her friends are determined to defeat them and everything they stand for. This action film–like novella is soaked in Black folklore and American history and emotional, fun and intense all at once.
