Best SHORT Pieces of Literature that are Worth Your Time

As we students are nearing the one-month-mark until the beginning of school, whether that may be on-campus or virtual, summer reading anxiety will set in soon. Whether your school has an all-school-read or a pick-your-own-book year mapped out, summer reading is stressful. Both book lovers and I-only-read-for-schoolers alike don't enjoy summer reading. You know why? It's forced. Quick example: You wake up on a summer, Monday morning and think - I have no more clean clothes to wear. I am going to wash my own laundry and do it all today. - You head downstairs, and the first thing your mother says is, you guessed it, - Do your laundry. - You don't want to do it anymore, do you? 

Well, summer reading is the same way. You decide - I'm going to read this cool, historical, mystery novel. - But as soon as your school springs a book with the word of the year as the title like endurance, sustainability, responsibility, or empathy, case closed - you're not doing it. I feel the same way. That's why, for our choice read, most of us choose something short. Let's impress our English teachers this year with something special. It's not just for them either. Won't it feel good to have an impress piece of relatively short literature under your belt?

This list is for the time-crunched, panicked students who want something short. Let's get you something that isn't long, but can pack a punch. You won't have a hard time writing a report or explaining it to your advisory. These are all packed with great quotes and topical issues you can discuss. Let's learn and be timely. Plus, almost every household has a copy of one of these books from an older sibling, a bibliophile parent, in musty boxes in the garage (a tragedy), or on bookshelves where these works stand as decor. 

#1) The Old Man and the Sea

What's better than a Hemingway to have read over the summer? Hemingway's writing, like any expatiate's is often VERY heavy, but this short read is surprisingly light with dark, ominous undertones. It rings in at 127 pages. I reviewed this book on my blog a couple years ago. Here is the link to that post. If you have any more specific questions please email me, leave a comment, or reach out to me through Instagram. 

#2) The Great Gatsby

While you will probably read this novel in the future for school, who is to say having a head start is bad. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is very popular in classrooms, through the years, and on this blog. I have written numerous posts about this book which I will link here. Fitzgerald's most famous after-the-fact work is 180 pages. 

#3) A Room of One's Own 

While Virginia Woolf's classic, essay style book is hard to get through (I speak from experience. I've tried to read it four times. I'm almost there...), critics say it is truly worth it. Woolf writes about inequities in gender and describes what a woman must have to write and lead a productive, fulfilled life. Her most famous line is often (in most versions) on page one. It reads, "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction; and that, as you will see, leaves the great problem of the true nature of woman and the true nature of fiction unsolved." It is 126 pages.

#4) Of Mice and Men

I have not read this book; however, I have heard it is a true classic. Steinbeck's book is only 112 pages.

#5) Lord of the Flies

The students at my school read this book in either seventh or eighth grade, but for those of you who have not read it, it is wonderful. It is the story of a group of mismatched boys' fight for survival. It is 224 pages, but it goes very quickly. This may seem like a lot of pages for a short novel post, but this plot gets going!

#6) "An Inspector Calls"

J.B. Priestly is a suspenseful, SHORT, and exciting play. This is only a read of an hour or two. It is only 60 pages. I reviewed this play. I will link it here. 

Honorable Mentions

• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 104 pages
• Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller 117 pages
• A Streetcar Named Desire Tennessee Williams 107 pages
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll 126 pages