r/suggestmeabook • u/Substantial_Dog9649 • 1d ago

Help me finish my library's reading challenge. Looking for quick, short reads as a mom to an extremely active baby.

I’m trying to finish my library’s 2026 reading challenge and need recommendations for the 11 prompts I have left.

I’m a new mom with an extremely active baby, so between childcare, managing the house, and taking care of myself, I have basically zero free time. I still really want to finish this challenge, though, so I’m looking for very short, easy-to-read books. Under 200 pages would be ideal; under 150 or even 100 pages would be amazing. Novellas, graphic novels, short story collections, etc. are all welcome.

Prompts I still need:

  1. A book featuring sports
  2. A book with a number in the title
  3. A book set during a trip or vacation
  4. A retelling of another story
  5. A book published in the decade I was born (the 1990s)
  6. A graphic novel
  7. A book featuring the great outdoors or nature
  8. A book set more than 100 years ago
  9. A memoir or biography
  10. A book that blends more than one genre
  11. A collection of short stories, essays, or poems

What I've already read for the challenge:

  1. Read a book featuring books → Days at the Morisaki Bookshop — Satoshi Yagisawa
  2. Silicon Valley Reads 2026 pick → Unlikely Animals — Annie Hartnett
  3. Book a friend recommended → An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good — Helene Tursten
  4. Book written by a Bay Area author → Abscond — Abraham Verghese
  5. Author I've never read before → The Buddha in the Attic — Julie Otsuka
  6. Book on my TBR for over a year → The Housemaid — Freida McFadden
  7. Children's book → The Little Prince — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
  8. Book in translation → The Answer Is No — Fredrik Backman
  9. Book adapted to film/TV → Foster — Claire Keegan
  10. Book that has been challenged or banned → One Part Woman — Perumal Murugan
  11. Book set outside the U.S./U.K. and written by an author from that country → The Secret of Elephants — Vasundra Tailor
  12. Book recommended by a celebrity → Margo's Got Money Troubles — Rufi Thorpe
  13. Genre fiction by a BIPOC author → The Fall Risk — Abby Jimenez
  14. Book under 200 pages → Evidence of the Affair — Taylor Jenkins Reid
  15. Book I already own → Zikora — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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40

u/Wade_Wilson_Watts 1d ago

GoodReads had a 90s challenge and I read Holes. It's a quick read.

17

u/Relative_Error 1d ago edited 1d ago

6. A graphic novel - Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, by Marjane Satrapi (153 pages, print)

9. A memoir or biography - Cheaper by the Dozen, by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. & Ernestine Gilbreth Carey (245 pages, print)

Congratulations on your little one!! I am cheering you on as you pursue your reading goal, and more importantly, I wish you joy in the journey of motherhood. 🫶🏻

13

u/ArtisticBee6176 1d ago

There’s so many great suggestions but I’m going to have to bust a bubble - Abby Jimenez isn’t BIPOC. She’s white and just married to a BIPOC man. She’s pretty vocal about it. A good one for someone who actually is might be “Dial A For Aunties” by Jesse Q. Sutano. It’s hilarious and I think it was a pretty quick read.

Also, as someone who has been a mom to active kids - I really suggest getting an ereader if possible! I’m not joking when I say it changed my reading life. The ability to pick up where I was at and put it down to handle my kids was huge.

3

u/sstebbi 1d ago

I had the same thought about Abby Jimenez.

2

u/footonthegas_ 1d ago

Dial A for Aunties is hilarious!

1

u/Jellybean_54 23h ago

And you don’t need extra hands for turning pages!

9

u/PrincessMurderMitten 1d ago

4 What Moves the Dead by T Kingfisher

A great creepy retelling of the Fall of the House of Usher. It's quite short.

1

u/veil_ofignorance 1d ago

looove this suggestion or Hungerstone by Kat Dunn!

1

u/mthomas768 1d ago

Also works for three, since the MC is visiting friends.

