Achieve Your Reading Goal - Great Reads Under 250 Pages

Whether it was your goal to read 5 or 50 books this year, find some quick reads on this list to get you across the finish line.

Updated November 8, 2023
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Red at the bone.
Woodson, Jacqueline
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR "A spectacular novel that only this legend can pull off." -Ibram X. Kendi, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of  HOW TO BE AN...
The deep.
Solomon, Rivers
Octavia E. Butler meets Marvel's Black Panther in The Deep, a story rich with Afrofuturism, folklore, and the power of memory, inspired by the Hugo Award-nominated song "The Deep" from Daveed Diggs's rap group Clipping. Yetu holds the memories for her people--water...
Delphi.
Pollard, Clare (Poet)
A Guardian Best Book of 2022 * "Clever and surprising." --BuzzFeed * "Brilliantly funny." --San Francisco Chronicle * "Ingenious."--The Millions * "Powerful." --Harper's Bazaar A captivating debut novel...
Eileen.
Moshfegh, Ottessa
Now a major motion picture streaming on Hulu, starring Anne Hathaway and Thomasin McKenzie Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize "Eileen is a remarkable piece of writing, always dark and surprising, sometimes ugly and occasionally hilarious. Its first...
Piranesi.
Clarke, Susanna
New York Times Bestseller Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction World Fantasy Awards Finalist From the New York Times bestselling author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an intoxicating, hypnotic new novel set in a...
Employees : A Workplace Novel of the 22nd Century
Now in paperback, The Employees chronicles the fate of the interstellar Six-Thousand Ship. The human and humanoid crew members complain about their daily tasks in a series of staff reports and memos. When the ship takes on a number of strange objects from the planet New Discovery, the crew becomes...
A psalm for the wild-built.
Chambers, Becky
Winner of the Hugo Award! In A Psalm for the Wild-Built, bestselling Becky Chambers's delightful new Monk and Robot series, gives us hope for the future. It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools;...
The empress of salt and fortune.
Vo, Nghi
Winner of the 2020 Crawford Award! Winner of the 2021 Hugo Award! A Hugo Award-Winning Series! A 2021 Locus Award Finalist A 2021 Ignyte Award Finalist A Goodreads Choice Award Finalist A Book Riot Best Debut Fantasy of All...
Ghost wall.
Moss, Sarah.
A Southern Living Best New Book of Winter 2019; A Refinery29 Best Book of January 2019; A Most Anticipated Book of 2019 at The Week, Huffington Post, Nylon, and Lit Hub; An Indie Next Pick for January 2019 "Ghost Wall has...
This is how you lose the time war.
El-Mohtar, Amal
HUGO AWARD WINNER: BEST NOVELLA NEBULA AND LOCUS AWARDS WINNER: BEST NOVELLA ONE OF NPR'S BEST BOOKS OF 2019 Two time-traveling agents from warring futures, working their way through the past, begin to exchange letters--and fall in love...
The end we start from.
Hunter, Megan, 1984-
Longlisted for the 2018 Aspen Words Literary Prize Finalist for the Barnes & Noble 2017 Discover Great New Writers Award An indelible and elemental debut--a lyrical vision of the strangeness and beauty of new motherhood, and a tale of endurance in the face of...
Convenience store woman.
Murata, Sayaka, 1979-
The English-language debut of one of Japan's most talented contemporary writers, selling over 650,000 copies there, Convenience Store Woman is the heartwarming and surprising story of thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura. Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in...
Follow me to ground.
Rainsford, Sue, 1988-
One of Literary Hub's Favorite Books of the Year A haunted, surreal debut novel about an otherworldly young woman, her father, and her lover that culminates in a shocking moment of betrayal--one that upends our understanding of power, predation, and agency. ...
The friend. [online electronic book]
Nunez, Sigrid
WINNER OF THE 2018 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD  NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "A beautiful book ... a world of insight into death, grief, art, and love." --Wall Street Journal<...
The house on Mango Street.
Cisneros, Sandra
A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A coming-of-age classic about a young girl growing up in Chicago * Acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught in schools and universities alike, and translated around the world-...
All systems red.
Wells, Martha
All Systems Red is the first entry in Martha Wells' New York Times and USA Today bestselling, and Hugo and Nebula award-winning science fiction series, The Murderbot Diaries. Winner: 2018 Hugo Award Winner: 2018 Nebula Award Winner: 2018 Alex...
The incendiaries.
Kwon, R. O.
Phoebe and Will meet in their first month at prestigious Edwards University. Phoebe is a glamorous girl who blames herself for her mother's death. Will is a misfit who transfers to Edwards from Bible college, waiting tables in secret to get by. What he knows for sure is that he loves Phoebe....
I Who Have Never Known Men
Harpman, Jacqueline
Ursula K. LeGuin meets The Road in a post-apocalyptic modern classic of female friendship and intimacy. Deep underground, thirty-nine women live imprisoned in a cage. Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only...
In an absent dream. [online electronic book]
McGuire, Seanan
Winner: 2022 Hugo Award for Best Series A stand-alone fantasy tale from Seanan McGuire's Alex award-winning Wayward Children series, which began in the Alex, Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award-winning, World Fantasy Award finalist, Tiptree Honor List Every...
Even though I knew the end.
Polk, C. L.
Winner of the Nebula Award! Finalist for the Hugo Award! Finalist for the World Fantasy Award! A New York Times Best Romance of 2022! C. L. Polk turns their considerable powers to a fantastical noir with Even...
Infinite country.
Engel, Patricia
A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK AND INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE 2021 NEW AMERICAN VOICES AWARD, LONGLISTED FOR THE 2022 ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL, A 2022 DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE FINALIST, AND A NATIONAL...