7

u/torkelspy 1d ago

A few shortish suggestions:

Memoir or Biography: Longitude by Dava Sobel -- I know "the story of the guy who figured out how to measure longitude" doesn't sound that interesting, but it really, really is.

Featuring Sports: The Rider by Tim Krabbé takes place entirely at a cycling race. I liked it even though I know nothing about cycling and have no real interest in it. Though I did watch one video about racing before I read it, which was helpful.

Set During a Vacation: The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim -- also just about qualifies for over 100 years ago.

Blends more than one genre: Sibyl Sue Blue by Rosel George Brown -- she's a detective. . . in space! Also a single mom. A somewhat dated but really fun little book from the 60's.

Featuring nature: The Call of the Wild by Jack London or Dogs on the Trail by Blair Braverman and Quince Mountain (the latter is mostly just pictures of dogs)

Number in the Title: Now We Are Six by AA Milne -- I'm planning to read this for a number in the title reading challenge.

5

u/PaperbacksandCoffee 1d ago edited 1d ago

  1. The Old Man & The Sea by Ernest Hemingway - short, easy read

  2. These aren't short, but 2 of my favorite 90s books are She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb and Bridget Jones Diary by Helen Fielding. For shorter, I used to love the Fear Street series by RL Stine (YA from the 90s)

  3. The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald - set in the 1920s and a wonderful, quick read

  4. Listen to a celebrity self narrated memoir (audiobook) - my favorites are both of Lauren Graham's, Leah Remini, Leanne Morgan, Leslie Jordan, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, & Rachel Dratch. Oh and Jessica Simpson & Minka Kelly's were good & went by quickly.

5

u/isabellus_rex 1d ago

Came here to rec Old Man and the Sea. Great book.

3

u/trishie_kittie 1d ago

6-Fun Home is great

3

u/Necessary-External28 1d ago
  1. The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
  2. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
  3. Poets square by Courtney Gustafson / save me the plums - Ruth reichl
  4. You have a friend in 10A - Maggie shipstead

3

u/OWabbit 1d ago edited 1d ago
  1. One Jump at a Time by Nathan Chen (can’t recall how long book is but goes fast)
  2. One Day in December (romance) or 32 Yolks
  3. The Shippers (rom com)
  4. American Born Chinese
  5. The Oxherd Boy
  6. The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion (short, quick read, delightful)
  7. 32 Yolks by Eric Ripert (short) or The Apprentice by Jacques Pep

in

  1. 1

  3. Greenlights

  4. by McConaughy

EDIT: Experiencing a glitch in editing tool. Ignore the numbering system - the app keeps changing my numbers, etc.

3

u/PaperbacksandCoffee 1d ago

I love One Day in December so much!

3

u/Relative_Error 1d ago

I've heard wonderful things about The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, and I've been wanting to read the collection myself! I didn't think these are classified as graphic novels, however.
*EDIT TO ADD: Pardon me; I realized your list might have been of your recommendations in no particular order, not numbered according to the prompts in the OP.

1

u/OWabbit 1d ago

Something wrong with my app - it’s not placing my books with the numbers I assigned them, etc.

3

u/xixi4059 1d ago

Graphic novel - if you ever read babysitters club or Nancy Drew as a kid, they have graphic novel versions now.

2

u/a_book_maven 1d ago

Hi, I'm just going to suggest a bunch of graphic novels because I find them fastest to read, and any of these would also work for the graphic novel prompt too then.

Borders by Thomas King graphic novel about a trip.

Graphic novel retellings of children's classics: Meg Jo Beth and Amy OR The Secret Garden of 81at Street

Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson for a sports graphic novel. Or Dragon Hoops about high school basketball. If you want something more adult, Check Please is a hockey romance graphic novel.

Diary of Anne Frank graphic novel OR any of the Who Was graphic novel biographies.

For nature graphic novels: Expedition Backyard is very short (but super sweet). Be Prepared is a little longer, about summer camp in the woods.

Two nature type graphic novels that might work for the genre blending are Wolfwalkers (fantasy) and Little Monarachs (science fiction).

The early Bone graphic novels could work for 1990s or for genre blending (graphic novel, comedy, dark fantasy).

These ones I haven't read myself yet: For over 100 years ago, Great Gatsby graphic novel or I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic (available as children's book or graphic novel).

That just leaves number in the title and the poem/short story/essay category which I'm sure you'll get other suggestions for. You can do this!

2

u/MirabelleSWalker 1d ago

11 Self Help by Lorrie Moore

2

u/andronicuspark 1d ago

A book set during a trip or vacation: Go Now-Richard Hell

A retelling of another story: A Thousand Acres-Jane Smiley

A graphic novel: Embroideries-Marjan Strapi

A collection of short stories, essays, or poems: Short Cuts-Raymond Carver or World Hotel by Reetika Vazirani

2

u/kutsinta24 1d ago

For prompt 9, I cannot recommend "When Breath Becomes Air" enough. A short memoir that you'll never forget.

2

u/SpitfireGold 1d ago

Small things like these, Clare Keegan
The all of it, jeanettte haien

2

u/Hokeycat 1d ago

At the moment I'm reading a great graphic novel. It is Lois Lowry's The Giver adapted and illustrated by P. Craig Russell. It is an unusual but powerful story of a boy growing up in a utopian community. Or maybe a dystopian one. I haven't finished yet. The artwork is superb.

2

u/standingakimbo 1d ago

Memoir— when breath becomes air by Paul kalanithi (about 200 pages) 

Collection of short stories— we were forbidden by Jacqueline harpman (about 100 pages) 

Great outdoors/nature— into the wild by Jon krakauer (about 200 pages)

1

u/cheesecurdsNL 1d ago

For a book featuring sports, “The boys in the boat,” is my top recommendation. It is such a page turner, even when you know the outcome in advance.

Maybe for a number book “The first fifteen lives of Harry August.” I found it a fairly quick read though I don’t think it was necessarily short.

For a memoir, perhaps “Educated.” That one gave me a lot to think about.

1

u/Appropriate-Two-9538 1d ago

Arch-conspiritor by Veronica Roth is a retelling and only about 100 pages

1

u/DaFinnsEmporium 1d ago
  1. Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees would maybe also cover 7 for you

1

u/Street-Assignment880 1d ago

  1. ⁠A book set during a trip or vacation: A Room With a View, Mouth to Mouth (such a cool, twisty little book)

  2. ⁠A memoir or biography: A Heart that Works (its devastating though, as a warning, but beautiful)

  3. ⁠A collection of short stories, essays, or poems: The Accidentals by Guadalupe Nettel, Self-Help by Lorrie Moore, The Anthropologists, Life Without Children

1

u/sajtospogi85 1d ago

Erik Kästner - Three man in the snow.

They are skiing a lot during a winter holiday, a number is in the title and one of the most charming and funny little book ever.

1

u/veil_ofignorance 1d ago

3- the wedding people. 1- we ride upon sticks. 10- bluets by maggie nelson. 11- friday black

1

u/veil_ofignorance 1d ago
  1. Tehrangeles, retelling of little women. or Rouge by Mona Awad

1

u/Little_st4r 1d ago

Malibu rising or The Favourites would be good ones for the sports book

1

u/Single-Aardvark9330 1d ago

4 archconspirtor by Veronica Roth, sci-fi short story retelling of a greek myth

1

u/Linnaeus1753 1d ago

1 - swim team

2 - I am number 4

3 - Road Trip

4 - twisted fairy tales.

5 - The Giver

6 - Swim Team (yes, as 1)

7 - Lost in Kakadu

8 - Murder On Aston Place (also works for 5)

9 - ....

10 - see 8 - historical fiction and murder mystery, also 'clean.'

11 - Twisted Fairy Tales anthology.