A Christmas carol.
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870
Scrooge learns a thing or two about Christmas, with the help of a few ghosts.
Luster.
Leilani, Raven
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Winner of the 2020 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize Winner of the 2020 National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Prize for Best First Book Winner of the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Fiction Winner of the 2021...
Maurice.
Forster, E. M. 1879-1970
Set in the elegant Edwardian world of Cambridge undergraduate life, this story by a master novelist introduces us to Maurice Hall when he is fourteen. We follow him through public school and Cambridge, and into his father's firm. In a highly structured society, Maurice is a conventional young man...
The monster of Elendhaven.
Giesbrecht, Jennifer
Debut author Jennifer Giesbrecht paints a darkly compelling fantasy of revenge in The Monster of Elendhaven, a dark fantasy about murder, a monster, and the magician who loves both. Set against the backdrop of the plague-ridden city of Elendhaven, clinging to the edge...
Mouth to mouth.
Wilson, Antoine
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2022 * An NPR and Time Best Book of the Year * Longlisted for the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize (Canada) * Finalist for CALIBA's 2022 Golden Poppy Awards A successful art dealer confesses the story of his meteoric rise in this "powerful,...
Nightbitch.
Yoder, Rachel, 1978-
LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD FOR DEBUT NOVEL NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY AV CLUB, VULTURE, ESQUIRE AND LITERARY HUB   One day, the mother was a mother, but then one night, she was quite suddenly something else... ...
No one is talking about this.
Lockwood, Patricia
FINALIST FOR THE 2021 BOOKER PRIZE & A NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 BOOK OF 2021 WINNER OF THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE    "A book that reads like a prose poem, at once sublime, profane, intimate, philosophical, witty and, eventually, deeply moving." --New York Times Book...
The ocean at the end of the lane.
Gaiman, Neil
A brilliantly imaginative and poignant fairy tale from the modern master of wonder and terror, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is Neil Gaiman’s first new novel for adults since his #1 New York Times bestseller Anansi Boys. This bewitching and harrowing tale of mystery and survival,...
Of love and other demons.
Garcia Marquez, Gabriel, 1928-
On her twelfth birthday, Sierva Maria – the only child of a decaying noble family in an eighteenth-century South American seaport – is bitten by a rabid dog. Believed to be possessed, she is brought to a convent for observation. And into her cell stumbles Father Cayetano Delaura, who has...
The passion.
Winterson, Jeanette, 1959-
Set during the tumultuous years of the Napoleonic Wars, The Passion intertwines the destinies of two remarkable people: Henri, a simple French soldier, who follows Napoleon from glory to Russian ruin; and Villanelle, the red-haired, web-footed daughter of a Venetian boatman, whose husband has...
Pizza girl. [online electronic book]
Frazier, Jean Kyoung
LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALIST * An audacious and wryly funny coming-of-age story about a pregnant pizza delivery girl who becomes obsessed with one of her customers. Eighteen years old, pregnant, and working as a pizza delivery girl in suburban Los Angeles, our...
Ring shout.
Clark, P. Djeli.
Nebula, Locus, and Alex Award-winner P. Djèlí Clark returns with Ring Shout, a dark fantasy historical novella that gives a supernatural twist to the Ku Klux Klan's reign of terror "A fantastical, brutal and thrilling triumph of the imagination...Clark's combination of...
Sula. [online electronic book]
Morrison, Toni, 1931-
Sula and Nel are born in the Bottom--a small town at the top of a hill. Sula is wild, and daring; she does what she wants, while Nel is well-mannered, a mamma's girl with a questioning heart. Growing up they forge a bond stronger than anything, stronger even than the dark secret they have to bear...
Every heart a doorway.
McGuire, Seanan
Winner: 2022 Hugo Award for Best Series Winner: 2017 Hugo Award Winner: 2017 Alex Award Winner: 2017 Locus Award Winner: 2016 Nebula Award Nominated: 2017 World Fantasy Award ...
The swimmers.
Otsuka, Julie, 1962-
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE WINNER * From the award-winning author of The Buddha in the Attic and When the Emperor Was Divine comes a novel that "starts as a catalogue of spoken and unspoken rules for swimmers at an aquatic center but unfolds into a powerful...
Tender is the flesh.
Bazterrica, Agustina Maria, 1974-
Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans--though no one calls them that anymore. His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened...
Their eyes were watching God.
Hurston, Zora Neale
"A deeply soulful novel that comprehends love and cruelty, and separates the big people from the small of heart, without ever losing sympathy for those unfortunates who don't know how to live properly." --Zadie Smith One of the most important and enduring books of the twentieth century,...
To be taught if fortunate.
Chambers, Becky
Adriane is one such explorer. As an astronaut on an extrasolar research vessel, she and her fellow crewmates sleep between worlds, and wake up each time with different features. Her experience is one of fluid body and stable mind, and of a unique perspective on the passage of time. Back on...
Weather.
Offill, Jenny, 1968-
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER  From the beloved author of the nationwide best seller Dept. of Speculation--one of the New York Times Book Review's Ten Best Books of the Year--a "darkly funny and urgent" (NPR) tour de force...
Wide Sargasso sea.
Rhys, Jean
A new edition of a novel in the TWENTIETH-CENTURY CLASSICS series which tells the story of the first Mrs Rochester, who is haunted by the death of her brother and the madness of her mother, and who is trapped in a loveless marriage to a man who wants to take her from Jamaica to England. From the...

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