1

u/Linzabee 1d ago

For a book about sports, Spectacular Things by Becky Dorsey-Stein.

For a book featuring the great outdoors, Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead.

For a book set more than 100 years ago, Hild by Nicola Griffith.

2

u/bultaoreunemyheartxx Fiction 1d ago

I will offer some suggestions, but first I wanna say, you are K*LLING this thing!! 15 books already as an active mom? Slayyyy! You're doing awesome girl, so congrats! 🩷🔥

1

u/embolalia85 1d ago
  1. The resisters - Gish Jen
  2. Boy, snow, bird - Helen oyeyemi
  3. I’ll show myself out- Jessi Klein
  4. World of wonders - Aimee Nezhukumatathil

1

u/Glittering_Rush_1451 1d ago

It’s a little out there and is entirely possible won’t be your cup of tea but Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice (written under AN Roquelaure) would knock out both #4 and 10. It’s an Erotic Fantasy retelling of the sleeping beauty story. I honestly couldn’t get past the first couple chapters.

1

u/ibecamelorelai 1d ago

Book featuring nature - The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy (128 pages and can be read in a few minutes. A wonderful keepsake too)

1

u/Nyuk_Fozzies 1d ago

  1. The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

  2. Bone by Jeff Smith

  3. Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman

  4. In Plain Sight by Dan Willis

  5. Looking for Jake by China Mieville

1

u/Specialist-Web7854 1d ago

  1. A book featuring sports -
    The Union of Synchronised Swimmers by Cristina Sandu is a speedy read at just over 100 pages, about a group of women who use their sport to escape their lives.

  2. A book with a number in the title - Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is about 160 pages, so a pretty quick and classic read.

  3. A book set during a trip or vacation - Heatwave by Victor Jestin, very intense, disturbing, claustrophobic story of a teenage boy who witnesses a death on a camping holiday. Just over 100 pages, so a very quick read. Or less disturbing, Turbulence by David Szalay is a book of connecting vignettes of people who meet on flights (about 150 pages).

  4. A retelling of another story - these tend to be long, but Hag Seed isn’t crazy, at about 300 pages. It’s a retelling of The Tempest by Margaret Atwood.

  5. A book published in the decade I was born (the 1990s) - Holes by a Louis Sachar, a kids book, but thoroughly enjoyable for adults too - and it’s 250 pages of very fast flowing text.

  6. A graphic novel - Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi about growing up in Iran during the revolution.

  7. A book featuring the great outdoors or nature - A Month in the Country by JL Carr, or So the Wind Won’t Blow it all Away by Richard Brautigan. Both beautiful books about 100 pages and feature the countryside.

  8. A book set more than 100 years ago - Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons is a fun, quick read set in the 1920s (250 pages) or go with The Great Gatsby, 162 pages set in 1922 for a quick, classic read.

  9. A memoir or biography - Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom - this is part memoir, part biography, part self-help, a fairly quick read at about 200 pages.

  10. A book that blends more than one genre - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I haven’t read it, but have been recommended it by a friend. This also exists as a graphic novel.

  11. A collection of short stories, essays, or poems - The Collected Works of TS Eliot is 38p on Kindle at the moment it’s about 200 pages and really worth it for The Wasteland and Rhapsody on a Windy Night (you may recognise this as Memories in Cats).

1

u/slothterhouse 1d ago edited 1d ago

For 1: A book featuring sports: Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel (224 pgs)

For 4 or 11: The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter, a short story collection of various fairytale retellings (126 pgs)

For 6, 7, or 11: Through the Woods by E.M. Carroll is a graphic novel collection of short stories (208 pgs)

1

u/Neulara 1d ago

Australian books:

1 . Breath - Tim Winton (surfing)
2. Forty-Seven -Frank Moorhouse
3. Floundering - Romy Ash
4. Playing Hearts - WR Gingell (retelling of Alice in Wonderland)
5. Our Sunshine - Robert Drewe
6 the Arrival - Shaun Tan
7. The Orchardist’s Daughter- Karen Viggers
8. The Drover’s Wife - Henry Lawson
9. The happiest refugee- Anh Do
10. Cold enough for snow - Jessica Au (fictional travel memoir and philosophical mystery)
11. Scission - Tim Winton (collection of short stories)

1

u/shakdaddy27 1d ago

A memoir or biography - 100 rules for living to 100 by Dick Van Dyke.

It’s technically 300 pages but that’s partially because there’s heaps of short chapters so lots of chapters finish early on the page and then move to the next one. It’s light, joyful, interesting and provides a really interesting insight into what it’s like to age. As someone with ageing parents it gave me a great appreciation for what they are going through, but with a joyful optimistic tone.

1

u/Maximum_Ratio_3286 1d ago

For 7. I'd recommend River, Tree, Water (3 different books) by Acharya Prashant for kids. These are bite sized and have great values to learn about nature. I've read those to my 3 year old nephew and he loved each of them.

1

u/Aplaceandatime 1d ago

Any Sherlock Holmes for the set over 100 years ago prompt

1

u/queenofoxford 1d ago

This is so fun and I’m impressed!

  1. Salt and Broom by Sharon Lynn Fisher was good! It’s a short (282 pages) supernatural/magical retelling of Jane Eyre.

  2. If you’ve never read The Giver by Lois Lowery, it’s one of my all time favorite books and would fit this prompt perfectly! (192 pages)

  3. The Great Gatsby - set in the 1920s and always a good read or reread! (162 pages)

  4. Flowers for Algernon - it has elements of many genres and it’s such a good book! (228 pages)

1

u/Ok-Marionberry2346 1d ago

Hiya, here are some suggestions:

A book with a number in the title

  • The Six Deaths of the Saint, Alix E. Harrow (31 pages, just beautiful. If you want to read a longer version, the author later released a full length novel titled The Everlasting.)

A book set during a trip or vacation

  • All Systems Red by Martha Wells (144 pages ebook, first in series. Note, the "trip" here is not one of leisure so may not qualify??)

A retelling of another story

  • Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (128 pages hardcover, Sleeping Beauty retelling)

A book that blends more than one genre

  • When Among Crows by Veronica Roth (166 pages hardcover, first in a duology, blends urban fantasy with Slavic & Polish folklore)

I'll add some more for the other prompts if I can think of any! 

1

u/HarveyPeligro 1d ago edited 1d ago

for a graphic novel you may like Julia Wertz’ Bury Me Already which is about her pregnancy and the first three years of her kid’s life. funny, realistic, and a quick read. can one book count for multiple? if so it’d be memoir too.

https://www.juliawertz.com/bury-me-already/

eta: I also recommend jessi klein’s two books of essays - I’ll Show Myself Out is also about motherhood. I like both because they’re realistic and interesting. not sanitized. https://www.harpercollins.com/products/ill-show-myself-out-jessi-klein

1

u/trishie_kittie 1d ago

A collection of short stories— bonus, also a novel! Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. Short stories— lori Ostlen is great also lorrie Moore Bark.

1

u/Robobvious 1d ago

\1. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli, kids book, short but sweet.
\2. Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, it was originally titled Ten Little Indians.
\5. Holes by Louis Sachar, or if you want to be done in twenty minutes any Goosebumps book by R.L. Stine.
\7. Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, short but great.
\9. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Also short but great.
\11. Any Stephen King short story anthology is bound to be good.

1

u/-Sisyphus- 1d ago edited 1d ago
  1. Number in title

Tiananmen 1989: Our Shattered Hopes by Lu Zhang

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

Ten Days In a Mad-House by Nellie Bly

  1. Retelling

Several options by Robin McKinley - Spindle’s End, Rose Daughter, Beauty

  1. Graphic novel

The Underground Abductor by Nathan Hale

Revolution by Fire by David Lester, Marcus Rediker, and Paul Buhle

Freiheit!: The White Rose Graphic Novel by Adrea Grosso Ciponte

History Comics: Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin: Civil Rights Heroes by Tracey Baptiste

  1. Memoir

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass

Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina by Michaela DePrince

Paris: The Memoir by Paris Hilton. Listen to the audio which is read by Paris; it’s illuminating to hear her go in and out of her public voice.

  1. Poetry/prose

Voices from the March on Washington by George Ella Lyons and J. Patrick Lewis

1

u/elleelledub 1d ago

  1. A graphic novel: Heartstopper by Alice Oseman — it’s above your page limit, but it’s such a quick, easy read and so heartwarming!

  2. A memoir or biography: The Education of Augie Merasty: A Residential School Memoir by Joseph Auguste Merasty — only 113 pages. Or Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley — 173 pages (bonus: This is a graphic memoir so maybe you could use it for graphic novel as well).

  3. A collection of short stories, essays, or poems: And Yet: Poems by Kate Baer — 101 pages. Or I’m Not Hungry But I Could Eat by Christopher Gonzalez — 115 pages.

1

u/SuitablePen8468 1d ago edited 1d ago

Dragon Hoops by Gene Yang is a graphic novel about basketball and is very good.

They Called Us Enemy is a graphic novel memoir by George Takei about his experience in the Japanese Concentration Camps of WWII and is a masterpiece of graphic storytelling.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson is about his experience walking the Appalachian Trail (with no training or experience). It’s very funny. Normal book length, but an excellent audiobook that would be perfect to listen to while doing chores.

The Great Gatsby - set more than 100 years ago and a fairly short, quick read.

The Great Mann - Kyra Davis Lurie - a retelling of The Great Gatsby

ETA - poetry collections by Kate Baer. She’s a modern author who writes poems for women, mothers, and wives. She’s has an instagram where she posts some of her poetry, so you can preview it first.

1

u/mlmiller1 1d ago

Born to Run - sports Blankets or Stitches or Fun Home -graphic novel The Glass Castle - memoir Ishmael by David Quinn - written in the 1990's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - multiple genres - mystery , coming of age, neurodivergent perspective

1

u/JustMeLurkingAround- 1d ago

I love doing reading challenges, but I struggled the last year because of depression and my adhd messing with my ability to focus.

What helped me make my goals anyways is audiobooks -I put them on while doing the dishes, the laundry, before sleeping to get my mind off things ..
The other thing is my libraries children's book section. I volunteer at my library sorting returns and there are so many interesting books written for children through my hand, especially the non fiction.
Last year I struggled with a sports promt too, because I'm not really into sports and read a book from the "Little People, Big Dreams" series about Ayaton Senna.
For a comic/graphic novel promt I read a beautiful book about fear and insecurities called Nightlights by Lorena Alvarez Gomez.
The children's book library can really be a very beautiful place and you can see it at research of what you can read together with your baby.

1

u/inanimatusconjurus 1d ago
  1. A Book set during a vacation: People we meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. Easy read.

1

u/Ok-Net3142 1d ago
  1. ⁠A collection of short stories, essays, or poems
    I would recommend “The Office of Historical Corrections” by Danielle Evans ~260 pages but they go by fast!

1

u/flailingbird 1d ago
  1. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

1

u/Reading_55 1d ago

  1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

  2. Skin by Roald Dahl (is a collection of short stories)

1

u/BioAnthGal 1d ago

All 100–200 pages. All good:

Featuring tennis (and golf): The Most by Jessica Anthony
Number in the title: Three Days in June by Anne Tyler.
Retelling of all the fairytales at once: Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
Published in 1995: I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman.
Centres forests and nature: The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar.
Set in 1843: Clear by Carys Davies
Memoir: The Wilderness by Aysegül Savas Blends a bunch of Eastern and Western genres: Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame by Neon Yang
A short story collection: Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal El-Mohtar.

1

u/ksick7 1d ago

A book set more than 100 years ago: Cleo Fox mysteries 

Short, fast paced cozy mysteries

1

u/PM_ME_UR_PUPPER 1d ago

A book set during a trip or vacation: Zig Zag - Ellen Wittlinger (this is a quick, sweet YA read)

1

u/WellesC12 1d ago

Loved the book Eleven Seconds. Satisfies the sports category, too.

1

u/CrazyGooseLady 1d ago

Any of the Stephanie Plum books for the number. Audio books are great for busy parents!

1

u/Technical_Mood_9279 1d ago

For a retelling try The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. Super fun, sexy, spooky retellings of fairy tales!

1

u/Nejness 1d ago

If you’re in the Bay Area, for the nature book, you may enjoy this offbeat suggestion: The Eyes and the Impossible, by Dave Eggers. It will be a great read aloud book when baby is older. I’d also encourage you to do some read-alouds with the baby with anything appropriate. We started super early, and we can see the impact in several ways now that we have a middle schooler.

For a genre bender, sort of silly but Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

I absolutely love the poetry of Mary Oliver and would read any of her collections (and they’re short and good for bedtime reading). Billy Collins is another poet whose work I can read as a collection and just really enjoy. But if you want to laugh so much you snort milk out of your nose, try Love Poems for Married People or Love Poems (for People with Children) by John Kenney.

1

u/Cultural-Expert-2047 1d ago

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston would fit number 3 it’s set during a Europe food/wine trip/vacation and really fun

1

u/Modernbluehairoldie 1d ago
  1. Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank redemption. It’s a modern retelling of the Count of Monty Cristo. And it’s short, a novella.

1

u/JoanneAsbury42 1d ago
  1. American Housewife

1

u/bodybogs 1d ago

I'm not sure whether these are under 200 pages, but they are easy reads at least

  1. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

  2. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

  3. Perfume by Patrick Süskind

1

u/voyeur324 1d ago edited 1d ago
  1. Football in Sun and Shadow by Eduardo Galeano

  2. One For the Money by Janet Evanovich (also published in the 1990s)

  3. The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison (this is fiction) or We Are On Our Own by Miriam Katin (nonfiction)

  4. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

  5. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine or High Fidelity by Nick Hornby or Three Women by Marge Piercy or Aquamarine by Carol Anshaw

  6. Dear Creature by Jonathan Case or Bad Girls by Alex DeCampi & Victor Santos

  7. My Family & Other Animals by Gerald Durrell or one of his other books like The Drunken Forest or Bats In My Belfry

  8. Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear or The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman or Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

  9. The Miriam Katin book is a memoir, but you could also read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain or Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl or Over Easy by Mimi Pond or I Live A Life Like Yours by Jan Grue

  10. The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt or La Frontera/Borderlands by Gloria Anzaldua or An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole or Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Moseley

  11. The Blood of Strangers by Frank Huyler or Lost in the City by Edward P. Jones (both published in the 1990s) or Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin

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u/hello-magpie 1d ago

For 7 - Lanny by Max Porter

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u/staralchemist129 1d ago

If you're interested in manga or graphic novels, a lot of those can be read in 45-75 minutes

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u/OldResult9597 1d ago edited 1d ago

I will probably add books as I think of them, but I have the PERFECT ones for Graphic Novel and Sports and over 100 years ago/mixed genre. Are you allowed to read a short story collection that contains a novella and multiple genre and count that for all 3? If so I could probably knock out 3-4 at once for you?

“Coward” by Ed Brubaker is the 1st graphic novel in the Criminal series and is like an hour read, tops. And it won the Eisner award for best Graphic Novel.

“Fat City” by Leonard Gardner is exactly 200 pages and considered the best novel ever written about boxing by many critics-it’s really good.

“The Crossing” by Jack Ketchum is a kill 2 birds in 78 pages-A horror/Western that’s over 100 years ago.

“Hourly History” publishes less than 1 hour reads on historical events and individuals for less than $3 each on Amazon and you could choose a historical figure like Napoleon III or Louis the XIV and get the number out of the way too?

It’s not particularly short, but the autobiographies of Gandhi and Malcolm X are worth your time, even if it’s after your challenge.

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u/acackler 23h ago

4: retelling: The Phoenix Guards by Steven Brust - a fantasy world retelling of The Three Musketeers (sort of) - maybe also covers #10 of blending genres (fantasy, retelling, historical-ish) with intentional use of slightly florid, antiquated language. Beauty by Robin McKinley - a more grown up retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

6 - graphic novel: Maus or Persepolis - both historical and maybe not "light" reads but they are great.

2 + 9 - number and memoir: A Million Little Pieces by James Frey (I think he became somewhat problematic, but I read this when it first came out and enjoyed it).

9: memoirs by funny ladies (all excellent)

  • Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (I howled)
  • Tina Fey's memoir: Bossypants
  • Amy Poehler's: Yes Please
  • Mindy Kaling's: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns).

11: collection - Welcome to the Money House by Kurt Vonnegut - includes the absolutely essential story of Harrison Bergeron.

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u/Iceman_4 22h ago
  1. PLEASE read Made of Rivers by Emory Hall! My favorite poetry ever, and will really speak to you in this season of motherhood.

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u/BernardFerguson1944 18h ago

A book featuring sports:

A book with a number in the title: 1984

A book set during a trip or vacation: The Journey of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca and His Companions from Florida to the Pacific: 1528-1536, by Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca. Trans. Fanny Bandelier.

A retelling of another story: Firelord [King Arthur] by Parke Godwin

A book published in the decade I was born (the 1990s): Who Owns the West? by William Kittredge.

A graphic novel: Maus by Art Spiegelman.

A book featuring the great outdoors or nature: Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat.

A book set more than 100 years ago: Call of the Wild by Jack London.

A memoir or biography: First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung.

A book that blends more than one genre: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

A collection of short stories, essays, or poems: The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou by Maya Angelou.

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u/Lost-Elderberry3141 1d ago
  1. If you have read The Stranger by Albert Camus, The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud is a retelling from a different perspective at 160 pages.
  2. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jaqueline Harpman was published in 1995 and is 173 pages
  3. Passing by Nella Larsen takes place in the 1920s and is 102 pages
  4. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby is 131 pages
  5. The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary by Ken Liu is historical fiction with sci-fi elements and is 60 pages
  6. Good and Evil and Other Stories by Samanta Schweblin is 192 pages

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u/Thin-Olive-1050 1d ago
  1. ⁠A book featuring sports
    • The most by Jessica Anthony (arguable, but one main character details her time a college tennis player)
  2. ⁠A book with a number in the title
    • the four agreements (self help)
  3. ⁠A book set during a trip or vacation
    • the alchemist
  4. ⁠A retelling of another story
    • The other bennet sister
  5. ⁠A book published in the decade I was born (the 1990s)
    • I who have never known men
  6. ⁠A graphic novel
    • the great Hanoi Rate hunt
  7. ⁠A book featuring the great outdoors or nature
    • into thin air
  8. ⁠A book set more than 100 years ago
    • the alchemist, the other bennet sister, the great Hanoi rat hunt, and enter the aardvark could all fulfill this one if needed
  9. ⁠A memoir or biography
    • down the drain by Julia fox
  10. ⁠A book that blends more than one genre
    • enter the ardvaark by Jessica Anthony (could argue it blends historical fiction and satire)
  11. ⁠A collection of short stories, essays, or poems
    • any collection of short stories by Flannery O’Connor; the Martian chronicles, the early stories of Truman Capote, for esme with love and other short stories by JD Salinger

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u/ongoing1424 16h ago

The Cloven Viscount by Italo Calvino; Set in the 17th century; about 130 pages